Mexican Breakfast Casserole is an overnight breakfast casserole, packed with flavor from salty, juicy chorizo, creamy eggs, and gooey cheese!
Mexican Breakfast Casserole
I'm a savory kind of girl. I almost always opt for savory over sweet, especially for breakfast. And this Mexican Breakfast Casserole hits that savory, spicy, cheesy spot.
It's flavorful and unique, and best of all, it's an overnight casserole, so you throw it together the night before, then pop it in the oven in the morning. Nothing better than waking up to a warm, tasty breakfast!
This Mexican Breakfast Casserole is packed with bold flavors like salty chorizo, creamy scrambled eggs, and gooey cheese. Topped with fresh pico de gallo and avocado, it makes an amazing breakfast.
How to Make a Vegetarian Mexican Breakfast Casserole
To make your casserole vegetarian, simple substitute a can of black beans. Black beans are probably my favorite way to make any meal meatless.
Use a can (15 ounce) can of black beans, drained and rinsed, and a can of corn, drained, instead of the chorizo. Saute with the onion and bell pepper, then add a tablespoon of chili powder. Continue with the recipe, as written.
How to Freeze Mexican Breakfast Casserole
To freeze your Mexican Breakfast Casserole, simply follow steps 1-4 of the recipe. Then cover and freeze in a freezer-safe dish for up to 3 months.
When ready to use, allow to thaw in the refrigerator overnight. Then finish the recipe as instructed.
More Recipes You'll Love
- Homemade Pico de Gallo - your casserole definitely needs this topping. So amazing!
- Restaurant Style Salsa - the BEST salsa. Ever.
- Crockpot Breakfast Casserole - perfect for holidays! You get to sleep while your Crock Pot does all the cooking.
- Denver Omelet Casserole - an overnight breakfast casserole that tastes just like your favorite omelet!
- Breakfast Quesadillas - a breakfast twist on a Mexican favorite.
- Strawberry Cream Cheese French Toast Bake - if you're a sweets lover, this amazing overnight breakfast casserole is for you!
Mexican Breakfast Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 pound chorizo sausage
- ½ large onion finely chopped
- ½ red bell pepper finely chopped
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- 8 ounces Pepper Jack cheese shredded
- 8 ounces cheddar cheese shredded
- 4 green onions finely sliced
- ¼ cup cilantro finely chopped
- 2 jalapeno peppers seeded, deveined, and finely chopped
- 12 large eggs
- 3 cups half-and-half
- ½ teaspoon hot sauce
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 9 corn tortillas quartered
- Toppings: Pico de gallo, sour cream, and avocado or guacamole
Instructions
- In a large skillet, brown chorizo with onions, bell peppers, and garlic until chorizo is cooked through. Remove from heat, and set aside.
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine cheeses, cilantro, green onions, and jalapenos. Stir until combined. Set aside.
- Butter a 9"x13" baking dish.
- Spread a third (⅓) of the tortilla pieces into the bottom of the dish (12 pieces). Then spoon ⅓ of the chorizo mixture and ⅓ of the cheese mixture on top. Repeat layers twice more, ending with the cheese layer.
- In a separate large mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, half & half, hot sauce, and black pepper until fully combined and a little bit bubbly. Pour egg mixture on top of tortilla layers.
- Cover and refrigerate for at least 6 hours or overnight.
- Bake at 350° for 60-90 minutes, until golden brown. You can test done-ness the same way you would with a cake. Simply insert a fork, and if it comes out clean it's ready.
- Let set for 10 minutes before serving. Serve with fresh pico de gallo, sour cream, and avocado.
Notes
- Serve this casserole with all your favorite taco toppings, like pico de gallo, sour cream, guacamole, fresh avocado, salsa, cilantro, hot sauce, you name it! I highly HIGHLY recommend serving it with this fresh pico de gallo as the acidity from the tomato and lime juice goes with the earthy saltiness of the chorizo and makes this dish truly amazing!
- Mexican Breakfast Casserole is naturally gluten free (double check your sausage. Some chorizo has gluten additives in it!).
- Can you use milk instead of half-and-half? Yes, but use whole milk if you can. The fat in the half-and-half adds to the silky texture, which won't really be found in milk with less fat than whole milk.
- Can I use flour tortillas? Absolutely. We use the exact same technique and don't really notice a flavor difference at all.
- Do you really have to let it chill for 6 hours?! You can cook it right away or after only a couple of hours. However the extra chill time allows the eggs to get into the tortillas, making them moist and almost flaky when you bake it. It will bake fine if you don't let it chill all night, but it's better if you do!
- Salt. You might notice there isn't any added in this recipe! That's because chorizo is naturally pretty salty, so I don't find it necessary to add any more.
- To store: Cover and refrigerate for up to 4-5 days. Reheat leftovers in the microwave.
Nutrition
UPDATE INFO: This post was originally published in October 2014. It was then re-published in September 2019 with new pictures, video, and updated instructions.
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Cheri says
oh my gosh, this looks fantastic!!!! And I am not crazy about eggs! But I think I could like them with this! Thanks for the recipe! followed you from Tidy Mom linky!
Rebekah says
Looks delicious! My husband loves Mexican food; this looks like a fun recipe to try 🙂 #SerenitySaturday
Beth crowdus says
Looks delicious...must give this a try when my boys come home to visit! #SerenitySaturday
Michelle (The Ribbon Retreat) says
This looks delicious! Thank you for sharing! PINNED!
Audrey says
I'd love to wake up and have this for breakfast!
Thanks for sharing on Tasty Tuesdays.
Courtney at A Life From Scratch says
Looks TASTY! Gotta try this one weekend morning 🙂 Found you through the Wednesday Whatsits link party. If you get a chance to stop by my blog sometime, I'd love it!
