A delicious cheesy low carb cauliflower casserole that’s super easy to prepare. And, it’s the perfect way to repurpose leftover ham.
It has been some time since my last post. The main reason is that I just haven’t been eating much lately.
Since February of this year, I have lost about 16 pounds. This is the lightest I’ve been in about 16 years.
Although I eat low carb, the weight really started to come off when I cut calories and started exercising. I also have been taking an EGCg Green Tea Extract made by NOW Foods.
Tonight, I thought I’d make a cheesy low carb cauliflower casserole. I had some leftover ham in the refrigerator and thought it would go well mixed with cauliflower as a sort of faux potato.
The ham was from a high fat butt portion with no added sugar. I chopped it into small bite-sized diced pieces.
I chose to use a taco cheese in this cheesy low carb cauliflower casserole because it has a nice spicy flavor. But, regular cheddar cheese goes well too.
It’s best to shred the cheese yourself because pre-shredded cheese has added starch to keep the shredded cheese from clumping together. A little dried minced onion and garlic powder rounded out the taste.
You can use either frozen cauliflower or fresh. It needs to be cooked for a bit to soften it up. I microwaved the florets for five minutes in the microwave first, then drained as much of the water out as I could.
Then I added the cooked cauliflower and ham into a 9×13 baking dish. Any similar sized pan should work for this low carb cauliflower casserole as long as there is a little room left to add the cheese.
The cheese is added along with a mixture of egg, milk and cream. I just stirred this into the cauliflower and ham mixture inside the baking dish.
A little bit of grated cheese was saved to sprinkle on top. I also added some crushed pork rinds, but you can leave those out if you’d like.
The cheese gets all melted and gooey within this low carb cheesy cauliflower casserole with ham. It’s the perfect way to use up any leftover ham from the holidays. Or, you could use deli ham if you don’t have leftovers from a large baked ham.
This dish is enough for 4-6 good sized servings. It’s easy to double too if you have a larger family to feed. It’s an easy meal to make for dinner on weeknights or busy weekends.
And, don’t forget the cauliflower health benefits you get from eating this cheesy casserole! What’s your favorite way to use up leftover ham?
Cheesy Low Carb Cauliflower Casserole with Ham
Cheesy Cauliflower Ham Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 pound ham
- 16 oz bag frozen cauliflower or mix with broccoli
- 2 cups taco or cheddar cheese shredded
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup almond milk
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 1 Tablespoon dried minced onion
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 cup crushed pork rinds optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325F.
- Microwave cauliflower 5 minutes.
- Mix ham and cauliflower in 9x13 casserole dish.
- Beat egg with milk, cream, dried onion and garlic powder.
- Stir egg mixture into ham and cauliflower.
- Reserve 1/2 cheese.
- Mix remaining 1 1/2 cups cheese with other ingredients.
- Top mixture with reserved cheese and crushed pork rinds, if desired.
- Bake for 40 minutes.
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Nutrition
Note on Nutritional Information
Nutritional information for the recipe is provided as a courtesy and is approximate only. We cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information given for any recipe on this site. Erythritol carbs are not included in carb counts as it has been shown not to impact blood sugar. Net carbs are the total carbs minus fiber.
About Lisa
Lisa has been creating low carb recipes for herself and sharing them with others since 2010. She loves to experiment in the kitchen and find new ways to create low sugar foods that taste like high carb favorites! Her recipes have been featured on popular magazine sites including Fitness, Shape, Country Living, Women's Health, and Men's Health. Lisa lives in Southeastern Connecticut. Connect with her and Low Carb Yum at:
BoJe says
So simple and very tasty. We used cooked fresh cauliflower instead of frozen. I would make again.b
Lisa MarcAurele says
Happy that the ham casserole worked out for you! Fresh is always best, but I don’t always have it so I use frozen as I keep it in the freezer.
Lynne says
Hi Lisa great recipe, can you freeze it after baked?
Thanks!
Lynne
Lisa MarcAurele says
I’ve never froze this one. The cauliflower may get a little mushy but other than that it should be fine.
