Healthy Ham, Swiss Cheese and Veggie Bake
2013 – Gluten Free Living
Healthy Ham, Swiss Cheese and Veggie Bake is wonderful. It’s made with diced ham, gluten free noodles and two different packages of frozen stir-fry blend vegetables. I also added garlic, onions and leeks in a delicious Swiss cheese sauce seasoned with dill weed, parsley, thyme, and marjoram. The taste is excellent (my husband ate two HUGE servings the night I served this recipe). It’s especially good since the Swiss cheese infuses a lot of savory flavor into the dish.
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While this casserole does have several steps, it’s really not too difficult. You can melt more Swiss cheese on the top the last five minutes of baking or just sprinkle it on individual servings like I did. Or you can add buttered bread crumbs on top if you like. I didn’t have any gluten free bread crumbs so I omitted them. Since I was trying to keep the dish gluten free, I didn’t add anything more except fresh, torn parsley. Healthy Ham, Swiss Cheese and Veggie Bake is amazing!
I love my Creamy Ham, Veggies and Noodle Bake recipe. However, I wanted to create a healthier version made with more natural ingredients. That meant creating a recipe that left out the canned soups. While they’re tasty and easy, they’re so full of killer ingredients like preservatives and MSG which increases your appetite five-fold! I also wanted a completely different overall taste then that recipe.
I saw that I had a bunch of diced ham, lots of Swiss cheese, and frozen veggies that I really wanted to clear out of my freezers. I came up with this flavor combination that’s not only tasty, but has a lot more pure, clean ingredients too. I had plenty of gluten free noodles on hand so I chose to use gluten free flour as well to make the sauce for my gluten free followers.
Ham and Swiss cheese not only work well together on sandwiches, but they’re exceptional in casseroles! So if you’re looking for healthier main dish options for your family then consider this one some time. I really liked the combination of stir-fry type veggies I used for this dish. They provided a lot of different textures and shapes, but almost any kind of frozen veggie will work. For that matter, if you’re trying to use up garden produce almost any kind of fresh veggie will work, too.
This tasty casserole is pure comfort food. If you want a more nourishing, gluten free main dish, give Healthy Ham, Swiss Cheese and Veggie Bake a try sometime soon. But beware! Your family may want two HUGE servings each like my husband did!
This casserole has been featured at All Free CasseroleRecipes here.
Healthy Ham, Swiss Cheese and Veggie Bake is a delightful main dish entree and a complete meal in itself! This healthy version of ham and veggies is gluten free and uses more natural ingredients than those made with canned soups and some of the other processed foods and fillers used in many casseroles.
If you prefer you can add more Swiss cheese on top of the casserole the last five minutes of baking time, or add buttered gluten free bread crumbs.
This is a great way to use up leftover holiday ham!
Here’s what I did.
I used these ingredients.
Meanwhile, place butter in a skillet over low to medium heat and melt. Add diced red onions and sliced leeks. Saute a few minutes. Then add minced garlic.
Add gluten free all-purpose flour.
Stir with a wooden spoon until gluten free flour is incorporated.
Add half-and-half cream about 1/4 cup at a time and stir or whisk well to incorporate. Keep stirring and adding cream until all the cream is added.
Add Swiss cheese.
Stir to combine.
Add the herbs: salt, pepper, dill weed, marjoram and thyme.
Add the first package of frozen veggies. This one had sugar snap peas, red pepper strips, onions, and a few other things.
The next package had corn, diced red pepper, broccoli and a few other things.
Stir to combine. Add ham and freshly torn parsley.
Cook gluten free noodles until al dente. Drain.
Add cooked, gluten free noodles to skillet with veggies and ham.
Stir to combine.
Pour mixture into a 9×13″ glass baking dish that has been sprayed with cooking spray.
Cover and bake casserole at 350 for about 30-40 minutes or until the casserole is heated through and bubbles appear on the surface. (If you fail to cover the casserole the noodles harden).
If you want to add another cup of Swiss cheese on top and bake a few more minutes until cheese melts, you can do that.
To serve: Spoon a large serving of Healthy Ham, Swiss Cheese and Veggie Bake onto your plate and garnish with Swiss cheese and more freshly, torn parsley, as desired.
I garnished the casserole with fresh, torn parsley.
Here’s the recipe.
HEALTHY HAM, SWISS CHEESE AND VEGGIE BAKE
(My own concoction)
Healthy Ham, Swiss Cheese and Veggie Bake
Equipment
- 1 large sauce pan or stock pot
- 1 large Dutch Oven or stock pot
- measuring cups
- measuring spoons
- 1 sharp knife to cut vegetables
- 1 whisk
- 1 wooden spoon
- 1 colander
- 1 9x13" glass baking dish
Ingredients
- 8 oz. gluten free rotini spirals cooked and drained (Ronzoni makes a great GF pasta noodle) or use regular pasta
- 12 oz. ham diced
- 16 oz. pkg. Swiss cheese shredded
- 16 oz. pkg. frozen broccoli, corn and red bell peppers or other stir fry combination of your choice
- 16 oz. pkg. frozen sugar snap stir fry veggie mix
- 1/3 cup red onion diced
- 2 leeks green top removed, washed thoroughly and sliced
- 2 extra large cloves garlic minced or about 4-5 regular-sized cloves of garlic
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick)
- 1/2 cup gluten free flour or use regular flour
- 3 cups half-and-half cream
- 1 tsp. sea salt or kosher salt
- 3/4 tsp. black pepper
- 1 tsp. dill weed
- 1 tsp. dried marjoram
- 1 tsp. dried thyme
- 1/2 cup fresh torn parsley
- 1 tsp. fresh parsley chopped, for garnish
Instructions
- Bring noodles to a boil and cook al dente – about two minutes less than the amount given.
