Ham and cheese casserole made with leftover ham. It's made without condensed soup, too! Creamy ham and cheese with noodles. Uses 1 ½ cups of leftover ham, and is made in an 8x8 dish.
You're looking at the only casserole my toddler will eat. I don't blame her--this leftover ham and cheese casserole is so creamy, cheesy and comforting! I love it just as much as she does! It's basically macaroni and cheese with ham and extra spices; who wouldn't love that?
Leftover ham casserole:
If you follow me on instagram, you know that I'm a firm believer in only making one dinner. It's something I decided before I even had kids. I put a lot of effort into cooking, and the idea of spending 30 minutes to make a dinner for adults. Cooking an entirely separate meal for kids was never going to work for me.
I grew up in a home with two working parents, and dinner was always homemade. Trust me, I know how lucky and blessed I am to be able to say that. It wasn't until I became an adult did I see the super powers of my mom, cooking a delicious dinner after a day at work.
My parents also cook all of the holiday meals, even today. Ham is something we serve for both Easter and Christmas, occasionally it appears on New Year's Day with fluffy biscuits. Speaking of, have you seen my small batch of biscuits?
Leftover ham recipes:
This ham and cheese casserole with noodles uses 2 cups of leftover diced ham. If your ham is shredded or pulled into chunks, it works here, too! Or, if you're just craving this cheesy casserole, buy ham steaks at the store and dice them. I've seen pre-dice ham at the store too, but in my opinion, the small dice is more for salads. Tiny cubes of ham will work for this casserole, but reduce it to 1 cup, okay?
Leftover ham casseroles usually contain a can of two of condensed soup. Personally, I try to avoid canned soups because of their sodium and preservative content. My recipe here makes a homemade version of condensed cream of cheddar soup. That said, the recipe makes about 10 ounces of homemade condensed soup, so if you're not up for making it, it's easy to substitute a can!
I've seen leftover ham casserole made with cream of cheddar soup, cream of chicken soup, and even cream of celery soup. They all sound delicious, but in our house, cheese always wins!
Ham and cheese casserole:
If you're the one that does all of the cooking on Easter (or for any celebration, really), your leftover casserole recipe should be so simple! This ham and cheese casserole has easy steps:
- Cook half a pound (8 ounces) of your favorite pasta shape in boiling salted water until just al dente. Drain and add to a bowl.
- Next, either crack open a can of condensed cream of cheddar soup, or make your own. To make your own, melt equal parts of butter and flour in a small saucepan. Add milk, cream and salt, pepper and spices. Cook until thickened, and then stir in freshly grated cheddar off the the heat.
- Combine the leftover ham, soup mixture, and a hefty scoop of sour cream in the bowl with the pasta. Stir to combine very well.
- Pour everything into a greased 8x8" baking dish, and sprinkle additional grated cheese on top.
- Bake and serve with sliced scallions!
The 8x8 square baking dish I use the most is this one. I love it because it's oven safe, cleans up so well, but is still pretty enough to serve at the table.
Plus, I make a small carrot cake in it, too!
In my opinion, the reason this ham and cheese casserole is better than the rest is because I use both onion powder and garlic powder in it! Onion powder is such an integral flavor for me in the kitchen, as I grew up with most things sprinkled with onion salt on top! Buy a small jar, and then you'll see that I use it in a lot of recipes!
Onion powder is important in my Whole30 salmon cakes, my Cowboy Steak recipe, and my Skillet Lasagna recipe! Onion powder is used a lot in processed foods to make things taste super savory and delicious.
You can use any type of short-cut pasta for this dish: I used rotini, but egg noodles or penne would work, too!
I hope this ham and cheese casserole recipe helps you use up any leftover ham, and that your family loves it as much as mine does. In fact, I think my family looks forward this more than actual Easter dinner!
Ham and Cheese Casserole
Leftover ham and cheese casserole made with homemade condensed soup.
Ingredients
- 8 ounces rotini pasta
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons flour
- ½ cup milk
- ½ cup cream, divided
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 ½ cups leftover diced ham
- ⅓ cup sour cream
- 1 ½ cups grated sharp cheddar, divided
- 2 scallions, sliced
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375, and lightly butter an 8x8" oven-safe dish.
- First, cook the rotini pasta in plenty of salted boiling water until al dente--about 1-2 minutes less than the package directions. Drain and set aside.
- In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Whisk in the flour, and cook for 1 minute until homogenous. Whisk constantly.
