A delicious twist on the classic Ham, Potato and Green Beans, this simple casserole adds an easy homemade cheese sauce and crunchy bread crumb topping. Classic comfort food that is perfect for special occasions or a weeknight dinner. It’s also great for using up leftover ham!
When fresh green beans are in season, it always makes me think of this casserole. It’s basic, yet delicious. And who’s going to complain about a cheesy sauce? Not me!
Plus, even better, the cheese sauce is made from real ingredients. A major win in my opinion!
WATCH VIDEO: LEARN HOW TO MAKE THIS RECIPE
Why We Love This Recipe
- Easy to Make. This dish might be a bit more time-consuming to make than most of my recipes, but it is still super easy. And I think you’ll find that it’s worth the extra time!
- Simple Ingredients. Made totally from scratch with basic pantry staples.
- Budget Friendly. No expensive ingredients required…especially if you use leftover ham from the holidays.
Ham, Potato, & Green Bean Casserole Ingredients
- Butter. You can use salted or unsalted butter.
- Flour. I use all-purpose flour. But if you are wanting to make this gluten-free, gluten-free flour should work too!
- Salt. I’m always cautious with the salt since the ham adds quite a lot of salty flavor.
- Black Pepper.
- Onion Powder.
- Garlic Powder.
- Milk. Any variety will do. If you are using plant-based, it’s best to go with one that is unsweetened.
- Cheddar Cheese. Mild, medium or sharp- it all works great!
- Potatoes. I often use red-skinned potatoes, but really, whatever potatoes you have on hand will work.
- Green beans. I love using fresh green beans, but of course, these can be swapped for canned or frozen.
- Ham. Ham steaks are great for this recipe, but they also are not cheap. So most times I just end up using leftover ham. I think leftover smoked turkey would work great too!
- Breadcrumbs. Using seasoned breadcrumbs adds more flavor to the topping. Only have plain breadcrumbs? Learn how to season them!
How to Make Ham Casserole with Potatoes and Green Beans
STEP 1: Melt the butter, add in the flour and spices.
STEP 2: Pour in the milk and stir constantly as it thickens.
STEP 3: Remove from heat and stir in the cheddar cheese.
STEP 4: In a greased 9×13 baking dish, layer potatoes, green beans and then the ham.
STEP 5: Top with the cheese sauce.
STEP 6: Mix the butter and breadcrumbs together and sprinkle on top of the casserole.
STEP 7: Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.
FAQ & Expert Tips
Do I need to Peel the Potatoes? Not unless you want to! Unless I’m using older potatoes with thick skins, I typically leave the skins on for added nutrition. Plus, it saves time, which is also great!
Can this be made Gluten-Free? Yes! Simply use gluten-free flour and gluten-free breadcrumbs.
Save Time: Leftover baked potatoes work great for this recipe. I often will have a dinner of baked potatoes a day or two before and make plenty extra so I can make this recipe.
How to Store: Keep leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Leftover Ham: Use this recipe after the holidays to use up your leftover ham.
More Easy Recipes You’ll Love
- Cream Cheese Potato Soup with Ham
- Herb Roasted Chicken and Potatoes
- Creamy Sausage and Potato Skillet
- Bisquick Chicken Pot Pie
Cheesy Potato, Ham & Green Bean Casserole
Ingredients
- 5 cups potatoes, cooked and diced (no need to peel)
- 6 cups green beans, cooked
- 2 cups cooked ham diced
Cheese Sauce
- 6 Tbsp. butter
- ¼ cup + 2 Tbsp. flour
- salt to taste (about 1 tsp.)
- ½ tsp. pepper
- ¼ tsp. onion powder
- 1/8 tsp. garlic powder
- 3 cups milk
- 1½ cups shredded cheddar cheese
Topping
- 2 tbsp. butter, melted
- ½ cup seasoned breadcrumbs
Instructions
- Put potatoes in greased 9×13 baking dish, top with green beans and then ham.
- To make the cheese sauce, melt the butter and whisk in flour, salt, pepper, onion powder and garlic powder.
- Add milk, stirring constantly, until thickened.
- Remove from heat, add cheese and stir until melted.
- Pour cheese sauce over all.
- Combine breadcrumbs and butter; Sprinkle over top of casserole.
- Bake at 350° for 30 minutes.
Notes
Rachael Schettenhelm
I made it tonight and it was a hit!! I needed a dish I could put in the oven before yoga so I undercooked the potatoes and beans and baked the casserole for an hour at 350 covered for a half hour, then had a helper uncover it and add the bread for the last half hour. I cubed old bread and stirred it in the butter so it was more crouton that bread crumbs..
Lydia Beiler
So delighted to hear that you all enjoyed it, Rachael! And thanks for sharing what you did to make it work for a longer bake time as well as the way you did the bread topping. Those kinds of things are always so helpful for other readers!
Janet Davis
Am I missing something here? Where’s the “print’ version of this recipe?? There’s nothing frugal about printing 10 pages of ads and yum-yum-yummy happy talk comments.
ThriftyFrugalMom
No, you aren’t missing anything, Janet. I simply haven’t had the time yet to switch all of my recipe posts over to a plugin that allows people to print them by clicking a button. I’m slowly working at it, but unfortunately, blogging (and being a homeschooling mom and homemaker) take a lot of time and I just can’t do it all. 🙂 There’s no need to print the whole blog post though just to get the recipe! Just copy and paste the recipe itself to either a document on your computer or if you are on your phone, copy it and email it to yourself. Hope that helps!
Linda Steiger
Scallopped potatoes and ham is one of my favorites anyway so definitely going to try this. Why couldn’t you dice raw potatoes and cook with green beans in same pot? I’m lazy and always looking for short cuts.
TERESA
I made this with thawed frozen diced potatoes. I would recommend mixing it altogether before putting in the pen. Of course don’t enclose the butter and bread crumbs.
ThriftyFrugalMom
Oh, that’s a great timesaving idea, Teresa! Thanks for the suggestion.
Esther
This recipe looks so yummy! My family and I love ham, beans and potato stew, but somehow this cheese sauce looks so much better. I’m adding this to my recipes to try soon.
ThriftyFrugalMom
Oh, that stew sounds amazing, Esther! And I hope you all enjoy this casserole- the cheese sauce is a yummy addition to the usual ham and green bean dish.
Thao
This is good comfort food! It looks so good, I just want to dig right in. Great recipe, Lydia!
ThriftyFrugalMom
Thanks, Thao! It truly is comfort food at it’s best. Yum!