Vegan Breakfast Casserole
on Nov 20, 2023, Updated Aug 02, 2024
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You’ll love this savory vegan breakfast casserole recipe for a healthy and delicious make-ahead recipe that’s perfect for meal prep, brunch and holidays.
Enjoy this delicious vegan breakfast bake topped with avocado and salsa for a healthy and delicious breakfast, lunch or dinner!
This casserole features potatoes and veggies baked in an eggy sauce made with chickpea flour and tofu. It’s flavourful, filling, high in protein and can be prepared or baked in advance for busy mornings.
The recipe is easy to customized with add-ins like vegan breakfast sausage, shredded cheese and a variety of veggies, so it’s easy to throw together anytime.
If you’re into savory breakfasts, you’ll have to try The Best Tofu Scramble Recipe, Vegan Savory Oatmeal Breakfast Bowls with Kale or Vegan Savory Oatmeal Breakfast Bowls with Kale next.
Ingredient Notes
- Potato: I like yellow potatoes such as Yukon gold but you can use any variety. To save time, you can use pre-cooked potato or frozen hash browns. Substitute sweet potatoes for a variation.
- Bell Peppers: I like a mix of red and green bell peppers but any colour works.
- Mushrooms: White button or cremini mushrooms work. If you don’t like mushrooms, you can leave them out.
- Onion: Red onion, white onion and yellow onion work.
- Tofu: Soft tofu is the main ingredient used to make the egg-like sauce. Soft tofu or silken tofu is recommended but you should be able to use medium tofu if that’s what you have.
- Chickpea Flour: Be sure to use chickpea flour or garbanzo bean flour, not gram flour or besan. If you have extra chickpea flour, you can use it chickpea flour pancakes, gluten-free carrot cake pancakes or chickpea flour muffins.
- Nutritional Yeast: Adds seasoning and a cheesy flavor. If you’re not familiar, read this post on nutritional yeast and how to use it.
- Spices: You’ll need garlic powder, turmeric (for colour), salt and pepper. If you have black salt, or kala namak, you can use that in place of regular salt for a more “eggy” flavour.
This list is not complete. Please see the recipe card at the end of the post for the complete ingredient list with measurements and detailed instructions.
Additions
- Add Vegan Sausage: Vegan sausage, breakfast sausages or crumbles make a great addition to this casserole. You can use any variety of sausage or vegan breakfast links. To use them, cut into bite-sized pieces and throw them in when you saute the veggies or mix the batter. You could also serve sausages on the side.
- Vegetable Options: Some great choices are: spinach, chopped kale, green onion, finely chopped leek, grated zucchini, grated carrot, asparagus, peas, corn, and tomato (in addition or instead of the bell pepper and onion).
- Add Dairy-Free Cheese: For a cheesy flavor, mix up to 1/2 cup grated cheese into the batter or spinkle it on top when there’s about 15 minutes of baking time remaining. Mozzarella or cheddar cheese would be suitable.
- For Heat: Add up to 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper or red chili flakes to the batter or serve with your favourite hot sauce.
- Tater Tot Casserole: Cover the top of the casserole with frozen tater tots before baking.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step One: Roast the potato.
Peel and chop the potato into half-inch cubes. Toss with half of the oil, thyme and oregano and a pinch of salt and pepper and roast for about 20 minutes in a preheated oven at 375 F.
Quick Tip: To speed up the recipe, use pre-cooked potato or fresh or frozen cooked hash browns, or roast the potatoes 1-2 days in advance. Just chop into cubes and add to the batter. Tater tots would also work for a fun twist!
Step Two: Blend the batter.
Add all of the batter ingredients: tofu, nutritional yeast, water, chickpea flour, baking powder, salt, pepper, turmeric and garlic powder, to a high-speed blender or food processor and blend until completely smooth and combined.
Give the sides and bottom of the blender a quick scrape to make sure any clumps of chickpea flour get fully incorporated.
Step Three: Saute the fresh veggies.
Add the bell pepper, mushroom and red onions to a large skillet with the remaining oil and cook for 4-6 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they’re soft and fragrant.
Step Four: Bake the casserole.
Mix the batter, cooked veggies and potato together in a mixing bowl.
Transfer the batter to an 8×8 inch square parchment-paper lined casserole dish.
Though the parchment paper isn’t required, it’s definitely a lot easier for clean up! If you don’t have parchment paper, lightly grease the dish or use a bit of cooking spray.
Bake the casserole for 45-50 minutes until the centre is firm. Let it cool for 15 minutes before slicing.
Tried it served with avocado, salsa or hot sauce and thinly sliced green onions.
