Hash Brown Vegan Breakfast Casserole
Sometime back, we were having Sunday brunch at my sister’s house after church, and I needed to come up with a healthy version of a vegan breakfast casserole to take. This is the amazing Hash Brown Casserole that ended up happening in my kitchen!
Everyone–and I do mean EVERYONE–absolutely loved this vegan potato casserole. I was actually shocked at the accolades that were coming my way over this new whole food plant-based (WFPB) breakfast recipe.
This oil and dairy-free version of the traditional American hash brown casserole is delicious and heart-healthy. With potatoes, onions, red bell peppers, creamy vegan cheese sauce, and smoked paprika, there is no skimping on taste. No artery-clogging butter and eggs either.
Hash browns for breakfast
We love hash browns and normally just make them quickly in the waffle iron or panini maker, but this dish needed to be something in the breakfast casserole category--think colorful, warm, and cheesy.
A perfect make-ahead vegan breakfast casserole, this recipe will quickly become a new family favorite just like it did for us.
How to make vegan hash brown casserole
The recipe card at the bottom of the page has the full list of ingredients with measurements and instructions.
In my opinion, other than the hash browns themselves, the star ingredient for this casserole is the homemade vegan cheese sauce.
You will want to make this cheese sauce first thing. It’s really easy to make and even freezes well. I usually already have some on hand in my freezer which shortens the steps to making any of my recipes that require cheese such as nachos, broccoli casserole, and scalloped potatoes.
Making this terrific cheese sauce is as simple as boiling a pot of potatoes, onions, and carrots, adding them to a blender with cashews (or white beans), spices, and blending it until smooth.
I have a Vitamix blender and so don’t take the time to soak my cashews. That thing is powerful and everything that goes into it comes out creamy. However, if your blender isn’t jet engine speed, soaking the cashews in warm water for at least 30-minutes before adding to this recipe will help this recipe come out more creamy.
This recipe makes a little more sauce than you actually need for the casserole, so you’ll have some leftovers to try with other recipes. Once the cheese sauce is complete, set it to the side.
To make the casserole, dice the onion and red bell pepper into small chunks, and go ahead and dice up the fresh spinach leaves as well.
In a large bowl, mix together onions, red bell peppers, frozen hash browns, cheese sauce, and spices. Make sure to use a nice big bowl so you’ll have plenty of room for stirring.
Then, toss in the shredded spinach leaves and lightly mix again.
Line a 9″x13″ baking dish with parchment paper. This allows the casserole to be cooked without oil. You could use a silicone baking dish if desired.
Pour the hash brown mixture into a baking dish and bake at 350°F for 30 minutes. If making in a crockpot, cook on low for approximately 2 hours.
Remove from oven and serve warm. Believe me, this is going to be the best breakfast casserole you’ve eaten!
Everyone at our family gathering loved this breakfast casserole, along with the Banana Oat Pancakes that I took as well. I came home with empty dishes which is always a good feeling, and there were many requests for a recipe.
*Original publish date November 2017.
Choosing frozen hash browns
When shopping for frozen hash browns, check the ingredient list well. You will want to buy the ones that are only shredded potatoes and have no added oil, salt, or other ingredients.
I have found that off-brands such as Aldi, Walmart, and other grocery stores are perfectly compliant and quite inexpensive.
A number of people have asked if they could shred their own fresh potatoes for this. The answer is yes, but you will need to remove as much of the water from them as possible first.
Plant-based vegan sausage makes a great addition when serving this for breakfast. It is one of the many products that I like to order from MamaSezz meal delivery service. It comes ready to heat and eat, and it can also be frozen.
Pro tips & suggestions
- Prep ahead- To make this vegan potato casserole even faster, I sometimes dice and freeze the onion and red pepper ahead to time to use in this casserole.
- Cheese sauce- I often freeze the cheese sauce to use in other recipes, so I always have some on-hand.
- Frozen hash browns- When purchasing frozen hash brown, read the label to make sure the only ingredient is potatoes. Aldi’s brand is perfect for this recipe. Off brands of hash browns often work well and have only potatoes as an ingredient.
- Baking dish- I use a 9″x13″ baking dish.
We love breakfast casseroles because they’re…
- Easy to make ahead
- Great for family brunches
- Perfect for holidays
- Filling
- Comforting
- Delicious!