Monique says
Looks delicious. Thanks for linking up at the Bloggers Brags Pinterest Party.
Karen says
Looks awesome. My husband is Mexican (and I'm not) so I try to get some Mexican meals in when I can. This looks like he'll enjoy it. I know he's a fan of chorizo. Can't wait to try it. Thanks!
Michelle says
I hope he loves it! Let me know how it goes!
Barbara Murillo says
Hi Michelle,
you say Chorizo sausage, is this the hard already cooked chorizo, or do you use the soft crumbly chorizo? I will be making this weekend, but need to know which chorizo you are referring to. Thanks
Michelle says
This is uncooked sausage. It usually comes in a tube and is pretty mushy when you take it out of the package.
Tasha Lamoureux says
This looks amazing! We do a lot of breakfast for dinner in our house, so I'm going to prep this first thing tomorrow morning! I was just curious, does the size of the tortillas matter? I have large, burrito sized tortillas in my fridge already. TIA and thank you for this great new recipe to try!
Michelle says
I don't think it would matter. I might just cut them down to make them easier to work with though.
Dara says
Hello! Has anyone made this without the tortillas? Do they make a huge difference?
Nancy Bauman says
I can not wait to make this. Do u bake it covered or not?
Annissa says
Mexican for breakfast? I'm in! Your step by step photos make it so easy to follow this recipe.
Sally @ Savory With Soul says
I love a good breakfast casserole, and chorizo is one of my favorite sausages. This would be perfect to try during the upcoming holidays due to the ease of being able to make it ahead of time. YUM!
Krissy Allori says
I've made a lot of breakfast casseroles but I had never tried one like this. I loved the heat from the chorizo and peppers.
Emily says
I love everything about this delicious breakfast casserole! It is so full of flavor!
Lisa Huff says
Although this looks great for breakfast, it looks so delish I think I want it for dinner too!
Cookilicious says
Oh my..this looks yum.. I can totally see myself making it.
rebecca says
love the idea of a breakfast casserole! this one looks like it's got so many delicious flavors going on! YUM!
Dannii says
This is my kind of breakfast. All my favourite flavours.
Josi says
This breakfast casserole looks perfect for a weekend with company! I love that you can freeze it in advance!
Heidy L. McCallum says
I made this for breakfast and it was DELISH!!! No kidding the entire gang loved it and I will be making it again next week.
Toni says
This quickly became a favorite breakfast at my house!
Tawnie Kroll says
My family loves and requests this recipe!! Thank you for making it easy and nutritious!
Dee says
Huge thumbs up from myself and brunch guests! Very savory with so many levels of flavor. Definitely a keeper recipe.
Erika says
Mexican food is my favorite and this breakfast casserole is perfection, yum!
Kim says
Can you use tortilla chips instead of tortillas? I have a ton to use leftover
Michelle says
I haven't tried it, but it may work. My only concern is that they may get a little soggy. If you try it, let us know how it turns out!
Rylie says
Hi, do you think I could make this on a Thursday night and bake it on Saturday morning? Would that be too much time in the fridge? Would it ruin it at all?
Michelle says
You can prep all of the ingredients except the egg mixture and assemble it. Then whip the egg mixture up really quick Friday night or Saturday before you bake it.
Jalene says
Made this for my nieces graduation brunch and everyone loved it. I plan on making it again for my sister, who was unable to be at her baby’s graduation. I did have one question can this be frozen?
Michelle says
I would not recommend freezing this particular casserole. What you can do is prep all the ingredients ahead of time, and even layer it up without the eggs a couple days before. Then just whip up the eggs and add them before baking.
TJ says
Made this recipe for breakfast today. Off the chain lady!!! So good. Pretty positive this will become a part of our weekend breakfast rotation. Excellent!!!
Michelle says
Yes! So yummy for weekend breakfast! Glad you liked it!
Lisa | Garlic & Zest says
An easy breakfast casserole like this is perfect for our family holiday gatherings -- in fact, I'm thinking it's great for Thanksgiving morning. Thanks for sharing your recipe.
Beth says
This looks so delicious and tasty! My family is going to love this!
Katie says
Looks delicious. I know my family would go crazy for this!
Mahy says
Now that is the combination that can get anyone go crazy about their breakfast - chorizo, cheese and eggs. What else to wish for? 🙂
Noelle Simpson says
Yum! This is the perfect weekend breakfast casserole! Loved it, thanks for sharing 🙂
Jen Marion says
Made this for a brunch the day after our son’s wedding and it was so good! Would add black beans if making it just for my family.
Mary Campbell says
Can this be refrigerated overnight or 6 hours only?
Brenda Thomas says
Should it be covered when baked? I thought I saw this question asked previously but didn’t see a response.
Michelle says
Nope, you don't need to cover when baking. I just cover it while it's chilling in the refrigerator.
JP Buttercup says
I made this the first time for my nieces’s graduation brunch last year and everyone loved it! Got one in the oven now for Christmas brunch. We love Mexican food…especially chorizo!!!!!
Jessica says
This was great! My family really enjoyed it and it made my Christmas morning so much easier. Thank you for sharing it!
Michelle says
Glad you guys enjoyed it and made your day better 🙂
sue says
can you make this without tortillas?
Michelle says
Maybe but I've never tried it, so I'm not sure about cook times. You can use this ham breakfast casserole with no bread or tortillas for cook time references, and hopefully that will work! Let us know how it goes!
https://www.thegraciouswife.com/denver-omelet-casserole/
Kara Robinson says
When freezing, it says to do steps 1-4. That doesnt include adding the eggs. Should I add them the night before so the tortillas can absorb them?
Michelle says
Yes, that's correct!