This post may contain affiliate links. Read disclosure policy
Our one pot CHEESY BROCCOLI RICE WITH HAM is a family favorite! Ready in 30 minutes and it cooks in just one pot on the stove! This is total comfort food and perfect for using up leftover ham.
Let’s talk about ham for a minute, shall we?
It’s not only for Easter and Christmas, you guys.
It’s for always. It’s for anytime. It’s for today.
Seriously, why do people save the ham for special occasions? I know that they are generally large and you end up with a ton of meat left over, but isn’t that kind of fabulous? I usually get a 4 pound spiral sliced ham and we eat it for dinner, with eggs for breakfast, as a snack (it’s so good straight from the fridge!), and in other recipes for the rest of the week.
So, this time around I used up some left over ham in rice for a quick, one dish dinner. I just modified the Cheesy Zucchini Rice I shared a while back and turned it into this delicious dinner. It was so good, you guys.
If you love rice like my family does, give my chicken and rice casserole, Cajun sausage and rice, or bacon fried rice a try too!
Ingredient Notes:
Rice – You’ll want long grain white rice.
Chicken Broth – The rice will soak up all the chicken broth and add loads of flavor to it. Don’t skip this ingredient, the rice just isn’t the same without it!
Ham – This recipe is great for using up leftover ham! Or if you don’t have any and are in a hurry, you can always use the pre-diced kind from the store.
Broccoli – Chop it up fairly small so that it’s distributed nicely throughout the dish.
Cheese – We’re using cheddar, but follow your heart and use what you love.
What Readers are Saying!
“I made this dish using brown rice and vegetable broth.
It was super delicious! A great way to use leftover ham!” – Amanda D.
How to Make Cheesy Broccoli Rice with Ham:
Prepare the Rice: To get started just heat up some oil in a medium sauce pan and add in the rice. Stir it well in the oil and let it toast for a few minutes over medium heat until it starts to turn golden.
Toasting it will add some extra flavor, but what is really going to make this rice taste great is the chicken broth. Pour in the broth and bring it to a boil. Then just turn the heat to low, cover, and cook for about ten more minutes.
This recipe is a lot like a ham casserole with rice and cheese, but without the can of condensed soup that usually gets added!
Broccoli & Ham: While the rice is cooking you can start chopping up the broccoli into bite sized pieces and dicing the ham. After the rice has cooked on low for ten minutes you can go ahead and add in the broccoli and ham.
Cover it back up and continue cooking for another five minutes before turning off the heat. Leave it covered for another ten minutes so that the rice can soak up all the broth and flavors.
Helpful Tip:
I’ve only used fresh broccoli in this recipe. It will steam well with the rice. Frozen broccoli may work, though we haven’t tested it.
Add the Cheese: This cheesy stovetop rice wouldn’t be complete without some shredded cheddar! Remove the lid, fluff the rice with a fork, and add in all that shredded cheddar. And since we want even more flavor go ahead and add in the butter and garlic powder.
Stir it well until the cheese starts to melt and then cover it again and let it set for another five minutes. And that’s it! You can add more salt or pepper to taste, and if you want to thin out the mixture some you can add a little milk.
FAQs:
This should keep okay in the refrigerator for 3-4 days if it is tightly covered. If it seems a little dry when re-heating just add a little milk.
Cooked and chopped chicken would be a delicious swap for the ham in this recipe. Add additional seasonings, if needed.
MORE RICE RECIPES!
- Crockpot Chicken & Rice Soup
- Cauliflower Chicken Fried Rice
- Rice with Vegetables
- Greek Rice
- Barbecue Chicken Rice Skillet
- Cauliflower Risotto
- Cilantro Lime Rice
Stovetop Cheesy Broccoli Rice with Ham
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup long-grain white rice
- 2 1/4 cups chicken broth
- 16 ounces broccoli florets
- 2 cups cooked diced ham
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- salt and pepper to taste
- splash of milk as needed
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a medium sauce pan over medium heat.
- Add the rice and stir to coat. Toast the rice, stirring often, just until it starts to turn golden.
- Pour in the chicken broth, bring to a boil, turn heat to low, and cover.
- Cook, covered, for 10 minutes.
- While the rice is cooking, chop the broccoli into small, bite-sized pieces.
