This Sweet Potato Egg Bake is fluffy, delicious and a perfect make ahead healthy breakfast casserole. It’s loaded with vegetables, sharp cheese and flavorful seasonings!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
This sweet potato egg bake has layers upon layers of creamy sweet potatoes, fluffy eggs, tender spinach and gooey cheese. It reminds me a lot of my cottage cheese sweet potato quiche.
It’s gluten-free and every healthy enthusiast’s dream because we all know how hard it is to eat complex carbs, lean protein and not a lot of sugar in the morning. This sweet potato egg casserole contains 1.5 pounds of sweet potatoes and 4-5 cups of baby spinach.
You can make it ahead of time for a week of healthy breakfasts and enjoy year round, hot or cold. Its ingredients are also very budget-friendly!
Reader’s Review
I have now made this recipe 3 times and we love it! We use kale grown from our garden and it is the best! I love that it’s filled with so many good things, including cheeses, and that we can enjoy reheating a slice here and there over the next few days. Thank you!
Susan
Ingredients for Sweet Potato Egg Bake
- Sweet potatoes: Yams and sweet potatoes are 2 different things but you can use either. You will need 1.5 pounds or 3 large sweet potatoes. I like to buy organic and not to peel them because skin contains good-for-you vitamins and nutrients and will not be noticeable once shredded. Just wash well and grate. However, you can peel sweet potato, if you wish.
- Eggs: 12 large eggs.
- Cheese: Grate some hard sharp cheese like cheddar, gruyere or swiss. I have also used marble or Tex Mex cheese with great results. I often use Kerrygold Dubliner as it adds unbelievable punch of flavor to bland veggies. I know it’s not everyone’s favorite, like blue cheese, but I love it so had to share!
- Spinach: I like to buy pre-washed baby spinach.
- Milk: Any dairy or non-dairy milk works. I like to use almond milk in this dish because it’s tasteless and saves a few calories.
- Seasonings: Taco seasoning, garlic powder, salt and pepper.
- Green onions or cilantro, and jalapenos: For a lot of flavor with almost zero calories.
How to Make Sweet Potato Egg Casserole
- Prep: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F, line 9 x 13-inch casserole dish with parchment paper and grease with cooking spray. Grate sweet potatoes, cheese and chop other veggies.
- Whisk: In a large bowl, first add eggs, taco seasoning, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Then whisk in milk, cheese, green onions and jalapenos.
- Mix: Stir in the sweet potatoes and spinach. Mixture will be very thick!
- Pour: Transfer the sweet potato egg mixture into a baking dish lined with parchment paper and flatten it down.
- Bake: Bake sweet potato breakfast casserole for 1 hour. At the end, sprinkle more cheese on top and continue to bake until cheese has melted.
- Cool: Let the casserole cool for 10 minutes before slicing. Serve warm.
Variations
- Got butternut squash: You can use entirely butternut squash and turn it into a butternut squash breakfast bake, ha! Just peel and grate it. Easy-peasy!
- Adding meat: Adding turkey sausage or baked bacon is totally optional. If you do, saute sausage in a skillet before adding to the final mixture with sweet potatoes and spinach.
- Other veggies: Kale with stalks removed and chopped will work instead of spinach. You can also add bell peppers and mushrooms, sauteing them prior in a large skillet with a bit of oil or cooking spray.
- Up the protein content: If you would like to make casserole higher in protein, use 6 large eggs and 2 cups egg whites.
- Make it dairy-free: Omit the cheese completely, casserole will still hold together. And use almond milk.
How to Make Ahead
This healthy sweet potato egg bake is extremely durable in terms of time. You don’t have to worry about any ingredients to become soggy and can make it ahead of freeze.
Assemble the dish the night before, then wrap tightly in plastic and refrigerate overnight. Just bake in the morning and serve, perfect for all those holidays and brunches.
How to Store and Reheat
Freeze: If you would like to freeze the casserole, cook it first, cool completely, cover with plastic wrap and aluminum foil on top, and freeze it.
