Grits make an amazing breakfast casserole! This Sausage Grits casserole with creamy grits, rolled together with delicious eggs, tons of cheddar cheese and hearty sausage is a unique breakfast casserole that your family is sure to love.
This cheesy grits casserole compete with sausage and cheese is a hearty, rich, and incredibly delicious recipe that is sure to be a favorite amongst grit lovers!
The best thing about breakfast casseroles is that they can seriously feed a crowd, which makes prepping and making for holidays the most common time to eat this morning dish. While Sausage hashbrown casseroles are indeed the most popular choices for breakfast when it comes to potlucks and holidays, there really are so many other recipe choices that are unique, delicious, and really mix up the menu.
Do yourself a solid and also try this mind blowing blueberry French toast casserole or this if you want to stick to a good old fashioned southern meal, biscuits and gravy casserole (oh yes, that exists)!
What are grits?
Grits are simply ground down corn! Sausage grits casserole is a pretty easy baked dish. Super easy to make, grits are a time honored tradition in a southern family.
Tons of cheese and smothered in butter, there is a lot in this casserole to seriously enjoy! You first make your cheesy grits, add your cooked sausage, and combine with your egg mixture before popping into the oven.
It’s a creamy breakfast casserole that can be altered in a lot of ways to eat over and over again. Even if you “hate grits”, this casserole could really change your mind!! This brunch casserole is complemented by a serving of a sweet fruit including cut up strawberries or a side dish like blueberry breakfast cake.
Sausage Grits Casserole
This sausage and grits casserole is a perfect choice for a filling and delicious Southern style breakfast. In order to get started, here are the following ingredients you need to have on hand to make the magic happen. You can also take these cheddar cheese grits and turn them into cheddar bacon grits quite easily with a few substitutions. I always recommend making a recipe your own but also testing out the original to see if it suits you and make subsequent changes in future recipes so you know what to expect.
Scroll to the bottom for a printable version of this post, including all measurements and instructions!
- quick cooking instant grits
- butter
- ground sausage
- cheddar cheese
- salt
- garlic powder
- thyme
- pepper
- eggs
- milk OR whole cream
- extra salt and pepper
Seasoning Matters with Grits
You must, must make sure you season grits properly. Grits in and of themselves (kind of like oatmeal) is just a grain and requires extra flavors to really bring out the best dish. Do not be afraid to add extra butter, cheese, or bacon on top prior to serving like all good Southern cooks do!
Variations in Grits Casserole
Grits can be insanely personal to a southern stomach and I am not claiming that this is the ONLY way to cook a wholesome southern casserole! Here are some delicious variations for this breakfast casserole so you can bring in the flavors you love the most.
- If you love more meat, up your ground sausage from 1/2 a pound to a full pound.
- Extra Cheese – can you ever have too much cheese?
- Add a half a cup of Rotel OR fresh cut up tomatoes
- Shrimp!!
- Mix with Bacon or Cooked Saute Shrimp
- Change the cheese from Cheddar to Gouda
- Add Cajun seasoning for a bit of a kick
- Insert cut up bell peppers for some color
- Use left over grits from this slow cooker creamy grits recipe
How to make Cheesy Sausage Grits Casserole
Preheat oven to 350 and grease a 1-1/2 quart casserole dish. Set aside.
Cook breakfast sausage and drain any excess grease out of the pan.
Add water in a large saucepan and heat to a rapid boil over high heat.
Stir in quick cooking grits and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Reduce heat to simmer and cover sauce pan.
Stir frequently and cook for 5-7 minutes as grits become tender. Remove hot grits from heat.
Stir in 1/4th cup butter until melted, making the creamiest grits.
Add 3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese and mix well.
Stir in cooked sausage and remaining salt and seasonings. If you note below, there are other variations in seasonings and grits that you can alter at this point in the recipe.
Set fully cooked cheesy grits aside.
Add eggs and milk to a bowl and whisk well.
Pour into a preheated skillet and scramble eggs just until half cooked.
Stir eggs into grits mixture.
Pour grits casserole into prepared pan (pan that has been sprayed with nonstick cooking spray).
Dot top of casserole with remaining butter and bake for 25-30 minutes or until lightly browned.
