Croque Monsieur Pasta Bake

Name: Croque Monsieur Pasta Bake
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 1 h 20 min
Total time: 1 h 30 min
Cuisine: French-American
Ingredients: 1 lb pasta, cooked according to package directions; 2 tablespoons olive oil; 1/2 lb ham, diced; 5 ounces gruyere cheese, shredded; 1/4 cup dijon mustard; 16 ounces ricotta; 1 egg; 1/3 cup unsalted butter; 1/3 cup flour; 3 cups whole milk; 2 teaspoons salt; 1/2 teaspoon white pepper; 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder; few pinches nutmeg

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The Croque Monsieur Pasta Bake consists of a rich white sauce coating chunks of ham and pasta spiked with dollops of dijon-laced ricotta and finished with brown and bubbly gruyere cheese.

A scoop of pasta bake on a plate with broccoli and a fork.

One of the greatest classic sandwiches, THE Croque Monsieur, is so French. It's perfectly balanced and palatable, with salty ham, zingy dijon, luscious bechamel, and nutty gruyere tucked in and broiled over buttery griddled bread. This is serious grilled cheese sandwich action! For this themed pasta bake I swap bread for pasta to make a quick-to-assemble weeknight comfort meal.

This delicious croque monsieur casserole with béchamel sauce is perfect for a quick, hassle-free weeknight dinner. Not only is it a great way to use leftover ham, but it's also easy to prepare and gives you an hour of hands-off cook time. This recipe lets you quickly whip up a tasty meal, leaving plenty of time to tackle other tasks before dinner. So why not give it a try and enjoy a delicious, stress-free meal that frees you up to relax and enjoy your evening?

Read on for all the loving details on how to make this creamy Croque Monsieur Pasta Bake.

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Featured Ingredients
Tools for the job
How to make Croque Monsieur Pasta Bake
Hot Tip!
Substitutions and variations
Leftovers
FAQ's
More recipes
Croque Monsieur Pasta Bake
💬 Comments

Featured Ingredients

Read below about a few of the ingredients used to make Croque Monsieur bake.

All the ingredients needed to make croque monsieur pasta bake.

Pasta - You can choose the style of pasta you want to use, but it works best with bite-sized pieces rather than long noodles like spaghetti or fettuccine. Some great pasta types to try are Radiatori, which I use for this post, shells, spiral pasta, or tube pasta like penne or ziti. These work best because the shape holds the sauce!

Cheese - The Croque Monsieur sandwich is made with Gruyere, which is a hard Swiss cheese, but it does not have a pungent fruity flavor like the standard "holey" Swiss cheeses found in the cheese aisle at the grocery store. Guyere is creamy, nutty, and slightly sweet. It may or may not have holes. A less expensive option works better because it is probably not aged as long, staying creamier when it melts rather than getting oily and separating. If you need to, you can substitute Emmental, Comte, or Raclette, to name a few.

Butter - Be sure to use unsalted butter to control the saltiness of the entire baked Croque Monsieur casserole.

Nutmeg - This may seem odd to some folks, but it's a classic seasoning for bechamel sauce and the traditional Croque Monsieur sandwich. You don't have to use it, but I recommend sprinkling a tiny pinch on a spoonful of bechamel sauce to see if you'd like to include it in the final dish.

See recipe card for quantities.

Tools for the job

6-quart pot (for boiling pasta)
3+ quart pot (for the bechamel sauce)
Small pot (to warm milk)
3-4 quart casserole dish
cutting board and sharp knife
measuring spoons and cups
medium-sized bowl
cheese grater

Croque monsieur pasta bake sliced into a dish with a side of broccoli.

How to make Croque Monsieur Pasta Bake

Preparation steps

Start by boiling water in the large pot and adding the pasta when it comes to a rolling boil. Follow the cooking instructions on the package for al dente pasta. After draining the water, while the pasta is still in the colander, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and stir to coat. This will keep it from sticking until you're ready to finish the dish.
While the pasta water is heating up, pour the milk into a small pot on the stove over medium-low heat, but do not simmer or boil. The milk must be warm when you add it to the butter/flour mixture, or the béchamel sauce could get lumpy or grainy. If you start seeing the tiniest bubbles, turn off the heat, but leave the pot on the stove to stay warm until needed.
Add the ricotta, dijon, and egg to a medium-sized bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside for now.
Dice the ham into bite-sized pieces and shred the cheese.

Time to start cooking

Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. When it has fully melted, add the flour and stir to combine. Then, stir in the salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
After 2-3 minutes of cooking the butter and flour, slowly add the warmed milk, whisking to combine. Turn the heat up to medium-high, stirring frequently until the béchamel sauce thickens. Turn off the heat. Reserve 1 cup of the sauce and set aside.
Add the pasta to the pot of béchamel sauce and stir to coat it completely. Now it's time to layer the ingredients in the casserole dish:
Add half the saucy pasta to the casserole dish, then half of the ham chunks, followed by half the ricotta mixture. (Spoon dollops of the ricotta throughout the pasta and ham and gently spread with the back of the spoon.) Repeat all the layers once more.
Top the pasta bake with the reserved (1 cup) of béchamel sauce and then with the shredded gruyere cheese. Finish by sprinkling a few pinches of nutmeg over the entire casserole.
Bake in the 350°F oven, covered with foil, for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for 30 more minutes, then broil for 2-3 minutes or until the top is brown and bubbly. Keep a sharp eye to make sure it doesn't burn.

The top of the pasta bake before baking.

The top of the pasta bake after cooking so the cheese is brown and bubbly.

Hot Tip!

Coat the foil with cooking spray to keep the cheese from pulling away from the casserole when the foil is removed.

Substitutions and variations

Pasta - You can substitute another similar sized pasta shape in this dish.
Make it vegetarian - Instead of ham, use fresh diced tomatoes, or diced and roasted zucchini or yellow squash.
Gluten-Free - Swap out the pasta and flour for gluten-free versions. I prefer Bob's Red Mill 1-to-1 gluten-free flour.

A fork stabbing into a slice of pasta bake alongside steamed broccoli.

Leftovers

To make this dish ahead of time, assemble the entire thing and cover it with foil. Refrigerate for up to 1 day before baking.
You can cook the pasta ahead of time(stirring in oil) and refrigerate it for up to 2 days before assembling the dish.
Freeze the pasta bake after it has been cooked by cooling it completely, then tightly wrap it in foil and plastic wrap. (Even better to refrigerate it first.) This will keep in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Reheat a refrigerated pasta bake in the oven by covering the dish with foil and baking at 375°F for 45-60 minutes.
Reheat a frozen pasta bake by defrosting one day in advance in the refrigerator. I have read you can bake it directly from the freezer, but this does not seem like a safe option to me. Adding a frozen glass dish to a hot oven can cause the dish to crack or break.

FAQ's

What's the difference between Croque Madame and Croque Monsieur?

The main difference here is the Croque Madame sandwich is served with a fried egg on top. And as a lover of all things "egg," I see no reason why you can't add a fried egg to this pasta casserole, making it just a bit richer and more delicious, if that is even possible.

What can I use instead of ricotta cheese?

Cottage cheese is a great replacement for ricotta. Blend it up first to break apart the curds and combine the excess liquid.