With just 3 ingredients and super quick to prepare, these easy Sausage and Cheese Crescent Squares will be your family's favorite breakfast casserole! Savory sausage and creamy cheese sandwiched between two flaky crusts.
For brunch or brinner (breakfast for dinner), pair these sausage squares with fruit salad for a last minute weekend meal or make ahead holiday recipe.
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This is one of my go-to, last minute breakfast recipes, now.
I first had it many years ago while staying overnight at my friend, Ashley's house. She said it was her favorite recipe to make for guests since it started with refrigerated crescent roll dough and a tube of sausage, which she usually already had on hand.
I always have a block of cream cheese and a can or two of Pillsbury crescent rolls in my fridge. I buy ground sausage when it goes on sale, store it in my freezer and thaw it when I make recipes like this one, Bacon Sausage Strata Breakfast Casserole and Sausage and Summer Squash Casserole.
"Casserole" may be another name for this sausage bake, but here in the south, we call everything baked in a 13x9 inch pan a casserole!
Since it can actually be picked up with your fingers to eat like a sandwich, it can also be called Sausage Crescent Roll Squares or Sausage & Cream Cheese Breakfast Casserole. Whatever you call it, I call it good!
Shortcuts
- Refrigerated crescent roll dough means you don't have to make the dough. Just unroll from what I like to call the "whompum" can. (You whomp them on the counter to crack them open!)
- Crescent roll dough actually comes in sheets (still in the refrigerated can). It doesn't have the perforated triangle sections for crescent rolls. This saves a step. Just unroll and you're ready to go! I've only seen the sheets by Pillsbury, though.
- Cook and crumble the sausage ahead of time and freeze until ready to make this recipe. This make ahead step cuts down on prep time.
- Frozen, cooked sausage crumbles can be found in the freezer section for an even faster prep!
Ingredients
Scroll down to printable recipe for ingredient quantities.
- Refrigerated crescent roll dough, rolls or sheets (I used Pillsbury)
- Ground breakfast sausage
- Cream cheese
How to make this easy sausage cream cheese casserole
- Cook the sausage in a large skillet over medium heat, breaking it up with a wooden spoon or spatula, until browned. Drain, in a metal sieve or colander.
- Add the cream cheese to the drained sausage in the same skillet. Cook over medium heat just until cream cheese is melted, stirring often.
Tip: If you're using lean ground meat like turkey or venison, you won't need to drain it.
- Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
- Unroll one can of crescent roll dough and gently press into the bottom of a 13x9-inch baking dish or pan, pinching the perforated edges together.
- Spread the sausage mixture to the edges of the dough.
- Unroll the second can of crescent roll dough and lay it on top of the sausage mixture, pressing the edges of the top and bottom doughs together to seal it.
- Bake, uncovered, for 20 minutes or until crescent roll dough is golden on top.
Substitutions & Variations
- Refrigerated biscuits - Don't have crescent roll dough in the fridge? Just use refrigerated flaky biscuits. Pull them apart in half and line them up in the baking dish. Press them together for the bottom crust. For the top layer, just pull them apart in halves and line them up...they will bake together.
- Neufchatel - Found next to the cream cheese in the grocery store but it has one-third less fat. It's slightly softer, so you don't even have to soften it first.
- Cheese- In addition to the cream cheese, stir in some pre-shredded Cheddar, Colby Jack, Monterey Jack or favorite combo.
- Ground pork, chicken, turkey, beef or venison - Any ground meat or sausage will work. Be sure to season it with salt and pepper when cooking, though. I'd throw in some garlic and onion powder or Mrs. Dash seasoning.
- Add onion - Cook ½ cup chopped onion with the sausage. This is an especially good idea when substituting lean ground meat for sausage.
Helpful Information
Yes, you can place the bottom layer of crescent roll dough on a baking or cookie sheet, spread on the sausage mixture and top with the second layer of crescent roll dough. Pinch together the edges and bake about 5 minutes less time.
Yes. Prepare the casserole according to instructions up until baking. Cover and refrigerate it overnight. Bake about 5 minutes longer.
It's easy to greatly reduce the fat and calories in this recipe. Substitute turkey sausage, reduced-fat crescent rolls, and Neufchatel cheese.
What to serve with Sausage & Cheese Crescent Squares
- Fruit salad! Yummy Yummy. (Sorry, can't get that song out of my head from the kids show The Wiggles)
- Sliced apples, bananas, and pineapple
- Preserves, jam
- Shortcut Homemade Hot Honey
Storage
Store this casserole in the refrigerator, covered, for up to 5 days. It freezes well in an airtight container for one to two months.
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Sausage and Cheese Crescent Squares (3 Ingredients)
SAVE THIS RECIPE
I'll email this recipe to you, so you can come back to it later!
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 16 ounce package (tube) ground breakfast sausage (mild or hot)
- 1 8 ounce block cream cheese
- 2 8 ounce cans refrigerated crescent dinner rolls or dough sheets (I used Pillsbury)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°.
- Cook the sausage in a large skillet over medium heat, breaking it up with a spoon or spatula, until browned. Drain in a colander.
- Meanwhile, unroll one can of crescent roll dough and gently press into the bottom of a 13x9-inch baking dish or pan, pinching the perforated edges together.
- Add the cream cheese to the drained sausage in the same skillet. Cook over medium heat just until cream cheese is melted, stirring often.
- Spread the sausage mixture to the edges of the dough. Unroll the second can of crescent roll dough and lay it on top of the sausage mixture, pressing the edges of the top and bottom doughs together to seal it.
- Bake, uncovered, for 20 minutes or until crescent roll dough is golden on top. Cut into squares.
Notes
- Refrigerated crescent roll dough means you don't have to make the dough. Just unroll from what I like to call the "whompum" can. (You whomp them on the counter to crack them open!)
- Crescent roll dough actually comes in sheets (still in the refrigerated can). It doesn't have the perforated triangle sections for crescent rolls. This saves a step. Just unroll and you're ready to go! I've only seen the sheets by Pillsbury, though.
- Cook and crumble the sausage ahead of time and freeze until ready to make this recipe. This make ahead step cuts down on prep time.
- Frozen, cooked sausage crumbles can be found in the freezer section for an even faster prep!
Nutrition
Nutrition analysis on GritsAndGouda.com recipes are mostly calculated on an online nutrition calculator. I am not a dietitian and nutritional information is an estimate and can vary based on products used.
Scott P
I look forward to this casserole every Christmas.
Kathleen
That's such a good tradition! We love to make it whenever we have overnight company because it's such a good makeahead recipe!
Lisa Sims
Kathleen, so excited to give this a try. 👍
Kathleen
We actually had it for breakfast this morning. My daughter made several of them ahead of time for the freezer to bake when she had her baby.
Scott P
This is good any time! We had it for Brinner (Breakfast for dinner)
Darlene Formica
Kathleen, I made this one day to serve the next. Should I bake it today or the day I want to serve it? It is put together. Will it be ok to refrigerate & bake tomorrow?
Kathleen
I have done it both ways. If you have time to go ahead and bake it about 10 minutes less than golden brown, that works great. When ready to bake and serve, bake at same temp all the way until golden brown. It's like partially baking dinner rolls. The sausage is already cooked, so no worries, there. Let me know which route you took!