Ham salad is a deli favorite that’s easy to make at home! It’s perfect for school or work lunches and it’s a great way to use up leftover ham.
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Pin RecipeIf you love creamy deli salads like potato salad and macaroni salad, then you’ll love this ham salad recipe too! Never had it before? Well, ham salad is a dish made from chopped ham, mayonnaise, and various other ingredients—everyone seems to have their own favorite mix-ins and I share mine below!
Yep, this versatile dish is one of those glorious recipes that can be customized to suit your tastes—or the tastes of the picky eaters in your family! Some common additions include pickles, onions, celery, mustard, and dill. You can also add shredded cheese, chopped hard-boiled eggs, or crumbled bacon if you want to double-up on the pork.
Best Ham Salad Recipe
Ham salad can be eaten as-is, but it’s often served as a sandwich filling too. Watching your carbs? Skip the bread and serve it with lettuce cups instead! You could also stuff it into a pita or roll it up in a tortilla. The world is your oyster, friends.
The best thing about ham salad is that it all starts with leftover ham. (And you know when you make a big ham for the holidays, there are always leftovers!) It’s the perfect way to reuse extra food and make it into something brand new!
Ingredients
See recipe card below this post for ingredient quantities and full instructions.
- Cooked ham – I use leftover holiday ham from my Crock Pot Ham or Baked Ham with Maple Dijon Glaze.
- Celery
- Onion – White, yellow, or red are all fine; for a milder flavor, use a sweet onion like Walla Walla or Vidalia.
- Hard boiled egg – Here’s how to make a hard boiled egg!
- Sweet pickle relish
- Dijon mustard
- Mayonnaise
- Lemon juice – No lemon? You can use apple cider vinegar or white vinegar instead.
- Kosher salt & black pepper
Variations
- Swap the sweet relish for diced pickles—sweet pickles or garlicky dill pickles, whichever you prefer!
- Not a fan of celery? If you want a crunchy element but not the flavor of celery, you can use water cashews instead.
- If raw onion isn’t your jam, substitute milder green onions or chives.
How to Make Ham Salad
- Chop the Solid Ingredients: Add the ham, celery, onion, and egg to a food processor and pulse 15 to 20 times, or until everything is a fine mince.
- Finish: Transfer the ham mixture to a large mixing bowl and stir in the relish, mustard, lemon juice, and mayonnaise. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Quick Tip
Don’t turn on your food processor and walk away! Pulsing gives you more control so you can stop when all the ingredients are chopped, but haven’t turned into a paste. Stop once in a while to scrape down the sides of the food processor bowl, too.
How to Store Leftover Ham Salad
Leftover ham salad can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Serving Suggestions
You can serve ham salad with crackers, put it on a croissant or bread to make a sandwich, scoop it into lettuce cups, or just grab a spoon and dig in! Any way you like to eat tuna salad or chicken salad will work for ham salad, too.
FAQs
No, freezing ham salad isn’t a good idea. While it’s safe to freeze ham salad with mayonnaise, the mayo will separate and affect the quality of the dish.
Prepared ham salad is good for up to 3 days in the fridge. After that, it starts to lose its flavor and texture.
No, ham salad is not made from bologna. Ham salad is made from cooked ham. Bologna slices won’t have the same taste or texture in this salad.
Yes, you can make ham salad with spiral sliced ham. However, the texture of the dish will be different because the ham will be in thin slices.
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Ham Salad
Ingredients
- 1 pound cooked ham diced
- 1 stalk celery diced
- ½ medium onion diced
- 1 hard boiled egg
- 1 tablespoon sweet relish
- 1 tablespoon Dijon
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- Kosher salt & black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Add the ham, celery, onion, and egg to a food processor and pulse 15-20 times or until everything is a fine mince but not a paste, scraping the bowl frequently to make sure nothing is stuck to the walls.
- Remove from the food processor and into a large mixing bowl. Add the relish, mustard, lemon juice, and mayonnaise and stir with a spatula to combine. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve with crackers.
