The BEST thing to do with leftover Easter ham:
Does your family eat ham for Easter dinner? Mine ALWAYS does. That’s because my favorite part of Easter dinner ham is all the yummy things you can do with the leftovers – yummy fried rice, the hash we all love, and especially Ham Casserole.
When I was growing up, my mother always served Ham Casserole for dinner the day after Easter. So now that I’ve got a family of my own, I continue the tradition. Even though my husband isn’t super-fond of ham, he loves this ham casserole as much as the girls and I do. And because it freezes well, it’s also a super meal to make ahead and bring to new parents. You can also prep it over the weekend when you have time, refrigerate it, and bake it a day or two later. Just allow some extra baking time, if you’re taking the dish straight from refrigerator to oven.
You can use any casserole dish and any slicing implements you like. However, I prefer casseroles with snap-on lids for ease of refrigerating/freezing, and a mandoline for creating uniform thin slices of potato and onion. (Slices that are too thick will take forever to cook!) You could also use a food processor with the slicing blade, if you don’t have a mandoline.
Please note that the quantities and prep times are all approximate. Depending on how thick your ham is and how deep your casserole dish is, you may need more or less of the different ingredients. For this post, I’m using an 8×8 glass baking dish with lid, which makes approximately 4-6 servings.
Leftover Easter Ham Casserole
Servings and prep time vary; an 8×8 casserole dish makes approximately 4-6 servings. Roughly 15-30 min to prep, 45-60 min to cook; total 1-1.5 hours.
What you need:
- Nonstick cooking spray or butter
- Slices from a bone-in or boneless ham (NOT deli-sliced ham), cut into large chunks – approx. 2 cups chunks
- Potatoes, peeled and sliced into uniform very thin (at most, 1/8 in or 3mm) slices – approx. 1 large (see Mix it Up)
- Onions, sliced same as potatoes – approx. 1 medium
- Frozen peas, thawed and cooked – approx. 1 lb./500g
- Flour (approx. 1 c.), salt, and pepper
- 1-2 c. (250-500 mL) milk
The basic idea:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
- Grease a small (1-2 quart/1-2 liter) casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray or butter. Layer thin slices of cooked ham, thin slices of cooked potato, thin slices of raw onion and cooked peas. Generously sprinkle with flour, then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Repeat each layer in order until casserole dish is full but not overflowing, omitting flour from the topmost layer if the last layer you add is peas. (I like to put ham or potato on last, if possible.)
- Scald 1 c. (250 mL) milk in microwave by heating it for 2 min. Pour over casserole. If needed, scald additional milk until the baking dish is nearly full.
- Bake the ham casserole 60 min, or until the potatoes and onions are thoroughly cooked and the gravy is bubbling hot (see first note below, under Mix It Up). Check the casserole about halfway through; if the top is becoming over-browned, cover it loosely with foil for the rest of the cooking time.
Mix it up:
- You really don’t want to skimp on the flour in this recipe, and I don’t know if it would work with anything other than regular white or wheat flour. The flour and milk together thicken into a gravy while the casserole is cooking. For this reason, it’s also important to pour the milk over the whole casserole, not just pour it in the center.
- I recommend thin-slicing one large potato and one medium onion for starters. BUT, it’s a good idea to have an extra of each on hand if possible, so you can slice up more if you run out halfway through the layering process.
- If you’re going to make this casserole for a large crowd, it’s better to make two smaller ones than one large/deep one; the smaller ones will cook faster.
Fill ALMOST to the top with milk, heating more as needed. - To be on the safe side, it’s best to place your casserole dish onto a baking sheet or a large piece of foil while cooking, so it doesn’t make a mess in your oven if the gravy boils over.
- If you don’t eat ham, smoked turkey also works well for this dish.
- If you have leftover baked potatoes to use up, you can substitute them for the raw ones – just use a knife instead of the mandoline, and slice them a little thicker (up to 1/2 inch/1 cm).
- You can either make this dish ahead and freeze it uncooked, or cook it halfway through before freezing. Just be prepared to adjust the total cooking time upward accordingly, especially if you’re taking it straight from the freezer without thawing first. I usually cook the ham casserole halfway through before freezing, then heat a frozen or partially-thawed ham casserole for a full 60-90 minutes to finish the cooking. (Again, you’ll know it’s ready when the potatoes/onions are fully cooked and the gravy is bubbling around the edges.)
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I love using leftovers in casseroles! It gets rid of the leftovers while also “changing it up” so it doesn’t feel like you’re eating the exact same thing for multiple days. Thanks for sharing this delicious recipe!
This looks really good, and perfect for my leftover Easter ham! We are going to try this next week, thanks for the suggestion!
I’m a fan of any recipe that I can use leftovers to make. I hate wasting food but I’m also rubbish at cooking just the right quantity! Thanks for this.
