Cheesy Sausage & Biscuit Breakfast Casserole. (Gluten/Grain/Egg/Dairy Free with a Paleo option)

by Brittany on June 7, 2013

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Casseroles are always a great go-to for quick weekday  or weekend meals. Hosting brunch? This casserole is also perfect for when you want to serve a larger group of people. This breakfast dish has all of the favorites- sausage, saw mill gravy, biscuits, and potatoes- but with the bonus of being grain and egg free for those with allergies.

This casserole is a hearty breakfast, comfort food at its best.  It’s one of those dishes you’ll find friends and family asking you to make over and over again. It reminded me of the delicious cheesy potato casserole that my mom made us on special occasions growing up. It was a  thrill to recreate that taste and experience- in a healthier – multi allergen free way.

 Cheesy Sausage & Biscuit Breakfast Casserole

 

  • 5 cups frozen hash brown potatoes (see note below for paleo option)
  • 2 cups  cheddar cheese (Real Cheese or Dairy Free Daiya)

For the gravy:

  • 1 lb Breakfast Sausage (removed from the casing)
  • 1/2 teaspoon Sage
  • 1/2 teaspoon Smoked Paprika
  • pinch of Black Pepper
  • 1 cup Milk (dairy or dairy free- any variety)
  • 1/4 cup Blanched Almond Flour
  • 1 Tablespoon Starch (Potato, Tapioca or Arrowroot)
  • 1/4 teaspoon Salt

For the Biscuit topping: 

  • 3 packed cups Blanched Almond Flour
  • 1 Tablespoon Baking Powder (I use double acting)
  • 1/4 teaspoon Salt
  • 4 Tablespoons Water
  • 3 Tablespoons Potato Starch (Tapioca or Arrowroot will work too- but the texture wont be as good)
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Put a teaspoon of oil is a skillet, add the sausage and cook fully. (Break the sausage up as you cook it)  
  3. Once the sausage is cooked, add the sage, paprika, pepper, milk, almond flour, and starch and whisk until combined and a the mixture thickens into a gravy. Set aside.
  4. For the biscuits: mix the almond flour, baking powder, salt, water, and potato starch until they form a crumbly dough.
  5. In a 2.5 Quart Casserole dish, assemble a layer of potatoes on the bottom, add the gravy, then the cheese, and then the biscuit topping. Add a little extra cheese on top if you prefer.
  6. Cover the casserole with tinfoil and bake for 1 hour.

Substitutions:

  • Instead of white potatoes- you could try using shredded sweet potatoes, shredded turnips and shredded parsnips. (I have not yet tried any of these in this specific recipe- but have had great success using them in other recipes). 
  • Instead of blanched almond flour feel free to use another homemade nut or seed flour. Sunflower seed flour reacts to baking soda and powder and turns green if you surpass a certain amount of baking powder per cup of flour. (I don’t know what this exact amount is and will be toying with this in the future.) This is something to be aware of if you try using homemade sunflower seed flour. If your biscuits turn green- then try using less baking powder in the recipe than I have called for.
  • To make your own Nut or Seed flour: simply run the nut or seed in a high powdered blender or coffee grinder until you have a super fine flour. (If the flour is course- the recipe might not work as well.)
  • Coconut flour or any of the starchy grain based flours will NOT work in this recipe as a replacement for the almond flour.
  • I suggested Daiya for this recipe as the dairy free replacement as it is one of the few cheeses made without rice flour. It fits within the grain free category.  Of course real cheese is a delicious option too.. Trader Joes sells a fabulous raw sharp cheddar which is much easier to digest than your average conventional cheese.

-Brittany-

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{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }

Phyllis Strickland June 7, 2013 at 9:18 pm

Thank you so much for this fabulous recipe! I am so excited to find a recipe for “real” breakfast that won’t make me ill. I might even make it for dinner tonight!

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stephanie June 8, 2013 at 6:58 pm

Is there almond flour in the gravy? I don’t see it in the list of ingredients, but its in the instructions.

“Once the sausage is cooked, add the sage, paprika, pepper, milk, almond flour, and starch and whisk until combined and a the mixture thickens into a gravy. Set aside.”

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Brittany June 8, 2013 at 8:02 pm

Thank you for catching that!! As that almond flour makes a big difference to the gravy. I just updated the recipe- it should have said “1/4 cup of blanched almond flour”.

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MeganTheBaroness June 8, 2013 at 9:54 pm

Thank you for sharing, Brittany! This looks delicious — and is the perfect recipe for all my dietary issues! Breakfast is always so sad for me as an egg-free gal. But no more!

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Annie June 9, 2013 at 1:10 am

Wish this didn’t have nut flours in it :( I almost got excited. Looks really good though.

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Heather June 12, 2013 at 9:45 am

Annie, In am sure you can use another GF flour blend. So you say real cheese for people who are.not dairy free?

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Brittany June 12, 2013 at 2:54 pm

Hi ladies- refer to the substitution notes in the post. I don’t recommend using another baking blend. Only other nut/seed flours.

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Carla July 2, 2013 at 7:27 pm

Brittany – if we are not egg free do you think adding eggs would mess with this at all or just be fine? Thanks! YUMO!

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Brittany July 3, 2013 at 12:04 am

I would not add eggs to the biscuits- but if you wanted you could probably get away with adding eggs to the hash brown layer :)

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