More vegan breakfast recipes:
- Vegan Quiche Casserole
- Best Vegan Blueberry Muffins
- Breakfast English Muffins
- Healthy Breakfast Scramble
- Fruited Quinoa
- Smoked Tempeh Bacon
- Healthy Vegan Casseroles
- 15 Vegan Brunches
For those of you new to the whole food plant-based lifestyle, we’ve created a FREE 7-Day Plant-Based Menu Planner to help you get started!
This post may contain affiliate links. Read my full disclosure here.
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Vegan Hash Brown Breakfast Casserole
Ingredients
Hash Brown Casserole
- 1 30 oz package frozen shredded hash browns oil-free version (or 4 cups freshly shredded)
- 3/4 cup onions diced
- 1/2 cup red bell pepper diced
- 3/4 cup fresh spinach leaves shredded
- 1 cup No Cheese Sauce recipe below
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
- 1/2 teaspoon dry steak seasoning
- 1 tablespoon ground smoked paprika
- salt & pepper to taste
Creamy Vegan Cheese Sauce
- 1 cup potatoes peeled and diced
- 1/4 cup carrots diced
- 1/4 cup onions diced
- 1 cup broth from veggies
- 1/2 cup raw cashews or 1/2 cup white beans
- 4 tablepoons nutritional yeast flakes
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- pinch paprika
- 1/2 pinch cayenne pepper (optional)
Instructions
Hash Brown Casserole
- Begin by making the cheese sauce using the recipe below. This recipe makes a little more sauce than you actually need for the casserole, so you'll have a little leftover to try with other recipes. Once the cheese sauce is complete, set it to the side.
- To make the casserole, dice the onion and red bell pepper into small chunks, and go ahead and dice up the fresh spinach leaves as well.
- In a large bowl, mix together onions, red bell peppers, frozen hash browns, cheese sauce, and spices. Make sure to use a nice big bowl so you'll have plenty of room for stirring.
- Toss in shredded spinach leaves and lightly mix again.
- Line a 9"x13" baking dish with parchment paper. This allows the casserole to be cooked without oil. You could use a silicone baking dish if desired.
- Pour hash brown mixture into the baking dish and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
- Remove from oven and serve warm.
Creamy Vegan Cheese Sauce
- In a medium pot, bring about 3 cups of water to a boil. Place potatoes, carrots, and onion in the pot and allow to cook until veggies are tender-- approximately 15 minutes. Cooking time will vary based on how small the veggies are diced.
- When veggies are tender, drain and place them in the blender. NOTE: reserve 1 cup of the broth, and add to blender. Add all the remaining ingredients, and blend until smooth.
- Now, it's ready to use in this Hash Brown recipe. Cheese Sauce is also fabulous in nacho cheese dip, veggie pizza, mac-n-cheese, topping for steamed broccoli, or anything else you need a creamy, cheesy sauce in. It makes approximately 1 quart and can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
Video
Notes
- Prep ahead- To make this vegan potato casserole even faster, I sometimes dice and freeze the onion and red pepper ahead to time to use in this casserole.
- Cheese sauce- I often freeze the cheese sauce to use in other recipes, so I always have some on hand.
- Frozen hash browns- When purchasing frozen hash brown, read the label to make sure the only ingredient is potatoes. Aldi's brand is perfect for this recipe. Off brands of hash browns often work well and have only potatoes as an ingredient.
- Baking dish- I use a 9"x13" baking dish.
Nutrition
Disclaimer
To obtain the most accurate representation of the nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator. You are solely responsible for ensuring that any nutritional information provided is accurate, complete, and useful.
About Terri Edwards
Hi guys! I am the content creator behind EatPlant-Based and a licensed Food for Life instructor with the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. I am passionate about sharing healthy recipes and tips to empower others to get healthy. I’m so glad you’re here! Read More…
Can I use shredded real potatoes or do I have to use frozen? The recipe looks really good, looking forward to trying it.
Hi Barb- Yes, you can shred fresh potatoes. You’ll just need to dry them well after shredding on a towel or paper towels to remove the excess water before cooking. Hope you enjoy them!
If using white beans instead of cashews, are canned beans appropriate? If so, do they need to be soaked or heated prior to blending? Or should dried beans be used (ie made fresh and soaked/boiled before blending)..?? I cannot eat cashews, but look forward to trying this recipe with modifications! 🙂 It is difficult to find a vegan cheese sauce that does not use nuts.
Hi Britt- Yes, canned white beans work well in the cheese sauce for those avoiding cashews. You’ll just need to drain and rinse the cooked can beans before adding them to the rest of the ingredients. Hope you enjoy the cheese sauce and hash brown casserole!
