After tiring of cucumber sandwiches from street vendors in London (I was 14 and on a trip with my Girl Scout Troop), I decided to risk it and try a ham salad sandwich. I braced myself for what might be a horrible sandwich. Afterall, I had been unpleasantly surprised in my own country with what was sometimes passed as ham salad. I couldn’t imagine what an English food service might include in their ham salad. It turned out to be something I never imagined….sliced ham, lettuce, tomato, cucumbers between two slices of bread. I was literally ham and a salad in a sandwich 🙂
Although I love English-style ham salad sandwich, I also love the American ground ham-based spread.
I must admit that I am not a fan of all ham salad. I do not like “ham salad” made with bologna, potted ham, etc. I also prefer ham salad made with ground or otherwise pulverized meat…not diced or chopped. Finally, I like a rather simplistic ham salad…no corn, hard-boiled eggs, cucumbers, etc.
Although a plain ham salad sandwich is fine, it is greatly enhanced with just one addition…potato chips.
Potato chips atop a layer of ham salad add both flavor and crunch to a sandwich. Of course, you could always just skip the bread and use ham salad as an excellent chip dip.
My parents’ ham salad was almost identical to their pimento cheese spread; they just used ground ham instead of cheese. Like pimento cheese, ham salad was not just something we had when there was leftover ham. They would buy a “picnic ham” (a smoked pork shoulder) to make “ham” salad because it was less expensive than a traditional ham.
No matter what type of “ham” you use, it needs to be fully cooked before making it into ham salad. Also, hams vary in amount salt, sweetness, etc. so the recipe should be adjusted to taste. You can always add more, but taking away isn’t so easy.
Ham Salad Sandwiches
Ingredients
- 2+ lb. ground, cooked ham
- 1/2 +/- c. Miracle Whip or mayonnaise
- 1/3 - 1/2 c. ground sweet pickles or relish
- 4 - 6 oz. diced pimentos or ground, sliced pimentos
Instructions
- Combine ham, Miracle Whip, pickles, and pimentos in a large bowl.
- Taste.
- Add more Miracle Whip, pickles and/or pimentos as needed.
- Also, you can add the pickles' liquid to adjust the flavor and consistency.
- Best if placed in the refrigerator for at least an hour before serving.
- Serve on bread or buns for a sandwich, in a bowl for dip, as stuffing in a pate choux or tomato, etc.
It may not be much of a recipe, but ham salad was a frequent food in my parent’s house in my childhood and well beyond.
In fact, ham salad became a regular in my Mom’s social circle. Ham salad and pimento cheese sandwiches seemed to be at every entertaining event. I think it had something to do with the fact that they could buy decent salad/spreads at a local country grocery store.
Sandwiches served them best, but if you want to make a more formal presentation of this simple ham salad serve pate choux pastries or small tomatoes.