Leftover Ham Casserole Recipe

For our Christmas dinner we always make a roasted turkey and a ham. We always have a lot of leftovers and this casserole is the perfect way to use up the leftover ham. It is cream, delicious and easy to make.

Making this leftover ham casserole use your ham in a different recipe. The creamy sauce combines with cooked noodles, simple seasoning and broccoli. It is the perfect comfort food and always a crowd favorite.

If you have family that stays over for the holidays, make use of those leftovers and make this casserole. This creamy pasta dish is simple to make and is so cheesy and delicious.

What is Leftover Ham Casserole?

Leftover ham casserole is made with your leftover holiday ham. You can also change things up and make this casserole with your leftover turkey or chicken. This noodles are cooked and then combined with a made from scratch sauce.

There is no need to use cream of mushroom soup when making this casserole. The ingredient are combined in a sauce pan and then poured into a casserole dish. Topped with bread crumb mixture and baked to perfection.

Easily make this casserole for a weeknight meal or on the weekends. It perfect any day of the week. This casserole is very similar to chicken cordon bleu casserole.

Ingredients

Scroll to the bottom for the full recipe in the recipe card.

Substitutions and Additions

• Green Vegetable – You can also switch out the green vegetable. Peas and carrots or green beans would be great in this casserole. You can also use frozen vegetables.
• Leftover Protein – You can use leftover turkey or leftover cooked chicken instead of the ham in this recipe if you prefer. 
• Crushed Ritz Crackers – You can also top with crushed crackers or Ritz crackers instead of the bread crumbs. 
• Sour Cream – We love adding in sour cream if we have it for a creamy sauce. It also adds in flavor to the sauce.
• Seasoning – Change the seasoning to what you prefer. We used Italian Seasoning, but you can use what you have.
• Cheese – We used Sharp Cheddar Cheese in this casserole. But you can easily use Colby Monterrey Jack or for an extra kick add in Pepper Jack Cheese.

How to Make Leftover Ham Casserole

• Step 1 – Cook Noodles – Cook the egg noodles based on the package instructions to al dente.  Rinse with cold water and set aside.
• Step 2 – Heat Oven and prepare baking dish – Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Then spray a 9X13 baking pan with a non-stick cooking spray.

Step 3 – Melt Butter and Garlic – Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium high heat.  Add the minced garlic and Cook for 1 minute. 

Step 4 – Add in Flour and seasoning – Next whisk in the flour, salt, pepper and Italian seasoning.

Step 5 – Mix in broth and heavy cream – Once the flour mixture has thickened, slowly whisk in the chicken broth. Then add in the heavy cream.  Heat and whisk until the mixture thickens.

Step 6 – Stir in Cheddar Cheese – Remove the pan from the heat and then whisk in the cheddar cheese until it’s melted.

Step 7 – Stir in Ham, pasta, & broccoli – Gently stir in the ham, pasta and broccoli. 

Step 8 – Pour – Then pour the mixture into the 9X13 baking pan.

Step 9 – Combine Crunchy Topping Ingredients – In a small separate bowl, stir together the topping ingredients.

Step 10 – Add the topping ingredients to casserole – Top the casserole with the topping mixture.  Then bake for 20-25 minutes until the casserole is bubbly and the top is golden brown.

• Step 11 – Serve and Enjoy – Allow the casserole to sit for 10-15 minutes.  Then it’s ready to serve and enjoy.

Recipe Tips

• Choosing a Pasta – We recommend using a bite size pasta. We like the egg noodles but you can also use rigatoni or penne pasta.
• Creamy Sauce – We love that this casserole sauce is made from scratch. You can use store bought sauce such as an alfredo sauce. Feel free to add make the sauce with cream of chicken soup or make homemade cream of chicken.
• Cooking the Pasta – Cook the pasta to al dente according to the package. You do not want to over cook the noodles, since they will be baking in the sauce as well. If over cook the pasta may turn into mush.
• Thickening the Sauce – Before adding in the cheese, make sure the sauce is thick after adding in the flour and cream.
• Ham – You can use any type of leftover ham. Ham steaks, spiral ham, or slice ham.

What to Serve with Ham Casserole?

This casserole is rich and hearty, so I like to keep our sides simple. We usually have so much sides leftover from Christmas dinner so I usually reheat those and served. Some of our other options include:

• Side Salad
• Roasted Vegetables
• Garlic Cheese Bread

Can I Freeze Ham Casserole?

Yes, you can freeze this creamy ham casserole. It is the perfect casserole to freeze for another day.

Prepare the casserole as directed in a freezer safe container. We recommend not adding the breadcrumbs to the top if you plan on freezing the casserole. Once you have baked the casserole, let cool to room temperature.

Then wrap the casserole with plastic wrap and aluminum foil. If stored properly the casserole will stay good for up to 3 months.

When you are ready to serve again, place the casserole in the refrigerator and bake as directed.

How to Store Leftover Casserole

Refrigerate any leftovers in an airtight container for up to 5 days.  The leftovers are even better the next day as the ingredients really marinate together to make a delicious lunch.