Liz Pisano says
Tried this tonight doubled only the cauliflower…
Really good…. it even got approved by my picky husband…. lol
Any other low carb recipes….. you can suggest..??
Lisa says
He may like the cheesy taco skillet recipe too.
Ellen says
I made this tonight and everyone loved it, did not have heavy cream or almond milk so I subbed half and half and sprinkled sliced almonds on top, very good.
Cheryl says
Lisa, please take me seriously…. 1st do you know IF your adopted? Don’t freak on me… heehee.. really I want NOTHING FROM YOU. You look amazingly like my sister .
A twin to my found (24 yrs. later) given up at birth sister. Mother said she had twins on June 25, 1964. On my birthday, only 9 years later, making them the last born from my parents. I’d go on w/the story, but if your certain your not adopted, I don’t want to intrude on your life😇
I thoroughly enjoy your low carb crock-pot listings. I have fibromyalgia so use the crock pot to be able to still make my wonderful hubby of 43 years still “think” I’m the worlds best cook! Of course him coming from a family who’s mom “boiled” everything… yep, even fried chicken…😱(poor chicken) it’s no wonder a southern farm worker like me could impress him! I have tried to break the chains of the “frying” pan the last 10 years🤗 Sorry for taking up your time, but I’m still looking for my missing sister whom my parents sold into adoption, straight from the Calif. hospital.
Maybe your her💕 Cheryl
Lisa says
Hi Cheryl! I do hope you find your sister. My birth records show that I was born at a hospital in Florida to the parents who raised me. But, I have been told that I look like others so I know we all have twins out there. Surprisingly, I don’t have too may crock pot recipes and it could be because my parents have never owned one. The first one I had was given to me when I got married.
Cassie Miller says
My husband is doing the keto diet and this is one of our favorite recipes(I did it with the broccoli to add some color)! Thank you so much for sharing this!
Lisa says
You’re welcome! My picky husband loves this one too!
Raylene Pratt says
We made this tonight, my husband added an extra egg, and we used real onion, so yummy!
Lisa says
Thanks for sharing! An additional egg will help hold things together better.
Lori says
Anxious to try, but want it to be dairy free. Can I omit the cream or substitute it? Thanks.
Lisa says
You could sub with all almond milk and add in a thickener like xanthan gum or pureed cauliflower.
Cate says
This was really delicious. I made it a few weeks ago using a bag of broccoli only (no cauliflower) because that’s what I had on hand, and omitted the optional pork rinds.
The consistency was perfectly creamy and cheesy, a true comfort food casserole. I froze leftovers into lunch portions and they reheated well. This is my number one recipe for leftover Easter ham, but I don’t know if I can wait that long before making this again.
Lisa says
I need to try this with broccoli!
Jennifer says
I made this tonight and doubled everything. It was really soupy. Should it be? Maybe I shouldn’t double the liquid mixture. Or use cream cheese to help thicken it? Husband and 3 year old liked it. Thank you.
Lisa says
It should have thickened with doubling the eggs. Either reduce liquid or increase eggs.
Sarah says
Do you think this could be frozen before baking?
Lisa says
I don’t see why it couldn’t be frozen first.
Mickie Gibbs says
I made this tonight with packaged diced ham cubes. It was delish! Very creamy, very tasty, and very much comfort food.
Malainie says
This looks so good! Think I’ll cut the ham back to 8 oz. and add one cup of chopped green, bell pepper. I, also, found grilled frozen cauliflower at Trader Joe’s, I bet would really be good with this! Is that an 8X8 inch casserole dish?
Lisa says
Oops. Sorry that I didn’t specify the size dish I used. It’s a standard 9×13-inch casserole pan.
Cassidy says
Lisa,
Do I need to cover this in tin foil when I bake it?
Lisa says
You can cover if you want to reduce browning. I did not cover it.
Michelle says
I was wineries g if I could use fresh cauliflower instead of frozen in this recipe?
Lisa says
Yes. Either fresh or frozen works in this recipe.
Gail Bisho says
Lisa,
This looks delicious. I’m going to try it tonight.
Thanks,
Gail
Lisa says
Hi Gail! Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.