The uses for leftover ham is endless, it is perfect for any meal of the day from breakfast to dinner and reheats beautifully! Below find our favorite ham recipes from soups and chowders to casseroles and sandwiches!
Baked Ham is one of our favorite holiday meals for Easter, Christmas and beyond! My kids much prefer glazed ham to turkey and I love that it’s so easy to make! Ham takes very little prep work (especially if you Cook a Spiral Ham) and as much as we love a ham, we love the leftovers almost more!
What To Do With Leftover Ham
Are you wondering what to do with leftover ham? Below are our favorite leftover ham ideas for the days after the big feast!
To Reheat Leftover Ham: One of the best parts of a big meal (like a baked ham dinner) is that you don’t have to cook for a couple of days after! We start by just reheating leftover ham slices and eating it as is. Reheat leftover ham covered in a 325°F oven (I usually add 1/2 cup or so of broth to keep it moist) until heated through. This will vary based on how your ham is cut (and how much ham is in your dish) but slices will take about 25 minutes or so. Keep in mind your ham is already cooked so you just want to heat it, not cook it!
If you’re having it for breakfast, you can also reheat the ham slices in a frying pan with a touch of oil or butter. Top with poached eggs and voila!
As for what to do with the leftover hambone… it’s great for ham soups or to make a flavorful ham broth.
How to Store Leftover Ham
So exactly how long does cooked ham last? It’ll last a few days in the fridge or longer in the freezer. I package it into 1 cup portions to make it easy to use in recipes! If you have a ham bone, it makes great soups and I usually just stick it in the freezer and then use it right from frozen!
Fridge: Cooked leftover ham (spiral or other) can be kept in the fridge 3-4 days. (This also includes leftover sandwich meat ham once opened). If you’d like to keep it longer than that, I’d suggest freezing it.
Freezer: Leftover ham should be well sealed (vacuum sealed is best if you have a sealer) and the leftovers can be frozen for up to 2 months.
Main Dish Recipes
Ham is great in almost all soups, stews and casseroles in place of chicken or other proteins. We love to add it to pastas, rice casseroles or other dishes for a flavorful smoky taste!
Potatoes
Pasta
Other
Salads, Sandwiches and Sliders
One great thing about leftover ham is that it can be eaten either hot or cold, sliced, diced or chopped. Anything goes! Top a salad with it, add it to your favorite pasta salad recipe, sandwich it in the middle of your favorite grilled cheese. The possibilities are endless!
Soups & Chowders
Using your ham bone to make broth adds so much flavor! We usually choose a nice bone-in ham just for that reason! Leftover diced ham holds up well to the crock pot and is a flavorful addition to soups and stews! It pairs well with sweet veggies like corn and sweet potatoes and adds great flavor to cream or potato based soups!
Breakfast
Ham is a great addition to breakfast recipes as it’s leaner than sausage or bacon and adds a delicious smoky flavor!
10 More Easy Ways to Use Leftover Ham
Ham is such an easy protein to use so let your imagination guide you! You can use it in countless recipes to replace chicken or ground beef. It also makes great sandwiches or is perfect for snacking on its own!
- Add it in place of chicken in a quick fried rice recipe!
- Diced leftover ham into small pieces and add it to cooked peas with butter.
- Add diced ham to scrambled eggs or omelettes.
- Replace the chicken in your favorite chicken pot pie recipe.
- Serve a simple ham sandwich by frying the ham and putting on toast with cheddar cheese and mustard.
- Top your favorite pizza dough with ham (or add it to a frozen pizza).
- Deck out your fave baked potatoes with butter, sour cream, cheddar and ham for an easy meal!
- Add ham and cheddar to homemade biscuits and serve warm with butter.
- Add ham to almost any pasta salad recipe or macaroni salad!
- Chop it up and add it to mashed potatoes or mashed potato cakes
