You may have some resolutions after eating so much during Easter, but how could you turn down this leftover ham macaroni and cheese?!
The photos and recipe for this leftover ham macaroni and cheese have been updated as of January 22nd, 2017!
Ham. Cheese. Cream.
Yeah, this is one healthy meal… Not! But come on, doesn’t leftover ham macaroni and cheese sound delicious?! Yum!
This recipe was actually made completely gluten-free as we had my mother-in-law over for dinner. But rest assure, you can easily make this leftover ham macaroni and cheese with regular pasta noodles (but I have to admit, gluten-free pasta does seem to be getting better: at least my Barilla Penne was pretty darn good!) Besides all the cheesy and creamy goodness, I really love how simple this recipe is. I decided to bake my mac and cheese, but I know some prefer it stove-top style. In that case, cook your pasta completely and skip the oven stage!
I feel I should have held a ham theme week on the blog. I guess we could say it is an unofficial one because there is some serious ham recipes going on here! To recap:
Herb Crusted Ham in the Slow Cooker
This doesn’t include the future recipe to come: Homemade Ham Stock
And you know what? I STILL have more ham!!! Ahhhhh! I do have my ideas, and they will be coming, but is there an end to all this ham?!
Serves 6-8
Kacey
I used gluten-free pasta, but regular pasta would work perfectly here!
15 minPrep Time
25 minCook Time
40 minTotal Time
Ingredients
- 1 lb dry pasta of your choosing. I used Barilla Gluten-Free
- 2 cups leftover chopped ham + 1/2 cup for topping
- 2 cups milk
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream (or use all milk!)
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1 tbsp. coarse whole grain mustard
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1/2 tsp. cayenne powder
- 2 tsp. dried oregano
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 3 cups cheddar cheese + 1 cup for topping
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook until al dente. Drain, rinse in cold water, and set aside.
- Combine milk, cream, mustard, cornstarch, cayenne, and oregano together in a small mixing bowl. Whisk well.
- In a large saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Stir in garlic and cook for 1 minute. Whisk in milk mixture and raise heat to medium-high. Continue whisking mixture until the sauce thickens, about 5 minutes. Lower heat, stir in cheese, and mix until all has blended. Add ham and stir.
- Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.
- Toss together the pasta and sauce in the pot you boiled your pasta in. When well combined, pour into baking dish. Bake for 15 minutes. Top with remaining ham and cheese. Bake for another 5-10 minutes.
Notes
You can skip baking your mac and cheese in the oven (because it is good as a stove-top recipe!)

OMG, as I type up this post I realize I completely forgot to add in the other goodies I had intended to! Arrrgggg. For an even more exciting dish, stir in some frozen peas when you combine the sauce and pasta. Darn it! Oh well, I had good intentions but this leftover ham macaroni and cheese is still fantastic without them 🙂
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