Easiest-Ever Ham Salad

How To Make Homemade Ham Salad

Making the best ham salad recipe is a cinch!
Here are the basics for how to make ham salad. Check the recipe for the exact amounts of each ingredient, so it tastes amazing.

Start with whatever cooked or smoked ham you have on-hand or pick up at the grocery store. It’s a great way to use up that ham lurking in your fridge after Easter, Christmas, or Thanksgiving. (And you can high-five yourself for finding an irresistible recipe your family will love that doesn’t let the ham go to waste! You can also use deli ham, prechopped ham or even turkey ham, the salad will be delicious.

Throw a few other ingredients into the bowl: sliced green onions, dill pickle relish, mayonnaise and mustard, and the salad is done. You can enjoy it right away or make it ahead of time. The homemade ham salad ingredient flavors will blend as they hang out together, making the salad even more delicious.

What To Serve with Ham Salad

There are so many ways to enjoy our old-fashioned ham salad recipe!
Make a Tasty Sandwich: Bake up a batch of Grands! ™ Refrigerated Biscuits, split them in half and fill with this delicious salad, for amazing ham salad sandwiches. Or spread the ham filling between two slices of your favorite sandwich bread, split croissants, or ciabatta rolls, or serve it hoagie style in brat buns or long sections of French bread, cut lengthwise.

Soup and Sandwich Combos: For heartier appetites or cold days, serve ham salad sandwiches with Cheesy Slow-Cooker Soup or Slow-Cooker Butternut Squash Soup.

Sandwich and Salad Buddies: You can make a simple side salad or an even heartier main dish salad to go with a ham salad sandwich. Pick one that sounds good to you here.

Easy Apps: If you’re looking to have a casual appetizer gathering with friends while playing games or watching the game, pair this salad as a ham salad spread with your favorite dippers with Easy Stuffed Mushrooms and Chicken Taco-Stuffed Crescent Rolls. This trio makes a nice combo of flavors and textures, without spending the day in the kitchen!

The Best Ham Salad Ingredients

Ham Choices: This is a great way to use up leftover cooked or smoked ham after the big Easter, Christmas, or Thanksgiving holiday meal, but that’s not your only option! Use a cooked or smoked ham slice from the grocery store, deli ham or even prechopped ham. Or you can even use turkey ham! This recipe works perfectly with whatever ham you have on hand or pick up at the store.

Green is Good: They say we eat with our eyes first—so we add sliced green onions for terrific color as well as a mild oniony flavor. We love it when an ingredient does double-duty!

Pickle Perfection: What really gives this yummy salad some amazing flavor, is the addition of dill pickle relish or chopped dill pickles. We love using pickle relish if we have it on hand, as there is no chopping required!

Mayonnaise: Whether you are in the mayonnaise-loving camp or the salad dressing fan camp, either will work in this recipe, offering a slightly different flavor.

Mustard: Dijon mustard adds just the right piquancy to this salad, being good buddies with dill pickles and green onions, for outstanding flavor.

How To Store Ham Salad

Ham salad can be made in advance and stored in the refrigerator to get a jump on quick meals, however, be sure to not leave ham salad out of the refrigerator no longer than 2 hours, for it to be safe to eat later.
If you are serving it at a picnic or potluck, place a bowl of ice under the salad to keep it cool…but still get it back in a cold cooler or the refrigerator within 2 hours. If it’s going to sit out longer than that, it’s better to throw any leftovers out than to take the risk of getting a food borne illness.

Spoon ham salad into food storage containers with tight-fitting lids. Refrigerate salad for up to 4 or 5 days.

It is not recommended to freeze the salad, as it will become watery.