I have told you that brunch is my favorite meal of the day, and the winter holidays are perhaps the high point for brunch. But while I am looking forward to these sleepy morning meals, I have to admit that many brunch recipes are too sweet for me. If this sweet monkey bread with a gooey glaze showed up it certainly wouldn't go to waste! But we would need something else too, to nourish and satisfy. I need something savory to start the day off right.
The other requirement for a good brunch recipe, of course, is that it be easy to make ahead. Because who can roll out dough and fry potatoes before breakfast? Not me. So I must tell you about my make-ahead favorite recipe for a big family brunch: Savory, garlicky sweet potato hash, roasted with sausage and rosemary, and baked the next day with eggs on top.
This entire thing is made ahead. (No chopping sweet potatoes at 9am.) In the morning you spread the refrigerated hash in a big pan, and crack a few eggs on top. Slide it into a hot oven, and go make coffee. When you come back the potatoes will be hot and crisped, and the eggs just baked. Easy, nourishing, delicious — your kitchen will smell amazing, and you'll be ready to serve a crowd.
And don't worry — there will still be plenty of room for something sweet too.
This recipe is also very vegetarian-friendly. You can leave the sausage out entirely, or substitute Soy-Rizo or another vegetarian sausage. And it's flexible; the proportions are all quite forgiving.
A couple other small notes: I leave the potato skins on, for convenience and for flavor, so I really do prefer organic potatoes given that their skins are staying on. Also, if you can find Italian sausage with fennel seed, scoop it up for this dish; it's delicious with the sweet potatoes.
This feeds at least eight, and I think it really could be stretched to more, depending on how many eggs you bake, and what else is served. I'm thinking of this with cream cheese braids, some fruit, and coffee. Brunch heaven!

Sweet Potato Hash with Caramelized Onions, Sausage & Eggs
serves 8
2 pounds onions, about 2 large
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
Table salt
1 pound fresh Italian sausage or chorizo
3 pounds sweet potatoes, about 3 large potatoes, ideally organic
6 large garlic cloves
4 long stalks rosemary, about 1/4 cup of leaves
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon kosher salt, plus more to taste if necessary
Freshly ground black pepper
To serve:
Large eggs
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Parmesan cheese, to serve
To make the hash:
Heat the oven to 450°F. Peel the onions and cut them in half lengthwise, then cut them into thin half-moons. Cut the half-moons in half. Melt the butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. When it foams up add the onions and sprinkle lightly with salt. (Don't worry if they are crammed into the pan; they will rapidly cook down.) Lower the heat slightly and cook the onions for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, and lowering the heat if they seem to be burning. Cook them until they are very dark brown.
Meanwhile, put the sausage in another skillet and brown over medium-high heat, chopping it up into fine crumbles with a spatula. Cook the sausage for about 10 minutes, or until it is browned and beginning to crisp. Drain away any excess fat.
While the onions and sausage are cooking, chop the unpeeled sweet potatoes into cubes that are about 1/2-inch to a side. Finely mince the garlic and rosemary leaves, and toss them in a large bowl with the sweet potatoes. Toss with the olive oil, kosher salt, and a generous helping of black pepper.
When the onions are dark brown and the sausage is crispy, stir these into the sweet potatoes as well. Line a large baking sheet with foil or parchment paper, and spread out the sweet potatoes evenly. Roast the sweet potatoes for 30 to 45 minutes (roasting time depends on the size and uniformity of the sweet potato chunks, as well as the variety of sweet potato you buy) or until they are soft and browned.
Refrigerate the cooled hash for up to 5 days.
To serve:
Heat the oven to 425°F. Spread a relatively thin layer of the (already cooked) sweet potato hash in a baking dish, such as a cast iron skillet or a 9x13-inch baking dish. You can also bake in individual ramekins. Make small wells in the sweet potatoes and crack in large eggs. Sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the sweet potatoes are hot and the eggs are baked through. (Test the eggs by prodding them with a fork to check the firmness of the white and the yolk; baked eggs are deceptive in that the white often looks much less cooked than it really is.)
Serve immediately, with shavings or sprinkles of Parmesan cheese, if desired.

More brunch recipes: Breakfast Casseroles & Beyond: 15 Recipes for Brunch
(Images: Faith Durand)
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Comments (38)
I want to make this now!
This recipe looks delicious! If only I could get my family to eat sweet potatoes... (sigh).
oh... my... god... i immediately bookmarked this page and added all the ingredients to my shopping list. i'm going to be the favorite child on christmas morning this year.
I almost always prefer to start the day with something savory. thanks for the new 'something'!
Whoa...this looks insanely awesome. AND Ive been looking for new ways to use up all the sweet potatoes I have!...oh yeah, this was meant to be.
Yum. Yum. Yum. I'll create the vegetarian version - This sounds so good. Thank you!
HOLY moly....YUM. Vegetarian for me too, but YUM.
what a perfect go-to brunch recipe. roll out of bed and it makes itself while you get the coffee going!
I am definitely making this hash within the next few days! It looks so good and would also make a perfect "breakfast for dinner" dish! Thanks for this!
This looks amazing! Faith, I've been *really* loving all your breakfast and brunch-related postings ~~ and I've realized that breakfast/brunch is my favorite meal too. Thanks for so much brunch-y wonderfulness!
I have to make this now!
That looks amazing (although I have to agree with Sevimel--I'm making it for dinner!). BTW, if you're lucky enough to know somebody who smokes their own pork shoulder (or if you're ambitious enough to do it yourself), shreds of that go *really well* in sweet potato hash, too!
