Ham Salad Recipe – A Great Recipe For Leftover Ham

If you have leftover ham from your holiday dinner and are looking for a simple, yet delicious recipe to use the meat, you will love this ham salad recipe. It is a fantastic recipe that transitions cooked ham into something unique and delicious.

This creamy spread is made by mixing finely diced ham with hard boiled eggs, relish, mayonnaise, onion, celery and mustard. This salad that can be served on its own as a low carb main dish or more commonly it is served as a sandwich filling.

However don’t just think of this recipe as a meal. You can also serve it with crackers for a delicious and easy to eat appetizer dip at your next gathering.

Leftover Ham

Of course the star of this recipe is the leftover ham. However depending on how you cooked the ham, each time you make this ham salad it may take on a slightly different taste.

For example, if you cooked a honey baked ham for your holiday dinner, there may be a slightly sweeter taste to the spread. Although if you cooked it with a bourbon glaze or made a Holiday Ham with an orange marmalade glaze the taste may be slightly different.

However they are all delicious in their own way. With the addition of the other ingredients you will hardly notice the slight difference in taste.

Regardless of the type of ham that you use the important key to making this recipe is to prepare the ham so that it is easy to spread. In order to achieve the correct consistency the ham will need to be finely diced or ground into small pieces.

If you have ever purchased ham salad at the grocery store you will notice that there are no large chunks of meat visible. This is because they use a meat grinder to achieve the fine consistency.

However you don’t have to own a meat grinder to make this recipe. Instead, you can finely dice the meat with a sharp knife.

Food Processor

Or to make this recipe even easier (and quicker) you can use a food processor to do the work for you. Because I like a variety of textures in my salad I use my food processor to grind half the ham down into fine pieces.

Then I chop the other half of the ham with a knife. Once I mix the two together, it is the consistency that I prefer.

However, feel free to grind the entire amount if you prefer. And by all means, if you have a meat grinder you can certainly use that as well.

The Other Ingredients

1. Sweet Pickle Relish

Relish is a standard ingredient in most sandwich spread recipes. From egg salad, chicken salad and this ham salad recipe it is what brings the tang to the dish.

However feel free to switch the type of relish that you use based on your taste preference. Sweet pickle relish will add a little sweetness to the salad.

However if you prefer you could substitute dill pickle relish, hot pickle relish or our most popular relish recipe, Grandma’s Zucchini Relish.

2. Mayonnaise

The creaminess in this recipe comes from the mayonnaise. I use a 3/4 cup of mayo, but if you like your spread to be super creamy you can certainly decide to add more after you mix the ingredients.

And for those who can’t eat mayo or prefer to make this salad a little healthier, you can substitute unsweetened Greek Yogurt for the mayo.

This will still allow the salad to have a creamy texture, with less fat and calories.

3. Prepared Yellow Mustard

Another staple ingredient is this recipe is prepared yellow mustard. Although you will use just a small amount, it provides another layer of flavor and tang to the spread.

However if you want a more intense flavor you can use Dijon mustard or Stone Ground mustard instead. The choice is up to you!

4. Hard Boiled Eggs

Although not a traditional ingredient in store bought ham salad, the addition of chopped hard boiled eggs adds a nice texture to the salad. However you can choose to omit them if you prefer.

5. Celery

Celery provides a little earthy flavor and a little crunch to the ham salad. Just be sure to finely dice the celery so that it isn’t so prominent in the spread.

6. Onion

Finely diced yellow or white onion as a subtle flavor and a little crunch as well. Although don’t use a red onion as it would be too strong and overpower the flavor of the other ingredients.

Now that you have all the ingredients, it is simple to actually make the salad. Simply combine the ingredients and stir!

The salad can be enjoyed immediately, but it is best to let it chill in the refrigerator for a couple of hours before consuming. This will allow time for the flavors to meld together.

How To Store Ham Salad

Store in an air tight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. However it is important to remember that the leftover ham should be eaten within 5 days of when it was first prepared.

Therefore if you made this recipe 4 days after the holiday, then it should be eaten within 24 hours. Luckily, you can also freeze the salad for later enjoyment.

Place the ingredients in an air tight container and store it in the freezer for up to 3 months. When you go to serve it let it thaw in the refrigerator and give it a stir as some of the ingredients my have separated.

Ham Salad Spread Recipe

*Complete recipe instructions including specific measurements, cook temperatures and times are located in a printable recipe card at the bottom of this article. However, be sure to keep reading for helpful tips and tricks when making this recipe.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/2 cups ground cooked ham
• 1 1/2 cups finely diced cooked ham
• 4 teaspoons sweet pickle relish
• 3/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon prepared yellow mustard
• 2 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped celery
• 2 teaspoons finely chopped onion

INSTRUCTIONS

In a medium bowl add ham, eggs, celery, pickle relish, and onion and stir until combined. In a small bowl add mayonnaise and mustard and mix together until combined.

Pour over ham mixture and stir to coat. It is best to allow the ham salad to chill in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours before serving.

More Leftover Ham Recipes

After you make this ham salad recipe, if you find yourself still with a lot of extra leftover ham, here are some other recipes that you might enjoy.

• Instant Pot Ham and Bean Soup
• Crock Pot Ham and Bean Soup
• Cheesy Potato and Ham Soup
• Split Pea & Ham Soup
• Monte Cristo Sandwich
• Ham and Potato Casserole
• Ham & Rice Casserole
• Teriyaki Ham Stir Fry

For more leftover ham recipes and instructions on the best way to freeze ham be sure to check out this article: The Best Leftover Ham Recipes & How To Freeze Ham for Later Use.

Enjoy!

Mary and Jim

Jim and Mary Competti have been writing gardening, DIY and recipe articles and books for over 15 years from their 46 acre Ohio farm. The two are frequent speakers on all things gardening and love to travel in their spare time.

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