This creamy Leftover Gammon Pasta is one of my favourite ways to use up leftover Christmas gammon. Ready in just 17 minutes, it's packed with mushrooms and sweetcorn, all coated in a simple crème fraîche, Parmesan and mustard sauce.
We always cook a bigger gammon joint than we need at Christmas, partly because I know it means an easy dinner the next day. After all the Christmas cooking, I want something comforting that doesn't involve spending another hour in the kitchen!
It's a brilliant way to use up leftover roast gammon from Christmas, but it's just as good after a Sunday roast.
Recipe update: Originally published in December 2023. Updated in November 2026 with clearer instructions, additional tips and more ideas for using Christmas leftovers.
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Why You'll Love It
- Perfect for Christmas leftovers - Turn leftover cooked gammon into another family dinner instead of wasting it.
- Quick and easy - Ready in 17 minutes, with no complicated sauce or oven required.
- Creamy and comforting - Crème fraîche, Parmesan and wholegrain mustard make a deliciously creamy sauce.
- Easy to adapt - Use different vegetables, cheeses or other Christmas leftovers depending on what you have.
Recipe Overview
- Time: 17 minutes (5 minutes prep, 12 minutes cooking).
- Serves: 4 people.
- Main ingredients: Cooked gammon, pasta, mushrooms, sweetcorn, crème fraîche and Parmesan.
- Equipment: A saucepan for the pasta and a large frying pan or shallow casserole for the sauce.
Ingredients and Substitutions
A full ingredients list, along with US Customary and Metric measurements, can be found in the recipe card at the end of this post.
- Cooked gammon - We use 250g of leftover air fryer gammon or honey roast ham. Smoked, unsmoked or plain cooked ham all work. You can use honey-glazed gammon too, although the glaze will make the sauce slightly sweeter.
- Pasta - Any short pasta shape works, including penne, fusilli or rigatoni. We sometimes use wholewheat pasta for extra fibre.
- Butter - Used to soften the vegetables. Olive oil works too.
- Shallots, garlic and mushrooms - These add plenty of flavour and vegetables. You can swap the shallots for a small onion or use finely sliced leeks instead.
- Crème fraîche - Full-fat crème fraîche gives the sauce a lovely creamy consistency without needing flour or a traditional white sauce. Double cream is another option, or you could try cream cheese loosened with a little milk.
- Wholegrain mustard - Just a teaspoon adds a little tang that works really well with the gammon. Dijon mustard is a good alternative.
- Parmesan - Adds a savoury, cheesy flavour to the sauce. Mature cheddar or Gruyère would also work.
- Sweetcorn - We use 120g. Tinned sweetcorn is convenient, but frozen sweetcorn works too, provided it is heated thoroughly.
- Chives - Fresh chives add a lovely finishing flavour. You can swap them for parsley.
- Salt and pepper - Add black pepper to taste, but check the seasoning before adding salt, as the gammon and Parmesan can already be quite salty.
More ways to adapt this recipe can be found in the Variations section below.
How to Make Leftover Gammon Pasta
- Cook the pasta: Bring a saucepan of water to the boil and cook the pasta according to the packet instructions. Just before draining, reserve about 50ml of the pasta cooking water.
- Soften the veg: While the pasta cooks, melt the butter in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Add the crushed garlic, finely diced shallots and sliced mushrooms (a) and cook for about 5 minutes, until softened (b).
- Make it creamy: Reduce the heat and add the crème fraîche, wholegrain mustard, black pepper and reserved pasta water (a). Stir until everything is combined into a smooth sauce (b).
- Add the cheese: Add the grated Parmesan (a) and stir over a gentle heat for about 2 minutes, until the cheese has melted into the sauce (b). Avoid boiling the sauce.
- Add the gammon & sweetcorn: Add the diced cooked gammon and sweetcorn (a). Stir and heat until the gammon is steaming hot throughout, approximately 2 minutes for small pieces. Add the chopped chives (b) and mix again. Taste before adding any extra salt.
- Mix everything together: Add the drained pasta to the pan and stir well until everything is coated in the creamy sauce. Serve immediately, with extra black pepper or Parmesan if you like.
Variations
One of the best things about this gammon pasta recipe is how easily you can adapt it to use up what you have.
Extra vegetables - Frozen peas are a great alternative to sweetcorn. Add them to the pasta water for the final few minutes of cooking, following the packet instructions.
You can also add a handful of spinach towards the end of cooking or fry some sliced leeks with the mushrooms.
