Cheesy Ham and Broccoli Rice Casserole is a healthy and easy-peasy weeknight dinner recipe that’s filled with broccoli, carrots, cheese, and ham!
This Cheesy Ham and Broccoli Rice Casserole is soooo good that I made it yesterday for the very first time with ham leftovers from Christmas Dinner and I’m already here posting it for y’all to make! It’s so good that I made it yesterday and the entire pan is already gone.
If you’ve been around for a while you probably know that Mom’s Chicken and Rice was the first “rice casserole” to appear on the blog. Since then, I’ve made quite a few variations of it that are all very, very popular here on The Skinnyish Dish! I decided to end the year with this one because it’s so good. I don’t think I’ve posted a rice casserole this year yet so, better late than never (staying true to my life motto)!
It’s a great way to use up leftover Holiday Ham if you have some and don’t know exactly what to do with it. If you don’t have ham leftovers don’t worry just grab a ham steak at your local grocery store! Heck, some ham fresh from the deli would probably work just as well too.
Let’s get in the kitchen and make Cheesy Ham and Broccoli Rice Casserole!
In a large hot skillet sprayed with a little cooking spray throw in one medium chopped onion, one cup’a chopped carrots, and eight ounces of diced ham (or about 1-1/2 cups). Season with just a pinch or two of salt and pepper. Let it all hang out in there for awhile over medium heat until the carrots are softened.
Psst. This would be a good time to preheat your oven to 350 degrees too!
When the carrots are softened stir in about three cups of roughly chopped frozen broccoli. Cook everything together for just a minute.
*I use a bag of the Birds Eye steam fresh broccoli florets. I throw the bag on the counter while I’m chopping up the carrots, onion, and ham to let it naturally thaw for a few minutes. It just makes it easier to chop up into smaller pieces.*
We’re already to the last part! See how easy? Grab a 9×13 casserole dish and spray it fairly well with some cooking spray. Pour in one cup of raw white long grain rice (do not use minute rice!), 3.5 ounce of shredded reduced fat sharp cheddar (one cup), one 10.5 ounce can of cream of celery soup, the veggie and ham mixture, 1/2 teaspoon of Lawry’s Seasoned Salt, and 2 cups of vegetable broth.
I know y’all are gonna ask if you can use brown rice (especially if you’re doing the WW Purple Plan)! Since I just made this recipe yesterday and haven’t had a chance to test it using brown rice. I can’t tell you it’s for sure going to work, but from experience with my other rice casseroles. You can swap out brown rice for the white rice, but it will need an additional 15-20 minutes in the oven. I also always add 1/4 cup extra liquid to be safe when using brown rice in casseroles as well.
Stir the ingredients up real good!
I always take this picture of the last step in my rice casserole recipes. It isn’t a very pretty photo, but it’s important! I post it here with hopes that it’ll be burned into your brains. Ha! Seriously though, do not forget to cover your casserole dish tightly with tin foil. You’ll be sorely disappointed if you skip this step.
Now, pop’r in the oven for about an hour! I know, ugh an hour? It’s worth it, promise. Now you’ve got a whole hour of complete hands off time to do whatever you want! …. Or laundry, for me it’s always laundry.
All done! Salt & Pepper to taste. Forks out. Dig in!
Oh and Pepper gobbled this Cheesy Ham and Broccoli Rice Casserole right up for dinner last night. She’s been a bit picky these last couple months. I’m talkin’ the kind of picky where I bought unicorn shaped mac and cheese and she lost her dang mind kind of picky so I think we can call her eating this without complaint a pretty big win.
I hope you all enjoy! Remember to let me know how it goes in the comments below. I love to hear your thoughts!
With love from my kitchen to yours,
Star
Other recipes I think you’ll enjoy: Cajun Chicken and Rice Casserole , Beef and Rice Taco Casserole, Buffalo Chicken and Rice , and/or Greek Chicken Bowls!
Cheesy Ham and Broccoli Rice Casserole
Cheesy Ham and Broccoli Rice Casserole is an easy-peasy weeknight dinner that's filled with extra veggies and ham!
