The Best Ham Salad
The best ham salad recipe only requires leftover ham, mayonnaise, celery, onion and perfectly combined seasonings! My most requested recipe!
A TRIED AND TRUE HAM SALAD RECIPE
I’ve been making this salad for over 25 years. You just can’t top perfection. I actually tweaked this recipe based off a recipe I got from my very first Betty Crocker Cookbook. If you love my Potato Salad, then you’ll know that those old Betty Crocker recipes can’t be beat! I’ve only adjusted them slightly over the years to adjust to my taste and because I’m picky about my salad recipes! This recipe for ham salad all be the one you come back to over and over again!
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
This recipe is perfect for leftover holiday ham. For this recipe, I used a small boneless cooked ham. Thick ham steaks would also work well.
No. You could certainly cut this up by hand. It will take a bit of work though because you want it finely minced. You could also do this in a blender. Just mince a little at a time.
Give this ham salad a taste test before serving. I didn’t add any additional salt to mine because my ham was salty enough so additional salt would have been too much. Adjust to your taste.
Serve on rolls, biscuits, as Ham Salad Pinwheels, in a sandwich or as a spread for crackers!
Leftovers should be stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container. It will last up to 4 or 5 days. I don’t recommend freezing ham salad. Sometimes the mayonnaise separates when it defrosts.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED: (SEE RECIPE CARD BELOW FOR THE FULL RECIPE)
- boneless cooked ham – this recipe is perfect for leftover ham or you can purchase a small smoked ham.
- hard boiled egg – this adds more flavor than you realize and you don’t taste it as a separate ingredient but if you really hate eggs, just leave it out.
- celery and onion – adding layers of flavor here, use what you like and if you don’t like it then leave it out but I promise you, these ingredients are worth it.
- sweet pickle relish – relish is always controversial, I don’t know why but if you hate relish than leave it out – some folks like Dill Pickle Relish. Or even try making your own Homemade Sweet Pickle Relish.
- mayonnaise – I am a mayonnaise purist. It has to be Hellman’s or Duke’s (or JFG) for me. I do not like Miracle Whip at all but if it’s your thing – then go for it.
- mustard – some might think this is weird to add to ham salad but it adds a lovely bit of background flavor that you don’t taste as a separate ingredient.
HOW TO MAKE THE BEST HAM SALAD:
Put the ham, egg, celery and onion into a blender or food processor (season with a bit of salt and black pepper). Pulse (short, quick pulses) 20-25 times to mince.
Combine remaining ingredients into a separate bowl (sweet pickle relish, mayonnaise, mustard.)
Then stir it into minced ham mixture. Cover and chill. I like to chill ham salad for several hours. It definitely gets better as it chills for a while.
Serve on rolls, in a sandwich or with crackers!
CRAVING MORE DELICIOUS RECIPES?
Originally published: January 2014
Updated photos and republished: March 2021
The Best Ham Salad (+Video)
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds boneless cooked ham, diced (leftover or purchased thick slab, trimmed of fat)
- 1 hard-boiled egg
- 1 stalk celery, roughly chopped
- 2 teaspoons finely chopped onion
- ¾ cup mayonnaise
- 2 teaspoons sweet pickle relish (optional)
- 1 Tablespoon prepared mustard
- salt and pepper (to taste)
- assorted crackers and/or soft rolls (for serving)
Instructions
- Put 1 1/2 pounds boneless cooked ham, diced, 1 hard-boiled egg, 1 stalk celery, roughly chopped and 2 teaspoons finely chopped onion into a blender or food processor (season with a bit of fresh black pepper)
- Pulse (short, quick pulses) 20-25 times to mince. Scrape down the sides of the food processor to make sure it all gets combined evenly.
- Combine 3/4 cup mayonnaise, 2 teaspoons sweet pickle relish, 1 Tablespoon prepared mustard, and salt and pepper (to taste) into a separate large bowl.
- Then stir in minced ham mixture.
- Cover and chill. I prefer to chill it for several hours. It definitely gets better as it chills for a while.
- Serve with assorted crackers and/or soft rolls.
Video
Notes
- This ham salad is perfect for that leftover holiday ham. I set about making my own version of a ham salad that combines all of my favorite flavors. I used a small boneless cooked ham.
- Ham steaks also work for this recipe
- You should end up with 3 cups ground ham after it is blended in the food processor or blender.
- Give this ham salad a taste test before serving. I didn’t add any additional salt to mine because my ham was salty enough so additional salt would have been too much. Adjust to your taste.
- Serve on rolls, biscuits or as a spread for crackers!
