Ham Salad is one of the tasty creations that I make without a recipe–although I do have exact measurements and ingredients for you today. Ham Salad is really an easy and wonderful way to use leftover ham from Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, or any event where ham is served.
It’s also a naturally gluten-free recipe when you start with a gluten-free ham (most are gluten free but always check ingredients, of course) and naturally gluten-free, uncontaminated mayonnaise—and you keep this recipe free of gluten cross contact after you make it.
When making Ham Salad, first I chop what I think will be enough ham for a few sandwiches. Then I add a large dollop of mayonnaise, a spoonful of sweet pickle relish, and either a small amount of chopped raw onion or a good sprinkle of onion powder.
Sometimes I do taste my concoction after mixing and decide to add a little more mayo, relish, or onion, but most of the time I can simply “eyeball” my creation and get successful results. So, if you’re a non-recipe person, you can simply follow that advice to create your ham salad, if you prefer.
I typically only cook a ham at Thanksgiving. (Our favorite recipe is this CrockPot Maple Ham from my friend Steph at A Year of Slow Cooking.) But I also buy ham steaks a few times during the year, usually for our camping excursions.
I purposely buy two large ham steaks so that we’ll have leftovers. Mr. GFE is most definitely the happiest when I turn those leftovers into this Ham Salad.
Even as we were eating our Thanksgiving meal yesterday, Mr. GFE was already saying how much he was looking forward to Ham Salad! We had some for lunch today and it was as good as ever! Mr. GFE had his on a sandwich and I enjoyed mine by itself with a few potato chips on the side.
My sister and mom give me ham bones from time to time to keep them from going to waste as they know I use ham bones to make soup. Sometimes I have been able to “extract” enough ham from those bones to make Ham Salad—and still had enough meat left on the bone to make a good pot of soup!
So as you can tell, Ham Salad is an infrequent but very enjoyable treat for us. I wanted to share this dish with all of you who like ham, so today I measured my ingredients and actually created a recipe for you! I hope that you’ll find it a very tasty way to make use of the leftover ham at your house.
Last, I hope that all of you who celebrated Thanksgiving had a lovely one! Ours was “just right,” as Goldilocks would say!
Ham Salad Recipe
Ham Salad
You'll find reasons to make ham just so you'll have leftover ham to make this Ham Salad. It's that good!
Ingredients
- 2 cups cooked, finely diced ham
- 1/3 cup mayonnaise
- 1 heaping tsp sweet pickle relish
- ¾ tsp onion powder (or one tablespoon raw, finely diced onion)
Instructions
- In a large bowl, mix all ingredients together.
- Keep refrigerated.
Notes
If your Ham Salad dries out after being in the refrigerator overnight, you can stir in a tad bit more mayonnaise.
More GFE Recipes In Which You Can Use Leftover Ham
~ Crustless Ham and Green Onion Quiche
![Crustless Gluten-Free Quiche. Ham and green onion version shown. You won't believe how easy it is to turn your favorite quiche into a crustless gluten-free version! So delicious and super easy, too. [from GlutenFreeEasily.com]](https://glutenfreeeasily.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/Gluten-Free-Crustless-Quiche-Ham-Green-Pepper-GFE.jpg)
~ Slow Cooker Black-Eyed Pea Soup with Ham and Chicken (you can substitute turkey for the chicken—great way to use leftover turkey)
Several More Great Gluten-Free Ham Recipes from Blogger Friends
~ Breakfast Muffins with Ham and Veggies from Allergy-Free Alaska
~ Broccoli, Ham, Mozzarella, and Egg Breakfast Bake from Kalyn’s Kitchen
~ Creamy Ham and Potato Chowder, Dairy Free from Tessa the Domestic Diva
~ “Kiss Me” Scalloped Potatoes and Ham from Skinny GF Chef
~ Skillet Scalloped Potatoes with Ham and Peas via gfe from Premeditated Leftovers
~ Spinach and Ham Frittata from Gluten-Free Homemaker
Originally published November 28, 2015 ; updated December 27, 2018.
