Au Gratin Potatoes with Ham is a rustic, creamy and cheesy potato dish that is perfect for a main meal or a side.

My Au Gratin Potatoes with Ham is not only absolutely delicious but it’s a one pan meal.  No dirtying up a bunch of dishes for this recipe.  This is why Au Gratin Potatoes are perfect for a midday dinner or a fancy holiday meal.

What are Au Gratin Potatoes?

Au Gratin Potatoes is a side dish made with thinly sliced layers of potatoes, cream and cheese.  It is usually topped with bread crumbs or shredded cheese.

Why Add Ham to This Recipe?

I add ham to this recipe for a number of reasons.  

First, is that adding the ham makes what is usually a side dish a main dish and is perfect to make when you don’t have a lot of time on your hands.  While the Au Gratin Potatoes with Ham is baking, you have time to make a salad or vegetable, set the table, and get most of the kitchen cleaned.

Second, I usually use leftover ham from my holiday dinner for Au Gratin Potatoes with Ham.  I don’t like anything to go to waste and this is the perfect way to use my leftover spiral baked ham.

Lastly, I like ham.  😀  I feel the ham gives the already rustic dish a smokey flavor to it which adds to the dimension of the dish.

So a Funny Story about Au Gratin Potatoes. . . 

Even as a teenager, I had a passion for cooking.  We would go to the library every other Saturday and while everyone else was getting books to read I would get cookbooks (and comics)  😂  I would read the cookbooks like they were novels.

In High School, I took every Home Economic class the school offered.  In my Senior year, I signed up for an advanced Home Economic class.  The class taught me how to garnish fruits and vegetables, demonstrate cooking, and how to cook international foods.

One week, our group had to come up with a recipe on our own.  It could be anything. . . international, domestic, a main dish, side, or dessert.  It didn’t matter as long as we created the recipe as a group.  

After lots of deliberation, our group came up with Potatoes Au Gratin with Green Olives.  Yup. I’m sure you are thinking the same thing our teacher was thinking.  I have to admit, she was very gracious (or crazy) and let us do the recipe.  The recipe was going to be judged by the class and depending on the reaction was what our grade for the project would be.

Well. . .as unappetizing the recipe sounded, it was actually very good and I believe our teacher and class were quite surprised. (I think we were too) We received an ‘A’ for the project for taking a chance and the taste of the dish.  And that was just the start of me creating recipes.  

What Do I Need to Make Au Gratin Potatoes with Ham?

You will need a sharp knife or mandoline slicer, vegetable peeler, cutting board, grater, large liquid measuring cup, measuring cup and spoons, cast iron skillet and the following ingredients:

Mama Fawn’s Tips. . .

•  I use Idaho potatoes for this recipe but Yukon Gold would be amazing with the recipe.
• Slice the potatoes in even, uniform slices to guarantee even cooking.  If you have a mandoline, feel free to use it for this recipe.
• You can substitute 2 cups of half and half for the milk/heavy cream mixture.
• Feel free to use any combination of ‘melty’ cheese; gruyere, provolone, havarti… make it your own.
• You may need to line a portion of your oven rack with foil since the potatoes may bubble over.
• Make sure you let the Au Gratin Potatoes with Ham sit for 10-15 minutes so the sauce can thicken and you won’t burn the taste buds off your tongue.  😂
• This recipe would be perfect as a main meal with a salad.
• Of course, if you don’t like ham you can omit it.
• It’s important to pat dry the excess moisture from the potatoes and the ham or you can easily have a runny recipe.  If this does happen, you should be able to drain the liquid without creating a mess of your Au Gratin Potatoes with Ham.