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Baking and serving Rustic Sausage & Grits Egg Skillet in cast iron makes for a deliciously fun country brunch with layers of cheesy grits, sausage, and eggs.

John and I have two daughters who live out of town and when they come home for a weekend visit, they often joke about staying at Mom and Dad’s B&B. That literally makes my heart smile!

We try to make every visit special and and one way is that we always prepare brunch to enjoy leisurely on Saturdays.

Food and conversation—that’s what it’s all about, friends. Gathering around the table, sipping coffee, listening, laughing, and just enjoying each other. We are blessed, that’s a fact!

A package of Smithfield Breakfast Sausage

John usually mans the griddle—whether it’s frying up bacon, pancakes, or Smithfield’s Fresh Breakfast Sausage. Smithfield’s sausage is available as patties, links and rolls, and besides the hometown original, comes in both bacon and maple flavors.

Sausage links on a griddle

I decided to use the sausage links in my Rustic Sausage & Grits Egg Skillet. I baked my breakfast casserole in a cast iron skillet with the sausage links in a “wagon wheel” pattern for a really fun presentation.

A plate of food with a slice of Rustic Sausage and Grits Egg Skillet

How to make an egg skillet breakfast?

STEP 1 | Make cheesy grits

This brunch dish starts with a layer of cheesy grits. I made the grits on the stovetop and then put them into a hot cast iron skilled to bake for about 30 minutes before adding the sausage and eggs.

This allows the grits to be firm enough to support the added sausage links. Start by heating milk and butter in a saucepan. Slowly stir in stoneground grits and cook until thick.

Remove from heat and add cheese and an egg, then bake this layer in a cast iron skillet for 25 minutes.

Cook the sausage links on a griddle or in another skillet until browned and done. Drain on paper towels

By the way, Smithfield sausage links are made with premium quality pork, and contain no MSG. Pour the creamy egg filling on top of it all and pop it in the oven to bake another 30 minutes. This recipe takes a little time to prepare, but use that time to enjoy coffee and conversation as you make plans for the rest of your lazy day 🙂

STEP 3 | Assemble the skillet

Remove the grits from the oven and arrange the cooked sausage links on top in a wagon wheel patter.

(If you prefer, you may chop the sausage links and sprinkle all over top instead.

Whisk together eggs, cream, milk, salt, and pepper. Stir in more cheddar cheese and pour on top of the sausage links.

Return to the oven and bake for 30 minutes, or until set. Allow to sit for 10 minutes before serving.

A close up of food on a plate, with Rustic Sausage and Grits Egg Skillet

Smithfield has a variety of brunch-time solutions, like naturally hardwood smoked bacon, legendary cuts of ham, and high-quality fresh breakfast sausage. This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Smithfield.

An iron skillet of Rustic Sausage and Grits Egg Skillet

Rustic Sausage & Grits Egg Skillet

Baking and serving Rustic Sausage & Grits Egg Skillet in cast iron makes for a deliciously fun country brunch with layers of cheesy grits, sausage, and eggs.
4.60 from 10 votes
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 5 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Course Breakfast
Cuisine American
Servings 8 servings
Calories 290 kcal

Ingredients
  

Grits Layer

  • 2 ¼ cups 2% milk
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • ½ cup stone ground grits
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon pepper
  • 1 cup cheddar cheese
  • 1 large egg

Quiche Layer

Instructions
 

Grits Layer

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  • In a saucepan, bring milk and butter to a boil over medium low heat. Whisk in the stone ground grits, salt and pepper. Cook and stir constantly for 8 – 10 minutes or until very thick.
  • Remove from heat and stir in 1 cup of cheddar cheese and 1 egg. Allow to rest for 10 minutes while you heat the cast iron skillet.
  • Grease a 10-inch cast iron skillet with vegetable shortening and place in the preheated oven for 10 minutes. Carefully remove and add the grits to the hot skillet, spreading to cover the bottom. Bake for 25 minutes.

Quiche Layer

  • While the grits are baking, cook the sausage links on a griddle or skillet as directed on the package. Remove to drain on paper towels.
  • In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, heavy cream, milk, salt and pepper together. Stir in cheese.
  • Remove grits from oven and reduce the temperature to 325 degrees.
  • Arrange sausage links on top of grits in wagon wheel pattern. (If you prefer, you may chop the sausage links and sprinkle all over top instead.) Pour the egg mixture evenly over top and sprinkle with the green onions and a dash of red cayenne pepper.
  • Return to the oven and bake for 30 minutes, or until set. Allow to set for 10 minutes before serving.

Nutrition

Serving: 1gCalories: 290kcalCarbohydrates: 8gProtein: 16gFat: 22gSaturated Fat: 11gPolyunsaturated Fat: 8gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 216mgSodium: 742mgSugar: 5g

Life Love and Good Food does not claim to be a registered dietician or nutritionist. Nutritional information shared on this site is only an estimate. We recommend running the ingredients through an online nutritional calculator if you need to verify any information.

Keyword egg skillet, grits, link sausage, rustic
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was.
Rustic Sausage & Grits Egg Skillet | Life, Love, and Good Food | SmithfieldBrunch | Ad
Sheila Thigpen, blogger

About Sheila Thigpen

Recipe Developer, Food Photographer, Food Writer

Sheila Thigpen is the publisher of Life, Love, and Good Food — a Southern food blog — and the author of Easy Chicken Cookbook and The 5-Ingredient Fresh and Easy Cookbook. After 20+ years in the publishing industry, she retired in 2018 to focus on her own creative endeavors full time. She and her husband live near the beautiful Smoky Mountains and have a precious little granddaughter who has stolen their hearts. As an influencer, Sheila has collaborated with brands like Creamette, Kroger, HERSHEY’S, Hamilton Beach, Garafalo Pasta, OXO, Smithfield, Valley Fig Growers, and more.

10 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    We enjoyed this! We have family visiting, so making it again this weekend. Thanks for a new, awesome breakfast dish!

  2. Now this is a breakfast that my husband would go crazy over! Can’t wait to make this for him!

  3. I think I might need to schedule a brunch for this weekend so I can try this one!

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