If you’re looking for some new recipes to use up that leftover ham, boy do I have a delicious dinner option for you.
This Cheesy Leftover Ham and Rice Casserole is so easy to make: all you do is toss everything together and bake!
You know I super-dooper love casseroles.
Is that weird?
I especially love it when casserole recipes are as easy as this one. I had some leftover Ham and a bunch of uncooked rice in my pantry and this cheesy concoction came together.
I used the basic idea from the classic Campbell’s chicken and rice casserole, but tweaked it slightly.
Instead of cream of chicken soup, I used their cheddar soup. So not only does this casserole get topped with cheese, but the rice, ham and broccoli are also cooked in a cheesy soup mixture. It’s basically a cheese-lover’s dream.
And we all know how good cheese is for you! 🙂 (It’s all those nutrients from the milk)
No worries if you’re not a fan of Ham. This recipe is easily adaptable to be made with leftover turkey or rotisserie chicken.
You can add in sliced carrots, peas, cauliflower… basically, go crazy with it. Make it your own.
But first… definitely try out this ham, rice and broccoli combo. It’s killer.
It’s one of those comfort food recipes that you’ll be making over and over again.
My whole family loved this. I know yours will too!
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When you’re done baking the casserole for 60 minutes, there will be a layer of liquid on the top. This does NOT mean that the rice did not get cooked through. Simply remove the casserole from the oven, give it a good stir to mix in the liquid and fluff the rice. Top with cheese and finish baking.
Cheesy Leftover Ham and Rice Casserole with Broccoli
Ingredients
- 20 oz Cheese Soup , found by the cream soups
- 2⅔ cups water
- 1 tsp Italian Seasoning
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 1/2 cups Jasmine rice, uncooked
- 3 cups broccoli florets, I used fresh, but you could substitute with frozen
- 2 cups chopped ham
- 1 cup colby jack cheese, shredded
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a large bowl whisk together the soup, water, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Stir in the rice, broccoli and ham.
- Pour mixture into a 9"x13" casserole dish. Cover tightly with foil. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, or until the rice is tender. THE CASSEROLE WILL LOOK WATERY, BUT IT WILL BE COOKED! Stir the casserole to fluff the rice, then top with the shredded cheese. Bake for an additional 5 to 7 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly. Enjoy!
Cooking this now checked it at 50mins it was really watery letting it cook a bit longer I used frozen broccoli and instant rice not sure if that’s why it’s watery. Was thinking of mixing in some of the shredded cheese before sprinkling a little on top to maybe help thicken it up lol I don’t any ideas???
hi I always cook my rice in the oven and have never had a problem (I also cook my potatoes in water in the oven) I have waiting around for things to boil on the stove top LOL lazy cooker, but I don’t have to watch anything … making this tonight .. love ham, rice and cheese .. yum
I tried this tonight, I baked for 60 minutes and it was nowhere near done, I put my oven on convection and cooked for another hour before it was actually finished cooking
I love this recipe 🙂 specially that broccoli cooked with rice, that is amazing 🙂
This is the worst recipe. I baked it as instructed for over an hour, and even turned up the heat to find the rice still crunchy! So I finally took it out of the over, dumped the contents into a Dutch oven, added water and boiled for an additional 20 minutes…and I’m still waiting for the rice to get soft!! Did anyone else have this problem???
Hi Shawn. I used a box of Zatarain’s Cheddar Broccoli Rice. It cooks in 25 min. I browned crushed chips was topping for five min. at end of cook time. Thank you for your recipe idea! It’s delicious.
I used a box of Zatarain’s New Orleans Style Cheddar Broccoli Rice side dish. It’s gluten free and cooks in 25 minutes. I added melted butter and crushed chips for topping .. lightly browning the chips at end of cook time. Thanks for posting your recipe! I appreciate the help with using up my leftover ham.
I’m thinking that boiling water & cover with foil should do the trick with the rice
Cover the casserole tightly with foil and you shouldn’t have a problem. You could definitely try it with boiled water though!
Can you use a different type of soup? I only have cream of mushroom in the pantry.
I made this tonight and I loved the broccoli, rice and cheese combination. Flavor was wonderful, but I would cook my rice before baking.. I cooked for 1 hour and 20 min. and it never got done. I think instant rice might work better than long grain rice.
What cheese blend do you use for the shredded cheese? Want to make this tonight with leftover Christmas ham. 🙂
You can use a blend of cheddar and monterey jack cheese, or a three cheese blend (pre shredded package from the store).
Do u think I can use one can cheese soup, and one can cream of chicken?
I think that would work just fine! 🙂
pinned this cheesy goodness. I invite you to share your lovely bog at my Thursday party ( you can share until midnight Saturday. Hugs
P.S> don’t forget to enter my giveaways too
I have been cooking meals for the ‘Barrie Out of the Cold’ program, here in Barrie, ONTARIO, for about 16 years. I’m always looking for new recipes, ones that look hearty, comforting, and tasty! I will be making this casserole tomorrow evening, for my Friday night Out of the Cold duty. I’m thinking this should warm up the clients, fill their tummies, and provide them with something very tasty! Thanks for sharing, Shawn!
That is amazing! You’re such a wonderful blessing to these people! 🙂
Just made this with leftover ham from Thanksgiving. Followed the recipe exactly and it came out perfect! My husband and kids loved it, can’t wait to try it again and maybe try different meat/veggies!