- Next, stream in the milk, ¼ cup of the cream, salt, pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder. Lower the heat and cook while stirring occasionally until slightly thickened. It will take about 5-8 minutes, and the mixture will coat the back of a spoon when it's properly thicken.
- In a large bowl, combine the cooked pasta, cream sauce, sour cream, 1 cup of the grated cheddar, ham and the sliced scallions. Stir well to combine.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish. Top with the remaining ½ cup of grated cheese. Drizzle the remaining ¼ cup of heavy cream evenly over the mixture.
- Cover with foil, and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and bake uncovered for 5 minutes to slightly crisp up the cheese on top.
- Let stand for 5 minutes before scooping and serving.
Notes
Instead of making your own cream sauce, you can use 1 can of condensed cream of cheddar soup. For this, omit all ingredients starting with flour and ending with garlic powder. Just use one can.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
6Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 489Total Fat: 35gSaturated Fat: 20gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 11gCholesterol: 119mgSodium: 891mgCarbohydrates: 18gFiber: 1gSugar: 2gProtein: 25g
RossC says
Happy to have seen this on your FB feed today..
I don't do many casseroles but, looking forward to enjoying to enjoying this.. :O)
Hungry Hungry says
Just put this in the oven! Not sure if you wanted to know, I didn't see a place where we added the ham. I just added it in the final mixing step. Thanks so much!
Sheila says
Step 5 is where she added the ham
Kim Bauer says
My whole family loved this--even the toddler and my picky 4-year-old! I made this on short notice, so I didn't have all the ingredients, but it worked with some minor substitutions (all milk instead of cream, plain Greek yogurt instead of sour cream, no scallions, and a little extra ham because I froze a 2-cup portion and wanted to use it all). The recipe didn't say when to mix in the ham, but I assumed it was meant to go with the sauce, cheese, and sour cream. I microwaved it long enough to get warm before adding, but I don't know that this was necessary. Thanks for the recipe!
Elaine Wise says
The Ham and Cheese Casserole recipe instructions leave out the blending in of the ham!
Edwina says
I made this to use leftover ham and my kids loved it (I did too). Like you, I also like to avoid canned soup because of the preservatives added but sometimes I just need to take a shortcut, so I used a can of soup in this recipe just so I could get it done in time. It was delicious. So creamy and cheesy and I'll be making it again. Next time I'll plan ahead and make the soup from scratch so it's ready to use in the recipe.
Kathleen says
I made this last night to finish up the rest of our Easter ham. OMG it was AMAZEBALLS!
Mandi says
So happy to see a recipe with a substitute for cream soup! I don't like using them due to all the preservatives and artificial ingredients. I also used cream cheese instead of sour cream (used up the sour cream on taco night!) And crumbled some tortilla chips on top. Is in the oven now and cannot wait for dinner!
Christina Lane says
We're the same way, Mandi :)
Tim says
Made this casserole with left over holiday ham. Used the condensed Cheddar Cheese soup, chopped onions and a can of diced tomatoes/chilies. Five stars. Quick, easy and delicious... thanks for sharing!
Suzanne Jones says
Made this with some additional ingredients: 4oz sliced mushrooms, 1 bag chopped broccoli, frozen, substitute 1tablespoon dried chives for the scallions and it is a keeper for sure.
Christina Lane says
Oh YUM! I love these additions! Thanks for sharing!
Belinda Escoubas says
I made this casserole using leftover Easter ham (about 6 slices), Penne pasta, Angel Hair pasta and Cream of Mushroom soup. I added Louisiana Cajun Seasoning instead of onion powder. I cooked French Green Beans as a side veggie. My husband and I enjoyed the casserole very much, as it was creamy and delicious. Thank you for the recipe.
Sandra D says
I almost halved this for my husband and myself, but I had enough ham, so... it really is very tasty, although I did add some hot pepperoni and some Rotel tomatoes with chilies. I also cut up some green pepper with the ham (so I omitted the green onion). I didn't have cream, so used what I had left of 2% milk combined with Oat milk. I didn't add salt (it was in my butter, the ham and the cheese).
There's no reason this can't all be done in one pot. When the pasta was draining, I just used the pot it cooked in to make the sauce, then added everything back into it (no bowl). When I was washing the dishes, I wondered why I didn't just put the pot in the oven with the extra cheese on top (it was a stainless steel pot with steel handles). Next time I will (and there will be a next time). I hope my grandsons will like it as much as your daughter does! They're kind of fussy and don't seem to like things "together".