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This creamy ham pasta with peas is a simple meal that is delicious, homemade comfort food. It combines leftover ham, convenient frozen peas, and an easy homemade cream sauce. This one-pan dinner also makes incredible leftovers.
This easy ham pasta is cheesy, creamy, and oh-so delicious. It’s ready in a flash (seriously), and is a great way to use up holiday ham leftovers.
And what you’ll really love about it is how easy it is to customize to your tastes, and what’s in your fridge.
Reader Review
“This meal was delicious. It was super easy to make. I had the sauce partially made ahead of time, up to the part where you add all the ham etc. and then warmed it back up to finish the meal because I didn’t want to spend extra time in the kitchen while the kids were over.
Ange
I love, love, LOVE the tip about warming the milk before adding it to the sauce! I’ll definitely keep that tip in the front of my mind while making sauces from now on.
This recipe is definitely a keeper. “
Just a note that this delicious food this ham and noodles recipe makes A LOT of food! If you’re feeding 6-8 people, and/or love leftovers, this recipe is for you. If you need to reduce the number of servings, click on “servings” in the recipe card and adjust it to fit your needs.
The ham should be fully cooked (like using some leftover Instant Pot ham). For the noodles, I used rotini, but any other pasta with “nooks and crannies” like bowties or fusilli will work.
Pro Tips/Recipe Notes
- Make sure to use low-sodium chicken stock as ham is already very salty!
- Make sure you warm the milk before adding it to the butter sauce. Cold milk will curdle when it interacts with the hot pan.
- The sauce is thick and creamy. If you prefer a thinner sauce, set aside 2/3 cup of pasta water instead of 1/4 cup.
Creamy Ham Pasta With Peas
Ingredients
- 16 oz dry rotini noodles
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 5 cloves garlic {finely minced}
- 2 tbsp shallot {finely minced}
- 1 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup white cooking wine
- 3/4 cup chicken stock {sub in vegetable broth if needed}
- 2/3 cup whole milk {warmed}
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
- 2 tsp lemon zest {~1 medium lemon}
- 1/3 cup shredded parmesan
- 2 cups chopped ham
- 1 cup green peas
- 4 oz cream cheese {warmed}
Instructions
- In a large saucepan bring 3 quarts of salted water to a boil.
- Add rotini noodles and cook until al dente, ~7 minutes. Make the sauce while the pasta cooks.16 oz dry rotini noodles
- Drain all but ¼ cup of water from the rotini. Keep noodles in the saucepan with 1/4 cup of pasta water.
- In a large deep frying pan heat butter and olive over medium heat.2 tbsp unsalted butter, 2 tbsp olive oil
- Add garlic and the shallots. Stir until the garlic and shallots are starting to soften, and a few of the pieces are starting to brown. ~2-3 minutes.5 cloves garlic, 2 tbsp shallot
- Sprinkle flour over the top of the garlic, and whisk to combine. Cook for 2 minutes.1 tbsp all-purpose flour
- Slowly whisk in white wine, chicken stock, warmed whole milk, kosher salt, black pepper, and lemon zest, whisking constantly to incorporate.1/4 cup white cooking wine, 3/4 cup chicken stock, 2/3 cup whole milk, 2 tsp lemon zest, 1/4 tsp ground black pepper, 1 tsp kosher salt
- Increase the temperature to medium-high heat and whisk constantly while it cooks at a near boil for 2 minutes, or until thickened.
- Reduce heat and add the cooked rotini noodles, 1/4 cup pasta water, shredded Parmesan, chopped ham, frozen peas, and cream cheese to the lemon butter mixture.1/3 cup shredded parmesan, 2 cups chopped ham, 1 cup green peas, 4 oz cream cheese
- Stir to combine the pasta and sauce. Cook for 1 minute.
Notes
- Make sure you warm the milk before adding it to the butter sauce. Cold milk will curdle when it interacts with the hot pan and lemon zest.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
As usual, I did not follow this to the letter. But I did still follow this recipe, so I feel totally justified in rating it.
My differences were that I measured the parmesan “with my heart” rather than with a measuring cup (so, I used more), I used my normal amount of whole wheat pasta for four adults and a toddler, and I used broccoli instead of peas (I cut it small and cooked it separately the added it at the end). I also don’t have any wine, so I just used more stock.
The only complaint from the little one was that she has decided that she doesn’t like broccoli. She ate almost all of the ham (no surprise there) and a lot of the noodles. A solid win, as far as I am concerned!
This meal was delicious. It was super easy to make. I had the sauce partially made ahead of time, up to the part where you add all the ham etc. and then warmed it back up to finish the meal because I didn’t want to spend extra time in the kitchen while the kids were over.
I love, love, LOVE the tip about warming the milk before adding it to the sauce! I’ll definitely keep that tip in the front of my mind while making sauces from now on.
This recipe is definitely a keeper.
You cook as I do – a recipe is merely a guideline. 🙂 I’m so glad to hear you and the family enjoyed it! And I hope the granddaughter said “hi” to her ham when presented with the dish.
She doesn’t greet her ham anymore. I’m a little bummed by that.
My husband and i still do sometimes, though. LOL
This looks like it will be a hit for my 3-year-old granddaughter! Ham, noodles AND cheese are all favourites for her. (I’ll just need to find a work-around for the peas, which she and I LOVE, but my husband hates)
I will absolutely be trying this with the ham leftovers from Easter. *adding rotini and cream cheese to shopping list now!* I’ll be sure to post a proper review after we try it!
Thanks!
I can’t believe she is 3 already!
Just make him pick them out, just like my picky children do. Ha!
I can’t do that! Then he will always want me to cook with things I don’t like and “just pick them out”!!! That would be horrible!
I can’t believe she is already three either! She is pretty awesome. She was caught on video by her mom greeting her dinner. She picked up a piece of her ham and spoke to it, “Hello Ham!”, then ate it. We always say hello to our ham now. hahaha
I kind of stopped doing a lot online for a while, but I now have your site set up to open every time I open my browser, so I’ll be keeping up again and not just lurking on instagram. I hadn’t realized how much I missed it.
Well, now I always need to greet my food!