Ham Salad – The perfect way to use up leftover holiday ham. Made with just a handful of ingredients and a 10-minute prep time. Serve it on toast, crackers or on sandwiches for a hearty and fuss-free lunch, snack or party appetizer!
This ham salad is pretty much the easiest dish you can prepare for your guests or family after the holiday buzz. It’s super quick, easy and uses just a handful of ingredients. What more is that you can use those leftover ham to free up some space in your fridge.
I especially love making this for brunch or lunch the next morning after Christmas or New Year’s eve . I mean who would want to bother preparing a dish from scratch when you have leftover food stock up in your fridge. And besides, post holiday cooking is no fun at all. Preparing, cooking and entertaining all at the same time definitely sucks all the energy left in you.
And here comes this mighty handy dandy ham salad to the rescue.
How do you make ham salad?
This ham salad lets you prepare it with ease. You can either use a food processor, small food chopper or by hand to work on those leftover ham.
To start off, you have to chop the leftover ham in small pieces, then mix it in a bowl with the chopped hard-boiled eggs, onions, green onions and celery. In a smaller bowl, mix the tasty dressing made of mayonnaise, mustard, Creole seasoning for a hint of heat and lemon juice for a little pop of zest. You can store the mayonnaise mixture in the fridge at this point if you want to make ahead the dressing or proceed with the next steps.
Combine then both mixture and stir until well-coated. You can adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper.
Can you freeze ham salad?
Okay, I know this ham salad here can be a little addictive that at some point you’d decide to make a big batch of it and freeze for later use. But I don’t highly recommend doing so.
I did froze a batch before for three days and was so disappointed on how it turned out after I thaw it. The vegetables got soggy and the mayonnaise mixture broke and didn’t hold well. It was a watery mess!
What you could do though is freeze the ham slices and use it in portion whenever you’re making fresh ham salad. Anyways, you don’t have to worry ’cause you can prepare this ham salad here in 10 minutes or so.
Ways to Serve Ham Salad
Well, just like this crab salad and chicken salad sandwich here (which is also great for leftover chicken or turkey), you can pretty much save this ham salad in various ways. Serving it on a bed of lettuce would be great if you want less trouble or if you’re presenting it on a do-it-yourself sandwich station.
For a party or as an appetizer, you can serve it on crackers or toasts as you’ve seen in the photos. It’s a great bite-sized party food that feeds a crowd well. And lastly, you can serve ham salad as a spread on sandwiches for a quick lunch, tailgate or picnic food. So impressive!
For a deeper medley of flavors, allow it to sit in the fridge for an hour or so prior to serving. You can also throw in some sweet pickle relish for another layer of flavor or some chopped almonds for added texture. This ham salad definitely is a great addition to your list of quick and easy food!
Enjoy!
Tips and Notes:
- You can omit hard-boiled eggs in this recipe or add more than one to stretch this recipe.
- If you don’t have creole seasoning at home, cayenne pepper would do to give off that much needed kiss of heat.
- Add sweet pickle relish for a taste of sweetness in this recipe OR dill relish or chopped dill pickles if you want it less sweet.
- You can make this dish several days prior to serving. Just store it in the fridge 3 days in advance and bring to room temperature prior to serving, if desired.
Ham Salad
Ingredients
- 1 pound ham, chopped
- 1-2 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
- ¼ cup onion, minced
- 1 green onion, minced
- ⅓ -½ cup mayonnaise
- 1/2 cup celery, minced
- ½-1 teaspoon Creole Cajun seasoning
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- ½ lemon, juiced
- Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Instructions
- Using a sharp knife cut leftover ham in to small pieces.
- Then add to a large bowl, mix with hard-boiled eggs, onions, green onion, and celery.
- Mix the mayonnaise, mustard, Creole seasoning, and lemon juice in a smaller bowl. Let it chill until ready to use.
- Next, add the mayonnaise mixture to the bowl of egg and ham mixture, and mix until everything has been thoroughly combined—season with salt and pepper.
- Serve on toast or crackers.
Tips & Notes:
- You can omit hard-boiled eggs in this recipe or add more than one to stretch this recipe.
- If you don’t have Creole seasoning, cayenne pepper will give it a kiss of heat.
- Add sweet pickle relish for a taste of sweetness in this recipe OR dill relish or chopped dill pickles if you want it less sweet.
- You can make this dish a day or two before to serving. Just store it in the fridge and bring to room temperature prior to serving if desired.
- Please keep in mind that the nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary significantly based on the products used in the recipe.
Nutrition Information:
How to Make Ham Salad
Using a sharp knife cut leftover ham in to small pieces. Then add to a large bowl, mix together with hard boiled eggs, onions , green onions and celery.
In a smaller bowl, mix together the mayonnaise, mustard and lemon juice. Let it chill until ready to use.
Mix well and add creole seasoning.
Next add the mayonnaise mixture to the bowl of egg and ham mixture.
Mix until the ham mixture and mayonnaise mixture have been thoroughly combined. Season with salt and pepper. Serve on toast or with crackers
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