Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes with Ham is a delicious, cheesy potato casserole made with layers of potatoes, ham, and a homemade sharp cheddar cheese sauce. It is a classic recipe for scalloped potatoes taken up a few notches, for a dish the whole family will love!
This Ham and Potato Casserole makes an obvious choice for a holiday side dish, but thanks to the addition of the ham, it can stand alone as an entree as well when paired with Roasted Broccoli or Roasted Asparagus.
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.
Tender potatoes and salty ham are married together perfectly with a creamy, cheesy sauce. This ham and potato casserole is hearty, substantial, and oh so cheesy! It is a dish my family can never seem to get enough of!
Trust me when I say you need these Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes with Ham in your life. Whether you serve as a side dish or use to transform your leftover holiday ham into a delicious family meal, these cheesy scalloped potatoes will hit a home run!
Ingredients Needed
- Leftover Ham: You can use leftover baked ham, Instant Pot Ham, or even a ham steak cut into dices.
- Potatoes: Russet or Yukon Gold potatoes are best for scalloped potatoes, as they get a creamy texture as they bake.
- Cheese Sauce: This is a homemade cheese sauce that is made with a roux, milk, and sharp cheddar. It is creamy, cheesy, and absolutely delicious. Plus 100% made from scratch!
How to Make Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes with Ham
Step One: Prepare Potatoes and Ham
- Scrub your 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 1/8 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 your ham into small bite-size chunks.
- Then layer the potatoes and ham in a buttered 2-quart baking dish. Be sure to evenly space your ham so that each bite of the casserole is studded with the salty ham.
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. The best tip I can give you 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.
- Melt the butter in a large stock pan over medium heat.
- Whisk in the flour and cook for 1 minute to remove the raw flour taste from your roux–don’t skip that step!!
- Slowly add in the milk, whisking to incorporate into flour mixture. Add seasonings.
- Whisk continuously until the mixture is bubbly and begins to thicken.
- Turn off the heat and stir in cheese to melt.
- Once the cheese sauce is made, pour 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.
- Sprinkle with paprika for color and a bit of flavor if desired.
Step Three: Bake
- 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.
Pro-Tip: I prefer my potatoes to be soft but still retain their texture after baking. If you prefer potatoes that are falling apart, you can parboil the potatoes for 7-9 minutes. Then let the potatoes cool and then slice into 1/8 inch slices. The final result will be very, very soft potatoes that melt into the sauce.
More Uses for Leftover Ham
- Ham and Swiss Roll
- Cubano Pizza
- Easy Monte Cristo Sandwich
- Easy Baked Chicken Cordon Bleu
- Ham and Cheese Hot Pockets
- Instant Pot Ham and Bean Soup
Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes and Ham
Ingredients
- 2 cups diced ham
- 6 cups russet potatoes scrubbed and sliced into 1/4 inch rounds
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 2 cup milk
- 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon paprika optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 2 1/2 quart baking dish.
- 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
- If you are using a very salty or smoked ham, decrease the amount of salt to 1/2 teaspoon.Â
- My 6 cups of sliced potatoes was about 2.5 pounds or 3 large potatoes. I find it is easier for you to measure the potatoes after slicing by cups.
- If you like your potatoes really fall apart tender, you can parboil the potatoes whole for 7-9 minutes and then slice any layer in your casserole. This step is not necessary but does make the potatoes very creamy and falling apart tender. Personally, I prefer my potatoes to have a bit of texture and chew left to them after the baking.Â
- I used my 2 1/2 quart oval dish but any 2-3 quart casserole dish will work as long as it is deep enough to pour the cheese sauce over.
- I love to use sharp cheddar cheese in this Cheesy Ham Bake for really pronounced cheese flavor, but if you have Swiss, Colby, or even mozzarella--use that.
- The paprika sprinkling on top is COMPLETELY optional. It just adds color.
Nutrition
This recipe was originally published in 2016 but was updated in 2019 with new tips.
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.
I am so glad you enjoyed so much Shadow! Thank you for taking the time to leave a review and your modifications.
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.
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!
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.
I am so glad you enjoyed! And it is a great time saving tip to parboil potatoes 🙂
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!
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.