Mari says
This is just the way my mother always made it, and it has always been a favorite of mine. I sometimes think I buy ham just to have leftovers for ham salad, omelettes, etc. when my children were young, I used to stuff pieces of bread dough with ham and cheese and make ham rolls for them. To this day, they still talk about them with fondness. We didn’t have ham for Thanksgiving this year, we had turkey. My daughter and her family were here from Africa for part of the week, and she made a brined turkey, which would make great leftovers if there were any. Meat is scarce and expensive where they are living, so a huge portion of my grocery budget went for meat this week! Shirley’s pizza made it’s appearance again this week, and there were leftovers, but they disappeared at some point during the night. My daughter and her husband were way too happy the next morning! It was lovely having two out of three here for the holiday, and it was lovely to see this recipe again. It is an old and treasured friend, and I do believe that I am going to buy some ham steaks on my next trip to Sam’s. Thanks for a great rip down memory lane. When I am in a hurry, I toss the ham in my food processor, but I do have to be careful to pulse it in small batches or I get ham soup. 🙂
Shirley says
Hi Mari–A few others said that their mom always made it this way as well. I guess it’s an “old school” recipe that many of us still really enjoy. 😉 I have to be really careful when using the food processor as well. That’s why I often simply chop by hand.
Those ham and cheese rolls sure sound good. I’ve had readers tell me they do the same with my popovers. I love that your children have such fond memories of your stuffed rolls!
We always do both a ham and turkey (usually just a turkey breast the last few years). I’m sure that your daughter and her family really appreciated their meat fix! And you know I love hearing that you treated them to “Shirley’s” Pizza once again. Too funny on it disappearing during the night and having happy family members in the morning!
I’m so glad you had such a special Thanksgiving, Mari! Thanks for taking the time to comment and share. You know that I love it when you do! 🙂
Shirley
Alisa Fleming says
Mmm, this looks so comforting Shirley. My favorite pasta salad recipe as a kid was so much like this but with herbs instead of relish and corkscrew noodles and peas thrown into the mix! So glad your Thanksgiving was a nice one!
Shirley says
Thanks, Alisa! Oh, yes, ham, peas, and herbs are terrific ingredients for pasta salad. 🙂 I’m “hammed” out for a while at the moment, but I need to revisit that recipe in the future. 😉 Hope your Thanksgiving was really nice as well. Hard to believe it’s behind us and the Christmas push is already on!
Shirley
Shreyashi Ganguly says
Never had a ham salad before but I am definitely intrigued. Looks great, I will definitely give this a try.
Cheers!
Shirley says
Hi Shreyashi!–If you enjoy ham and other meat-based salad recipes like chicken salad and such, I think you’ll like Ham Salad! 🙂
Shirley
The Grateful Celiac says
I’ve never had ham salad but my dad used to eat it when I was growing up. I always thought it seemed yucky, but now as an adult, it’s got everything I’d eat. I may just have to try some in memory of my Dad!
Shirley says
Hi Steve–Our adult palates can differ so much from our child palates. 😉 I hope you’ll enjoy Ham Salad if you ever give it a try!
Happy Hanukkah, my friend!
Shirley
April J Harris says
Shirley, you’ve made my day with this recipe! My Mom used to make a ham salad similar to yours with flaked ham from a tin and of course I’m not a real tinned ham kind of girl these days. I don’t know why it never occurred to me to make ham salad with ‘real’ ham – Thank you so much for sharing this! I can’t wait to cook a ham and give your yummy recipe a try. Thank you also for your support of the Hearth and Soul Hop! Have a wonderful weekend 🙂
Shirley says
Hi April–Your comment made me chuckle. Isn’t it funny how some recipes and methods are set in our heads as having to be one way only? 😉 I hope you’ll like ham salad made with “real” ham when you give it a try. 🙂
I enjoyed Heart and Soul Hop this week as always. It’s amazing how quickly it arrives each week! I’m sure you and Swathi feel that more than the rest of us. 😉
Shirley
Mary Louise says
I like my ham salad ground up, because I have dentures and it’s easier for me to eat plus I have Celiac Disease and trouble swallowing.
Shirley Braden says
Mary Louise–I’m glad you found a way to make ham salad work for you. 🙂 I’m sure your comment will help others who have similar issues. Thanks for taking the time to comment.
Shirley