Keto Ham and Cabbage Casserole

If you are looking for and easy low carb skillet dinner, you have to try this creamy keto ham and cabbage casserole recipe. You only need 6 simple ingredients and you can make this keto comfort food in about 15 minutes! Creamy cabbage noodles with healthy spinach and leftover ham make this a quick and easy low carb dinner. Each serving has just 4.9 grams net carbs and 17.7 grams protein.

You might also like this easy creamy ham and vegetable casserole.

We recently had a big holiday ham dinner and I had lots of leftovers. So I made my keto broccoli and ham casserole and froze portions for a quick keto lunch. And also made my ham and cabbage soup but still had leftovers!

So I decided to make some cabbage noodles and came up with this creamy keto ham and cabbage casserole recipe. It was rich and decadent and the flavors reminded me a little of a pasta Alfredo with ham. Plus you can forgo the oven and make this casserole in one pan.

The cabbage was cut into pieces that mimicked wide pasta noodles and when cooked it had a similar texture. The sauce was a cheesy cream sauce and then there was spinach and ham. This low carb one pan meal took just 15 minutes to make a wonderful comforting meal for someone on a keto diet!

What I also liked about this meal is that it’s low carb and high protein. There are only 4.9 grams of net carbs and it has a whopping 17.7 grams of protein. So if you are trying to add more protein to your diet this cheesy ham casserole is a good recipe to try.

The 6 recipe ingredients, substitutions and variations.

I used just a few basic ingredients including leftover chopped ham, head green cabbage, fresh baby spinach, cream cheese, asiago cheese and heavy whipping cream. There isn’t much need for extra salt because of the cheese and ham but you can season with ground pepper if you want.

Cabbage and Spinach
For the cabbage noodles, I tried to cut them into the size of a wide egg noodle. In my opinion this adds to the dish and makes it seem more like noodles than a vegetable. The spinach was more for color and nutrition. I goes great with the creamy sauce in this recipe too.

Of course if you wanted to add other veggies you could. Try some low carb veggies like bell peppers, broccoli, asparagus, tomatoes, cauliflower, etc.

Cream Cheese, Asiago and Heavy Cream
The creamy cheese sauce that is made up of the cream cheese and asiago cheese. You could substitute parmesan cheese, romano cheese or sharp cheddar cheese for the asiago if you want. The cream cheese however is necessary.

I use a heavy whipping cream but you could substitute with a half and half if you want. I would not use milk as it has more carbs. It’s more of a cheese sauce but if you wanted an alfredo flavor you could use a bit of garlic or even Italian seasonings. If you use garlic use crushed fresh garlic and add it when you make the sauce.

Leftover Ham
The purpose of the dish was to use the leftover ham but if you don’t have leftover ham you can buy a ham steak or get thick sliced ham from the deli. You could also substitute with other meat like kielbasa, flavored sausages or even just thick bacon.

How to make creamy keto ham and cabbage casserole.

This is a one pan skillet dinner and there is no need to use the oven. You do have to use the microwave though.

Step 1: First thing you want to do is chop the veggies and ham. I would not put them in the food processor but rather chop the head of cabbage into noodles by hand. Then microwave for 3 minutes to soften them. Cooking times may vary but you just want to soften it.

Step 2: In the meantime, get out a large skillet and heat to medium heat. Make the cream sauce by adding the cream cheese, heavy cream and asiago shredded cheese to the large skillet. Whisk until the cream cheese melts and combines with the heavy whipping cream and asiago cheese.

No need to season with salt because the cheese is pretty salty as well as the ham but you can add some black pepper if you wish.

Step 3: Drain cabbage and add to the sauce. Cook for 2-3 minutes to further soften it and get the cream sauce well incorporated.

Step 4: Add the chopped ham and let cook for 1 minute then take off the stove and stir in the fresh spinach until wilted. (Please scroll down to view the printable recipe card.)

You can store leftovers in an airtight container and I like to even freeze portions for a microwave lunch.

This creamy keto ham casserole is very rich. You don’t need a big portion to be satisfied. If you however if you want to make this recipe stretch you can add more of the veggies to the dish.

If you are watching your carbs just make sure to take in to account if you add more cabbage. It is the highest carb ingredient even though it isn’t a high carb vegetable.

Other keto cabbage recipes you might like.

I really like cabbage and it’s one of my favorite low carb veggies to play around with on a keto diet. Here are a few of my favorite low carb recipes that you might want to try.

• low calorie vegetable soup
• kielbasa and cabbage skillet recipe
• antipasto coleslaw
• ground beef and cabbage 4 ways
• Asian cabbage noodles with beef
• creamy curry coleslaw

Low carb leftover ham recipes to try.

And if you have leftover ham give one of these low carb recipes a shot.

• low carb layered salad
• crustless quiche with ham and spinach
• chef salad with red roquefort dressing
• western omelets in a jar
• low carb ham salad

So if you are in the mood for some excellent comfort food on a low carb diet, give this creamy keto ham and cabbage casserole a try. It’s a quick and easy meal that’s good for the winter months and will make you feel like you are cheating but you’re not! Enjoy.

The nutrition information for 1 serving is 355 calories / 28.4g fat / 7.3g carbs / 2.4g fiber / 17.7g protein = 4.9g net carbs