- When finished, drain in colander.
- Meanwhile, make sauce.
- Melt butter in large Dutch oven.
- Add diced onion and leeks and sauté a few minutes.
- Add minced garlic and sauté a few minutes more.
- Whisk in gluten free flour.
- Then begin adding cream about ¼ cup at a time until all the cream is incorporated.
- Stir in Swiss cheese, then add salt, pepper, dill weed, marjoram, and thyme.
- Then stir in the two packages of frozen, uncooked veggies.
- Stir in ham, parsley, and cooked noodles.
- Place in a 9x13” glass baking dish that has been sprayed with cooking spray.
- Bake at 350° about 30-40 minutes or until bubbly and heated through.
- Garnish with more parsley and Swiss cheese, as desired.
Notes
© Can’t Stay Out of the Kitchen
Nutrition
- 8-oz. free rice and golden flax spirals, cooked and drained (just don’t use corn noodles)
- 12-oz. diced ham
- 8-oz. shredded Swiss cheese
- 16-oz. pkg. frozen broccoli, corn & red peppers
- 16-oz. pkg. frozen sugar snap stir fry
- 1/3 cup diced red onion
- 2 leeks, sliced
- 2 extra large garlic cloves, minced or about 4-5 regular-sized cloves of garlic
- 1 stick butter
- ½ cup gluten free flour
- 3 cups half-and-half cream
- 1 tsp. kosher salt
- ¾ tsp. black pepper
- 1 tsp. dill weed
- 1 tsp. marjoram
- 1 tsp. thyme
- ½ cup fresh torn parsley
- fresh, torn parsley for garnish
- Bring noodles to a boil and cook al dente – about two minutes less than the amount given.
- Meanwhile, make sauce.
- Melt butter in cast-iron Dutch oven.
- Add diced onion and leeks and sauté a few minutes.
- Add minced garlic and sauté a few minutes more.
- Whisk in gluten free flour.
- Then begin adding cream about ¼ cup at a time until all the cream is incorporated.
- Stir in Swiss cheese, then add salt, pepper, dill weed, marjoram, and thyme.
- Then stir in the two packages of frozen, uncooked veggies.
- Stir in ham, parsley, and noodles.
- Place in a 9×13” glass baking dish that has been sprayed with cooking spray.
- Bake at 350° about 30-40 minutes or until bubbly and heated through.
- Garnish with more parsley and Swiss cheese, as desired.
We really liked the addition of extra Swiss cheese on top of the casserole.
Eat, drink, and be merry! Here’s another close up so you can see the texture of all the veggies in the delicious Swiss cheese sauce. If you serve the casserole immediately, the Swiss cheese will melt on its own. Otherwise, if you’re not going to serve the casserole immediately, you may want to add the Swiss cheese and bake 5 more minutes.
You may also enjoy these delicious recipes!
Healthy Ham, Swiss Cheese and Veggie Bake
Equipment
- 1 large sauce pan or stock pot
- 1 large Dutch Oven or stock pot
- measuring cups
- measuring spoons
- 1 sharp knife to cut vegetables
- 1 whisk
- 1 wooden spoon
- 1 colander
- 1 9×13" glass baking dish
Ingredients
- 8 oz. gluten free rotini spirals cooked and drained (Ronzoni makes a great GF pasta noodle) or use regular pasta
- 12 oz. ham diced
- 16 oz. pkg. Swiss cheese shredded
- 16 oz. pkg. frozen broccoli, corn and red bell peppers or other stir fry combination of your choice
- 16 oz. pkg. frozen sugar snap stir fry veggie mix
- 1/3 cup red onion diced
- 2 leeks green top removed, washed thoroughly and sliced
- 2 extra large cloves garlic minced or about 4-5 regular-sized cloves of garlic
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick)
- 1/2 cup gluten free flour or use regular flour
- 3 cups half-and-half cream
- 1 tsp. sea salt or kosher salt
- 3/4 tsp. black pepper
- 1 tsp. dill weed
- 1 tsp. dried marjoram
- 1 tsp. dried thyme
- 1/2 cup fresh torn parsley
- 1 tsp. fresh parsley chopped, for garnish
Instructions
- Bring noodles to a boil and cook al dente – about two minutes less than the amount given.
- When finished, drain in colander.
- Meanwhile, make sauce.
- Melt butter in large Dutch oven.
- Add diced onion and leeks and sauté a few minutes.
- Add minced garlic and sauté a few minutes more.
- Whisk in gluten free flour.
- Then begin adding cream about ¼ cup at a time until all the cream is incorporated.
- Stir in Swiss cheese, then add salt, pepper, dill weed, marjoram, and thyme.
- Then stir in the two packages of frozen, uncooked veggies.
- Stir in ham, parsley, and cooked noodles.
- Place in a 9×13” glass baking dish that has been sprayed with cooking spray.
- Bake at 350° about 30-40 minutes or until bubbly and heated through.
- Garnish with more parsley and Swiss cheese, as desired.
5 Comments
marie johson
November 8, 2019 at 12:32 am
This is a very healthy recipe. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Teresa
November 8, 2019 at 1:05 pm
Thanks Marie. Terrific way to use up leftover holiday ham.
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