Ham and Cheese Au Gratin Potato Bake
This Ham and Cheese Au Gratin Potato Bake is the perfect winter comfort food casserole. It’s creamy, cheesy, hearty, with such a good combination of flavors. If you love ham with cheese, broccoli with cheese, and potatoes with cheese, you’re definitely going to love all of them together! The cheese sauce is super rich, thick, and creamy with great flavor. You will never believe this is lightened up! A serving of this tasty homemade casserole is just 279 calories or 9 WW Points per serving. To track this recipe in the WW app or site, click here!
I came up with this Ham and Cheese Au Gratin Potato Bake when I was craving scalloped or au gratin potatoes but I wanted to make it into a whole meal. I added some ham for protein and some broccoli for a veggie and voila! Now it’s dinner. It turned out so tasty and my husband and I fought over the leftovers, so I’ll definitely be adding this to our meal rotation during the colder months. I’d say it’s great for a weekend (or a weekday you’re working from home) because even though it’s easy to make, it bakes for a little over an hour. If you want to save time at dinner you can assemble the whole thing earlier in the day and then put it in the oven to bake when you’re ready.
Recipe Tips
- Ham: I bought already cubed ham for this (I used this kind from Hormel), but you can definitely use leftover ham or cut up a ham steak. If you make a ham dinner for Christmas or Easter, this is a great way to use the leftovers!
- Cheese: I think Colby Jack tastes perfect in this recipe, but if you have trouble finding the 2% milk version (I used Wegmans brand), you can definitely substitute another 2% milk cheese like cheddar or swiss.
- Potatoes: I used russet potatoes which is what I usually have on hand, but I’m sure Yukon Gold would also work well if that’s what you have or prefer.
- Timing: If you want to save time at dinner you can definitely assemble the whole casserole earlier in the day and then put it in the oven to bake when you’re ready to start cooking dinner.
- Side Dish: I like to serve this recipe with a nice fresh salad on the side! The leafy greens tossed in a light vinaigrette are the perfect balance for the rich flavors in the casserole.
Looking for more tasty, lightened up recipes featuring potatoes? Check out my Taco Stuffed Twice Baked Potatoes, Broccoli Cheddar Twice Baked Potatoes, Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Sweet Potatoes, Air Fryer Cajun Potatoes, Chili Cheese Stuffed Sweet Potatoes, Roasted Fingerling Potatoes, Slow Cooker Loaded Potato and Cauliflower Soup, Classic Mashed Potatoes, Broccoli Cheddar Stuffed Baked Potatoes, Sheet Pan Meatloaves with Roasted Potatoes and Green Beans, Cottage Pie, Rustic Sausage and Potato Skillet, Roasted Smashed Garlic Potatoes, Cheesy Potluck Potatoes, and more in the Potatoes category of my recipe index.
Ham and Cheese Au Gratin Potato Bake
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon dry mustard powder, (such as Colman’s in the yellow tin)
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 4 tablespoons light butter, (I use Land O’Lakes light butter spread with canola oil)
- 2 cups skim milk
- 8 oz shredded 2% milk Colby Jack cheese, divided
- 2 lbs (32 oz) raw peeled Russet potatoes, sliced into ¼” thick rounds
- 3 cups small broccoli florets
- 8 oz diced or cubed cooked ham, (I used Hormel Premium boneless cubed ham)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and mist a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray.
- In a small dish, stir together the flour, salt, dry mustard, onion powder, and pepper.
- Place the butter in a medium saucepan and bring over med-low heat. When the butter is melted, add the flour mixture and stir together until the butter and flour are combined into a paste. Cook that for a minute and then slowly whisk in the milk a little at a time until combined into a smooth liquid. Increase the heat to medium-high and cook, whisking semi-regularly, for a few minutes until it starts to bubble and thicken. Add 6 ounces of the shredded cheese and whisk it into the mixture until fully melted. Remove from heat but cover to keep warm.
- Spread/layer half of the potato slices across the bottom of the baking dish. Sprinkle a bit of salt and pepper over the potatoes and then spread half of the broccoli florets evenly across and follow with the cubed ham. Pour half of the cheese sauce (about 1 ½ cups) evenly over the top of the layered ingredients. Place the remaining potato slices evenly across the dish on top of the cheese sauce layer and sprinkle with a little more salt and pepper. Add the remaining broccoli and ham across the surface of the potatoes. Pour the remaining cheese sauce over the top of the casserole, covering the ingredients.
- Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil and transfer to the heated oven. Bake for 60 minutes and then remove the foil and check the potato doneness with a fork (should sink in). Sprinkle the remaining 2 ounces of cheese over the top of the casserole and return to the oven for another 10 minutes until the cheese is golden and the casserole is bubbly. Let the casserole rest for 15 minutes so the sauce will thicken before slicing.
Notes
9 per (1/8th of the pan) serving (WW Points calculated using the recipe builder on weightwatchers.com) To track your WW Points for this recipe in the WW app or site, click here! Nutrition Information per (1/8th of the pan) serving:
279 calories, 30 g carbs, 5 g sugars, 10 g fat, 5 g saturated fat, 19 g protein, 2 g fiber, 664 mg sodium (from myfitnesspal.com) Weight Watchers Points Plus: 7 per (1/8th of the pan) serving (PP calculated using a Weight Watchers PointsPlus calculator and the nutrition info above)
I made this. It’s sooo good!
Made this with leftover Thanksgiving ham! So delicious!
That’s so delicious. My family likes this
Can I make this ahead of time? Need something for a Christmas morning side dish and we loved this when we had it at home!
OMG! I wanted to lick the plate. Absolutely delicious.
that is wonderful i like it
Picky husband liked this,
Can I freeze leftovers?
I made this tonight exactly as written and it was amazing. The Buffalo chicken dip was also stellar! So glad I found this site!
I think that is fantastic.
This is really very good. The cheese sauce is delicious. I used cauliflower in place of broccoli. Everything else I followed exactly as written. It was not hard to make and shredding your own cheese is worth the extra effort. Thanks for another great recipe.
Just made this tonight, this was also super good. I’m a fan of Emily Bites now and look forward to trying your other recipes 🙂 Love that these are healthier than others and so far super easy to make. My roommates said this is their fav dish so far.
Finally got to make this and it was a huge hit! Perfect for a chilly night, and very filling.
I have grown up eating scalloped potatoes, it is a personal favorite!! I feel like the way the spices are incorporated with the flour is ingenious and I really didn’t know you could make a roux with light butter and skim milk. A roux is my favorite way to make something creamy, but with regular butter and milk, it is not very health friendly. The addition of broccoli and ham make this recipe kick scalloped potatoes butt, I’ll never make plain old scalloped potatoes again!!!!
This was so delicious! My family (just 3 of us tonight) devoured it!
My husband thought corn or peas (yuck!) would be better than broccoli….he is very wrong!
Go Bills!
Made as written. Was incredible!! Definitely a keeper. I had to cook it a bit longer, but it set up perfect.
Do you think this could be a good freezer meal? Perhaps make and freeze before the bake point?
Thank you!
I’m adjusting this to cook in the crockpot so I hope it tastes just as good. It smells amazing!!!
This is the best recipe! I added a few things, some Thyme, 4 small red and yellow peppers and a half tp of better than bullion ham flavor.
I Cannot Wait to Try this I adore Ham and Potatoes with Cheddar. Au gratin is my fave. I will be so happy to finally have the recipe.
We loved this. It was easy to adapt to a smaller pan. I added actual onion, softened in the butter and cayanne pepper. Used the cheese I had on hand, colby, swiss & asiago. YUM.
This is such a great combination of potato, ham, and cheese. I cant’ resist this.
this is amazing i love this
cheese with potato this is amazing i consider to everyone eat this
That is mind-blowing this recipe is tasty , I love potato
If you love ham with cheese, broccoli with cheese, and potatoes with cheese, you’re definitely going to love all of them together!
Your essay is informative and engaging, and I hope you keep writing like this.
This was delicious! Made it with leftover ham from Christmas. As my husband tells me when he likes a meal… “It’s a do over.”
This is really delicious. Can prepare it and have all the kitchen cleaned up to serve this with a beautiful green healthy salad. I didn’t change a thing.
Do you recommend fresh or frozen broccoli?
I’ve always used fresh!
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