This easy Ham Salad recipe is perfect for leftover ham! It’s creamy and tangy, with crunchy vegetables, fresh herbs, salty ham, and sweet pickle relish. Learn how to make ham salad in a few simple steps.
This meaty Ham Salad recipe is similar in style to other creamy salad favorites like Curry Chicken Salad, Egg Salad, and Tuna Salad. It’s a classic, retro dish that’s popular in the Upper Midwest where I grew up; I remember my aunt Mary serving it at gatherings, and I always loved it! With this recipe, I took the super simple comfort of the old fashioned ham salad and kicked it up a notch with some modern flavor twists. It’s my #1 leftover ham recipe!
Why We ❤️ This Ham Salad Recipe
Whenever we have leftover ham, you can bet that we’re making this ham salad. It comes together in minutes, which always wins. Here are a few more reasons why we love it:
- So flavorful. Ham by itself is loaded with savory flavor, and I take the typical ham salad up a notch by adding fresh herbs, veggies, and pickle relish. There’s also a little Dijon mustard and a touch of cayenne pepper in the mix. It really is the tastiest, BEST ham salad recipe out there!
- Lightly creamy, with actual bites of ham. Ham salad is meant to be creamy, but I’ve ran across many that are just plain gloppy – with way too much mayo and ham that is processed until it’s soft and mushy. My goal with this recipe was a lightly creamy texture that didn’t outweigh the other flavors and textures – and ham that was chopped small, but still with a noticeable bite!
- Versatile. Enjoy this creamy salad atop crunchy greens, scoop it up with crackers or veggie sticks, or turn it into a hearty sandwich. You have a lot of options with this recipe!
- Great use of leftovers. I’ll admit it – sometimes I make a ham just because I’m craving ham salad. We always have leftover ham when we make it for Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas meals – so this recipe is an easy way to revitalize leftovers and give the ham fresh, new life.
“Oh, my. My husband went nuts for this ham salad! I think we’ll have to bake up another ham soon just for the leftovers!!”
Liz
What You’ll Need
Here is a list of ingredients, what you’ll need to make this recipe. Scroll down to the printable recipe card at the end of this post for the exact ingredient amounts.
- Ham – You’ll need cooked ham. I recommend a good quality smoked ham, so there’s lots of flavor.
- Mayonnaise – I use a good quality mayonnaise like Hellmann’s or Kewpie.
- Pickle relish – I like to use sweet pickle relish, but dill pickle relish would also work. It’s really about personal preference.
- Dijon mustard – For a little sweet-spicy balance to the salad.
- Minced vegetables – These include green onion, yellow onion, red bell pepper, and celery. These add fresh flavor, crunch, and color!
- Fresh herbs – Parsley, chives, and dill make this ham salad extra special. But I won’t be offended if you don’t want to include them!
- Cayenne pepper – I love the bit of kick that cayenne gives. If you’re not a fan of heat, try just a pinch to start and adjust as needed.
- Salt & pepper – Simple seasonings finish off the salad perfectly.
What If I Don’t Have Leftover Ham?
While this salad is one of my back-pocket recipes for using up leftover ham, you can certainly still make it if you don’t have leftover ham. Just purchase a smaller ham or a thick ham steak to use for salad. Or, at the deli counter ask for ham, sliced ¾-inch thick, then chop it roughly at home and add it to the food processor.
How To Make Ham Salad
Here’s a look at how to make ham salad in a few easy steps. Find the detailed instructions in the recipe card lower down.
- Chop the ham. Place cubed ham in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until it’s finely chopped.
- Mix, then chill. In a bowl, mix the chopped ham with the rest of the ingredients. Cover and refrigerate for 2-3 hours – I definitely think it’s better chilled.
- Serve. Serve any way that you like; I offer many suggestions below!
Tips & Variations
One of the beauties of this ham salad recipe is that it’s so easy to make. Here are a few simple tips to help you make it perfectly, plus some other ingredient suggestions:
- Don’t over-process the ham. I aim for the ham to be chopped – but absolutely not mushy! Watch the food processor carefully as you pulse, to ensure the ham doesn’t get over-processed.
- Do I have to use a food processor? Absolutely not. You can chop the ham by hand, until it’s finely chopped.
- Drain the pickle relish. Make sure to drain the relish so it doesn’t water down the finished salad.
