I love ham and I think its a shame its rarely eaten other than at the holidays. So I want to share an easy dinner recipe that is packed with ham flavor - ham broccoli and rice casserole. With diced ham, lots of fresh broccoli, tender rice and a creamy sauce, this casserole is a complete meal your whole family will love any time of year!
This casserole recipe is based on an old recipe from my Grandma, called homestead ham casserole. It has similar ingredients, but unlike her layered version, mine is all mixed together so you get lots of ham in every single bite. Plus I make my own gluten free and dairy free sauce for the casserole, which doesn't use cream of chicken soup so everyone can enjoy it.
This recipe is a great way to use holiday leftovers. If you still have more leftover ham, you should check out some of my other favorite ham recipes: ham and bean soup or my ham and potato soup.
Ingredient Notes
This recipe uses just a few simple ingredients which should be available at most grocery stores. This casserole is both gluten free and dairy free as written.
- Gluten Free Flour Blend - I used Bob's Red Mill 1-to-1 gluten free flour to thicken the cheese sauce in this recipe. You can use your favorite brand of gluten free flour. I don't recommend a single flour, like almond flour, since that won't have the starches needed to thicken the sauce.
- Nutritional Yeast - Since I am using dairy free ingredients, I have added a bit of nutritional yeast along with a blend of spices to mimic the flavor of cheese.
- Ham - This recipe is a great option to make use of leftover ham. You can also use store bought ham steaks or sliced ham if it's not near the holidays. For storebought, I like Kentucky Legend and Smithfield brands, which are both gluten free. If you're following a gluten free diet, make sure your ham is marked gluten free since this is an ingredient that can have hidden gluten.
- Broccoli - I used fresh broccoli florets for this recipe and roughly chop them so they cook through during the bake time. It will still be a little crisp, so if you want your broccoli to be softer you can steam it for a few minutes before adding it to the casserole.
- Gluten Free Crackers - I used Schar Entertainment crackers, but the Lance gluten free crackers would also work. If you can't find a cracker that is similar to Ritz crackers, you can use bread crumbs or panko instead.
See recipe card for full ingredient list and quantities.
Substitutions & Variations
- Not Dairy Free - use dairy sour cream, milk, cheese and butter in place of the vegan ingredients. The measurements will be the same.
- Not Gluten Free - If you're not gluten free, you can use all-purpose flour in place of the gluten free flour. Use Ritz cracker crumbs in place of the gluten free crackers.
- No Gluten Free Crackers - Replace the cracker crumbs with bread crumbs or Panko.
- Alternate Rice - I used long grain white rice in this recipe, but brown rice would also work fine. Just make sure to cook it ahead of time.
How to Make a Ham Broccoli and Rice Casserole
This incredible ham casserole recipe is so easy to make. It takes just a few minutes to prepare the dairy free cheese sauce on the stove top and the rest of the cooking time is hands off.
To start, we will make the dairy free cheese sauce. This adds a little bit of cheese flavor and replaces the condensed soup that would normally be used in a recipe like this.
- STEP 1: Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Once the butter has melted, stir in the flour and cook for 2-3 minutes stirring constantly. It should form a thick paste.
- STEP 2: Pour the milk into the flour mixture and whisk it together until it is smooth. Continue to cook while whisking until the mixture thickens.
- STEP 3: Add the nutritional yeast, lemon juice, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, black pepper, paprika and dry mustard to the roux.
- STEP 4: Whisk everything together until you have a thick sauce that resembles melted cheese.
- STEP 5: Combine the cooked rice, cheese sauce, ham, broccoli, sour cream and remaining milk in a large bowl. Stir well until evenly mixed.
- STEP 6: Spread the casserole ingredients into a 2-quart baking dish.
- STEP 7: Sprinkle the top of the casserole with shredded cheese.
- STEP 8: Combine the crushed crackers and melted butter in a small bowl and stir well. Sprinkle the cracker pieces over the casserole. Now you're ready to bake.
Storage
Store leftover casserole in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Reheat individual portions to 165F before serving.
The crackers will be soft if you reheat in the microwave. If you want to make this for meal prep, I suggest leaving the crackers off when baking.
More casserole recipes to consider:
If you try this recipe, please leave a 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 star rating and let me know how you liked it in the comments below.
Recipe
Ham Broccoli and Rice Casserole
Ingredients
- 3 Cups Cooked Rice
- 4 Tablespoons Vegan Butter
- 6 Tablespoons Gluten Free 1-to-1 Flour Blend
- 2 ½ Cups Non Dairy Milk divided
- ¼ Cup Nutritional Yeast
- 1 ½ teaspoon Lemon Juice
- 1 ½ teaspoon Garlic Powder
- 1 teaspoon Onion Powder
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- ½ teaspoon Black Pepper
- ¼ teaspoon Paprika
- ⅛ teaspoon Dry Mustard
- ¼ Cup Vegan Sour Cream
- 3 Cups Broccoli roughly chopped
- 1 pound Ham cut into bite size pieces
- ½ Cup Vegan Shredded Cheese
- 1 Cup Gluten Free Crackers about 25 crackers or use bread crumbs
- 3 Tablespoons Vegan Butter melted
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 °F (204 °C) and spray a 2-quart casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray.
- Melt 4 tablespoons of butter in a small saucepan over medium heat.4 Tablespoons Vegan Butter
- Add the gluten free flour, whisking well until it forms a thick paste. Cook for 2-3 minutes.6 Tablespoons Gluten Free 1-to-1 Flour Blend
- Slowly add 2 Cups of milk while whisking to create a gravy.2 ½ Cups Non Dairy Milk
- Add in the nutritional yeast, lemon juice, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, black pepper, paprika and mustard. Whisk to combine. Remove from heat.¼ Cup Nutritional Yeast, 1 ½ teaspoon Lemon Juice, 1 ½ teaspoon Garlic Powder, 1 teaspoon Onion Powder, ½ teaspoon Salt, ½ teaspoon Black Pepper, ¼ teaspoon Paprika, ⅛ teaspoon Dry Mustard
- Combine the cooked rice, “cheese” sauce, sour cream, broccoli, ham, and remaining milk in a large bowl and stir together.3 Cups Cooked Rice, ¼ Cup Vegan Sour Cream, 3 Cups Broccoli, 1 pound Ham
- Transfer the ham mixture to your prepared baking dish. Sprinkle the shredded cheese over the top.½ Cup Vegan Shredded Cheese
- Combine the bread crumbs and melted butter in a small dish. Sprinkle the crumbs over the casserole.1 Cup Gluten Free Crackers, 3 Tablespoons Vegan Butter
- Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes until the filling is bubbly and the topping is golden brown.
Notes
- Not Dairy Free - use dairy sour cream, milk, cheese and butter in place of the vegan ingredients. The measurements will be the same.
- Not Gluten Free - If you're not gluten free, you can use all-purpose flour in place of the gluten free flour.
- No Gluten Free Crackers - Replace the cracker crumbs with bread crumbs or Panko.
Tiffany is the recipe developer, stylist and food photographer behind Well Fed Baker. As a lifelong baker who had to go gluten free and dairy free in 2016, Tiffany strives to share allergen friendly recipes that never feel like they are free from anything.
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