Made cheese soup recipe from food.com in a large Dutch oven. Added the other ingredients and brought it to a boil before putting the lid on and baking. Using jasmine rice. Smells divine!
Did you use the water in the recipe if you made your own cheese soup instead of Campbell’s? Thinking of trying it this way since I don’t have canned soup on hand. Thanks!
Is this something you could make ahead and freeze?
Yes! I would make bake it up until the part where you add the cheese on top. Let it cool and freeze. Then just reheat, covered, until bubbly in center and then add the cheese and finish the recipe.
Could you cook it in a rice cooker maybe? My rive cooker has a steamer basket over top maybe put the broccoli that?
Jessica and Shawn – when using brown rice you need to do one of two things – either cook the brown rice on the stove top (or rice cooker) first and then mix with the other items (but reduce or even eliminate the water – I would say leave 1/2 to 2/3 to mix with soups etc.) Or alternatively, cook as directed above but increase water and cook at 375 for 90 minutes. Brown rice is actually best cooked on the stove or in a rice cooker. It really needs the moisture higher heat and ability to steam.
Rice isn’t cooking for me either. It’s been an hour 20 minutes. Smells great, but we’re all starting to get hangry.
You’ll want to make sure you tightly cover the casserole with foil before baking. That will help to get that rice nice and cooked!
Hi. I am actually making this right now and I am using jasmine rice, it has been 60 minutes at 350° and the rice is still VERY crunchy….. seems like minute rice would be better, or pre cook it…… I think I’m looking at another 30 min of bake time right now :(…… sooo excited to eat it!!!!
I’m not sure why some are having trouble with the rice not cooking all the way through. I would just keep it in the oven, covered until the rice cooks through all the way. Check it every 5-10 minutes.
I want to try this with brown rice but am wary about it’s cooking all the way through. Your thoughts on using cooked rice instead? This sounds so good and I know it would be a big hit at our church’s pot luck luncheon. Thank you for your recipe and your advice. Joan
I’ve made recipes like this before, but the rice rarely cooked all the way through. The tin foil was a great idea, it cooked perfectly!
Since we didn’t have the cheese soup, I used a family-sized can of Cream of Potato Soup instead, and it was quite good 🙂 My picky family of 6 all loved it! Thanks!
That sounds like a great substitution! Thanks for sharing Kathryn!
I made this tonight….kids loved it…I loved it…thank you!
Awesome!! Thanks for sharing Mindy! 🙂
Loved your recipe! I had company over for the weekend and they all loved this! I made a substitute and used one can of cream of chicken and one can of cheesy soup. Then for the rice I used the yellow Zataran’s rice.
Great substitutions! I am so glad you and your company enjoyed it! 🙂
Could you use “instant rice”? I don’t usually keep regular rice on hand.
You could use instant rice, I would just check it sooner so the rice doesn’t get over cooked. 🙂
Grrr..it’s been in the oven for an hour and my rice is still hard! I just covered with aluminum foil to see if the steam would help the cooking process. It smells amazing, but noone likes uncooked rice.
Hmm… that’s weird?! My rice was cooked perfectly, but I’m thinking adding some foil on top would be a good idea to help move things along.
Yep…:/ and I used foil too. Finally had to transfer to stove top, add more water and boil for another 30 minutes!
If you use frozen broccoli, should you cook it first? I feel like it would make the casserole watery…???
Thanks!
It would add extra water to the casserole, but not too much. I think it should be ok if you just throw it in there frozen.
Made this to take to a church pot luck,after the hour I took it out of the oven to add the cheese and it was still very runny. As you quested I didn’t take it but when I came home,the rice had settled so in future I would make it earlier in the day and reheat
What can be substituted for the cans of cheese soup. We don’t have this is New Zealand.
Hmm.. I’m not sure? Maybe make a cheese sauce with a simple roux to start out?
I’m going to use mushroom soup instead
Sounds like a great substitution!
Condensed Cheddar Cheese Soup Substitute
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
salt, to taste
Melt butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat; add flour and whisk until smooth and bubbly. Remove from heat; gradually add milk, whisking to keep smooth. Return to heat and bring to a gentle boil, whisking constantly until thickened. Add cheese and stir until melted. Add salt.
Just wondering if you use instant rice orregular rice.
Regular long or medium grain white rice will work for this. 🙂
Just a tip, we used brown Asian rice, and it doesn’t work as well. It just takes longer to cook. I think I’ve tried to use Asian style rice in casseroles before and had the same problem. Try American rice.
Good to know. Thanks Keera! 🙂
Thank you for setting up your “print recipe” to include the picture! That makes such a big difference for me in my little pile of “make this soon” recipes.
No problem! I’m glad you like it! 🙂
This looks so gooey and fabulous, Shawn! I love dressing up leftovers into something amazing. And good call with the cheddar soup; I bet it adds tremendous flavor!
This casserole looks lovely! Doesn’t look like leftover at all 😀
Thanks Medeja! The “leftover” is for the Ham. You know.. leftover ham.. 😉
Hi Shawn, I made this for my friends for a weekend dinner and it came out really well! I added a cheese and panko topping. I also used freshly grated parmigiano reggiano and some crunchy panko crumbs. Thanks a lot for posting this recipe!
Wow! Love the crunchy topping you added! 🙂