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.
Overall, I liked this recipe quite a lot, but was not loving the taco flavor and jalapeños. I think I will sub thyme or rosemary next time. Mine also came out too wet, so might cut the milk in half and skip the parchment paper. I think with those changes for my taste it will be 5 starts. Thanks for a recipe with so many veggies for breakfast!
Glad you like it and sure thing, make it your own. If it’s too wet, cook it longer, your oven might run a bit lower or maybe potatoes are more wet. Also let it sit after cooking to solidify.
Hello, do you think it would work to finely chop the sweet potatoes in a food processor instead of shredding them?
Yes. With a shredding disc.
I really liked this. I halved the recipes- 3 eggs and 1/2 cup egg whites. I used 2% milk and parmesan cheese because it was all I had. I will definitely make this again.
So glad to hear you loved this recipe!
Would it be ok to use silicone muffin cups instead of a pan?
Yes.
I have two questions. Do you think I could use cottage cheese instead of cheddar? And would egg whites work?
Yes and yes!
Excellent recipe
Fantastic! Glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Mine is a question the sweet potato is it supposed to be first boiled or cooked
Raw. You grate raw sweet potato.
This was a little far from our usual flavor profiles – so my husband & daughter liked (but didn’t love) it. They are crazy – this is terrific! I was happy to finish the leftovers for lunch over the next couple of days!
Can I just cook it in casserole with lid on instead of baking it?
On the stovetop in a casserole baking dish? No. Need some kind of oven type appliance.
We’ve made this several times and greatly enjoy it. It’s a great make-ahead breakfast for the work week. While it’s great as is, we’ve also added chorizo to it, whcih really takes it to another level!
I’m so happy to read this! Thanks for your positive feedback!