Have leftover ham from yesterday’s meal? This ham and cheese crescent bake is an easy (and delicious!) way to work through those leftovers!
I’m convinced that I’ve turned into an old lady.
I used to wear heels every single day. Ok, maybe I took an occasional Saturday off, but I dressed up for work 5 days a week and had church on Sundays, so heels were a normal part of my wardrobe.
And then I had a child.
If you’ve ever been pregnant, you know that it is difficult to wear heels when you are carrying a child. Not only do you not have the balance that you once had, but if you are like me, you swell up like a balloon and have to wear flip flops through your entire pregnancy. And then the baby comes along, and although your feet may fit back into those heels, (that is if they didn’t grow like they do for many women), there is no way you want to be walking around carrying a child while you are wearing heels.
So I bought a few pairs of flats. And that’s fine. But yesterday, as I was getting ready for church, I decided – since it was Easter Sunday and all – that I wanted to go all out. And these days, that means wearing heels.
And this is where the old lady part comes in, because I put those cute peep toe heels on. And lasted about 14 seconds before I was walking back to the bedroom to find my sensible flats. Some say that you have to sacrifice for fashion sometimes, but I think I’ll wait until all of my kids are walking on their own!
But one thing that I am more comfortable in as the years go by is finding ways to use up leftovers. I still struggle sometimes, but sometimes, I hit the jackpot. Big time.
Like with this Ham and Cheese Crescent Bake.
All I can tell you is that if you have leftover ham from Easter, please make this. And if you don’t have leftovers? Well, you can go out and buy a ham steak for it. Because you want to try this. Granted, it’s not an everyday indulgence, but this meal will please both kids and adults. Even the leftovers are pretty amazing. I seriously kept finding other things to give my husband for lunches just so I could savor these as leftovers.
More Ways to Use Up That Leftover Ham
Pea and Ham Risotto
Ranch Ham and Cheese Pasta
Ham and Asparagus Quiche
Ham and Cheese Crescent Bake
Ingredients
Crescents
- 4 oz cream cheese at room temperature
- 4 tablespoons butter at room temperature
- 2 green onions diced
- 2 cups cubed cooked ham
- 1 clove minced garlic
- 1/2 cup grated Swiss cheese
- salt and pepper
- 2 cans 8 oz each crescent rolls
Sauce
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 3 tablespoons flour
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup Swiss cheese
- chopped green onions for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Spray a 9x13-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter. Add in the green onions, ham, garlic and Swiss cheese. Season with salt and pepper.
- Open the crescent rolls and divide each can into 8 triangles. Place a mound of the filling mixture on the wide end of the crescent roll and roll up.
- In a large skillet, melt the butter. Whisk in the flour and cook for a minute or two. Slowly whisk in the chicken broth and then the milk. Cook until the mixture has thickened. Season with salt and pepper.
- Spread a small amount of the sauce over the bottom of the baking dish. Place the rolls in the baking dish, making 2 rows of 8 filled rolls each. Pour the remaining sauce over the rolls. Sprinkle the 1 cup of Swiss cheese over the top.
- Bake for 30 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and the sauce is bubbling. Let cool slightly, sprinkle on green onions and serve.
Mo says
Has anyone tried adding a bit of mustard for acid? Haven’t made it yet, but plan to tonight.
Deborah says
I have not, but I think it sounds wonderful! Please let me know how it turns out.
Kayla says
This recipe has been a huge hit for my whole family!!
Jen says
I wanted to love this, but croissants were soggy. Flavors were good, but we threw in garbage because of the texture. Maybe next time I’ll make croissants and put filling and sauce on top.
Kristin Sicilia says
This was a hit with my family. I did a few things differently though. I took 2 crescent roll triangles and combined them together into a rectangle. I then added the combined ham mixture in the middle and folded the crescent up into a square making sure that I sealed all the sides. I placed all eight squares in a 9 x 13 glass pan and baked for 25 minutes. I took the pan out of the oven five minutes before it was done and added the sauce and cheese to the top. Yum!!!
Ashley says
I made this tonight and it was a hit! I added some extra seasonings and a little more garlic, plus a tablespoon of Dijon to the filling. I didn’t have any Swiss cheese so I just used what I had in the fridge, which was a blend of Mexican cheeses and it turned out great. This is a great recipe to tinker with!
Cari says
Making this now! I left out the green onions because we didn’t have any, and I was limited on how much Swiss cheese I had on hand, so I mixed it with Monterey Jack. I really didn’t want to go to the store! Using up leftover Thanksgiving ham. It’s a delicious meat market spiral cut ham so I’m pretty excited to chow down on this. I make a ton of different “crescent bakes”, but they’re almost always with chicken… sometimes pulled pork. This is the first one with ham! It smells so good!
Deborah says
I hope you loved it! 🙂
Liz says
Thank you for the nice recipe.
Janet says
Made a half recipe, used Colby Jack cheese. Love the favors of the sauce and the filling but maybe I didn’t bake it long enough. The rolls were kind of soggy. The recipe is a keeper, but I might try it with the filling and the sauce mixed together and poured over a biscuit or toast points…. Kind of like Chicken ala King is served.
Deborah says
@Janet, the crescents don’t have the same texture as if they were baked outside of the sauce, but they shouldn’t be soggy. Try baking a little bit longer – or I agree – the sauce would be great over biscuits or toast!
Janet says
@Deborah, I might bake them a bit longer next time. Or pour the sauce around them and leave a bit of the crescents exposed. I also used the reduced fat rolls…. But that shouldn’t have made a difference.
TidyMom says
heels are not all that they are cracked up to be! lol
these looks fantastic! I love anything with crescents!
Nutmeg Nanny says
Oh my goodness that dish looks fantastic! These are the kind of leftovers i’m into 🙂
Tracey says
I love my heels, mostly because I’m on 5’1 and I like to pretend I’m taller 🙂 I’m sure it’ll change when I have kids someday. Anyway, I have to confess I don’t love ham, but I would absolutely 100% eat it in this form – yum!!
Kalyn says
Sounds like a yummy way to use leftover ham, and thanks for the shout-out!
Carrie @ Bakeaholic Mama says
Amen on the flats. Now that kids are in the picture I wear clogs or other “mom” shoes every day.
Your crescent bake looks so comforting, I wish I had some ham leftovers to make it!