Deluxe Scalloped Potatoes and Ham

This is truly a deluxe recipe for Scalloped Potatoes and Ham. It has just the right amount of delicious creamy sauce that coats the potatoes and ham. All topped with shredded cheese that gets golden and caramelized in some spots. It is sure to become a comfort food favorite in your house, especially if you have leftover ham in the fridge!

I will say scalloped potatoes and ham is not a quick weeknight dinner. It takes some love and patience, just like lasagna. You build all the layers of flavor and then bake it for about an hour and a half. Save this dinner for a weekend, especially great for a Sunday Supper with friends and family.

Some other really great comfort food recipes to check out next are Chicken and Dumplings, Turkey Pot Pie, and Chicken Tetrazzini!

Why This Recipe is So Amazing

Let me tell you why this recipe is so great! I tested this scalloped potatoes and ham recipe OVER AND OVER…and over again until I nailed it. I had very strict criteria to make it perect.

Here’s why this recipe works:

• There is the perfect ratio of cream sauce to potatoes.
• Lawry’s Seasoned Salt adds the perfect salt flavor to the potatoes.
• By adding a layer of cream sauce on the bottom you get caramelized bits on the bottom and top!
• The cook time is just right to ensure the potatoes are tender and the cheese is caramelized in some spots.
• It’s a excellent recipe to use up leftover holiday ham (so is this recipe for Instant Pot red beans and rice and Ham Balls!)
• Layering the dish ensures you get sauce and ham with every bite of potato.

What Does Scalloped Mean?

In cooking, scalloped generally means that the dish is cooked in some type of cream sauce. As in scalloped corn or scalloped apples.

People often confuse “gratin” or au gratin” with scalloped. The difference is au gratin means it is cooked in a sauce that contains cheese, not just a cream sauce.

Ingredient Tips

To make this over-the-top Scalloped Potatoes and Ham recipe you will need the ingredients pictured:

Russet Potatoes : you definitely want to use russet potatoes for this dish. They are starchy enough to hold up to the longer cooking time and won’t break down into mashed potatoes.

Cheddar Cheese : this is not the time to use pre-shredded cheese, which contains anti-clumping agents that don’t allow your cheese to melt super creamy. Instead, shred your own cheese from a block and you will have the creamiest Scalloped Potatoes! It’s worth the extra work!

Seasoned Salt: if you’ve ever made mashed potatoes then you know that potatoes require a good amount of salt to have “flavor”. Lawry’s Seasoned Salt (or similar brand) is the perfect addition to add true flavor to your potatoes.

Heavy Cream : no substitutes for heavy cream. You need the fat content of the heavy cream to keep it stable in the oven and to thicken the sauce and ensure you have a super rich and creamy recipe.

Cream Cheese : Use full fat cream cheese from the block, not a tub. The tub cream cheese has a little extra liquid.

Through my MULTIPLE tests for this recipe I found that cream cheese is a key “secret” ingredient to making your Scalloped Potatoes & Ham sauce extra creamy with amazing flavor.

Cooked Ham

You will need 2 heaping cups of cooked cubed ham for your scalloped potatoes and ham. If you have leftover ham this is a great recipe to use that up.

However, unless it was just Easter, it is not likely that you have leftover ham in your fridge! I recommend buying a bone-in ham steak and cut it into cubes. Buying one that is around 1.25 lbs. will be great.

This is not the time for thin deli ham slices. You want to be able to cut 1-1.5 inch cubes of ham.

Sauce

As we talked about before, scalloped means that you are baking the potatoes and ham in a cream sauce. So for this recipe we use butter, flour, onions, garlic, chicken broth, and heavy cream to make the sauce.

The addition of a little cream cheese makes the cream sauce extra rich and creamy!

Step by Step Picture Instructions

Start by peeling then slicing your potatoes on a mandolin, V slicer or in a food processor with an ⅛ inch thick blade. You can also cut them by hand, it will just take a while longer.

This Mandolin is not expensive and is the one I use in my kitchen (affiliate link). It works like a charm!

Now in a large bowl toss the potatoes with ½ cup cream. This will slow the browning process.

In a skillet over medium heat melt the butter, then add the sliced onions. Sauté them for about 5-10 minutes or until they just start to brown around the edges (FLAVOR!). Now add in the garlic, seasoned salt and pepper, cook for 1 minute.

Sprinkle in the flour and stir to coat the onions for 1 minute.

Now slowly whisk in the chicken broth, followed by the 2 cups heavy cream.

Add the cubed cream cheese in and stir to melt. Let the sauce simmer for a few minutes until it is thickened.

Time for Layering

Grab a deep 9×13 dish, rub the bottom and sides with the 1 tablespoon softened butter.

• Start with 1 cup of cream onion sauce across the bottom.
• Top with a layer of potatoes.

• Spread a generous cup or so of onion cream sauce across the potatoes.
• Sprinkle on half the ham.

• Top with another layer of potatoes.
• Spread a generous cup or so of onion cream sauce across the potatoes.
• Top with remaining ham.
• To finish, layer the remaining potatoes, top with all the remaining sauce, and finally sprinkle on the 2 cups of cheese.

Give the dish a little press to make sure everything lays flat.

Baking

Cover the dish tightly with foil. Then place on a large rimmed baking sheet to catch spills in the oven.

Pro tip: Spray the underside of the foil with non-stick spray so the cheese doesn’t stick to the foil!

Bake at 400 degrees, covered, for 70 minutes. Then remove the foil and bake for another 30 minutes.

Your Scalloped Potatoes and Ham will be smoking hot when it comes out of the oven, allow about 20 minutes for the dish to cool, settle, and thicken before serving!

Testing for Doneness

The LAST thing you want in a potato dish are crunchy potatoes! So after the full 2 hour cook time, slide a knife into the potatoes at the center of the dish. You shouldn’t meet any resistance. That is how you know the dish is done.

I mention this because if you are cutting your potatoes by hand they might not be exactly ⅛ inch thick and may take a few extra minutes to completely soften.

Serving & Side Dishes

This dish will serve 6-8 people generous portions.

A green salad and dinner rolls with butter are great side dishes to pair with scalloped potatoes and ham. Some other options are:

• Roasted Asparagus
• Roasted Fennel
• Roasted Broccoli
• Roasted Carrots
• Haricot Verts
• Broccoli Bacon Salad
• Jello Salad
• Deviled Eggs

Recipe Tips to Remember

• Spray the underside of your foil with non stick spray so it doesn’t pull all the cheese off the top.
• Use fresh shredded cheese! It melts creamier.
• Slightly brown the onions for more flavor.
• Wait and add the garlic when you add the salt and pepper, it keeps the flavor a little stronger.
• Make sure you calculate “resting time” in your total preparation time. The sauce is like molten lava when it comes out of the oven!
• Test the potatoes for doneness at the end of the cooking time by sliding a knife into the center of the dish.

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