- Try different types of ham. My family loves a good ham with noticeably smoky flavor. But you can use different varieties of ham to make a sweeter or mellower salad, depending on how the ham was prepared.
- Add vegetables. Fresh minced vegetables already beautifully enhance this ham salad recipe. Increase the quantities if you like. Or add other crunchy vegetables, such as carrots – just mince them up, all the vegetables the same size.
- Hard-boiled eggs. Add one to two finely chopped hard-boiled eggs to the salad for more protein and flavor. Learn how to make the BEST Easy Peel Hard Boiled Eggs in this post!
- Swap yogurt. If you don’t care for mayonnaise, use plain Greek yogurt in its place.
- Add lemon juice. Squeeze in a bit of fresh lemon to the salad. It adds a lovely bright flavor. I especially recommend this if you’re using yogurt instead of mayo.
- Fold in cheese. Grab some shredded Swiss or cheddar and fold that into the mix.
- Use pickle slices or spears. While sweet pickle relish is on the ingredients list, you could make a batch of my Bread & Butter Pickles, chop them up, and add them to the salad. For a more mouth-puckering pickle flavor, chop up some refrigerator Dill Pickles!
Ways To Serve Ham Salad
Ham salad is a wonderfully versatile dish that can be served on its own, as a sandwich, or in a more classic salad. Here are a few easy ways to serve this cold salad:
- With other salads. A scoop of ham salad is lovely on top of fresh greens or alongside a more robust salad. Try it with my recipes for Roasted Beet Salad, Arugula Beet Salad, or Winter Apple Salad. It would also be great alongside my simple Cucumber Salad!
- As a sandwich. As you can tell from the photos, one of my favorite ways to serve this salad is on a buttery croissant (I like to toast the croissant first!). Ham salad is also delicious on soft, fresh rolls, such as Rhodes Rolls or on Biscuits. If you prefer a bread with more structure, that’s excellent when toasted, give my easy homemade English Muffin Bread recipe a go!
- Make pinwheel sandwiches. Similar to my Italian Pinwheels, use ham salad instead. Just spread the prepared salad over the tortillas in a thin layer, roll up, and slice!
- On crackers. For a simple appetizer or snack, serve ham salad with crackers – we like to use buttery Ritz crackers or Club crackers, but use whatever you like.
- With fresh veggies. Offer fresh cut veggies like carrot sticks, celery sticks, and thick cucumber wheels for scooping. You can also make a “fancy” appetizer, like the photo above, with ham salad spooned onto cucumber wheels – this is lovely for baby and bridal showers!
- Make it into a pasta salad. Try a version of my mom’s Macaroni Salad with Ham & Cheese, using ham salad instead: just stir prepared ham salad into cooked macaroni or rotini pasta.
- Add fruit. A simple side of sliced seasonal fruit including apples and pear is wonderful with a hearty serving of this salad. Or, make my juicy mojito fruit salad.
Proper Storage
Place the salad in an airtight container and store it in the fridge for up to 3 days. I don’t recommend freezing the salad because it will lose its lovely creamy-crunchy texture. But you CAN freeze leftover ham in a freezer-safe container or baggie for up to 3 months, and then make ham salad whenever you want! Thaw the ham completely in the fridge overnight before making the salad.
More Salad Recipes To Try
Ham Salad
Ingredients
- 1 pound chopped cooked ham (I recommend a good smoked ham!)
- ½ cup good quality mayonnaise
- ½ cup sweet pickle relish, drained from the jar with a slotted spoon
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 green onion, minced
- 2 tablespoon minced yellow onion
- 2 tablespoon minced red bell pepper
- 2 tablespoon minced celery
- 2 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
- 2 tablespoon minced fresh chives
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh dill (use more if you really like dill)
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne (if you don’t like heat, try just a pinch to start out with)
- kosher salt, to taste
- freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Using a food processor, pulse the chopped ham until you have very small pieces. Take care to not over-process into a mushy texture. Transfer ham to a medium bowl and add the rest of the ingredients, folding to combine.
- Serve chilled. Serve as a sandwich spread or a topper for crackers or cucumber slices. Also good served on a plate of fresh greens.
Nutrition Information:
This post was previously published in 2015. Some of the photographs and some of the text were updated in 2018 and 2025.
I love this recipe.
Easy to make and the taste is out of this world!
You have a big fan in me, Brenda!
Best,
Andreea
I would think this recipe would work well with all that you said , however you forgot turkey !!
