Stovetop Cheesy Broccoli Rice with 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 Bavarian 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.
Speaking of ham…
She’s so cheesy and delicious, I could gobble her right up.
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.

Stovetop Cheesy Broccoli Rice with Ham
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup long-grain white rice
2 1/4 cups chicken broth
2 small heads of broccoli
2 tablespoons butter
3 cups cooked diced ham, hot (warm it up in the microwave for a couple of minutes)
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
salt and pepper, to taste
splash of milk, as needed
Directions:
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 to the rice and continue cooking for 5 -10 minutes or until most of the liquid has been absorbed. (The broccoli will cook for 5-10 minutes and steam for 5. If you'd like it more tender, add it to the pot of rice sooner. As it is, it should be tender-crisp.)
Remove from the heat and add the butter, ham, cheddar, and garlic powder. Stir until well incorporated. Cover and let sit for 5 minutes.
Stir again and add salt and pepper to taste and a splash of milk if you'd like to thin out the texture a little bit, if needed.




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Reminds me of those bags of Broccoli and Cheddar rice you can buy at the store, but 10000 times better
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!
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 — July 19th, 2012 @ 10:50 am
@DessertForTwo,
Thank you! She is pretty darn cute, if I do say so myself.
Looks very yummy! Maybe with a little bacon, I’m not huge on ham
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 — July 19th, 2012 @ 10:51 am
@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!
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 — July 19th, 2012 @ 10:52 am
@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.
You photos are just amazing and so are your recipes! Just wanted to send some blog love lol
Karly — July 19th, 2012 @ 10:52 am
@Ashley @PeaceLoveYumminess,
Thank you so much!
definitely making this for dinner!!!!!
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 — July 19th, 2012 @ 10:49 am
@sally @ sally’s baking addiction,
Well, aren’t you just the sweetest ever?
Thank you!
@sally @ sally’s baking addiction,
Well, aren’t you just the sweetest ever?
Thank you!
Found your blog through pinterest… I Love it!
Delicious and gluten free! Will this recipe work with brown rice or do the liquid measurements need to be adjusted?
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 — November 15th, 2012 @ 2:48 pm
@Michelle,
Thanks for coming back and updating us! So glad it worked for you and that your kids enjoyed it, too!
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.
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!
Delish!! I just made this as a side dish for dinner tonight (minus the ham because I didn’t have any!). It is fabulous and the best part is it’s all natural, no MSG, canned ingredients, etc! This will definitely be going into the “rotation”!! Thanks for sharing!