Looks tasty and a great idea! I love making casseroles out of leftovers!
I’ve never had Easter ham casserole! This looks sooo goood!! I’m vegetarian so I won’t be able to eat it but my boys are huge carnivores and I think they would love it! Can’t wait to try! I love that it’s just a few ingredients and making good use of leftovers! it definitely isnt a time to be wasteful.
This looks awesome. I love making casseroles for family gatherings. Definitely going to try this soon 🙂
while we do not eat meat, leftovers for any festive meal are always tastier the next day for some reason.. :
This Easter Ham Casserole looks so tasty. I need to use this recipe for sure! I bet your family absolutely loved it.
This does look pretty good. I am not sure my daughter would like it as she is not a big ham fan, although it’s strange she used to be. Always good to know more ways to use leftovers though.
That looks delicious! …And I need to get a mandoline! 🙂 Thanks for sharing at #heartandsoullinkup
This looks so delicious!! What a great way to enjoy leftover from your ham!
That does sound like an awesome way to use leftover ham. It’s nice to have some recipes for leftovers so food doesn’t go to waste!
This looks so good! I am always looking for new ways to use holiday leftovers. I will have to give this a try.
We usually just use the leftover ham for sandwiches. No too original ??♀️
Great idea to use up the leftover ham in a casserole… we often make leftovers into a casserole the following day – I hate throwing food away!
I love ham and thank you for this I have an idea on how to make Ham leftover recipe, especially on holidays. I can’t wait to try this!
Casseroles have to be the comfort food and I love making them from leftover rice, chicken and potatoes. This looks great and will give it a try next time.
Do try it when you next have leftover ham – it’s SO tasty! 🙂
Oo I haven’t heard of a leftover casserole like this. I don’t know why I’ve never thought of it. This sounds so good!
It is SOOOO delicious! (Apparently my mama’s mama gets the credit for inventing it – I finally asked my mama this past weekend! 🙂 )
Leftover ham? What is that?? lol I wish we had leftovers sometimes.
lol then maybe you need a slightly larger ham? I always get one twice as big as we really need when it’s on sale, so we save money AND I have lots of leftovers for making this recipe! 🙂
looks good, but hubby is allergic to peas
Aw, bummer! Haven’t tried it before, but I bet you could swap in another veggie if you cooked it first – 1-in pieces of green bean and/or carrot “coins” (cooked slices 1/4 to 1/2 in thick) come to mind…maybe a cooked bag of frozen mixed veggies?
This is a great idea for leftovers! I will use this very soon since my mom made Easter dinner.
Enjoy it, then! 🙂
Love the idea of using leftovers! I’m big on not wasting food 🙂
Me too! And this is one of our favorite leftover-ham recipes! 🙂
This recipe looks amazing! It gives the ham leftover a delectable new life. Love that it makes use of potatoes and milk!
Me, too! It’s definitely a hearty, old-fashioned style, stick-to-your-bones kind of meal! 🙂
I hate throwing out food! I love this idea to reuse food!
Do try it sometime – SO tasty! 🙂
What a fantastic idea for leftovers. I rarely have leftovers as I usually end up giving them away but I might have to keep some now!
Haha, DO the next time you have ham – you won’t be sorry once you try this recipe! 🙂
Making the best use fo leftovers is what i personally enjoy. Saves wastage and also I always come up with somethign new and exciting. Thanks for sharing this 🙂
Sounds like we share the same philosophy – glad you liked the post! 🙂
Okay this looks like something my kiddos would gobble up. Definitely will be trying this.
Hope they like it as much as mine do, Jillian! 🙂
Oooooh, I love how crispy the ham looks on top! Yum!
The ham crisped up very nicely on this particular one – ending with a ham layer works out better than ending with any of the veggies, for sure! 🙂
This looks so good, my husband would absolutely love this!
It IS tasty – my hubby is not a big ham fan but even he likes it! 🙂
What a great way to use leftovers. I love leftovers…especially when you can get creative with preparing them!!
Oh, me too, on both counts! 🙂
I’m always down for a good leftovers recipe, and we definitely have ham leftover. We will have to try this one out
Hope you like it as much as we do! 🙂
I am definitely saving this for the next time we have ham. To me, leftover is always better than the initial meal
I totally agree with you! (and this one is super-yummy!)
I will make this one tomorrow, Flossie, I told you I saved and we had Ham today.
big fan of fried rice, will have to give this a try.
DO – it’s so tasty! 🙂
This looks delicious! We don’t eat ham traditionally on Easter, but my family always has ham for Christmas. And we always have leftovers. This is a wonderful idea to use them up! Bookmarking for the holiday season.
Then you can look forward to having it as a yummy post-Christmas treat! 🙂