I have used a similar recipe to make turkey or smoked turkey salad sandwiches . Every thing goes on a ritz cracker . I’m sure your too young to remember those commercials .
Thanks
art
I have never made turkey salad, thanks for mentioning that! And…I do remember those commercials. ;)
Never had ham salad just chicken and egg salad growing up. This sounds so good can’t wait to try recipe and serve it to family. Your mother was a beautiful young woman.
I can not wait to make this ham salad, ham salad is one of my favorites so this will be a great twist on it. I am excited :)
Oh and I was Rustic which is very much me but I would gladly take the traditional kitchen too!!
Having an entire tupperware filled with ham right now, this WILL be made for lunches to come this week :)
Yay! I just made more of this yesterday. Hope you liked it!
This ham salad is the perfect use for leftover ham! The addition of herbs makes it soooooo delicious!
Thank you! Happy Weekend! :)
I love all the herbs and crunchy veggies you’ve added to this ham salad. It’s something my hubby grew up with, but not me—and since we’re having ham for Easter, I think I’ll try my hand at these sandwiches!
Happy Easter, Liz – enjoy the ham salad! I bought another ham and we’ll be making this, too. :)
We never had ham salad growing up (chicken and egg, yes, but not ham). But I’m thinking my kids do need to grow up on it, after seeing this!! Yum!
Thanks, Deborah. I bought extra ham for Easter, anticipating more of this!
I’m cracking up because I posted a recipe for ham salad on my blog on Monday too! I guess the good stuff is on our minds these days!
Good stuff, indeed! ;)
This looks delicious!!
I love Fiesta casserole dishes! This is a great way to use up that ham, and I love leftover ham, by the way! Happy Easter, friend!
I {heart} Fiesta dinnerware. And ham! Can’t wait to make more of this after Easter!
I know what I will be bringing for the picnic! Great addition having the croissant, can’t wait to try this delicious ham salad recipe!
Thanks, Sommer. It’s kinda addictive, dangerous to have around. So good!
I love, love, LOVE ham salad. I usually make it with just a bit of mayo and pickle relish but I am thinking I need to change my ways and try your herby version. We must be related because I too can’t resist the gas station versions every once in a while either.
You have no idea how big of a smile you gave me. Gas station sandwich sisters! :)
Tiger Meat! Ha! Had it for the first time a few years ago at a party in Wheaton, MN. Don’t need to try it again.
I might try your Ham Salad though.
Lucky you! Ha! I’ve never eaten tiger meat. Just can’t do it. (But do try the ham salad!) Happy Easter to you and your family, Danae.
Love Ham Salad, remember an outdoor wedding years ago, the brides aunte made a ham salad croissants that was the talk of the reception. Real smokey flavor. What is tiger meat?
Glad to hear you’re a ham salad fan! Tiger meat – if you click on it in my post, it gives a good description and history. Basically it’s raw ground beef that is seasoned and used as a cracker spread.
I can’t say that I’ve ever had ham salad, but I do love m some ham and serving it all on a croissant sounds like perfection. I’ll have to give this a try! xo
If you like ham, plus egg salad, tuna salad, etc., I’m betting you’ll really like ham salad. I hope you give it a try!
Every church supper growing up had a big platter of ham salad sandwiches, which started disappearing before the prayer was even said! Ham salad is a must-buy at Yoder’s Meats in Shipshewana, Indiana! Theirs is SO good. What I like about your recipe is that the ham is not grated as fine, there’s less mayonnaise, and you’ve added finely chopped veggies. Since I just got a ham at Yoder’s, I’m going to have a platter of ham salad sandwiches ready at Easter Dinner, and I bet they’ll start disappearing before the prayer is said!
Thank you so much for your lovely comment, Sara. I hope you like this recipe. Happy Easter!
Tiger meat- yikes!! haha So oddly growing up in the midwest I’ve never had ham salad!! That needs to change!
Ha! The ugly truth about my German ancestry, tiger meat. I don’t claim it. :) But ham salad…yes, please!
I didn’t grow up with ham salad, but it’s never too late, right? Love the idea of using it for appetizer bites, and you can never go wrong w/ a croissant. (PS. Traditional kitchen all the way! Swoon.)
Thanks, Erin. Do give it a try, you’ll become a quick believer in ham salad!
We looooove ham salad around here! Yours looks fantastic!
Thanks a bunch, Jenny. Happy Easter to you and your family!