For brunch or Christmas morning, pair the casserole with fresh fruit, vegan french toast, vegan bacon, baked goods like these healthy oatmeal muffins or your favorite vegan bacon.
Storing & Making Ahead
Storing: Cover with plastic wrap or aluminum foil and store the baked casserole in the fridge for up to 4 days. You can store the whole thing, covered right in the baking dish or transfer slices to an airtight container. Reheat the casserole in the oven or microwave until heated through.
Freezing: Let cool completely then freeze in individual slices in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge then reheat in the oven or microwave.
Make Ahead: You can prepare the batter up to 1 day before baking and store covered in the fridge. The mixture will thicken overnight, so baking time may be reduced in this case. When you bake it the next day, start checking for doneness after 30-35 minutes.
Vegan Breakfast Casserole
Ingredients
For the Veggies:
- 2 yellow potatoes, peeled and cut into ½-inch pieces (300 g/2 cups)
- ¼ tsp ground thyme
- ¼ tsp dried oregano
- ½ red or green pepper, cut into ¼-inch pieces (75 g/½ cup)
- ½ green bell pepper, cut into ¼-inch pieces (75 g/½ cup)
- 4 oz mushrooms, diced (112 g/1 ¾ cups)
- ¼ red onion, finely chopped (42 g/⅓ cup)
- 4 tsp oil, divided
For the Batter:
- 1 454 g pkg soft tofu or silken tofu
- 1 cup chickpea flour, 117 g
- ½ cup water, 120 mL
- ¼ cup nutritional yeast, 20 g
- 1 tsp baking powder, 4 g
- ¾ tsp garlic powder
- ¼ tsp turmeric
- ½ tsp salt or kala namak, black salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat Oven: Preheat the oven to 375 F and grease (or use cooking spray) a 8×8 inch square baking dish or line with parchment paper. Set the baking dish aside.
- Roast Potatoes: Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and add the potatoes, thyme, oregano and 2 tsp of the oil. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Roast potatoes for 20-22 min, flipping halfway through, until tender and golden-brown. Note: To reduce cooking time, you can use pre-roasted/cooked potatoes or hash browns here or have a make-ahead option of roasting potatoes the day before.
- Blend Batter: To a blender, add tofu, chickpea flour, water, nutritional yeast, garlic powder, turmeric, salt and pepper. Blend on high until smooth. Set aside.
- Cook Vegetables: In a large non-stick pan, heat the remaining 2 tsp oil over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add onions, peppers and mushrooms. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook for 4-6 min, stirring occasionally, until softened.
- Mix Batter: To a large bowl, add veggie mixture, roasted potatoes and batter and stir to combine.
- Bake: Transfer the batter to the baking dish and bake on the middle rack of the oven for 45-50 minutes, until the top is golden brown and firm to the touch.
- Serve: Let sit for 15 minutes, then slice and serve as desired.
Delicious! I changed it up a bit. I added frozen corn, and didn’t have any mushrooms on hand so skipped them. Added some Tofurky sausage as well. I didn’t bother sautéing the peppers and it came out totally fine- they were cooked enough. Will make again!
I was really excited about this recipe because I love the idea.
I followed the instructions as written, but unfortunately it turned out super dry and it also did not taste that great. I was able to eat it with a lot of dip, though. 😅
Sorry to hear that. Did you measure the chickpea flour by weight? I’ve made this many times and it’s never come out dry but it might if you accidentally used too much chickpea flour.
I’ve made this casserole twice – both times it was delicious! This time I subbed sweet potato for the white potato, and added chopped kale to the vegetables. I’ve made several similar recipes, and this one, by far, is my favorite. It also freezes beautifully.
Thanks very much! I’m so glad you enjoy it.
Best breakfast casserole/frittata recipe that I’ve made. The tofu adds a nice creaminess to the dish, and it reheats beautifully in a covered skillet. I’ll definitely make this again!
Thanks for trying it! Glad you enjoyed.
does the baking powder go in the batter? not entirely sure from the directions. thx!
Yes, you can blend it into the batter. Sorry about that!
Great recipe! I’ve made a chickpea flour only style casserole before and it came out like “corn bread” someone said. This time, adding the tofu really has helped with that eggy like texture with the chickpea and is wonderful to eat. Make sure you don’t forget the thyme and oregano like I did, which made it taste a little bland, but the hot sauce on top worked wonders. I subbed the peppers with asparagus and shredded zucchini, used frozen hashbrowns (cook before) and still had the onions and mushrooms for the veggies, which I sautéed with garlic for extra flavor. Overall a lovely something for meal prep for a warm breakfast or lunch!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! I agree, it really needs those extra herbs in there, though toppings can add a lot of flavour too. Love the choices for veggies! Thank you so much for the review.