This low carb slow cooker breakfast casserole will make your mornings all the brighter. Packed with broccoli and breakfast sausage for a healthy start to your day. This post is sponsored by Jones Dairy Farm.
I love breakfast. Love, love, love breakfast. As in big pink puffy heart love. I love waking up with that empty gurgle in my tummy (assuming I didn’t eat too much the evening prior) and filling up on healthy, low carb foods. I think I might love breakfast all the more now that I have gone low carb, because I have a built-in excuse to eat the sort of breakfast-y foods that are typically “special occasion” items for most people. Things like eggs, bacon, and sausages. And butter, always plenty of butter. Those aren’t weekday breakfast foods in many households and they didn’t used to be in mine either. They were reserved for weekends and holidays, or when we went out for breakfast or brunch. In part because I perceived them to be far less healthy than my whole grain toast or cereal and so they were to be used sparingly; a common misconception that is slowly being turned on its head. They also take more time and effort to prepare and don’t always lend themselves well to busy weekday mornings. Granted, I now work from home and have the leisure to whip up an omelet whenever the fancy strikes. But mornings with 3 little ones can still be remarkably hectic and frazzled, so I’ve learned to prep ahead.
Enter the slow cooker, the ultimate tool for prepping ahead. It’s funny to think that until a few months ago, I didn’t really like to use a slow cooker. The old model I had simply didn’t work very well but now that I’ve got a good one, I can see just how useful they can be. They are even far more useful than I ever imagined, and they aren’t just for make-ahead dinners. My Slow Cooker Chocolate Cake was such a wild success, it’s fast becoming one of my all-time favourite desserts and I have many ideas on how to make other delicious low carb slow cooker desserts. It also happens to be a great way to cook breakfast, as this Sausage & Egg Casserole will attest.
I wanted to make this casserole as a way to showcase the Jones Dairy Farm little sausage links. I don’t eat a lot of breakfast sausages, because I tend to prefer bacon, but I really do love these sausages. We took some camping with us back in June and I was hooked instantly. I don’t know what it is about them, as the ingredients are just pork, water, salt and spices. Or maybe it’s the very simplicity of them that makes them so good. No MSG, no dextrose, no funny additives that other brands of sausage links use. Their maple sausage links are unbelievably good too but they do contain a little sugar so be forewarned if you are trying to be super low carb.
The sausages were so good that after I cooked and sliced them, I had a hard time not eating them all and saving enough to put into the casserole. But I managed to restrain myself through sheer force of will. And this low carb breakfast casserole is so much healthier for you than other versions. I skipped the frozen hash browns typical of such things (belch!) and subbed in fresh broccoli instead. If you have the sort of slow cooker that you can program, I’d set this to cook overnight and then stay on warm, for a delicious hot breakfast the next morning. If you can’t program your slow cooker beyond the basic low/high hour settings, then cook it ahead, refrigerate it, and reheat. Either way, it will be delicious!
Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Jones Dairy Farm. As always, all opinions, thoughts, recipes, photography, random tangents and incoherent ramblings are my own.
Slow Cooker Sausage & Egg Breakfast Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 medium head broccoli chopped
- 12 ounces breakfast sausage links cooked and sliced
- 1 cup shredded Cheddar divided
- 10 large eggs
- ¾ cup whipping cream
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
Instructions
- Grease the ceramic interior of a 6 quart slow cooker well.
- Layer one half of the broccoli, half of the sausage and half of the cheese into the slow cooker. Repeat with remaining broccoli, sausage and cheese.
- In a large bowl, whisk eggs, whipping cream, garlic, salt and pepper until well combined. Pour over layered ingredients.
- Cover and cook on low for 4 to 5 hours or high for 2 to 3 hours, until browned on the edges and set in the center.
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Gail O says
I made this but with asparagus instead of broccoli as I had extra asparagus that I needed to use up. Such a flavourful and delicious dish. I ate it for breakfast and supper it was so good. This is definitely a keeper recipe!