Top with cheese and return to oven for 3-5 minutes or until cheese is melted.
Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.
Serves 4-6
Can you make Grits Casserole ahead?
Yes, you sure can! You can make sausage grits casserole ahead, prep and put in fridge with foil tightly on dish. Proceed as directed in heating next day.
What to do with left over grits
Great news! Grits casserole can be made with left over grits quite easily! Just warm and proceed with the recipe at the adding cheese and butter part! This one of the best recipes to make any left overs from recipes like slow cooker grits can be used and not wasted.
Serve Grits with other Potluck Dishes
Need more delicious breakfast recipes? I got you! Easy breakfast recipes and casseroles are what we live for in our home!
- Overnight French Toast Casserole
- Cracker Barrel Hash brown Casserole
- Apple Breakfast Bake with Caramel Sauce
- Ninja Foodi Breakfast Casserole
- Amish Breakfast Casserole
- Blueberry Breakfast Casserole
- Ham Hash browns
Questions? Feedback? I love when you tell me what you love or what you added to make it better so I can improve my recipes!
Cheesy Grits Casserole with Breakfast Sausage
Ingredients
Grits
- 3 cups water
- 3/4 cup quick cooking grits
- 1/4 th cup butter
- 1/2 pound ground sausage - cooked and drained
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese - divided
- 1 teaspoon salt - divided
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon thyme
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
Eggs
- 4 eggs
- 1/4 cup milk
Topping to Casserole
- 1 cup shredded cheese
- 1/4 th butter - cut into pats
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 and grease a 1-1/2 quart casserole dish. Set aside.
COOK THE SAUSAGE:
- Cook sausage. Drain any excess grease and set cooked breakfast sausage aside.
- COOK THE GRITS Please note that some of this recipe includes instructions to cook fast cooking grits. If the box you buy varies on preparation, it is fine to refer to box to cook grits before moving on to the rest of the recipe.
- Add 3 cups water in a large saucepan and heat to a rapid boil over high heat.
- Stir in grits and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
- Reduce heat to simmer and cover sauce pan.
- Stir grits frequently and cook for 5-7 minutes. Remove from heat.
- Stir in butter until melted.
- Add 3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese and mix well.
- Stir in cooked sausage to grits mixture and add remaining salt and seasonings.
- Set bowl aside.
- COOK THE EGGS
- Crack and add eggs and milk to a bowl and whisk well.
- Pour eggs into a preheated skillet and scramble eggs just until half cooked.
- Stir half cooked eggs into grits mixture and combine well.
- PREP THE CASSEROLE
- Pour grits/eggs/sausage pan into a casserole pan that has been prepared with non-stick cooking spray.
- Dot top of grits casserole with remaining butter around top and bake for 25-30 minutes or until lightly browned.
- Top casserole with shredded cheese and return to oven for 3-5 minutes or until cheese is melted.
- Let sausage grits casserole stand for 5 minutes before serving.
Recipe Notes
- Please see article for flavor variations, additions, and extra topping suggestions.
- Cheddar Cheese can be subsituted for other cheeses. Gouda is a favorite with grits.
KIm says
Grits must be made with chicken broth not water! Makes a tinny of difference in flavor
Trisha says
You can def make them with chicken broth, I just dont prefer them that way for breakfast.
Sherlyn says
This is a keeper! Everyone loved it, even if I didn’t read the directions carefully enough and put the butter and cheese on top before I cooked it – it was still wonderful. Thank you for this recipe.
Emily says
I was so excited to see a breakfast casserole without eggs, but it has them. Are they crucial? My husband has an egg sensitivity
Trisha says
Emily, truthfully I have never made this breakfast casserole without eggs. I feel like you COULD make it without the eggs but I havent tested it.
Nina says
Can we make the day before
Trisha says
Grits are pretty tricky when it comes to left overs. I find that the day of is when they are at their creamiest however they SHOULD heat up just fine next day in the oven – might need an extra 5 minutes to offset the coldness of the fridge.
Erin says
What do you do with the remaining half of the eggs? You mix the first half in and then never add the 2nd half in the recipe.
Trisha says
Erin, there may be some confusion. I do not mean cook half OF the eggs, but cook the eggs only half way….meaning partially cook the eggs.