Having personally sampled this recipe the other week on a visit from Faith, I can confirm that it is astoundingly good! I'm making it for my folks when they visit over the holidays.
I want a visit from Faith! LOL
Happy Holidays everyone... can't wait to make this at the campground over the New Year weekend!
Are you KIDDING me? This looks so utterly fabulous & a great addition to all those sweet overnight casseroles that I make. I'm going to be making this for sure over Christmas break.
@lem2grace- try mixing white & sweet potatoes sometime for your family. perhaps they will learn to love them as much as you do! good luck :)
Sad, sad, sad that people would get excited about a dish that so obviously looks burnt.
I made this for supper tonight and it's amazingly delicious! I'll make this again and again and again. I found my eggs were a little rubbery on the top after 15 minutes but underneath they were nice & runny. I think I'll try 425º or even 400º next time I prepare it.
I want this now....
this look so good and healthy...
Perfect.
this looks amazing faith & i can't wait to try it this weekend!
@loisjo it is not burnt; don't confuse dark flavor with burnt. Darkly caramelized onions, well-browned sausage, roasted sweet potatoes. Don't be afraid of going dark - darkness means flavor in this dish! :)
ok, I made this for dinner, used french apple sausages. A couple of things should be stressed
Have the hash precooked about 4o min then add the eggs for about 5-10 minutes. Do not try to cook the eggs at the same time you initially put the hash to cook or they will come out like those joke plastic eggs they sell-seriously
The hash itself was really good though. Thanks for the recipe
I actually use leftovers for my weekend brunch. I recently posted a recipe with chateau potatoes and what I did with the leftovers: huevos rotos, or broken eggs; it's a spanish dish that is easy and delish. I also made an amazing caramelized balsamic onion and gorgonzola sandwich with leftover beef wellington that was to die for!
Made this today - awesome. I actually did it all this morning because last night I was tired and our brunch guests weren't coming till 10:30 (and we have a seven month old so sleeping in is in the past...). Very easy, delicious, pretty healthy. Next time I want to try it with duck!
Just made this for dinner with veg sausage and it's great! But yeah, if you go from roasting to adding an egg you don't need 15-20 minutes; ours were nice at 7.
I made this today to eat tomorrow morning (Christmas) and the little bites I took were amazing. I cheated and used pre-cubedsweet potatoes and diced onions (which wound up a little burnt because they were so small after cooking down) which saved some time. I cannot wait to eat it! Thank you for the recipe!
Made this tonight - the smell wafting through the house will definitely keep anyone from sleeping in on Christmas morning. I'm looking forward to a nearly effortless Christmas breakfast.
This was soooo very good! I used sausage with sage mixed in, and it was all amazing. Thanks for the recipe!
This recipe is brunch perfection. So easy to make, so tasty, and it yields a ton of food. I halved the recipe and there was more than enough for two separate breakfasts for two people. Definitely the darker the onions, sausage and yams the better. Also, BE SURE TO PAY ATTENTION to the cook time on the eggs. I learned the hard way on Christmas morning but redeemed myself with the leftovers the next day! Will put this recipe in my rotation.
Oh so unbelievably delicious and easy! Definitely in our brunch rotation from here on out!
I am baking this right now, and it smells amazing! Just a word of warning though: DO NOT USE parchment paper. In a 450-degree oven, parchment paper will burn and/or catch fire. We just got to test out our new smoke alarm...
This is my official "me time" breakfast. Ever since it was posted, I have indulged in this perfect sweet potato creation at least a dozen times. L-O-V-E it!
I made this last night for dinner and instead of pork sausage I used chicken/garlic sausage. Also, I wilted some spinach and served the hash over top of the spinach (for a little green). It was delicious! Will definitely be making it again!
This was a hit when I made it for friends at our winter cabin! Thanks!
Question - do you stir in the already-cooked onions and sausage into the raw sweet potatoes and then roast the whole thing for 30-40 minutes additional at 450? Are the sausage and onions ok like this? Making it tonight and don't want to goof - thanks!
Just made this and am incredibly disappointed. I followed the directions exactly, and while the sweet potatoes came out beautifully, everything else was burned beyond the point of being edible. If anyone has any suggestions as to where I may have gone wrong, I would appreciate it.
I have to agree with the other posters who found this inedible/ burnt. We had to throw it out. This recipe is a gamble.
Not sure how I missed this the first time around but thanks for the re-run. You can be sure I'll have this one committed to memory (and perfection) by the time Christmas morning rolls around again. A word to those who were disappointed & found this burnt/inedible...*Know thine oven*. (either that, or buy an oven thermometer - never seen the need myself, but then, I know my oven). In any event, DO NOT GIVE UP - keep trying - this one is worth the effort!
Mannah, it is...
I made this last night with my boyfriend. We mostly followed the recipe but did things a little differently and had fantastic results (also saved on time); we tossed the sweet potatoes with olive oil, rosemary, and garlic before roasting for 37 minutes @ 350 (37 is just an arbitrary number I like). Meanwhile, in a cast iron pan we let the onions saute covered (stirring occasionally) on a very low heat until they were translucent and then slightly brown and then added chorizo and cooked that. When the potatoes finished we mixed them with the onions/chorizo and put the whole thing with eggs back in the oven for another 20 minutes @ 425. My boyfriend confessed about half-way through the process he didn't like sweet potatoes. I couldn't believe it, but he loved, loved, loved this dish and we'll be making it again.