Best Old Fashioned Ham Salad Recipe

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This is the best Old Fashioned Ham Salad recipe for a sandwich, to spread onto crackers, or to serve on top of greens. It’s a great way to use up leftover ham, but it’s so dang yummy, you will start buying more deli ham just to make this each week!

This Old fashioned ham salad is a recipe that I grew up with in the midwest, so it’s both delicious and nostalgic. It’s reminiscent of a deli-style salad and has a savory, slightly salty taste with a hint of sweetness from pickle relish. The ham provides a meaty flavor while the cream cheese and mayonnaise dressing adds creaminess and richness. Mustard, paprika, scallions, and celery give more layers of flavor and texture.

My grandma used to serve it as a ham spread with Ritz crackers as part of a Sunday afternoon snack table. My Mom’s favorite way to serve it was between white sandwich bread slices or hamburger buns. Anyway you serve it, it’s a comforting and yummy recipe.

Jump to:

• Why Make this Old Fashioned Ham Salad
• Simple Ingredients and Substitutes
• Equipment
• Easy Steps to Make this Ham Salad
• Variations on this Old-Fashioned Ham Salad recipe
• Storing your Ham Salad
• Old Fashioned Ham Salad FAQs
• More Make-Ahead Salads!
• What to Serve with this Ham Salad
• Best Old Fashioned Ham Salad Recipe
• Comments

Why Make this Old Fashioned Ham Salad

I mean, what’s not to love here!? Okay, I get it, if you didn’t grow up with ham salad, you may be lifting an eyebrow in skepticism. But if you like egg salad, then you are definitely going to love ham salad. Here are my top 3 reasons why.

1. Convenient. You can buy all of the ingredients prepared and ready to cut at your grocery store.  All you need to do is mince, measure, and mix. No cooking steps required! So, this is an easy recipe that’s simple to make and keeps nicely stored in the refrigerator for dipping into throughout the week.
2. Versatile. Ham salad can be served so many different ways. You can layer it into a wrap, have it as a sandwich, fill cucumber cups or celery sticks with it, or enjoy it on a green salad. It’s easy to store in the fridge and easy to pack up to take on-the-go.
3. Uses up Leftovers. How many times have you bought deli ham and then have so much leftover? Or you buy a ham steak or ham roast and just don’t know what to do with the leftovers? Well, first, you can freeze the leftover ham and thaw and reheat later. Or you can use it in ham salad and serve as an appetizer or snack!

Simple Ingredients and Substitutes

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• Deli Ham or Boneless cooked ham – This is a great recipe to use when you have leftover holiday ham or just leftovers from dinner. I used deli ham slices which work great too. While ham is the main ingredient, you can use other deli meats, such as turkey.  It may not provide the salty deliciousness you get from ham though when combined with the dressing.
• Celery – I like to use the stalk and the leaves. You can leave the celery out if you desire. You can also substitute with green pepper.
• Scallions (green onion) – The scallions, also called green onions or spring onions, in this recipe provide the onion flavor, but you could also use grated or diced yellow onion or red onion.  You can also use onion powder or onion flakes.
• Sweet pickle relish – Relish is a preserved, chunky, vinegary condiment made out of finely chopped pickled but sometimes also includes fruits, and/or vegetables. 
• Cream Cheese – The cream cheese adds great tang and creaminess to the ham salad and keeps it nice and thick.
• Mayonnaise – Mayonnaise brings creamy tang, but you can replace it with any combination of sour cream, greek yogurt, heavy cream, or mascarpone. You can also use miracle whip, which has a sweeter flavor, just be sure to taste before adding too much sweet relish so that the salad is not too sweet.
• Yellow mustard – Mustard adds some tang, flavor, and dimension. You can substitute Dijon mustard or whole grain mustard.
• Paprika – You can use smoked paprika or sweet paprika.
• Salt and black pepper – Since ham is salty, you will want to taste before adding salt. I first taste the mayonnaise dressing and add salt if needed. Then again when the salad is mixed, I will add more if needed.
• Soft rolls, Bread, or Crackers for serving – My favorite way to enjoy this is on mini brioche buns or Hawaiian rolls. Any bread for sandwiches is great, including gluten-free bread or your favorite crackers. Or how about adding it to a large lettuce leaf! Top it on cucumber slices or celery boats too.

See recipe card for quantities.

Equipment

In the classic recipe, all of the ingredients are finely chopped, almost minced. So, the best way – the easy way – to do this is to use a food processor, such as this mini food processor.

However, you can certainly do it the ‘old fashioned’ way and manually finely chop with a cutting board and knife. A grater can be helpful for the celery and if you have large chunks of ham. But deli ham and scallion would be a bit tricky to grate, so just finely mince with a knife.

Easy Steps to Make this Ham Salad

If you share a big ham with family but need a great way to use up leftover ham, this is it. You might start buying more deli ham just to make this each week!

Rough chop the celery and the scallions and add to the food processor. (if you are using pickles instead of pre-chopped relish, add those too)

Now, add the minced ham and mix everything until combined. Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed. Serve on a sandwich on crackers or on a salad of greens. Enjoy!

Variations on this Old-Fashioned Ham Salad recipe

Have fun whipping up a batch today and see for yourself why it’s a favorite in so many households and don’t hold back from trying one of many variations.

• Eggs– Hard-boiled eggs, chopped up and added to the ham would add some flavor and texture.
• Pasta – add your final concoction into cooked and cooled pasta in the shape of your choice.
• Healthy greens – add some spinach into the food processor to give it a bit of vitamin while it takes on the flavor of the creamy salad dressing.
• Crunch – to add a bit of crunch to the salad, consider adding chopped red onion or some nuts.

Storing your Ham Salad

Store the ham salad in an airtight container in the refrigerator apart from the bread until ready to serve.

Old Fashioned Ham Salad FAQs

More Make-Ahead Salads!

One of the best things about this Old Fashioned Ham Salad is that it keeps well in the refrigerator, so you can enjoy it throughout the week. Here are some more prep-ahead salads to try:

What to Serve with this Ham Salad

Whether you’re craving a classic deli-style sandwich, or need a tasty spread for crackers, this ham salad has you covered and you can confidently pair one of these favorite dishes with it.

Have you tried this recipe? If so, please leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ star rating in the recipe below! I love to hear your feedback and your rating helps others to find this recipe. Thanks so much!