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Around the Easter holiday, many families prepare ham as the main course for their holiday meal – and that often results in leftovers! Ham Salad is a classic way to enjoy a second meal using some of that leftover ham.
Our Ham Salad recipe is slightly different than most ham salad recipes we’ve seen. Yes – it has all of the traditional ingredients – cooked ham, pickles, relish, mustard, a hard-boiled egg (another great way to use up leftovers!), celery, onion and mayonnaise.
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!
We are also of the opinion that a good ham salad should taste like ham – and not be so loaded down with mayonnaise or other ingredients that you can’t taste the meat. We think our ham salad strikes the perfect balance of flavors – but of course, if you prefer feel free to adjust the quantities of the ingredients to suit your own tastes!
P.S. Check back tomorrow because we’re sharing another delicious recipe using leftover holiday ham!
We love seeing what you made! Tag us on Instagram at @afamilyfeast or hashtag #afamilyfeast so we can see your creations!
Ham Salad
Ingredients
- 12 ounces cooked ham (about 2 cups chopped)
- 1/3 cup dill pickles
- 2 tablespoons sweet pepper relish
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 hard-boiled egg, minced fine (see How to Cook Perfect Hard-Boiled Eggs)
- 2 tablespoons minced celery
- 2 tablespoons minced sweet onion, such as Vidalia
- 1/3 cup mayonnaise
- Slider rolls for serving, optional
Instructions
- In the bowl of a food processor, place ham and pulse about 10 times to produce a fine chop but not too fine (about the size of a grain of rice).
- Place the chopped ham into a medium bowl.
- Slice the dill pickles into slices if they are not already sliced and pat dry with paper towels. Place on cutting board and dice finely, then add them to the bowl with the ham.
- Add all other ingredients and mix.
- Serve on slider rolls as we show in our photograph or any other way you’d like.
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How to Cook Perfect Hard-Boiled Eggs
I’ve been keeping a list of ham left over recipes for this year! I always have leftover ham and we normally just eating it as is but I’m totally making this next week!
I’ve never actually had a ham salad before (probably because “leftover ham” is something of an oxymoron in my family), but it sounds like a delicious way to use up those Easter leftovers. You had me at dill pickles! 🙂
Thanks Isabelle!
Great idea to change up the pickles in this salad! I’ll bet the dills add the perfect amount of brininess and “zing” to the ham.
The sweet pickles takes a humble ham salad to epic proportions. Nice.
Thanks Renee!
I also agree that a ham salad should taste like ham! Your ham salad is a great dish for me to bring to Easter brunch this year…everyone will love it! (that roasted ham looks amazing, btw!)
Thanks Lora!
Love the pickle combo and what a great way to use up leftover Easter ham!
I’m a huge dill pickle fan, so I love that you mixed it up with this salad! Great way to use up leftovers!
Thanks Lauren!
I have actually never tried ham salad! It looks intriguing and I will be using Easter’s leftovers to craft one of those good looking sandwiches!
sounds like a delicious ham salad
Ham Salad is one of the things I look forward to most this time of year – such a classic. Yours looks amazing!
Thanks Heather!