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A delicious potato casserole, using both leftover vegetables and ham, baked in a creamy cheese sauce. |
Ham and Potatoes au Gratin Casserole
If you have leftover ham and vegetables to use, this is a great potato casserole dish to repurpose those into a whole new and delicious meal. All you need to add is a nice side salad, some rolls and iced tea, and you've got a great meal out of those leftovers.If you don't have leftover ham, pick up a ham steak from the meat department or just ask your local market deli to slice you a chunk 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. They'll be happy to do that for you! Ham can vary in its salt level, so keep that in mind when seasoning the potatoes. If you have a fairly salty ham, you may not want any added salt. Remember... always taste, season, taste, adjust!
Here's how to make it.

Recipe: Ham and Potatoes au Gratin Casserole
©From the Kitchen of Deep South Dish
Prep time: 10 min |Cook time: 1 hour 30 min | Yield: About 4 to 6 servings
Ingredients
Instructions
- 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) of butter
- 3 tablespoons of all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup of chopped onion
- 1-1/2 cups of milk, divided
- 1-1/2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese, divided
- 1/2 cup of sour cream
- 1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon of celery seed
- Seasoning salt, freshly cracked black pepper and Cajun seasoning, to taste
- 4 medium sized baking potatoes, peeled and sliced very thin
- 2 cups of chopped cooked ham
- 1 cup of leftover or frozen vegetables, your choice, optional
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter or spray a 1-1/2 to 2 quart oblong baker; set aside. Melt the 1/4 cup butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Sprinkle in the flour a little at a time and cook for about 3 minutes, whisking until mixture is smooth and fully incorporated. Add onion; cook and stir for about 2 minutes. Add 1 cup of the milk, a little at a time, until mixture thickens, then stir in the remaining milk. Whisk in 1 cup of cheese until blended, remove from heat and whisk in the sour cream, garlic powder and celery seed; set aside.
Add half of the potatoes to the bottom of the casserole dish, season lightly with salt, pepper and Cajun seasoning. Top with half of the ham and vegetables. Spread half of the sauce over the top and repeat layers, seasoning the potatoes again and ending with all of the remaining sauce. Cover tightly and bake at 350 degrees F for about 1-1/2 hours. Length of time will depend on thickness of potato slices; test tenderness of the center potatoes with a fork. Uncover, sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup or more of cheese on top and return to the oven just until cheese has melted.
Cook's Notes: Double ingredients and make four layers in a larger baking dish for a pot luck. Increase cheese topping as desired. Can also substitute chopped smoked sausage for the ham and 1 can of condensed cheddar cheese soup for the sauce. If using the canned soup, eliminate the first 5 ingredients and add 1/2 can of milk to the mixture of soup and sour cream. Can also be made in the crockpot - layer, cover and cook on low for about 8 hours.
Tip: I use a mandolin to get thin, even potato slices. If you like your potatoes sliced thicker, or you don't have a mandolin, cut the potatoes about 1/4 inch thick, place them into a pot, cover with water and bring to a boil. Immediately turn off the heat, remove pot from the burner, and let them sit in the water for 5 minutes. Drain well, pat dry and proceed.
Source: http://deepsouthdish.com
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Hey Ms. Mary....happy Easter late. This is such a super idea. I did something similar using your Au Gratin potato recipe. I made it for Easter dinner and then yesterday, finely chopped up my left over ham, chopped up the left over potatoes and asparagus in a skillet and made Easter Hash with about 2 tablespoons of butter. I let is slow cook to warm for about 20 minutes.It was super yummy. So thanks to you and your potatoes I finally feel like I used all of my leftovers. Oma Linda
ReplyDeleteSounds really good Linda!
DeletePotatoes, ham and cheese - it doesn't get much better than that
ReplyDeleteGood combo for sure Larry!
DeleteBig Dude is right! It's what's for supper tonight!! Thanks.
ReplyDeleteOh, I hope you enjoyed it Kat!
DeleteOh my goodness - I am going to pack on the POUNDS perusing this site. A friend of mine makes a great gratin, but she's always going on and on about how you only need a bechamel for gratin, no cheese (she's a bit old school, learned in the French style in Morocco). But this recipe looks way tastier!!! I can't wait to give it a go.
ReplyDeleteCheers!
Enjoy!
DeleteGreat point on the salt content of ham, that can totally mess up a dish.
ReplyDeleteYeah, and some hams are SUPER salty!
DeleteMade this tonight with left over ham and half a can of early peas. The only alteration I made to the recipe was that I used part cheddar and part pepper jack cheese to give it a little bite. It was excellent. Husband had 2 helpings. Makes alot - will consider halving recipe next time but will definitely make again. It's a keeper!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for stopping back by to let me know you enjoyed it!
DeleteMaking this tonight. My hubby always raves when I use one of your recipes. Can't wait to taste it, it's in the oven as I type. :-)
ReplyDeleteI hope everybody enjoyed it!
DeleteThanks for your recipes! I am loving them because these are the same "Dutch" recipes I grew up eating in Michigan. Hmmm, I wonder....
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome Lois! I've never lived anywhere but in the South, haven't ever been to Michigan, but you know we all filtered over from across the pond at some point in our history so I wouldn't be surprised to find many connections in our foods to be honest!
DeleteHi Mary,
ReplyDeleteMade this tonight and it was great! I had given up on augratin potatoes because my potatoes never got done.I followed your directions for parboiling and they were done to perfection in 75 minutes. The cheese sauce was extra creamy! I loved this just as
much as your slow cooker pork roast. Keep the recipes coming!
Thanks so much Terri!! Yeah, homemade au gratin potatoes are so good but unless you have a mandolin where you can get them uniformly thin, you really have to parboil them. I'm so glad you enjoyed the potatoes and the pork roast also & thank you for taking the time to let me know!
DeleteI have made this before with extra sharp cheddar only and it was good but came out of the oven with piles of "grease" for lack of a better word on top. I don't know I made a mistake in the recipe or not but tonight I am using pepper jack and half a cup of cheddar jack. I think it will turn out better.
ReplyDeleteSometimes Cheddar, especially preshredded Cheddar, is a bit notorious about that pooling of fat. It could vary across brands because that's what it is - separation of fats - although I don't seem to have as much of a problem with block cheese that I shred fresh. On the dish pictured above, I used block mild Cheddar, grated fine on the small holes.
DeleteI made this the first time with yellow cheddar. Tonight I made it with pepper jack, Monterey and cheddar with about half a teaspoon of crushed garlic. It turned out very good but somewhat spicy because of the pepper jack. Next time might use just the Monterey and cheddar. I love this recipe, yummy comfort food...thanks Mary!
ReplyDeleteYou're very welcome! I use a combination of Monterey and Cheddar along with Velveeta in my mac and cheese because Cheddar pools but also curdles. Now I love pepper jack but it can be pretty spicy, so I think the M&C combo would be great!
Delete