How To Make a Ham Salad Recipe with a Bologna Option (+Video)
Sneak Preview: Learn how to make Ham Salad Recipe with Bologna as a substitute for the ham. Add hard-boiled eggs, pickle relish, and mayo.
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Ham Salad is a quick way to repurpose leftover ham or bologna. A bit of mayonnaise, hard-boiled eggs, sweet pickle relish, and some seasonings, and you’ll be in “hog heaven.”
Use ham salad to make a satisfying sandwich, a light supper, or as an appetizer with oven-baked sweet potato chips.
Three Reasons You Will Crave This Recipe
- If you’ve been on this earth longer than a few decades, ham or bologna salad will bring back memories. Let me know in the comments if I’m right about this.
- It’s a great way to use leftover ham or cold cuts.
- Substitute Miracle Whip for the mayo. It’s all good.
- Eat with Ritz crackers or saltines, over a salad, or in a sandwich with homemade white bread. Another choice is to eat it straight out of the mixing bowl. YUM!
Recipe Inspiration
Ham salad and bologna will always be connected in my mind.
My mom used to bring home long, fat sticks of bologna. I’m guessing it was cheaper than the sliced variety. She would attach an old-fashioned silver grinder to a stool in the kitchen.
My sister and I worked together to push big chunks of bologna through the grinder while turning the big silver handle.
Watching ground-up bologna extruding from the holes was a magical process in a kid’s eyes. I remember adding hard-boiled eggs, pickles, and mayonnaise together.
Different Ways To Serve Ham Salad
How do you eat ham salad? Is it always in a sandwich, or do you eat it with a spoon out of the bowl? I have ideas.
1. Use as a sandwich filling.
Nothing is better than white bread with ham salad spread between the layers. Try it with homemade cranberry yeast bread, cranberry lemon dinner rolls, poppy seed rolls, or these dinner rolls using the Tangzhong method.
Take this recipe over the top by adding a leaf or two of fresh sweet basil to each sandwich. Your guests will be asking for your secret recipe. It is AMAZINGLY good.
2. Use as a dip or make an appetizer or light supper with oven-baked sweet potato chips.
Over a year ago, I discovered how fabulous ham salad tastes with crispy sweet potato chips. My husband has always favored eating his ham salad on crackers. However, I was trying to cut out grains back then, so I started looking for a substitute when I thought of my Skinny Sweet Potato Chips.
Consequently, those who eat grain-free or gluten-free may want to try this. Let me warn you, though. The combination is addictive!
3. Serve over a bowl of lettuce.
Use a big scoop of ham salad as a “salad dressing” for your lettuce. Add some spicy pecans and fresh parmesan for a spectacular lunch. Because I eat a HUGE bowl of lettuce, adding some olive oil and vinegar to the whole lot will stretch the ham salad. (Also grain-free and gluten-free.)
Ingredients and Substitutions
Ham salad is not a precise recipe. Play with it. If you don’t have one or two ingredients, save yourself a trip to the store and substitute.
- Mayonnaise: Substitutes could include Miracle Whip (it will taste different), Greek yogurt, or Sandwich Spread. Have you tried the new mayonnaise mixed with catsup? Delicious in this recipe! A teaspoon of your favorite mustard might be a welcome addition for mustard lovers.
- Hard-boiled eggs: The eggs can be left out entirely. Or, egg lovers might want to add three or even four hard-boiled eggs to their ham salad. Leftover deviled eggs in the fridge? Chop them up and add them to your ham mixture.
- Sweet pickle relish: Substitute dill pickle
relish if you aren’t into sweetness. No pickle relish in the house? Try chopping bread and butter pickles finely to get a close flavor copy of the relish. - Apple Cider Vinegar(paid link): Use white vinegar or lemon juice instead. Add one teaspoon and taste. Add another teaspoon if your ham salad still needs a little zip.
- Ham: Use this same recipe to make an everyday chicken salad. Substitute shredded or cubed chicken for the ham. Tuna works, too.
As noted before, my mom subbed bologna for ham. One of my readers suggested Spam. Or, don’t use meat and throw in a couple of extra eggs to make a simple egg salad.
How To Make Ham (or Bologna) Salad
FAQ’s About Ham Salad
Ham salad is good for three days in the refrigerator. Keep it covered.
Cut ham into 1-inch chunks. Fill the food processor bowl no higher than the level of the highest blade. Pulse 10 to 15 times until the ham is shredded.
My favorite soup on this website is Ham Stew with Beef and Bacon. I think you’ll love it, too. Another favorite “leftover ham” recipe is Easy Fried Rice.
Making Sweet Potato Chips
Parting thoughts: I love ham salad and make it every time I have more than a quarter cup of leftover ham. For all of my readers who are bread bakers: Try this as a filling in Cranberry Yeast Bread sliders. It is so delicious–perfect for a brunch, luncheon, or light supper.
Help at Your Fingertips: For questions or suggestions, email Paula at saladinajar.com. If you need help, I’m happy to troubleshoot via email (faster than leaving a comment). Attach pictures and as many details as possible for the best advice.
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Ham Salad Recipe with Bologna Option
Video
Ingredients
- 1 pound (453 g) ham or bologna approximately 4 cups
- 2 (100 g) hard-boiled eggs chopped
- 1 (40 g) stalk celery optional, chopped very finely if you like crunch in your sandwich
- ½ cup (112 g) mayonnaise
- ⅓ cup (82 g) sweet pickle relish
- Seasoning salt (sparingly if desired–ham is salty already)
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
- fresh sweet basil leaves
Instructions
- Cube 1 pound (453 g) ham or bologna(remove the rind if desired), then place in a food processor and pulse approximately 10-15 times until ham is chopped but not too fine. Alternatively, use a meat grinder or chop as finely as you can with a knife.
- Chop 2 (100 g) hard-boiled eggs and 1 (40 g) stalk celery, if using. Add to ham. Add remaining ingredients: 1/2 cup (112 g) mayonnaise, 1/3 cup (82 g) sweet pickle relish, Seasoning salt (to taste),and freshly ground black pepper to taste except for vinegar, and stir gently to combine.
- Mix in 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar and taste. If ham salad needs a little more zip, add another teaspoon.
- Chop fresh sweet basil leaves and add to spread if serving immediately. Otherwise, leaves should be left whole and added to the sandwich before serving. Cut leaves will turn an unappetizing color.
Equipment
Nutrition
All images and text ©️ Paula Rhodes for Salad in a Jar.com
Paula Rhodes, owner
As a retired home economist, I created Saladinajar.com to share my belief that you don’t have to be a chef to find joy in creating homemade food worth sharing. Bread machines (used in an unconventional way), homemade yogurt, and quick microwave recipes are my specialty.