Christmas leftovers - This is a great opportunity to use up more than just the gammon. Try adding chopped leftover roasted Brussels sprouts or roasted butternut squash.
A little chopped air fryer stuffing balls or air fryer pigs in blankets is delicious too. Make sure any cooked leftovers are heated thoroughly, and don't reheat food more than once.
Different cheeses - If you have leftover Christmas cheeseboard cheese, try swapping the Parmesan for mature cheddar, Gruyère or a little blue cheese.
Blue cheese has a much stronger flavour, so start with less and add more to taste.
Make a gammon pasta bake - You can turn this into a cheesy leftover gammon pasta bake. Transfer the freshly prepared pasta to an ovenproof dish with an extra splash of pasta water to keep it creamy.
Top with grated cheese and a little breadcrumb mixture, then place under a medium-hot grill for approximately 3-5 minutes, until golden and bubbling.
Alternatively, bake at 200°C/180°C fan for around 10-15 minutes, until heated through. Keep an eye on it so the pasta doesn't dry out.
Serving Suggestions
This leftover gammon pasta is a filling meal on its own, with protein, vegetables and carbohydrates all in one dish.
However, we love serving pasta with garlic bread, especially when there's a creamy sauce to mop up!
Try our air fryer garlic bread for a really quick side or our easy cheesy garlic bread if you want something extra cheesy.
For a lighter side, serve with a mixed green salad and our homemade lemon vinaigrette.
Our little gem salad is another lovely option.
If you want to add more vegetables, try roasted tenderstem broccoli or crispy air fryer broccoli.
Storage
Store: This recipe is best enjoyed freshly cooked. Make sure your leftover gammon was cooled and refrigerated promptly after its original cooking and is still within its safe storage period.
If you have leftover pasta, cool it quickly and refrigerate it in an airtight container within 2 hours. Eat it cold within the original gammon's safe 48-hour storage window.
Freeze: I recommend freezing portions of the cooked gammon separately before making this recipe, rather than freezing the finished creamy pasta. Once defrosted thoroughly in the fridge, it can be used to make this dish.
Reheat: Because the cooked gammon is already being reheated when you make this pasta, I don't recommend reheating the finished dish again. UK food-safety advice is to reheat leftovers only once.
Make ahead: You can dice the gammon, slice the mushrooms and prepare the other ingredients ahead of time. Keep everything that needs chilling refrigerated until you're ready to cook. The sauce is best made fresh.
Troubleshooting Guide
| Problem | Fix |
|---|---|
| The sauce is too thick | Add a splash of the reserved pasta water and stir gently until the sauce coats the pasta. |
| The sauce has split | The heat may have been too high. Remove it from the heat and gently stir in a little pasta water. Avoid boiling the crème fraîche. |
| The pasta tastes too salty | Gammon and Parmesan both contribute salt. Add extra unsalted cooked pasta or vegetables if needed, and avoid adding more salt until you've tasted the finished sauce. |
Dannii's Extra Tips
- Save some pasta water. The starch helps loosen the crème fraîche sauce and gives it a smooth, glossy consistency. Add a little more if the sauce gets too thick.
- Keep the heat low. Once you add the crème fraîche and Parmesan, avoid boiling the sauce, as too much heat can cause it to split.
- Don't overcook the gammon. It's already cooked, so you only need to heat it until steaming hot throughout. Cut it into small pieces so it heats evenly.
- Taste before adding salt. Smoked gammon and Parmesan can both be salty, and you may not need any additional salt.
- Add some spice. A pinch of dried chilli flakes is lovely if you want a little heat.
- Add freshness. Some sliced cherry tomatoes or chopped sun-dried tomatoes on top add extra flavour. A little fresh spinach stirred into the sauce is another easy addition.
- Serve straight away. The pasta will continue absorbing the sauce as it sits, so it's at its creamiest straight from the pan.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! Gammon is cured pork sold uncooked, whereas ham is ready-to-eat cooked or cured pork. Once you cook a gammon joint, it becomes ham. This recipe works with leftover roast gammon or any suitable cooked ham.
Yes. We often have honey-roast gammon left after Christmas, and it works well in this pasta. f your gammon has a particularly thick or sweet glaze, you can trim off some of the glaze before adding it to the sauce. A little extra mustard can help balance the sweetness.
Yes, as long as it was cooked, cooled and frozen safely before being reheated. Defrost it thoroughly in the fridge and use it within 24 hours of defrosting.
You can prepare the ingredients in advance, but I recommend cooking the pasta and sauce just before serving. The crème fraîche sauce is at its best freshly made, and this also avoids reheating the cooked gammon multiple times.
