Ham Salad
Published
Published
This Ham Salad recipe is great as a sandwich or spread for crackers as an easy appetizer. It’s so simple to make, incredibly delicious, and a great use of any leftover holiday ham. If you love egg salad and chicken salad, you’ll love ham salad, too!
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5 STAR REVIEW
Ham salad is a popular recipe in the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic regions that resembles chicken salad and tuna salad. The main ingredient is (cold) ham and is mixed with chopped up vegetables and relish, then combined with a mayonnaise dressing. The ham is either ground up or diced, then used as a spread for crackers or used on bread for a ham salad sandwich.
The first time I ever had it was in college. The second (third, fourth, fifth – you get it – times) were all while I lived in Minnesota years ago. It almost always made an appearance at baby showers and luncheons, served on crackers or slider rolls with a little lettuce. And I would unashamedly eat my weight in it!
Helpful Tips & Variations
- Leftover ham or ham steak. One of my very favorite reasons for serving a ham on Christmas and Easter is for the leftovers so I can make ham balls and this deviled ham recipe. The other 363 days of the year, I just buy a pre-packaged thick ham steak, which also gets the job done!
- Bologna or Spam. I never use anything other than ham, but I’ve heard that many people use ground up bologna or Spam instead.
- Mince the ham. Ham salad is traditionally made in a meat grinder, but I don’t have one of those, so I just use my food processor. I like the texture somewhere in-between paste-like and chunky, but you can make it smooth as pâté, if you prefer.
- Pickle relish. While anything dill has my heart, I think sweet relish is the way to go here, which gives great balance to the salty ham. But you can certainly use dill pickle relish, if preferred.
- Hard boiled eggs. My recipe calls for 1-2 hard boiled eggs (thus the name Deviled Ham Salad), which adds another layer of flavor, but they can easily be omitted without the recipe suffering. I highly recommend you leave them in, though!
Ham Salad
Ingredients
- 1 & 1/2 pounds boneless cooked ham, (leftover or purchased thick slab, trimmed of fat, and diced – about 5 cups)
- 1-2 hard boiled eggs, , sliced or rough chopped
- 1 stalk celery, , diced
- 2 tablespoons diced onion
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 3/4 cup mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon mustard
- 1 tablespoon sweet pickle relish , (drained and blotted with a paper towel to remove moisture)
- assorted crackers and soft rolls, , for serving
Instructions
- Put 5 cups diced ham, 1 to 2 chopped hard boiled eggs, 1 stalk diced celery, 2 tablespoons diced onion, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper into the bowl of a food processor.
- Pulse (short, quick pulses) 20-25 times, scraping down the sides as necessary, to finely mince.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine 3/4 cup mayonnaise, 1 tablespoon mustard, and 1 tablespoon sweet pickle relish.
- Add the minced ham mixture to the bowl with the mayo mixture and stir until thoroughly combined and sort of like a paste.
- Cover and chill for several hours for optimal flavor.
- Serve as sandwiches on small soft brioche rolls and/or as a spread on crackers for an appetizer.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information given is an automatic calculation and can vary based on the exact products you use and any changes you make to the recipe. If these numbers are very important to you, I would recommend calculating them yourself.
Did you make this? Leave a rating below!
Serving Suggestions
Ham salad is typically chilled and served either on crackers or as a ham salad sandwich. Once everything is blended, you should end up with about 3-4 cups of the ground mixture, which will make about 10 sandwiches or enough appetizer spread for a decent sized crowd. Since it contains mayonnaise, it should not be left out of the fridge any longer than 2 hours.
Proper Storage
Leftovers should be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. I wouldn’t recommend freezing ham salad, the mayonnaise tends to separate leaving a less than desirable texture and taste once it’s thawed.
More Recipes Using Leftover Ham
- Hash Brown Egg Casserole
- Baked Denver Omelet
- Hot Ham and Cheese Sliders
- Crockpot Ham and Bean Soup
- Old Fashioned Ham Balls
- Split Pea Soup
I hope you love this delicious and easy recipe – be sure to give it a review below! Also don’t forget to follow Belly Full on TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube!
I made this ham salad recipe. It is easy and delicious. My Grand Father used to make ham salad after Christmas and I was wanting to make it. This recipe is just as good as his was when I was a kid. Thank you
I’m so glad to find this recipe! My mother used to made deviled ham French rolls. She started with the rolls, scooped out a bit of the bread to make a cavity, then added the deviled ham to each. She wrapped them in foil and heated them in the oven for a few minutes. It was a favorite for us as children! I remember she brought these to a picnic once, wrapping each warm sandwich well with newspaper. They were still warm when we ate them! Who knew newspaper was such a great insulator?!!
Thank you for sharing an old-time favorite :)
This recipe is so yummy. Definitely reminds me of my grandmas and moms. Delicious! Thanks for sharing.
This was a very delicious recipe. I would make it again.
This was delicious!
My mother always love “deviled ham” out of a little can. She love it and always tried to get me to eat it …. I didn’t even like the way it smelled so why would I put it in my mouth. This recipe sounds absolutely delicious and I’m going out to buy some ham so I can make some for myself. It actually sounds Delicious. Thank you.
Used some leftover Christmas ham to make this. Well, color me happy. LOL. This was such a surprise – loved it!!
Hi Amy just made your Best Ham Salad recipe, I could not find my mother-in-law recipe I was looking for something very similar and I cam across this, and we love it. I did add some horseradish for a little bite delicious. Thank you for this recipe, I will be holding onto this one,
I had extra ham on hand and remembered we used to make deviled ham spread for sandwiches but couldn’t quite recall the exact recipe. I made mine following your recipe as written. Yummy. Satisfied my craving!
I’d never heard of ham salad before but was intrigued. Made this with leftover Christmas ham and served it on crackers for a snack. We loved it!
Delicious!
I mad this recipe and it turned out light and fluffy due to adding the egg, celery and onion in with the ham in the cuisinart. I also added a few dashes of worstershire sauce and hot sauce. Delicious!
Love this recipe. I’d never made it with eggs before, but tried it and now this is how I’ll make it from now on. So good!
I absolutely love it. In Ohio where I grew up we had a store that sold chipped ham which was actually spam. I bet their ham salad was actually spam.
Growing up, our deviled ham salad was made with bologna. We never knew what it was like to use real ham. But we thought it was good.
My Grandma made ham salad and bologna salad with an old fashioned grinder that I was privileged enough to crank. Good times!