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
“The Country Cook” is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and other nutritional values can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
Updated to add: The original post had a giveaway. That giveaway has now ended.
Never tried B4, Every question answered & explained. don’t have celery, using little celery salt. we don’t usually have ham.. Best help ever.Thank you
Super easy and super delicious. Great for dipping veggies, on crackers, pretzels and as a sandwich.
Yummy! It was delicious!!
Had a bunch of women over for a project and made this as one of the dishes. I made it the day before and I really think that is best as the flavors all melded together better than the first day. Will def make again and I have now sent this recipe to all who attended. (As well as the website to get more of your sure to be yummy recipes). Thanks
I still have one! It’s been passed on to me from my Great Grandma and it’s attached to a table that I have. I also can still get the bologna in those rings at my local butchers so it’s still a thing. My butcher said he still has all kinds of folks that still prefer to grind their own meat 🙂
DELICIOUS!!!
Really great! I think I’m going to add some toasted pecans
Made this with our leftover Cheristmas ham – don’t tell my mom but this was WAY better than hers. LOL
My husband said this is the best ham salad he’s ever had. He chopped up the ham because we don’t have a food processor and it turned out great.
I love ham salad and always keep some (store bought) in the fridge for a easy snack…it doesn’t last long because it’s quick to fix
I tried this recipe to see if it would work because the store bought can be expensive to keep on hand…..
It’s WONDERFUL!!! Better yet is that’s it cheaper to make and I know what’s going into it
My husband liked this so much that he personally made a second batch! I love it too. Reminds me of my grandma over 60 years ago who made this on Sunday lunch with leftover holiday ham. She made this and then served on white bread with crusts cut off and hard butter spread on the bread. I LOVE IT THAT WAY! Puts a smile on my face.
I just made this using ham leftover from Christmas Dinner. Even freshly made it is excellent! It’s in the refrigerator now, and I can hardly wait to try it again after it has chilled a few hours. Thanks so much! ❤️
Made this with the leftover ham from Thanksgiving. Excellent recipe
My grandmother made a variation of this throughout my formative years and making this recipe again brought me back “home” and all the wonderful food she made for her grandchildren every day as we were brought up in the same ancient farmhouse that had been in my paternal father’s family for over a hundred years.
I’m probably the only person without a food processor,,lol..BUT I have a meat grinder,can I grind it up twice with the small holes in the grinder?? will that work?? I really want to make this great recipe tnx
It’s funny you say that because I developed this recipe using a food processor because most people don’t have a meat grinder. LOL. Yes, that will work. Grind it up as fine or as chunky as you like. I always feel that is personal preference 🙂
I made it and it was so good! Thank you for the recipe!!
Loved this
excellent thank you!!!@
Delicious!
Thanks so much Penny!
I want to make this but need clarification on how many this serves. it says serves 10. Does that mean it will make 10 Normal size sandwiches? or 10 half sandwiches?
Honestly, it’s just a guess on my part. It makes about a 1/4 cup per person, but again, I’m just guessing here. I do my best to estimate but I’m just a human over here ha!
Just make & don’t be chinsy on amount per serving. Rule of thumb is to have plenty extra. Use it up as a leftover.
I love all your receipes. and that ham salad is to die for thank you again
Jackie W.
Thanks SO very much Jackie – I really appreciate it!!
yummy!!!! this was so good and easy to make!
I’ve been making this for years! With the exception of the celery. My husband LOVES this stuff and can eat a lot with butter crackers. I’m lucky to get a sandwich or two. Thanks for posting.
The beauty of these old-fashioned recipes is how easy it is to customize them to your tastes. All of the elements of a great ham salad recipe are here, the way most of us remember it. I doubled the onion, celery and relish because that’s the way mom used to make it, but it is simply damned delicious as written.
It’s been years since I’ve had this, and I’m so glad this resource was here to guide me back to warm summer memories and this perfect concoction!
While normally I make a recipe as written first I didn’t this one as I’m not fond of celery or onions. We usually smoke a ham on the smoker even if it’s already been smoked used the left overs to make ham salad omg good.
I have made this for a year now. I would change NOTHING in your recipe. Two things I would suggest though is:
1. My Ninja is a 40 oz ( I think) and 1.5 pouns is a bit too much for it. So, I keep it at about 1 cup when chopping the ham. If I only make one batch then I just cut the mayo to 1/2 cup and leave everything else the same. If I am doing more, then I can double/triple everything.
2. Don’t wait till Easter or whatever. You can make this throughout the summer or winter and you DO NOT NEED a whole ham. At our Wally World they sell, Ham steaks, and packages of Diced Ham, Spiral cut ends, and what is essentially ham slices from a canned ham? Anyway, my favorite is the Spiral End cuts as there is way more fat….and that is what I have loved my whole life. I am not a Health Freak, so I go by taste…nothing more. Anyway, the point being, that you can enjoy this year round.
