This Amish Barn-Raising Breakfast Casserole is a very popular recipe among the Amish. Large gatherings require large amounts of fuel, and this casserole delivers!
Barn raisings have captured the imagination of Hollywood scriptwriters and Amish-themed novelists for generations. Barn-raisings are irresistible material: hundreds of Amish men swarm like ants over the frame of a barn and quickly get it put up within the span of a day. Meanwhile, a legion of ladies ladel soups, cart in casseroles, bake breads, and whip up desserts to feed the hungry men throughout the project. Man, the barn-raising scene from the Harrison Ford movie, Witness, was epic.
And the above paragraph does pretty much describe an old-fashioned Amish barn-raising, they aren’t as common as you would think. I mean, first, you have to assume that everybody can just drop work at a moment's notice. But that isn’t as “easy” as it used to be when most Amish men were self-employed farmers. Now they work for shops, as shopkeepers, in factories, so from a practical standpoint, barn-raisings are just tougher to organize. I’ve noticed, frolics are becoming more popular in recent years, those are scaled-down versions of barn raisings.
Anyway, none of this is to say that barn-raisings don’t still happen among the Amish, they do. They are part of their cultural traditions and community fabric. They’re just not all that common. It’s not like there’s a barn-raising every week in Amish country. In older established Amish communities, most of the barns are in decent shape so the need for from-scratch barns are rare.
Also, when there are barn-raisings today, more and more frequently, power tools show up. This doesn’t diminish the workmanship, just a note to show how they’re changing.
Most Amish who make this Amish Barn-Raising Breakfast Casserole recipe would use homemade cottage cheese (I've had some, it's delicious), homemade hashed browns, farm fresh eggs, homegrown onions, and slabs of home-cured bacon. You can make this at home with all store-bought stuff and it'll taste great, but nothing can quite mimic fresh, home-sourced ingredients.
Cook bacon and onion in a separate skillet.
Delicious shredded potatoes.
Pour into a glass or metal 13 X 9 inch dish and bake, makes for a delicious breakfast (or supper)
Serve in slices or squares and you'll have yourself an amazing meal. I think the combination of the cheeses, including the cottage cheese, really gives this some full flavor.
🍳 Barn-Raising Breakfast Casserole Ingredients
- 1 pound(s) sliced bacon, diced
- 1 medium sweet onion, chopped
- 6 eggs, lightly beaten
- 4 cups frozen shredded hash brown potatoes, thawed or your own shredded potatoes
- 2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 ½ cups cottage cheese
- 1 ¼ cups shredded Swiss cheese
📋 Instructions
- In a large skillet, cook bacon and onion until bacon is crisp; drain.
- In a large bowl, combine the remaining ingredients; stir in bacon mixture.
- Transfer to a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish.
- Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 35-40 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting
🍳 More Amish Egg Recipes
Egg Salad Recipe - Delicious classic!
Egg-in-Nest - So good!
Egg Dutch - Wow!
Eggs La Golden - a delicious meal
🖨️ Full Recipe
Amish Barn-Raising Breakfast Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 pound(s) sliced bacon, diced pound sliced bacon, diced
- 1 medium sweet onion, chopped
- 6 eggs, lightly beaten
- 4 cups frozen shredded hash brown potatoes, thawed or your own shredded potatoes
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 ½ cups cottage cheese
- 1 ¼ cups shredded Swiss cheese
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a large skillet, cook bacon and onion until bacon is crisp; drain.
- In a large bowl, combine the remaining ingredients; stir in bacon mixture.
- Transfer to a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish. Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 35-40 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.
- Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting.
Carol Miller
In the ingredient list for Barn Raising Breakfast Casserole, it lists 1-1/2 cups cottage cheese. However, in the Full Printable Recipe, it lists only 1 cup. Please clarify which is correct? This recipe looks amazing and I'm eager to try it.
Thank you for your time.
Kevin Williams
Sorry for the discrepancy, Carol, should be 1 1/2, I changed it, enjoy the recipe, it is good!