Good old fashioned Country Ham Salad Sandwich Recipe. I can’t imagine a better way to use leftover ham than to make ham salad spread. A beautiful balance of salty ham, sweet pickle relish, enhanced with creamy mayo and crunchy onion and celery.
Looking for recipes to use leftover ham? This ham salad sandwich recipe is a classic comfort food lunch or dinner idea. And it’s much easier than you think. But before we get to the recipe, let’s visit the inspiration.
The Memories Behind this Classic Ham Salad Sandwich Recipe
Growing up on a farm in Kansas, Spring, Summer and Fall found our family immersed in planting fields, nurturing the growing crops and then harvesting the wheat, alfalfa, milo, and sometimes even acres and acres of cheerful heads of giant sunflowers.
Starting in November, these activities pretty much came to a stop and it was a slower time for my for my father until around April. Sometimes he had livestock to keep him busy in during the Winter months, and sometimes not.
Winter always meant the beginning of the card game circuit. About eight couples would gather weekly, rotating houses, for an evening of cards.
The game was Pitch. Teams would be placed at tables and the winners of each game would advance to the winner’s table for the evening championship match.
At our place my dad would set up the card tables all equipped with a deck of cards and a little note pad and pencil for keeping scores. My mom would get out the big electric percolator and the house would soon smell of fresh coffee.
She’d spend the afternoon preparing desserts; cakes and pies normally. There was always a large bowl of potato chips with sour cream and onion dip. It was party time.
The party sandwiches were always classic ham salad and always served on white sandwich bread. Mom would get out the old metal meat grinder that screwed onto the kitchen counter and grind chunks of ham and then mix in ingredients to make the sandwiches.
As a kid, I thought those ham salad sandwiches were about the best things on earth. The soft white bread and the devilish flavor of that ham salad.
Whenever I make ham salad nowadays, even though I don’t brew coffee, I can hear the lively raucous competition of those card games and smell that coffee.
How to Make Ham Salad
Here’s how to make quick work of chopping ham fine enough to make a great sandwich.
No need for those old fashioned meat grinders to get those chunks of ham into a manageable size.
A food processor will work wonders to chop that ham and blend with with your ingredients.
Your food processor is a great tool to grind meat. I use it often to chop chicken breasts for recipes like this Hatch Green Chile Chicken Burger.
Just use the pulse function to grind the meat to desired consistency.
In a large mixing bowl gather your ingredients.
Mayonnaise chopped celery and onion and pickle relish.
Add the chopped ham and mix = easy. Then build those sandwiches. And don’t forget to top it with a little classic cornichon.
Country Ham Salad Sandwich Recipe
I hope you give this ham salad sandwich recipe a try and if you do, please come back and give the recipe a star rating. And leave a comment about your experience with the recipe.
And if you have a favorite ham salad spread recipe, let me know, I’d love to give it a try.
Recipes for using left over ham
- Home Fried Potatoes with Ham
- Ham Avocado and Egg Breakfast
- Ham Hash with Mustard Cream Sauce
- Toasted Ham and Manchego Sandwich
Good old fashioned Country Ham Salad Sandwich Recipe. I can’t imagine a better way to use left over ham than to make ham salad spread. A beautiful balance of salty ham, sweet pickle relish, enhanced with creamy mayo and crunchy onion and celery.
- 1 1/2 cups ham chopped
- 1/4 cup sweet pickle relish
- 2/3 cup celery diced
- 1/4 cup onion finely diced
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon cider vinegar
Use a food processor to chop the ham. Just a few pulses will do.
Add all other ingredients and mix well.
Makes about 2 cups. Enough for 4 sandwiches.
Suzanne says
March 13, 2019 at 4:46 pmThis is exactly the way my Mom made Ham Salad – it is just the best! And she had the same meat grinder….Thanks for bringing back this memory and now I have a plan for Easter and the week after!
Lea Ann Brown says
March 21, 2019 at 10:41 amI still have that same grinder. I threaten to haul it out sometime and use it, but seems the food processor wins out.
Abbe@This is How I Cook says
March 13, 2019 at 8:41 pmSo I have to tell you I didn’t grow up on ham. Manservant loves it and I buy it for him. I’ve never made it! I know he would love these sandwiches!
Lea Ann Brown says
March 21, 2019 at 10:41 amYou should make it for him. So easy – so delish.
Jean | Delightful Repast says
March 14, 2019 at 8:30 amLea Ann, love this recipe AND the story behind it! I need to make a stack of these and have some people over for cards – and maybe start a trend!
Lea Ann Brown says
March 21, 2019 at 10:43 amSeveral years ago we moved to a community that’s very active. Cards, dominoes, game nights. Which is the inspiration for resurecting this recipe.
Karen (Back Road Journal) says
March 18, 2019 at 11:38 amYour ham salad sandwich brought back memories of home to me as well. If we had a ham on Sundays, I always knew that I would have a ham salad sandwich in my lunch bag on Mondays. The only difference was that my mother made hers with dill pickles otherwise, exactly the same. 🙂
John / Kitchen Riffs says
March 20, 2019 at 8:47 amI haven’t had ham salad in ages! I was thinking about it a few months ago, and never got around to making some. Now I can’t wait to make a batch! Your recipe looks wonderful. Nice food styling on the photos, too. Thanks!
Lea Ann Brown says
March 21, 2019 at 10:43 amThanks for that compliment John.