Easy Ham & Cheese Casserole

This easy ham and swiss cheese casserole is so delicious!  This is the perfect recipe when you have leftover ham and you don't want it to go to waste. If you don't have any, a few thick slices from the deli also work. The key is to ask the deli folks to cut the slices thick!

This cheesy ham casserole is very easy to make.  There is very little prep time, which was great.  I used frozen veggies, but if you prefer, it would be totally fine to use fresh.  

A similar type of casserole you will enjoy is this easy turkey noodle and cheese casserole. You can substitute rotisserie chicken for turkey!

What I love about this casserole.

I love that you don't need to precook the noodles with this ham and Swiss cheese casserole dish. By putting the noodles in uncooked, the noodles tend not to get overcooked!  

The other great thing is you can mix everything in one baking dish!  No extra dirty dishes. Your prep and your bake dish is the same one.

This is a delicious recipe to use up a baked ham!  It's also a great brunch recipe, which is more on the lunch side vs. the usual breakfast casseroles.

This leftover ham and cheese casserole is also economical. If you serve a spiral ham, there usually are quite a few leftovers. The rest of the main ingredients like noodles, veggies and a bit of cheese are not expensive.

My family liked this recipe because they didn't want to have the ham slices as leftovers. When it's cut up in a cheesy noodle casserole, it doesn't feel like leftovers. It feels like a whole different meal.

Helpful Hint

I suggest you stir this casserole halfway through cooking so you don't have the odd crunchy noodle on top. Occasionally, if a noodle is sticking out of the liquid it gets crunchy. It's not a big deal, but taking a minute to stir this will prevent that.

Ingredients

These are simple ingredients that are either at home or easy to find at the grocery store.

• 2 cups leftover ham, cubed (Or buy thick slices of ham from your local deli)
• 2 cups elbow macaroni, uncooked
• 2 can cream of chicken soup (or cream of mushroom soup)
• 1 can of milk (use the soup can!)
• 1 ½ cups peas and carrots (or any other favorite vegetable variation - using frozen vegetables is fine!)
• 1 10 oz can of chicken broth
• 2 tablespoon dried minced onions (or 1 small diced onion)
• 8 oz shredded swiss cheese (I bought it sliced and chopped into thin slivers)
• ¼ cup diced red pepper (optional)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Step 1
Reminder! Do not precook the noodles. They get added into the casserole uncooked. That is one of the reasons why I LOVE this recipe.
Step 2
Spray cooking spray in your glass baking dish (or favorite casserole dish). Mine is a traditional 9 x 13 inches.
Add everything to a bowl and mix until the noodles are covered with sauce. It's easier if you mix liquids first, then add noodles etc.

Place mixture into a sprayed 9 x 13 casserole dish
Bake for 1 hour. I recommend stirring at about ½ hour so the top noodles get mixed into the sauce and don't become crunchy.
Doesn't this look delicious?

Helpful Tip

When you look closely at the casserole below, you will see my ingredients (mainly the ham and vegetables) cut into similar-sized pieces. That makes it look nice, and it's easier to eat.

How to Store

If storing in the refrigerator, place in a covered container (or wrapped) for up to 3 days.
If freezing, place it in a sealed container. I try to use this up within a month if frozen.

FAQs

Other Delicious Casseroles or One Pot meals

Please pin the recipe to your Pinterest account!

Looking for another similar type of casserole? Try this Easy Chicken Noodle and Cheese Casserole. This stuffed taco casserole is also a family favorite!

**First published May 22, 2016.