Thanks so much Kenneth! Certainly appreciate the great feedback!
Just made it again. Used a one pound pkg of Diced Ham…and it is ideal size.
Quick, easy and taste great. It’s a very versatile recipe. I used di relish instead of sweet relish and left out the egg. It was exactly the taste I was looking for
Dill relish. I couldn’t figure out how to edit my review
I just made this for lunch and it was delicious! I cut the recipe down to 1/3 using a half pound of cubed ham. I still added a whole egg. I ALWAYS use eggs in tuna salad but never have in ham salad before and it is a great addition. I followed everything else in the recipe pretty much as written. As I started to mix the mayo with the ham it looked like not enough mayo but the ratio turned out to be just right. Thanks for posting such a tasty recipe.
Great to hear Jimmy! Thanks SO much for taking the time to come back & leave a comment!
So I’m used to ham salad being made with bologna. Would this work instead of the ham? Same amount?
Yep you sure can & yes the same amounts 🙂
Thank you so much for this recipe! I LOVE ham salad, but I needed an easy recipe to make it. This one is perfect!
If I use a ham steak would I cook it first?
Most ham steaks have already been smoked and are fully cooked so you wouldn’t need to cook it. Look at the packaging on your ham steak. If it says hardwood or hickory smoked then it’s already cooked.
Delicious recipe. Made appetizers for bridal shower….. We call them ham puffs (choux pastry). I used a half ham which yielded 18 cups of ground ham, and x6 the recipe for 60 guests. These are awesome. Thanks for the delicious ham salad recipe.
Could you use the small canned flaked ham
Can’t wait to try this recipe. I love ham salad so I thought I’d google it. So happy I found a recipe for it. Thanks so much
I have had trouble making a ham salad. I saw your recipe and thought that it has all the things in it that we like. Made it for Hubby and he ‘loved’ it.
Why is a recipe for ham salad so hard to find in a cook book? Glad I thought to Google it. Thank you for your recipe!
This looks delicious and I can’t wait to try it!
I’m wondering, would the same thing work for bologna, to make a bologna salad spread? We used to buy that at a local grocery store and I’ve never found it anyplace else, but it was great.
Yes! Absolutely! Works great with bologna!
Hi Adia! I was going to ask the same question, but I figured that an even swap would work. My mom used to make some excellent bologna salad and I know that a lot of meat markets/butchers sell it where I live in N.W. Ohio, but it’s a crap shoot at the quality, or the “like mom’s” factor. So you may want to ask your local butcher if they have it or make it too, but homemade is ALWAYS the best.
Thanks Brandie! I will be saving this one since it looks like what my mom used to make, aside from the mayo. She used Miracle Whip or salad dressing in hers which is literally the only way I will eat that crap. I am a REAL mayo girl from the North and loving Duke’s since it’s made its way up here, finally! No more overpriced jars online for me!
Yum…thanks for the food processor trick! I just used sweet pickle relish and Miracle whip…Just like I remembered!
Made it exactly as listed. Even used my food processor on it.
Didn’t change a thing. It was SO yummy! I think that it would also be very good served on a brioche bun. But, I used crackers
Your Ham Salad recipe is excellent!
We left out the egg.
Makes really tasty sandwich when it is grilled on rye bread!
Very good. Added extra onion and served on a bed of lettuce with sliced tomato.
Wow! When preparing for us to make tuna salad, my husband mistook cans of Hormel cooked ham for cans of tuna (same size cans). After he opened the cans, we realized the mistake. Oh, well, we decided to make ham salad. Never had made ham salad before. Amazing! Will definitely make this again. Thank you for posting.
I don’t eat meat but family does. I made this for my elderly father-in-law so he could eat ham even though he has no teeth. He liked it a lot!
The ham salad recipe from country cook is absolutely to die for! Love it and so easy! Thank you
Thanks so much Ann Marie!!
I halved the recipe. I did have to add just enough additional mayo to hold the ham mixture together. No salt needed. We made ham salad sandwiches on hard rolls, which were delicious!
I like to go to my favorite deli, buy some of their best ham, shaved & take home and run a knife through. Super easy!
Great!
I just made some for lunch today from leftover ham. I am enjoying it on buttery crackers. Best I have ever made!
Best ham salad I ever made!
Yay!!! Thank you so much Kathy!
How many sandwiches does the ham salad recipe serve
Excellent
Thanks so much Dale!
Truly best EVER!! Thank you!