- After 10 minutes, add the broccoli and ham to the pot with the rice and cover again. Continue cooking for 5 minutes.
- Turn off the heat and let set for 10 minutes without removing the lid.
- Remove the lid, fluff the rice with a fork, and add the butter, cheddar, and garlic powder. Stir until well incorporated. Cover and let sit for 5 minutes more.
- Stir again and add salt and pepper to taste and a splash of milk if you’d like to thin out the mixture a little bit, if needed.
Suzy says
Hi Karly,
Thank you so much for posting this recipe. It might be one of the only broccoli, ham and cheese “casserole” recipes out there withOUT cream of ____ soup in it, and without having to precook the rice. Now that’s MY kind of dish! Can’t wait to make this for dinner tonight, though I may substitute one cup of broth with some half&half that I need to use up, so as to make a bit of a creamier sauce. Thanks again for sharing this tasty, time-friendly technique!
mrsblocko says
I made this recipe and wrote about it here. This was a delicious way to use up leftover ham. I would make it again, but make half a batch. For some reason the leftovers got weird when I reheated them. I’m pretty sure the broccoli was the culprit. (You know how it can get funky sometimes.)
Thank you for sharing the recipe.
Michelle says
Made this for dinner tonight and loved it!! I was afraid there wasn’t enough water left to steam the broccoli so I added a few more tablespoons as neeeded and it was perfect. I also used about 1.5 cups of cheese and only had 2.5 cups of ham; it was perfect- so good!! Love all the ingredients and flavors together. Oh, I just bought a pkg of (2) ham steaks and cut those up and used that. So yummy!! I was afraid my kids wouldn’t like everything all mixed together but three of them loved it and only my pickiest didn’t. Yay!
Karly says
@Michelle,
Thanks for coming back and updating us! So glad it worked for you and that your kids enjoyed it, too! 🙂
Kim says
Delicious and gluten free! Will this recipe work with brown rice or do the liquid measurements need to be adjusted?
Non Invasive Surgery says
Found your blog through pinterest… I Love it!
Karly says
@sally @ sally’s baking addiction,
Well, aren’t you just the sweetest ever? 🙂 Thank you!
sally @ sally's baking addiction says
Love ham! And love this. And miss Karly, you are SUCH a talented photographer. I oogling over your food and human photos! What a cutie pie!
Karly says
@sally @ sally’s baking addiction,
Well, aren’t you just the sweetest ever? 🙂 Thank you!
Ashley @PeaceLoveYumminess says
You photos are just amazing and so are your recipes! Just wanted to send some blog love lol 🙂
Karly says
@Ashley @PeaceLoveYumminess,
Thank you so much! 🙂
Elizabeth@ Food Ramblings says
definitely making this for dinner!!!!!
Joanne says
And on that note…why is turkey only for Thanksgiving?
And why don’t we make at least a dozen pies for EVERY holiday?
And why does my mother only ever grace us with her chocolate pudding pie on Christmas?
So many questions, so few answers.
Karly says
@Joanne,
Seriously. What’s with the turkey? We roast chickens all year. Why not turkeys?
And pie is always good.
Chocolate pudding pie? Well, that sounds like it needs to happen way more than once a year.
Becca says
Karly, my Sweetness … Are you interested in having a live-in nanny?
Compensation would be your food…in my piehole. Oh, and maybe some photography lessons. From you.
How wrong is it that I’m lying in a hospital bed drooling over this rec
Karly says
@Becca,
I would like nothing more than to have a live-in nanny. Preferably one who does the dishes and scrubs the toilets? Still interested?
Hope you’re feeling better after your surgery!
Riley says
Looks very yummy! Maybe with a little bacon, I’m not huge on ham 🙂
DessertForTwo says
Gosh that photo of your daughter is just so adorable! I love that little dress on her!
And I agree: ham is for always!
Karly says
@DessertForTwo,
Thank you! She is pretty darn cute, if I do say so myself. 😉
Hayley @ The Domestic Rebel says
I refuse to believe you until I try it myself… the whole pot… over and over… until literally every.speck. of rice is gone. That’s pretty much what will happen. Love me some rice + cheese + ham!
Angie @ Big Bear's Wife says
Reminds me of those bags of Broccoli and Cheddar rice you can buy at the store, but 10000 times better