You can also slice it in individual servings and freeze separately. You can choose how many servings you want to defrost at a time – convenient.
Freeze either way for up to 3 months. Then thaw it completely in the fridge and reheat in a microwave.
Store: Leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator (covered) for up to 5 days.
FAQs
You can use regular potatoes. Peel, shred and give them a good squeeze as they contain more moisture than sweet potatoes. You can use store-bought hash browns as well. I would reduce salt to 1/2 teaspoon and keep in mind the bake will be not as healthy.
I haven’t tested this recipe in the slow cooker but you can loosely follow this slow cooker recipe directions. Please let me know how it comes out.
More Breakfast Casseroles to Try
Healthy Breakfast Casserole (Egg Bake)
Cottage Cheese Egg Bake
Low Carb Breakfast Casserole with Sausage
Baked Egg Tortilla
Sweet Potato Egg Bake
Ingredients
- 1.5 pound sweet potatoes or yams, shredded
- 12 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon taco seasoning, low sodium
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 cup any milk, I used unsweetened almond milk
- 1 cup any sharp cheese like gruyere or cheddar, shredded & divided
- 1/2 cup green onion or cilantro, finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons jalapenos, seeded & minced
- 4 cups baby spinach or kale, packed
- Cooking spray, I use Misto
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F, line 9×13 baking dish with unbleached parchment paper and spray with cooking spray. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, add eggs, taco seasoning, garlic powder, salt and pepper; whisk for 30 seconds. Add milk, 2/3 cup cheese, green onions, and jalapenos; whisk to combine.
- Add sweet potatoes and spinach, and stir well to mix. Mixture will be thick, and it might look like it needs more eggs but it doesn’t. Transfer to prepared baking dish, flatten with spatula and bake for 1 hour.
- Sprinkle with remaining 1/3 cup cheese and bake for a few more minutes until cheese is melted.
- Remove from the oven, cool for 10 minutes and cut into 12 squares using long serrated knife. Serve warm (great for holidays) or cold (awesome for meal prep).
Notes
- Store: Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 5 days
- Freeze: Freeze up to 3 months.
- Make ahead: Assemble, cover and refrigerate for up to 48 hours. Bake as per instructions.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I have now made this recipe (without the taco, jalenpos or cilantro) 3 times and we love it! We use kale grown from our garden and it is the best!
I love that is filled with so many good things, including cheeses!, and that we can enjoy reheating a slice here and there over hte next few days.
Thank you!
So happy you’re loving it! Using your own garden kale sounds amazing — thanks for sharing!
What a great recipe! I used a white sweet potato and also shredded mushrooms. I added orange bell pepper and kale. For the milk – I did 1/2 cup milk and 1/2 cottage cheese to up the protein. Mine was set and done at 50 minutes.
Love that you can adapt this recipe based on what’s in the fridge. It’s so tasty and hearty. Thank you!
So glad you loved it! Your swaps sound amazing, love how versatile this recipe can be.
Looking forward to making this for the week tomorrow! Just curious why this casserole calls for parchment paper when other similar recipes of yours don’t. Not bothered, just curious! 🙂
Of course. Because eggs stick to surfaces badly.
Made this recipe several times and each time it turns out perfectly. My daughter’s partner requests it each time we visit, and their daughter who is under two loves it as well. Great to have on hand for any quick and nutritious meal. Thank you Elena.
Amazing to hear! Sounds like everyone enjoys this recipe, from the littles to the grown ups. So nutritious too!
Oh. My. Goodness. I was nervous/excited to make this and am so happy I did! Delicious, filling and easy once the sweet potatoes are shredded. May invest in a slicing blade for my food processor. I am not a big spicy person so I left out the spicy ingredients and just used garlic powder, fresh ground salt and pepper. Had some Mexican shredded cheese and that worked out well. Thanks for sharing this recipe, I’ll be sure to make it again and will also try out your other suggestions!
Fantastic! Glad you enjoyed the recipe!