More Christmas Leftover Recipes
If you've tried this gammon pasta recipe, let us know how you got on in the comments below.
Tag us in your creations on Instagram @hungryhealthyhappy and use the hashtag #hungryhealthyhappy too.
Recipe
Leftover Gammon Pasta
Recipe Video
Ingredients
- 250 g (9 oz) of Dried pasta
- 1 tablespoon of Butter
- 2 Shallots - finely diced
- 2 Garlic cloves - crushed
- 200 g (7 oz) of Mushrooms - sliced
- 250 ml (1 cup) of Crème fraîche - full fat
- 1 teaspoon of Wholegrain mustard
- ½ teaspoon of Ground black pepper
- 30 g (1 oz) of Parmesan - grated
- 250 g (9 oz) of Cooked gammon - diced
- 120 g (¾ cup) of Sweetcorn
- 5 g (1 ½ tablespoons) of Chives - chopped
Instructions
- Cook the pasta: Bring a saucepan of water to the boil and cook 250 g of Dried pasta according to the packet instructions.Just before draining, reserve about 50ml of the pasta cooking water.
- Soften the veg: While the pasta cooks, melt 1 tablespoon of Butter in a large frying pan over a medium heat.Add the 2 Garlic cloves (crushed), 2 Shallots (finely diced) and 200 g of Mushrooms (sliced) and cook for about 5 minutes, until softened.
- Make it creamy: Reduce the heat and add 250 ml of Crème fraîche, 1 teaspoon of Wholegrain mustard, ½ teaspoon of Ground black pepper and reserved pasta water.Stir until everything is combined into a smooth sauce.
- Add the cheese: Add 30 g of Parmesan (grated) and stir over a gentle heat for about 2 minutes, until the cheese has melted into the sauce.
- Add the gammon & sweetcorn: Add 250 g of Cooked gammon (diced) and 120 g of Sweetcorn. Stir and heat until the gammon is steaming hot throughout, approximately 2 minutes for small pieces.Add the 5 g of Chives (chopped) and mix again. Taste before adding any extra salt.
- Mix everything together: Add the drained pasta to the pan and stir well until everything is coated in the creamy sauce.
- Serve: Serve immediately, with extra black pepper or Parmesan if you like.
Recipe Notes
- Save some pasta water. The starch helps loosen the crème fraîche sauce and gives it a smooth, glossy consistency. Add a little more if the sauce gets too thick.
- Keep the heat low. Once you add the crème fraîche and Parmesan, avoid boiling the sauce, as too much heat can cause it to split.
- Don't overcook the gammon. It's already cooked, so you only need to heat it until steaming hot throughout. Cut it into small pieces so it heats evenly.
- Taste before adding salt. Smoked gammon and Parmesan can both be salty, and you may not need any additional salt.
- Add some spice. A pinch of dried chilli flakes is lovely if you want a little heat.
- Add freshness. Some sliced cherry tomatoes or chopped sun-dried tomatoes on top add extra flavour. A little fresh spinach stirred into the sauce is another easy addition.
- Serve straight away. The pasta will continue absorbing the sauce as it sits, so it's at its creamiest straight from the pan.
Nutritional Information
Where nutritional information is provided, it is approximate and calculated using online tools. Values can vary depending on the ingredients and brands used, but we endeavour to be as accurate as possible.
All timings are a guide and may vary depending on the ingredients, equipment and, where relevant, the appliance used. Changing the serving size may also affect the time needed.
Kate says
This is such a tasty and easy way to use up leftover gammon!
Gianne says
The combination of succulent gammon and perfectly cooked pasta is a match made in heaven. The flavors blend together so beautifully, and it's so easy to make. I can't get enough of this delicious dish!
Toni says
This is so good! I love how quick and easy it is to make!
Lubna says
This recipe sounds great. Tried it with meat mince. It was flavourful and yum
Anjali says
This pasta turned out great! Super flavorful and satisfying. We used roast chicken instead and it was still delicious!
Gianne says
The combination of savory gammon and perfectly cooked pasta created a mouthwatering dish that exceeded all expectations. I can't wait to have it again!
Toni says
This is such an amazing recipe for leftovers! Thank you so much for sharing!
Michelle says
This is so tasty! A great recipe for leftover gammon, the whole family loved it.
Ieva says
We had a gammon joint for Sunday roast last weekend with plenty of leftovers, so this recipe was brilliant for us, now we have lunch to take to the office for a couple of weeks. Love the wholegrain mustard in the salad - it's delicious and filling!