Ingredients
- 8 oz ham (1-1/2 cups) lean, diced
- 1 cup carrots chopped
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 3 cups frozen broccoli lightly thawed, roughly chopped *
- 1 cup long grain white rice uncooked, instant/minute rice will not work
- 1 10.5 oz can cream of celery soup cream of chicken/mushroom will work fine
- 3.5 oz shredded reduced fat sharp cheddar cheese (about 1 cup full)
- 2 cups vegetable or chicken broth
- 1/2 tsp Lawry's Seasoned Salt your favorite all purpose seasoning should work just fine
- salt and pepper to taste
- cooking spray
Instructions
-
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
-
In a large hot skillet over medium heat spray with cooking spray and add diced carrots, ham, and onions. Add just a pinch or two of salt and pepper. Cook until the carrots are softened. Stir in lightly thawed and roughly chopped broccoli and cook all together for about a minute.
-
Spray a 9×13 casserole dish well with cooking spray. Add in the ham and veggie mix, cream of celery soup, uncooked white rice, seasoned salt, shredded cheese, and vegetable broth. Stir together well.
-
Cover casserole dish TIGHTLY with tin foil. Bake for one hour. When the casserole is done let sit for a few minutes. Salt and Pepper to taste. Enjoy!
Recipe Notes
Serving size: 1 and 1/4 cup.
WW Green Plan: 7 Points | WW Blue Plan: 7 Points | WW Purple Plan: 7 Points (4 Points if using brown rice) 300 Calories | 8.5g Fat, 3g Saturated Fat, 38g carbohydrates, 6g fiber, 4g sugar, 0g added sugar, 19g protein
*If using brown rice it will take an extra 15-20 minutes to cook.*
Such a wonderful, flavorful and satisfying dish! Super simple ingredients and prep. Husband and I loved it and so did our 4 year old!
Has anyone doubled this recipe? Wondering what size pan would be best? I have a larger family so there was no leftovers and some of them could’ve eaten more.
We made this according the the recipe and it was an instant fan favorite! The next week, we used chicken and added celery and just as good! Thank you!
Delicious!!! Made this tonight with my leftover ham and would absolutely recommend. I added peas (and used a substitute for the cream soup since I didn’t have any on hand) and i’m telling you I’ll be adding this to my list of weeknight faves!!
I made this for a church luncheon and it was delicious. I left out the ham and added celery. Do you know how many points without the ham? Thanks!
This was way tastier than I imagined. We used fresh cauliflower instead of broccoli and jasmine rice. But we were blown away by the flavor. A little high in sodium for me but will be a welcome treat. Thanks for sharing 🙂 mssunny28
This was excellent! Just using your equivalents are perfect for using up extra veggies. I followed recipe but added celery, garlic & red pepper. Lots of black pepper and a dash tony chacheres.
I am obsessed with this recipe! It is one of the first skinnyish dish recipes I made, and still a favorite! I often put it together in the morning and keep it in the refrigerator to cook after work. It also reheats really well for lunch the next day!
So so sooooo good, and EASY, win win in my book! I always buy an extra ham during the holidays and freeze it when its cheap and this is always a winner to use the ham for! Was making a meal plan for this week and found one last bag of ham, stoked to add this to the list this week! Added bonus, leftovers for the husbands lunch! @kwalsworth19
We do not wat ham. Can I use chicken instead?
Hi Star, Can I prep this the night before?
Hey Stephanie! You can prep everything the night before as far as getting the ingredients prepped, but I would not mix in the water/rice with everything else until you are ready to make it. I hope that helps!
Family favorite!
Quickly became a family favorite! Easy and delicious and I LOVE your recipes because they are always a hit with my kids.
One of my all time faves!! perfect for meal prep!! reheats so great!!!
One of my favorites! Such a good combination of flavors!
Yum! This came out great. I used a ham steak and when I calculated the points it clocked in at only 6 points on Green – even better!
This was out of this world good! I made it with leftover ham from the holidays. My husband is already asking for it again!
So delicious! I’ve made this after both after Easter and Christmas with left over ham. This time I only had cream of mushroom soup and beef broth – still came out delish!
My husband actually asked that I comment on this … now that’s a first. Easy to make and what an amazing, yummy dish. You sure have a talent for creating such wonderful recipes… thanks for sharing them with us.
Awe, thank you so much! i really appreciate when anyone stops back to rate/comment on the recipes themselves because other people look at comments to see if they’re any good. Tell your husband thanks for me too! Hope y’all have a great New Year!
Delicious!!! So easy and full of flavor! This family of 5 had no leftovers.
