Ham Salad Appetizers or Sandwiches, You Choose

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I am posting this recipe for ham salad today because you are going to need it soon!  I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  As many of you bake up a big o’ turkey for Thanksgiving and then have a bit of ham on the side for those who don’t want turkey, the question arises, what do you do with that leftover ham?  Ham Salad of course!

ham salad recipe

I always buy Kentucky Legend Ham.  They should be sponsoring this post, but sadly they are not.  None-the-less I had a pound of ham leftover from cooking up this outstanding soup of Ham, Potato, and Corn Chowder.

Just about that same time I was tasked with making about 100 savory mini-puffs and 100 sweet mini-puffs for a morning brunch at our church. I got to thinking that “something ham-ish” would make a good morning puff!

Ham Salad Mini-Puffs
Ham Salad Mini-Puffs

My sous-chef dish-washing mom reminded me that she has made ham salad many times, but not for some years.  We batted around a few ingredients like ham, boiled eggs, and mayonnaise but I decided I wanted to get a “tried and true” recipe.

ham Salad recipe ipad
My iPad is a kitchen staple!

After a bit of research, I discovered a ham recipe by A Family Feast and adapted it to my liking.  This is what Martha and Jack had to say about their ham salad.  “But most versions of this classic salad use bread and butter pickles in the mix, giving the salad a distinctively sweeter flavor. We changed things up a bit and used a combination of dill pickles and sweet pepper relish in our ham salad – so you still get a little bit of sweet in the salad from the relish, but you also get a wonderful savory flavor from the dill pickles – and it’s a great complement to the salty ham!”

I got excited because I have a couple dozen jars of homemade dill pickles on my pantry shelf.  The fact the recipe only takes 1/3 cup didn’t really help all that much! πŸ™‚  However, boy oh boy the dill pickles crank up the taste in this recipe.  The original recipe called for one hard-boiled egg into the mix.  I left it out of this recipe, but it is an option.

Ham Salad Mini-Puffs
Ham Salad Mini-Puffs

After filling 100+ mini-puffs, I still had enough ham salad for lunch sandwiches.  Unbeknownst to me, my Chief lunch eater doesn’t care for ham salad.   Apparently, in 24+ years of marriage, that little nugget of information never crossed between us.

Ham in Food Processor

That is when my lovely, wonderful, kind, and might I say “adventurous” husband says “no problem, bring it on! I will give it a try.”

Ham Salad Sandwich
Ham Salad Sandwich

I tell you all of this so you will understand my delight and surprise when a few weeks later he asked, “will you make ham salad again?  I really liked it!”  Hurray!  He likes my ham salad and so will you!

Blessings,
~Catherine

 

Ham Salad

Ham Salad Appetizers or Sandwiches, You Choose

Yield: 4 to 6 servings
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes

There are many variations of ham salad, but this one leaves the ham front and center with splashes of flavor all around.

Ingredients

  • 1 lb. cooked chopped ham
  • 1/2 cup dill pickles
  • 2 Tablespoons sweet pepper relish
  • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • 2 Tablespoons minced celery
  • 2 Tablespoons minced sweet onion or 1 Tablespoon dried onion
  • 1/3 to 1/2 cup mayonnaise to taste

Instructions

  1. In the bowl of a food processor, place ham and pulse off and on for about 8 to 10 times. This will produce a medium chop but not too fine. Do not pulse the ham into a paste.
  2. Add all other ingredients, except mayonnaise. Pulse several times to chop up the pickles and blend all ingredients.
  3. Add mayonnaise and pulse several more times to mix thoroughly.
  4. Serve on sandwich rolls, fresh sliced bread, or use as a filling for appetizers.

Notes

I chose not to include a hard-boiled egg, but many recipes do use it.

Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 173Total Fat: 11gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 46mgSodium: 1071mgCarbohydrates: 5gFiber: 1gSugar: 1gProtein: 13g

Nutrition may vary depending on your exact ingredients.


 

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5 thoughts on “Ham Salad Appetizers or Sandwiches, You Choose”

  1. This sounds so good! My 37 yo daughter has never had turkey in her mouth, I gave her some chicken and noodles baby food and she spit it out at me and the rest is history! She doesn’t eat ham either πŸ™

    Reply

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