Old Fashioned Ham Salad Recipe

Old Fashioned Ham Salad is ready in 10 minutes with tender ham, eggs, celery, pickles, and mayo. Perfect for sandwiches and crackers!

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Course: Salad

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 10

Total Time: 10

Servings:

Author: Jennifer Stewart

In a food processor, place the rough chopped ham. Pulse 5-10 times until roughly minced. Don’t over pulse or it will turn into a paste. You want it small but with texture.
Remove to a large bowl.
Add in the hard boiled egg, celery, onion, mayo, mustard, pickles, pickle juice, and lemon juice.
Stir gently to combine. Taste and season with pepper if desired.
Serve or chill until ready to eat.

Using leftover ham is great for this salad. Holiday ham gets new life instead of sitting in the fridge untouched or thrown away. Use high-quality thick-cut ham or ham steak from the deli if you don't have leftovers. Avoid the thin-sliced packaged sandwich ham since it's too thin and turns to paste.
Don't over pulse the ham. Just 5-10 quick bursts is perfect. Anything more and it turns to paste instead of having texture. Rough chop the ham into chunks before pulsing in the processor. This helps it process more evenly.
Pickle juice in the dressing adds tangy flavor without extra ingredients. If you don't have extra pickle juice, try a little vinegar or more mustard.
Chill for 15-30 minutes before serving for the best flavor.
If making sandwiches, toast the bread before making sandwiches. This prevents the bread from getting soggy. And spread mayo on the bread first.
Stir gently when mixing. Aggressive stirring breaks down texture and makes everything mushy.