This casserole is a fantastic way to reuse leftovers, which is something I’m often looking for ways to do. Your family will enjoy a warm, hearty dish you make using leftover ham, a little cabbage, and pantry items. While the casserole bakes, prepare a salad; serve with biscuits or cornbread to round out the dinner.
| Prep Time: | 30 mins |
| Cook Time: | 45 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 15 mins |
| Servings: | 8 |
| Yield: | 8 servings |
Ingredients
- 2 cups chopped cooked ham
- 1 ½ cups frozen Southern-style hash brown potatoes, thawed
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
- 1 ½ cups chopped onions
- 5 cups chopped cabbage
- ½ cup shredded carrots
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon dry mustard
- ¼ teaspoon white pepper
- 2 cups milk, or more as needed
- 1 cup grated sharp Cheddar cheese
- 3 slices bacon strips, cooked and crumbled
- ¾ cup buttery round crackers, crumbled
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Butter a 9×13-inch baking dish.
- Spread out chopped ham on the bottom of the prepared dish.
- Set hash browns on a microwave-safe plate and microwave on high power for 1 minute and 30 seconds. Potatoes should be thawed and feel slightly warm to the touch, but not be cooked. Set aside.
- Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium heat and cook onions until they are just starting to turn clear, 2 to 3 minutes. Add chopped cabbage and continue to cook, stirring often, until cabbage wilts down a little but is still crisp, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in shredded raw carrots and microwaved hash browns, then add mixture to the baking dish.
- Wipe out the skillet and melt the remaining 3 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Combine all-purpose flour, salt, dry mustard, and white pepper in a small bowl. Sprinkle flour and seasonings over the melted butter and stir, constantly, until flour and butter are well mixed and the mixture is bubbly, about 3 minutes. Allow to bubble for 1 minute, while stirring.
- Gradually pour in milk, stirring constantly to avoid lumps. Cook, stirring, until the mixture boils and thickens, 3 to 5 minutes. If the mixture is too thick, stir in an additional 3 to 4 tablespoons milk. Remove from heat.
- Add half of the grated Cheddar cheese and stir until it is melted, then add the remaining half and repeat.
- Pour sauce over the casserole and top with crumbled bacon and cracker crumbs.
- Bake in the preheated oven until the top is bubbly and brown, 30 to 35 minutes. Serve warm.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 441 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 29 g |
| Cholesterol | 66 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 3 g |
| Protein | 18 g |
| Saturated Fat | 14 g |
| Sodium | 1032 mg |
| Sugars | 7 g |
| Fat | 30 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Even though I didn’t make the exact recipe, I can honestly give it a good rating. I didn’t have bacon and I can’t eat too much ham (nitrates/nitrites) so I modified. I mixed 2/3 c. ham with the potato cabbage portion, topped that with seasoned and cooked ground beef, then the cheese, then the sauce (I did 1 1/2 recipe of that). (A helper put the cheese on before I could say melt it into the sauce, so we worked with it) Hubby and all 3 sons say it was a hit. Must have been since there was only a half serving left! I think you can use almost 2 times the potatoes and still have a good casserole.
I used pre-shredded carrots and pre-cubed ham thanks to my husband. He was trying to help me and my time. One error we think might have been he bought shredded cabbage, but the purple kind. I think the white cabbage would have been better. He suggested to next time use the cole slaw pre shredded with the carrots. That might work. He did buy the pre-cubed ham, and although it was still good, I think if you bought ham steaks and cut them up yourself would make it “meatier”. I did find some water as others mentioned, but possibly could have been from the potatoes. Yet, having that extra moisture would help on left overs. I thought the flavors were good. I added Italian seasoning and an inch of a poblano pepper. I used a little bit of heavy cream I had left over from another AR and thought I grabbed the skim milk when I actually grabbed the half and half. SSOOOO, that made this richer and not as healthy for sure. My mistake. We thought this recipe was very good an will use it again. I DO agree with others as far as the prep time etc. I used short cuts with pre-shred carrots and cabbage and still thought it was way more than said.
This is one of the best recipes that I have utilized and I have tried many thru the years.
I liked this recipe because of the inexpensive ingredients and filler of cabbage rather than carbs / starch as usual (potato’s, bread, pasta etc) the recipe took much longer than a typical casserole due to the pre pan frying of the ingredients and sauce. It tasted very good, even without the bacon, just don’t plan on making it after work for dinner. I will make it again and change nothing.
This was really good. I skipped the crackers and I used fat free cheddar instead of sharp and turkey bacon instead of regular bacon.
This was delicious!! I did all my chopping the night before, which helped with the prep time after work. 35 minutes uncovered was enough time to brown the cheese. And the cheese sauce was amazing!! My family gave this one 5 stars.
I had some leftover holiday ham in the freezer and a cabbage that needed to be used, so I decided to try this recipe. I’m so glad I did, as I loved it! Admittedly I made some changes to “lighten” it up a bit: eliminated the butter, using oil spray; reducing the cheese, and eliminating the bacon and crackers. I also used a spoonful of Dijon mustard, as I didn’t have dry. But I still found it satisfying and comforting and am already making it again. I’m sure it would be that much better with the items I omitted.
Made according to recipe and was disappointed. First, it was watery on the bottom – I assume because the water content of the cabbage had not cooked out on the stove. Secondly, it was very bland – could have used much more dry mustard and perhaps a little white wine in the cabbage-carrot saute. In any event, the meal was not satisfying or hearty and I won’t bother again.
Wonderful recipe. Followed directions exactly and the entire dish disappeared. Thank you for this wonderful dish!
Easy to make. Very tasty
Loved this! I cut recipe basically in half to cook in an 8×8 pan. I used a small ham steak and cubed it while the cabbage and onions were cooking. And also used refrigerated hash brown cubes, and pre-shredded cheese, so really not that much to prepare in advance: onions, cabbage, shredded carrot. Did not cut the seasoning in half, and only cut the flour and butter at end down to 2TB. Next time will skip the bacon (bought that in a package too) – too salty.
Yes the only way the 10 minute prep time is realistic is if you know how to shop the deli/produce department: shredded carrots come in a bag or on the salad bar, the ham can be purchased in the deli or leftover but you still have to cube it and the ham, but you need to buy pre-shredded cheese, I would get the onion and carrots on the salad bar and skip the frozen potatoes in favor of bagged refrigerated home-fry cubes. But the end result is SO worth it! Smoked sausage of any kind would be a good substitute for the leftover ham if you don’t have it.
It takes a lot longer to prepare this recipe than 10 minutes. It took me about 3/4 of an hour to chop and cook until it was ready for the oven Took about 40 minutes to cook. Was absolutely delicious and worth the time it took to prepare it. Will be awhile before I make it again
Made this for dinner tonight – was very good. Liked the white sauce mixed with the cheese. Makes a big pan so have leftovers. Bet it will taste even better the next day !