Easy Ham Salad Recipe

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This ham salad recipe is a simple way to turn leftover ham into an easy meal you can use in a few different ways. It’s creamy, flavorful, and comes together quickly with just a handful of ingredients.

It’s perfect for making ham salad sandwiches, serving as a ham salad spread with crackers, or adding to your lunch meal prep for the week. If you are looking for easy lunch ideas, a cold dinner, or a leftover ham recipe that doesn’t take much effort, this is a great one to keep on hand.

A Quick Look At The Recipe

Recipe Name: Ham Salad
Cook Time: About 15 minutes
Servings: 12
Main Ingredients: Cooked ham, celery, onion, Miracle Whip
Dietary Info: Gluten-free, family-friendly, budget-friendly
Difficulty Level: Easy

Why You’ll Love This Ham Salad Recipe

Quick and Easy To Make: This ham salad recipe comes together in minutes with just a few simple steps, making it perfect for busy days.
Great Way To Use Leftover Ham: If you have extra ham on hand, this easy leftover ham recipe turns it into something completely different.
Perfect For Easy Lunches: This ham salad spread is great for sandwiches, crackers, or wraps, making it a good option for easy lunch ideas or summer lunch ideas.
Simple Ingredients: You only need a handful of basic ingredients to make this creamy, flavorful salad.
Great For Meal Prep: This recipe stores well in the fridge, making it a good choice for lunch meal prep throughout the week.

Ingredients

4 cups ground fully cooked ham
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
2 tablespoons sweet pickle relish
1/2 small red onion, finely chopped
1 cup Miracle Whip or mayonnaise
1 tablespoon yellow mustard

How To Make Ham Salad

Diced ham, celery, and red onion in a food processor bowl.

The ham, onion, and celery mixture after mincing in a food processor.

Start by adding the cooked ham, coarsely chopped celery, and red onion into your food processor. Pulse a few times until the ham is finely ground, and everything is well combined. This usually takes about 20 pulses.

The chopped ham mixture was transferred to a mixing bowl.

Then transfer to a medium-sized bowl.

The relish and mustard were added to the Miracle Whip.

In a small bowl, stir together the Miracle Whip (or mayonnaise), sweet pickle relish, and mustard until smooth.

The homemade dressing was added to the chopped ham salad.

The ham and dressing were mixed together.

Pour the dressing over the ham mixture and stir until everything is well combined and evenly coated.

You can serve the ham salad right away, or cover and refrigerate it until you’re ready to use it.

Ham salad in a serving bowl with a spoon.

Recipe Notes & Tips

Use fully cooked ham – This recipe needs precoked ham. It’s a great way to use up extra ham from holiday meals.
Pulse, don’t over-process – Pulse the mixture just until finely ground. Over-processing can make the texture too smooth, like puree, rather than slightly chunky.
Chop finely if not using a food processor – If you don’t have a food processor, you can easily make this recipe by hand. Just finely chop the ham, celery, and onion by hand.
Adjust the creaminess – Add a little more or less Miracle Whip or mayonnaise if you want it creamier or drier.
Customize the flavor – You can adjust the relish or mustard to suit your taste or add a little extra for more tang.

Serve With:

Enjoy ham salad on sliders, bread, buns, or wraps.
Serve with a cup of your favorite soup.
Add veggie sticks or chips on the side.

More Easy Recipes:

FAQ’s

Yes, you can finely chop the ham, celery, and onion by hand. It takes a bit more time, but it works just as well.

You need to use fully cooked ham for this recipe. You can use a precooked smoked ham or leftover baked ham.

Yes, you can use mayonnaise if you prefer. The flavor will be less sweet, so you may want to adjust the relish or add a little sugar.

Store it in an airtight container in the fridge for about 3 to 5 days.

I don’t recommend it, the texture of the dressing can change after freezing and thawing. But you could keep diced ham in your freezer to thaw quickly when you want to make ham salad.

Yes, for a chunkier ham salad, pulse it less or chop by hand. For a smoother, more deviled ham salad texture, process it a bit longer.

Ham Salad

This ham salad is a simple, creamy spread made with cooked ham, celery, red onion, and a flavorful dressing. It’s easy to make and perfect for sandwiches, crackers, or a quick lunch idea using leftover ham.

Prep Time 15

Total Time 15

Serving Size servings

Ingredients

4 cups ground fully cooked ham
1 stalk celery finely chopped
2 tablespoons sweet pickle relish
1/2 small red onion finely chopped
1 cup Miracle Whip
1 tablespoon yellow mustard

Instructions

Add the coarsely chopped ham, celery, and onion into your food processor bowl and pulse until the ham is finely ground, about 20 pulses. Then transfer to a medium-sized mixing bowl.
In a small bowl, stir together the Miracle Whip, relish, and mustard. Then stir it into the ham mixture until it’s well combined.
Serve immediately or refrigerate until needed.

Nutrition

These values are from a nutritional database and automatically calculated, and should only be used as an approximation.

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Kim

Kim Mills is a homeschooling mom of 6 and lives on an urban homestead in Ontario, Canada. Blogging at Homestead Acres she enjoys sharing tips to help you save money, grow and preserve your own food.

Ham Salad

A Quick Look At The Recipe

Why You’ll Love This Ham Salad Recipe

Ingredients

How To Make Ham Salad

Recipe Notes & Tips

Serve With:

More Easy Recipes:

FAQ’s