Name: 15-Minute Corn Casserole with Cream Cheese and Ham.
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 15 min
Ingredients: 3 cups frozen or fresh corn; 4 ounces cooked ham (cut into cubes, about 1 cup); 1 cup milk; 8 ounces cream cheese; 1 teaspoon garlic powder; ½ teaspoon salt; ½ teaspoon pepper; 1 teaspoon hot sauce; 6 ounces cheddar cheese (1 ½ cups shredded)

This corn casserole with cream cheese comes together in just 15 minutes, no canned soup and no long oven bake required. Fresh or frozen corn, block cream cheese, hand-grated cheddar, and cubed ham cook together on the stovetop, then get a quick pass under the broiler for a golden, bubbly top. It’s the kind of side dish you can pull together while everything else is already cooking.

A baking dish of creamy corn casserole. — *A dash of hot sauce and a pinch of garlic powder go into the sauce itself, not as a garnish, so the flavor is built in from the start*.

No Canned Soup, No Long Bake

Most corn casserole recipes start with a can of cream of chicken or cream of mushroom soup and spend close to an hour in the oven. This one skips the can entirely. Block cream cheese, hand-grated cheddar, and a splash of milk build the same creamy base from scratch, right in one saucepan on the stovetop, and the whole thing only sees the oven for the two or three minutes it takes to broil the top golden.

It sounds like more work to make it from scratch, but it’s actually faster than a baked version, no waiting on an oven to preheat for 45 minutes of bake time. The cubed ham makes it hearty enough to earn a spot next to almost anything you’re serving, and it’s the side dish people ask about.

Born From Leftover Ham

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I developed this recipe the way a lot of my best ones happen, staring down leftover ham in the fridge and needing something to do with it. Cubed ham turns out to be exactly what a rich, cheesy corn casserole needed, it adds savory flavor without needing much of it, so a small amount from the freezer goes a long way. If you’re the kind of cook who always has a little leftover ham tucked away after a holiday, this is the recipe that makes good use of it.

Not Your Everyday Creamed Corn

I’ve been making creamed corn a long time, canned, a slow cooker version, a skillet version, all different ways to get that same comforting flavor. My skillet creamed corn made with just four ingredients keeps things simple with fresh corn and half-and-half, no cream cheese at all. This one is a different animal entirely.

Between the block cream cheese and the hand-grated cheddar, it’s rich and cheesy in a way my other creamed corn recipes aren’t. That richness is exactly why it works best as a side rather than a main, it lets you keep the rest of dinner simple, a rotisserie chicken, grilled pork chops, nothing fancy, because the casserole itself is doing the heavy lifting on flavor.

The Make-Ahead Trick

Assemble the casserole up through the point right before broiling, cover, and refrigerate if making a day ahead. Pull it out and let it come to room temperature and place under the broiler to heat it up right before serving.
If you’re using frozen corn, drain off any extra liquid once it’s thawed. Too much water left in the corn will thin out the sauce.
Watch the broiler the entire time you’re under it. Broilers vary a lot in strength, and this can go from golden to burnt in under a minute. If you want a version that’s even more hands-off, my slow cooker creamed corn with blended and whole kernels needs almost no attention at all, just a stir partway through.

Simple Ingredients, No Can Required

The exact amounts are in the recipe card below.

the ingredients for a corn and ham casserole. — Gather the ingredients.

Use fresh or frozen corn, not canned. Canned corn is already soft and won’t hold up the same way in the creamy sauce. Fresh works whenever corn is in season, and frozen works just as well the rest of the year, so this isn’t a recipe you have to wait on.
Use cooked ham, cut into cubes. This is a great way to use up leftover holiday ham, or you can pick up a ham steak from the deli counter if you don’t have leftovers on hand.
Use block-style cream cheese, not the whipped kind, cut into chunks so it melts evenly into the sauce.
Hand-grate your own cheddar from a block rather than using pre-shredded bags. Pre-shredded cheese is coated to prevent clumping, and that coating keeps it from melting as smoothly into the sauce.

Easy Steps to Make a Creamed Corn Casserole with Ham

Step 1: Combine Ingredients

Add milk and cream cheese to a saucepan and cook until melted.

Corn and ham added to a saucepan. — Add corn and ham.

Cheese added to a saucepan. — Add part of the cheese.

A casserole with cheese sprinkled on top. — Sprinkle cheese on top and broil.

Step 2: Broil.

Set the casserole in the oven about 6 inches below the broiler. Cook until the top is golden brown. This should only take 2-3 minutes. Watch it carefully the entire time so you don’t accidentally burn it! Remove from the oven and serve hot.

A corn casserole after it has been broiled.

Can I make this with bacon?

Of course! I have tried this recipe both ways, with and without bacon, and actually prefer it without. While bacon is delicious in everything, it’s not noticeable enough in this dish to go to the trouble of cooking the bacon. But if you have extra cooked, chopped bacon pieces, throw them in.

Additions to try

Here are a few ideas to beef up this corn casserole.

Add sauteed onion. Cook them in a bit of oil until soft in the saucepan first then add the rest of the ingredients.
For a bit of heat, add in some chopped jalapeno peppers or green chiles.
Add some Panko bread crumbs on top with the cheddar before you broil it.
Add a can of drained Rotel to give it some extra color and a zesty flavor.

This corn casserole comes together fast, but it tastes like something you put real effort into, exactly the kind of side dish worth keeping in your back pocket for whenever ham shows up in your fridge, and one of several quick side dishes on the site built for busy nights.

If you loved this recipe, give it a star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating! Also, snap a picture of your finished dish and share it with me on Instagram using the hashtag #butterandbaggage and tagging me @butterandbaggage.