This looks awesome and feeds into my hash brown addiction! Have you ever tried freezing this? I know I can halve the recipe–it’s just me at home–however I’d love to make this part of my prep ‘n freeze to have on hand.
Hi Sue- I haven’t tried freezing it before but think it should work just fine. I’m with you on the hash brown addiction, lol!
This looks so good! How long can this be stored in the refrigerator?
Hi Jenny- We always eat it right away, but I think it should keep for about 3-4 days in the refrigerator.
Do I need to thaw the frozen hash browns first, she to water c ontent?
Hi Corinne- No need to defrost the hash browns because they do that quickly in the oven. The water content will help keep this from drying out.
Made this recipe this morning for breakfast…. it was so good we ate the entire pan!! Love the cheese sauce.. I think it’s the best I have made so far (in 4 years of plant based eating) Thanks for this recipe!
Hi Karen- YAY! That’s awesome to hear. Thanks so much for the great feedback. 🙂
Do you think that I could make this ahead the night before and bake in the morning? Would it hold up? I am planning on using fresh potatoes if that makes a difference.
Hi Gwen- I think making it ahead and baking the day of would work fine. Please let me know how it turns out for you.
I suggest not making this in the crockpot. After two hours (the time recomended)the onions were not cooked. Leaving it in the crockpot long enough to cook the onions turned the potatoes mushy. It was extremely spicy, and I don’t know if it was too much smoked paprika or I put too much pepper in it. I will have to eat it with something else, like a lot of fresh spinach, to cut down on the spiciness.
If I make this again, I will sautée the onions in a little vegetable broth first and bake it in the oven as opposed to putting it in the crockpot. I think it could be good.
I made this for a family birthday brunch in the summertime because two of our family cannot eat dairy and one of those two also doesn’t eat egg. It was so delicious!! I’m making it again this Sunday for another family birthday brunch. This dish is so easy and such a great, healthy, filling alternative to other breakfast casseroles. Thanks!
Hi Tracy- I LOVE it! I’m so glad that it was a hit for the family birthday celebration. Thanks for letting me know! 😀
I made this as a Thanksgiving morning breakfast and it was fantastic! My husband loved it. I made it in a 8×8 silicone pan and have enough left to make it again tmrw. The cheese sauce is great and the addition of steak seasoning is really good. I added a 1/2 tsp of a spice called Depth from local spicery that added a umami taste. Thank you for such a great recipe.
Hi Lisa- Happy Thanksgiving! And, I’m thrilled that this breakfast casserole. Thanks for letting me know!
This was absolutely amazing. My husband and I loved it. Made it for Brinner. Can’t wait to eat some more tomorrow morning. We used potato rounds instead of shredded potatoes. Plus we used white beans instead of cashews for the sauce. It was amazing for dinner!
Hi Erica- I absolutely loved reading this! Thanks so much for letting me know.
Can you omit the nutritional yeast? Thank you
Hi Penny- The nutritional yeast helps add the cheesy flavor, so I haven’t left it out before. I imagine it could be omitted, but the flavor would be altered a bit.
Hi there. Could you use the small cubed frozen hashbrowns instead? Thanks can’t wait to try
Hi Molly, I haven’t used the cubed hash browns with this recipe before. It seems like they could work if that is what you have on-hand. Definitely worth a try.
I made this last year foe Christmas Day breakfast and everyone absolutely loved it. I’m doubling it this year!
Sorry if this is a silly question, but is this gluten free? I have a gluten-free only friend visiting this year and am unsure…
Hi Melody- Yay! It sounds like it has become a new family tradition. That’s awesome! Everything on the ingredient list is gluten-free. Just make sure to read the label when purchasing the frozen hash browns just to be sure they haven’t put anything in those. Hope you enjoy it again this year!
I have made this recipe three times in the last couple of months. It started out because I make breakfast casseroles for Christmas morning and needed one for me (gf) and my daughter (vegan). It’s AMAZING. I’ve changed it up a bit: I quick sautee the vegetable in a tiny bit of vegan butter, seasoning them while I sautee with garlic salt, season salt, and pepper. I season the cheese sauce as I make it with garlic salt, seasoning salt, and pepper. I eyeball the nutritional yeast. I only mix in half of the cheese sauce before baking and I season that whole mixture as well. After it’s baked, we pan fry it in a non-stick pan until crisp and then I serve the cheese sauce on the side hot and we pour it over. Getting ready to make it tomorrow. My daughter requests it each time she comes home now.
Hi Ann- How wonderful that this recipe has become a regular at your house! I love that you and your daughter are both able to enjoy it. Thanks for letting me know.