Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes and Ham is a delicious, easy, cheesy recipe for scalloped potatoes made with layers of potatoes, ham, and a homemade cheddar cheese sauce.
Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes with Ham is a perfect way to change up traditional scalloped potatoes into a dish that is worthy of being the star of dinner or a memorable side dish.
Tender potatoes and salty ham are married together perfectly with a homemade creamy, cheesy sauce, making the most delicious Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes that are hearty, substantial, and oh so cheesy! It is a dish my family can never seem to get enough of!
Whether you serve these Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes with Ham as a side dish or use it to transform your leftover holiday ham into a delicious family meal, these cheesy scalloped potatoes will hit a home run!
Ingredients Needed
- Ham: This recipe for scalloped potatoes with ham is a great time to use up leftover baked ham or Instant Pot Ham. If you do not have leftover ham, use a ham steak or a thick cut of deli ham.
- Potatoes: Use either Russet or Yukon Gold potatoes, as they both have just the right amount of starch to give these scalloped potatoes a creamy, rich finish.
- Cheese: Sharp cheddar is best for the cheese sauce, as it really gives the sauce a pronounced cheese flavor. An important tip is to grate the cheese yourself. Pre-shredded cheese is often coated in anti-caking agents and will not melt as uniformly into your sauce. It is worth the extra few minutes it takes to grate the cheese yourself.
- Cream/Milk: For rich creamy scalloped potatoes whole milk, half and half, or a combination of milk and cream is best. However, I have used skim and 2% milk with success.
How to Make Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes and Ham
Step One: Prepare Potatoes and Ham
- Scrub the potatoes well and peel if desired. I leave the peels on my potatoes for extra nutrients, but it is a matter of personal preference.
- In order for the potatoes to cook evenly, you want to slice them into ⅛-inch thick slices. I recommend using a mandoline to thinly slice the potatoes to make your job easier, but of course, a sharp knife will work as well.
- Dice the ham into small bite-size chunks.
- Layer half the potatoes into a buttered casserole dish. Sprinkle the potatoes evenly with half the ham and repeat the layers.
Step Two: Make Cheese Sauce
Do not be intimidated by the thought of making a homemade cheese sauce--it is really much easier than it may sound.
- Melt the butter in a large stock pan over medium heat.
- Whisk in the flour to form a thick paste, AKA a roux. Let the roux cook for 1 minute, whisking constantly, to remove the raw flour taste from the sauce.
- Slowly add the milk, along with the seasonings whisking to incorporate.
- Simmer the sauce over medium heat, whisking continuously, until the mixture is bubbly and begins to thicken.
- Remove the sauce from the heat and stir in the cheese, stirring until the cheese is melted.
Step Three: Assemble and Bake
- Pour the cheese sauce over the potatoes and ham and use your hands or a spoon to gently push down the potatoes and ham into the sauce. This will ensure that the scalloped potatoes and ham do not dry out as they bake.
- Sprinkle with paprika for color and a bit of flavor if desired.
- Cover tightly with foil and bake for one hour. Remove the foil and bake for an additional 25-35 minutes or until the potatoes are fork-tender and the sauce is bubbly.
Do you Need to Parboil the Potatoes?
Because the potatoes are so thinly sliced, I do not find it necessary to parboil the potatoes before baking the scalloped potatoes. The potatoes will become fork-tender, yet retain their shape and texture. Plus the potatoes will not become waterlogged and instead absorb the delicious flavor of the cheese sauce.
However, if you want your potatoes to be falling apart tender, you can opt to parboil your potatoes before baking. I recommend parboiling the potatoes whole in salted, simmering water for 7 to 9 minutes. Drain, let the potatoes cool, and then thinly slice. You don't want to slice your potatoes prior to parboiling, as they will become waterlogged.
More Recipes for Leftover Ham
- Baked Ham Roll
- Easy Monte Cristo Sandwich
- Easy Baked Chicken Cordon Bleu
- Ham and Cheese Hot Pockets
- Instant Pot Ham and Bean Soup
If you enjoyed this Ham and Scalloped Potato recipe, please leave a comment and a review below. I love hearing from you!
Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes and Ham
Ingredients
- 2 cups cubed ham
- 6 cups russet potatoes scrubbed and sliced into ⅛-inch rounds
- 2 tablespoons butter plus additional for greasing pan
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 2 cup milk
- 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon paprika optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a 2 ½ quart baking dish with butter.
- Layer half the potatoes in the baking dish and top with 1 cup diced ham. Repeat layers.
- Heat the butter over medium heat until melted, whisk in the flour, and cook for 1 minute, to remove the flour taste from the roux. Slowly whisk in milk, salt, garlic powder, and onion powder and cook until milk is just about boiling. Whisk in the cheese until melted. Remove from heat.
- Pour the cheese sauce over the ham and potatoes. Use your hands or spoon to push the potatoes and ham into the cheese sauce before baking. This ensures that nothing dries out. Sprinkle with paprika if desired.
- Cover with foil and bake for 60 minutes. Remove foil and bake for an additional 25 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
Equipment Needed
Notes
Nutrition
This recipe was originally published in 2016 but was updated in 2022 with new tips.
Wisconsin potato lover
This is my go-to recipe for cheesy scalloped potatoes. Highly reliable. Good comfort food.
Kristen Chidsey
Love hearing that! Thanks for sharing!
Karen
I made this last night with my leftover Thanksgiving ham. It was delicious! I followed the recipe exactly except I added more cheddar cheese to the sauce. My 2 picky teenagers loved it and even got seconds! I will definitely make again!!
Kristen Chidsey
I love hearing that this was a hit even with the picky eaters!
Dan LoTempio
Kind of hard to push potatoes into sauce that you pour on top of potatoes.?
Doris Kara Brown
If I omit the ham, do I have to adjust the rest of recipe at all?
Kristen Chidsey
Not at all! I make this all the time without the ham. Enjoy!
Mairead
Made this earlier today... didn’t read properly and added the paprika to the cheese sauce while adding the milk and oh wow the flavour was beautiful!! Went down a treat, my family loved it!
Kristen Chidsey
I am so glad your family enjoyed Mairead! Thank you for sharing!
Shadow Quander
We loved this! Added onions plus cheese sauce to both layers instead of all sauce on top. Used 2 cups of milk as specified but 2 cups of extra sharp cheddar cheese and more seasoning in sauce. Will put scallions instead of paprika on top after cooking next time. Did not parboil potatoes and they were fine at 1.5 hours but at 385 degrees. Like the author here, prefer some firmness.
Kristen Chidsey
I am so glad you enjoyed so much Shadow! Thank you for taking the time to leave a review and your modifications.
Holly Davis-Smith
Hi,
I plan to make this recipe tomorrow - but it sound delicious. I have one quick question - in your overview at the top you mention using chicken stock in your cheese sauce, but I don't see that listed in your ingredients or in the recipe itself. Am I misunderstanding the recipe? I have never tried chicken stock in my cheese sauce before.
Kristen Chidsey
Hi Holly! The recipe only uses milk, that was a typo on my part. I have many recipes I use chicken stock in my cheese sauce (like for Creamy Cheesy Chicken and Rice) but not this recipe. Fixing now. Sorry about that!
Angie
Can this be made in crockpot
Kristen Chidsey
Hi Angie! I have not experimented with this particular recipe enough to know how to advise making this in the crockpot with success.
Kathleen Hohman
What a great, tasty, easy recipe. I used leftover ham from Easter and I did parboil the potatoes. It took less time to cook than the recommended 1 and a half hours.
Kristen Chidsey
I am so glad you enjoyed! And it is a great time saving tip to parboil potatoes 🙂
Mandy Keefer
My family loved this recipe! Just wondering though, how did you figure the nutrients/calories? I imported the recipe into my fitness pal and it says 511 calories per serving. I tweaked a few messed up ingredients on their part, (such as regular milk not chocolate milk) and came up with 480 calories per serving. Just wondering since I am keeping track of calories right now. Thanks for the help!
Kristen Chidsey
Hey Mandy! I am so glad you all enjoyed. I use a professional nutrition calculator that I manually check the ingredients--this one was calculated using skim milk, sharp cheddar cheese, and ham steak. However, every nutritional calculator is different, so that may be the cause.