Low Carb Creamy Vegetables & Ham Casserole – Great For Leftovers

If you are looking for healthy comfort food, check out this low carb creamy vegetables & ham casserole. It’s great for using leftover ham and vegetables you have in the fridge. It’s creamy, cheesy and even low carb with only 5.1g net carbs per serving.

You might also like this low carb broccoli and ham casserole!

Last month I was thought that I would be on a my exciting vacation over Easter so we celebrated early with a tasty ham. I of course has lots of leftover ham so I made this low carb creamy vegetables & ham casserole and a yummy layered salad with it. These were to be posts for the blog while I was gone. 

And of course that vacation was canceled so I thought I may as well post this recipe because it would work with a variety of leftovers and might just come in handy for you all. 

What Kinds Of Leftovers Can You Use In This Low Carb Casserole?

I basically used up the random vegetables I had in my refrigerator and some of the ham for this recipe. You can use any vegetables you want but you need cauliflower for the cream sauce. 

The vegetables I used were: broccoli, cauliflower, peppers, zucchini  and green beans. Below are the carb counts of some vegetables so you can pick which ever vegetables you have available.

• cauliflower (3.2g net carbs per cup)
• bell peppers (5.9g net carbs per cup)
• zucchini (2.7g net carbs per cup)
• broccoli ( 6.1 net carbs per cup)
• mushrooms (1.6g net carbs per cup)
• raw spinach (0.4g net carbs per cup)
• red onions (12.2g net carbs per cup)
• grape tomatoes (4.8g net carbs per cup)
• asparagus ( 2.4 net carbs per cup)

Let’s Make This Creamy Vegetables & Ham Casserole!

I used fresh vegetables that I had in my refrigerator so I precooked them in the microwave for 4 minutes. You can also use frozen vegetables but you should cook them in the microwave first and drain excess water.

Meanwhile take the cauliflower and add to a pot and just cover with water. Boil until the cauliflower is fork tender. Strain the water but keep it. Add the cauliflower, olive oil, dehydrated onion and garlic to a high speed blender (like a Vitamix) and blend to make a creamy sauce. You might have to use some of the remaining water to thin it a bit. 

Get out a large baking dish and assemble the casserole. Start with mixing the precooked vegetables and ham and half of the cheese.  

Next you want to pour over the cauliflower sauce and top with remaining cheese and bake for 20 minutes. If you want you can just mix all the ingredients together – vegetables, ham and cauliflower sauce – and top with cheese. 

When making this I put the cauliflower on top but I think next time I would mix it all together with the veggies and ham. That way the excess water the veggies produce would mix with the cauliflower cream sauce. I would still put the extra cheese on top though.  

Recipe Notes & Tips

• You can use raw or frozen vegetables. Precook raw vegetables in the microwave about 4 minutes. If using frozen cook them first and drain them before adding to the casserole.
• I used whatever vegetables I had in my refrigerator but you can use whatever vegetables you want. I have a list above with carb counts to help you choose.
• You don’t have to use leftover Easter ham, you can use thick sliced deli ham, leftover chicken or turkey. Even ground beef (cooked) would work. 
• Make sure that your cauliflower cream is thin enough to to pour but not too thin as to make your casserole running. The vegetables will accumulate water when cooking. 
• You can mix the cauliflower cream with the veggies and ham. Or you can just place it on top like I did.

Well I hope you enjoy this leftover ham casserole. Sometimes you just need a little low carb comfort food to soothe you. The nutritional information for 1 serving is:

267 cals / 17.3g fat / 8.9g carbs / 3.8g fiber / 20.6g protein = 5.1g net carbs

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Low Carb Creamy Vegetable & Ham Casserole

Yield: 6

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes

This low carb creamy vegetable & ham casserole is great for using leftover ham and vegetables in your fridge.

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Ingredients

• 3 cups cauliflower, chopped
• 1 tablespoon olive oil 
• 1 teaspoon dehydrated onion spice
• 1 teaspoon garlic, crushed
• 3-4 tablespoons water (retained from cooking cauliflower)
• 7 oz ham, chopped
• 3 cups cauliflower, cooked and chopped
• 1 cup zucchini, cooked and chopped
• ½ cup green beans, cooked and chopped
• ½ cup peppers, cooked and chopped
• 1 cup broccoli, cooked and chopped
• 2 cups cheese

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Make the cauliflower cream sauce by add 3 cups of chopped cauliflower to a pan and add water to just cover the cauliflower. Bring to a boil and simmer until fork tender.
3. Drain the water but keep it for later. Add the cauliflower, olive oil, dehydrated onion, garlic and ¼ cup of the retained water to a high speed blender. Blend on high until nice and creamy. If it's too thick like mashed potatoes, add more of the retained liquid to thin it.
4. Spray a large baking dish with cooking spray.
5. Make sure you are using cooked vegetables. Whether you are using frozen or fresh vegetables, precook in the microwave and drain the water before adding to the casserole.
6. Mix the ham, vegetables and half of the cheese and spread out in the baking dish.
7. Pour the cauliflower cream over the veggies and ham and then top with remaining cheese. You can also just mix the cauliflower cream together with the vegtable mixture and then top with cheese.
8. Bake for 20 minutes until the cheese melts and browns. You can also stick it under the broiler when done baking so it browns.

Notes

Note you can use any cooked vegetables you want. I chose the above vegetables because they were low carb and I had them in my refrigerator.

The nutritional information for 1 serving is:

267 cals / 17.3g fat / 8.9g carbs / 3.8g fiber / 20.6g protein = 5.1g net carbs

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 267