Yesss! So happy y’all enjoyed it! Thanks for letting me know, Hannah!
I can’t stop making this recipe!! I’m one of the worse cooks of all time, but this cheesy rice casserole always turns out delicious. I’m a single girl, cooking for 1, so it can be really hard to find a meal that I want to eat for days straight! This casserole is always on my rotation. I love anything broccoli cheddar, and this completely nails those flavors. The ingredients are really affordable, too! I will say I liked this meal a lot better using veggie broth. The first time I made this I only had chicken broth, and it worked, but the veggie broth was even better. Thanks Star for sharing your delicious and healthy meals with us!
Just had to share that I made this tonight with cauliflower rice and it was so good! Even my picky 4yo had some! Since I wasn’t cooking any actual rice I omitted the broth and only baked it for 30 minutes. Definitely going to make this one again!
I’m going to start by saying this dish needs ⭐️F⭐️I⭐️V⭐️E⭐️ more stars!
My family loved this dish so much. You know it’s a keeper when not only is the hubs not talking at the table, but my 2 year old son wasn’t either ! I also love how versatile this recipe can be! Y’all, this recipe is going down in my monthly rotation.
I’m so happy to hear it’s such a big hit with y’all!
This turned out great, many thanks. I sauteed in some fresh chopped parsley and used fresh broccoli, just stirred it right in (no pre cooking). It cooked-up nice, the stem parts adding some nice texture to the dish. I think next time I will add in a pablano with the onion and carrot or even some crushed red pepper.
The addition of peppers sounds delicious. Happy to hear you enjoyed, Jess!
Can I use uncooked couscous?
This was flavorful and comforting. Kid approved as well which is huge.
I’m so happy you all enjoyed, Kara!
This was so delicious and super fast and easy to prep!! I used Trader Joe’s Basamati rice it took 1 hour. I only had fresh broccoli that I cut up and sauteed with the onions and carrots. So good Thank you!! Hubby loved it too!!
I’m so happy you enjoyed it, Dee! and glad it worked out with the other rice too!
What kind of chicken can I use to substitute the ham?
Hi, just made this recipe and it’s delicious!! I used an Italian seasonings, Garlic and onion powder. I put it in my recipe maker on the app and the serving size came out to 4 points, I even double checked I put the correct amounts in!!! I’m using the Canadian app but don’t think that would make a difference!
How long would it take to cook if I used brown rice. I’m trying WW purple plan and brown rice is zero points.
Thanks!
Hi! It should take an extra 20-25 minutes using brown rice
I made this last night, and used Jasmine rice (what I had on hand), otherwise following the recipe to a t. IT CAME OUT WONDERFUL! Thanks again, Star, for another easy dinner for our busy weeknights! The leftovers for lunch today are amazing too! 🙂
Made this yesterday and it was SO GOOD. And easy. Go make it right now!
Can I use Basmati rice? Would the recipe stay the same?
I followed directions and found I needed to cook it 45 minutes longer for rice to cook throughly. Once done it was a keeper.
Hi Mary! I’m glad you enjoyed. Were you by chance using brown rice or a different variety other than white long grain?
I made this tonight — the flavors were great, but after an hour it was still quite liquid and the rice was only half-cooked. I cooked it for about 15 more minutes with the same results. I wound up using a slotted spoon to serve it. Next time, however, I think I’ll only use 1 1/2 cups of broth.
Hi Kara if you used brown rice it probably needed more time in the oven.
Made this last night, using some frozen peas/carrots mix and frozen broccoli (so I skipped the sauté step and saved a pan!). Also sprinkled with some extra cheese after cooking. My 5 year old absolutely loved it! He requested the leftovers for his day care lunch. I personally couldn’t get past the broccoli, but I should have known that going in (it’s not my favorite veggie). Will probably make again but just with peas and carrots, and or maybe throw in some asparagus partly through the cooking time? Thanks for providing great family friendly and healthful meal ideas!!!
Any recommendations for using fresh broccoli in this recipe?
You can totally use fresh broccoli! I would quickly blanch it though.
Excited to make this for lunches this week! I noticed, though, that the vegetable broth is listed in the instructions but not in the ingredient list. Something I would have easily missed if I hadn’t read the whole blog post!
Looks and sounds great will be trying it soon! I’m sure it’ll be delicious like most of your other recipes
I hope you enjoy, Mandy!