Food

Creamy Ham Peas and Pasta

Creamy Ham Peas and Pasta is a quick-cooking dinner recipe your entire family will love. A simple parmesan-garlic cream sauce coats cooked pasta, frozen peas, and diced ham. Easy, delicious, and cooks in the time it takes to boil a box of pasta. READ: Creamy Ham Peas and Pasta

Apr 3, 2025 - 18:16

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With multiple activities on the calendar each night of the week, I am more than ever looking for quick and family-friendly (read: my kids will love it) recipes for dinner.

Enter: Creamy Ham Peas and Pasta.

This easy, creamy pasta with ham and peas is filling, absolutely delicious, and a full meal in a bowl. I created the recipe as a way to use up leftover Easter ham, but you can make it any time of year with thick-cut ham steak, which we always seem to have on hand. I like cubing it up for lunchboxes – I’ll share my favorite brand below.

Like a quick-cooking homemade mac and cheese, this easy dinner recipe cooks in the same amount of time it takes to boil a box of pasta. Hello, weeknight dinner hero!

Ingredients Needed

All you need are a handful of everyday ingredients to make this creamy pasta dish. Raid the fridge and pantry for…

Pasta: I love Jovial brown rice Casarecce for this dish, but any medium-cut pasta like penne, bowties, rotini, etc will do the trick.
Ham steak: use leftover holiday ham, or dice up a store-bought ham steak – I like Frick’s brand. A quality brand of ham really does make a difference!
Garlic: permeates each bite with cozy flavor.
Peas: use frozen sweet peas – no need to thaw first.
Heavy cream: is the base of our dreamy, creamy sauce.
Parmesan cheese: freshly grate the parmesan with a microplane so it instantly melts into the cream sauce, vs using pre-grated.

ingredients for creamy pasts ham and peas

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Why You’ll Love this Recipe

Fast: including prep and cook time, Creamy Ham Peas and Pasta will go from fridge to table in under 30 minutes. Plus, since it has protein, carbs, and veggies, it’s a full meal in a bowl — no extra sides needed.
Family friendly: if your kids are anything like mine, pasta is an automatic YES for dinner. They also love ham and peas (bless them because I grew up HATING peas) plus the cream sauce gives it a cozy mac and cheese vibe.
Versatile: I use gluten free pasta, but you can use whatever medium-cut pasta you’ve got in the pantry. This dish is as unfussy as it gets! If you need to eat dairy free, opt for vegan butter, plant-based heavy cream, and vegan parmesan cheese.
Classic: thanks to butter, garlic, cream, and parmesan cheese, this recipe is total comfort food and proves you don’t need a ton of ingredients to make a super satisfying dish. Just the right combo of simple ones.

Alrighty, ready to get this easy pasta dish on the table?

Serve with Air Fryer Asparagus

How to Make This Recipe

Step 1: Cook the pasta.

Start by adding a generous palmful of salt to a large pot of boiling water then add pasta and cook until it’s just shy of al dente. The pasta will finish cooking in the parmesan cream sauce.

Recipe Tip

Salting the water you cook your pasta in will infuse the pasta with flavor as it cooks. You can REALLY taste a difference in the final dish!

Before draining the pasta, carefully scoop out a cup or so of the pasta cooking water to add to the sauce at the end. This serves 2 purposes:

The salted water seasons the dish.
The starches in the water help the parmesan-cream sauce cling to the pasta.

Step 2: Dice the ham.

Next, dice up a 1lb bone-in ham steak. Again, I highly recommend Frick’s. Leftovers from your holiday ham are perfect too.

You’ll need ~12oz of diced ham steak, which is around 2-1/2 cups.

Step 3: Saute the ham and peas.

Melt butter inside a large skillet with high sides over medium-high heat. Add the diced ham then saute until it’s hot, 3-4 minutes. Next add minced garlic then saute until fragrant, another minute (your kitchen will smell insane right about now!)

Add frozen peas then saute until they’re hot, 1-2 additional minutes.

Step 4: Make the cream sauce.

To the skillet add heavy whipping cream then bring to a simmer and cook for 2-3 minutes or until the cream has slightly reduced and thickened.

Lastly, add freshly grated parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper then stir to melt the cheese into the sauce.

Step 5: Combine the pasta and sauce.

Add the pasta into the skillet with with a splash of pasta cooking water then cook while stirring until the pasta is tender and the sauce clings to the pasta, 4-5 minutes.

Let the pasta sit and the sauce thicken for about 5 minutes, then dish it on up!

That’s all she wrote!

Leftovers reheat perfectly in a bowl in the microwave — and actually, taste really good cold.

No matter when or how you make it, I hope you love every bite of this incredible and easy Creamy Ham and Peas Pasta – enjoy!

creamy pasta with ham and peas in a bowl

More Easy Family-Friendly Recipes

Creamy Ham Peas and Pasta

Creamy Ham Peas and Pasta is a quick-cooking dinner recipe that's creamy, satisfying, and made with everyday ingredients. As filling as it is delicious!

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Keyword gluten free

Method saute, Simmer

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 15

Total Time 30

Servings

Calories 544kcal

Author Kristin Porter

Equipment

Ingredients

12 oz medium-cut pasta casarecce, rotini, penne, or bowties recommended
2 Tablespoons butter
2-1/2 cups (12oz) diced ham steak from a 1lb bone-in ham steak
2 cloves garlic pressed or minced
1-1/4 cups frozen sweet peas
1 cup (1/2 pint) heavy cream
1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
salt and pepper

Instructions

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil then add the pasta and cook until it’s just shy of al dente – the pasta will finish cooking completely in the sauce. Before draining: carefully scoop out 1 cup pasta cooking water then drain the pasta and set it aside.
Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large skillet with high sides over medium-high heat. Add the ham then saute until hot, 3-4 minutes. Add the garlic then saute until very fragrant, 1 minute. Add the peas then saute until hot, 1-2 minutes.
Add the heavy creamy then bring to a simmer while stirring constantly. Once simmering, turn the heat down slightly then cook while stirring until the cream has slightly thickened and reduced, 2-3 minutes. Add the parmesan cheese then stir to combine.
Add the drained pasta plus a splash of pasta cooking water (start with 2-3 Tablespoons) into the skillet then cook while stirring until the pasta is cooked through and the sauce clings to the pasta, 4-5 minutes. Add more pasta cooking water as needed to cook the pasta through and create a light sauce. Add pepper and a little salt then let the dish sit and the sauce thicken for 5 minutes before serving. The pasta will continue to absorb the sauce as it cools.