Low carb ham and vegetable savoury crumble recipe (2024)

ByEmmaFebruary 16, 2022February 15, 2022

I’m a big fan of leftovers. Really we all should be. Whether it’s for lunch the next day, or turning leftovers into something else for dinner, it means you get more meals for the same money or just a little more. Better value and no waste. My latest leftover meal was turning my leftover ham joint into a keto meal; a low carb ham and vegetable crumble.

If we don’t have enough leftovers to feed all of us, I tend to make something just for me, while I make N and the OH. With the joint of ham, we’d eaten it for 2 nights with jacket potatoes and salad, then they’d had it in ham sandwiches too.

I’d usually make chicken and ham pie with those leftovers, but obviously I can’t have pastry, so decided I’d try a savoury crumble instead.

Keto crumble topping is usually almond flour based, and I did exactly this. Making a crumble ‘biscuit’ to scatter on top of my filling.

What I love about pies or crumbles if that you can just add any veg you want. I had a rootle through the fridge to find various veg, diced it, and softened it in a pan.

Then added chicken stock and cream (I had no creme fraiche which I’d have used instead).

To make the crumble it just needed to mix the almond flour, softened butter and grated cheese with a little water to make the ‘dough’.

I topped it with the crumble bits and baked until the crumble was puffed up a bit and starting to brown on top.

This ham and veg crumble was so delicious and really filling. You can easily increase and decrease the amount. I made a smaller amount as it was just for me.

How to thicken the sauce the low carb way

To thicken the sauce, you can sprinkle over a small amount of xanthan gum and stir in (keep it away from dogs, as it’s poisonous to them). If you don’t have, or don’t want to use xanthan gum, you can puree some cooked cauliflower and use that instead.

If you want to make this but aren’t following a low carb diet, you can add whatever root veg you want, and thicken the sauce if needed with a little cornflour mixed with water.

Ingredients for low carb ham and veg savoury crumble

Serves 4

• 400g cooked ham, chopped or shredded from a joint
• 2 shallots, peeled and sliced
• ½ leek , chopped
• 1 carrot, chopped
• ½ celeriac , chopped
• ¼ white cabbage chopped
• 1 courgette, halved lengthways and cut into chunky half moon slices
• 15g butter
• 400ml hot chicken or vegetable stock
• 200ml double cream
• 1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
• ¼ tsp Xanthan gum

Crumble topping

• 100g almond flour
• 50g grated cheese
• 2 tbsp butter, melted
• Water as needed
• Pinch of salt (if not using salted butter)

Instructions to make savoury ham and veg crumble

1. Preheat oven to 180C. Heat butter (or keto friendly oil like olive or avocado oil) in a frying pan on a medium heat.

2. Add the veg (except the leeks and cabbage) to the pan and saute gently, stirring occasionally for 2-3 minutes. Then add a lid or cover with foil and cook until softened (about 8 minutes).

3. Add the ham and stir round. Add the cabbage and leek, then stir in the stock, cream and mustard and bring up to lightly bubbling and starting to thicken.

4. If the sauce needs thickening more, sprinkle over a little xanthan gum. Start small as you might not need it all. Seaon with pepper.

5. Transfer to an ovenproof dish, and add the crumble mix on top. If you want more crumble coverage just double up the crumble toppng volume.

6. Bake for around 20 minutes until the crumble topping is lightly browned (do keep an eye on it though as almond flour can catch fast).

7. Serve ladled in a bowl on its own, or along with extra leafy green veg.