You made the big ham, and had the big meal. Now you are left with, what seems like, 25 pounds of leftover ham! What’s a girl (or guy) to do!?
Don’t worry, I got you with this list of 20 recipes using leftover ham!
I HATE wasting food. So, to let a big beautiful spiral ham from your Easter Dinner (or Holidays) go to waste in the fridge would be heartbreaking.
I have rounded up leftover ham ideas from breakfast to appetizers- all the way to dinner. Recipes using a little ham, a lot of ham, the ham bone and, my favorite, instant pot ham recipes!
Here are some wonderful leftover ham recipes you can plan for this week:
Leftover Ham Breakfast Recipes
Ham & Kale Egg Cups
Ham and Kale Egg Cups from me, Mom’s Dinner. This is a really great breakfast idea for the week because you can make these egg cups, store them in the fridge and reheat them in the microwave for a super quick and easy breakfast. Don’t forget that breakfast is great for dinner too!
Broccoli, Ham, and Mozzarella Baked with Eggs
Broccoli, Ham, and Mozzarella Baked with Eggs from Kalyn’s Kitchen. If you are following a low-carb, Keto, low-glycemic, gluten-free, or South Beach Diet this is the recipe for you! A delicious egg bake that is full of healthy ingredients.
Ham & Cheese Mini Quiche
Ham and Cheese Mini Quiche from Unsophisticook. Aren’t these the cutests little one bite quiches!? They would make a great appetizer with cocktails, before dinner. I love the shortcut of using store bought pie pastry to make the quiche shells and the filling is just as easy to whip together.
Ham & Cheese Jambon Pastries
Ham & Cheese Jambon Pastries from Happy Foods Tube. A “Jambon” is a popular Irish pastry sold at just about every deli counter in Ireland. These are perfect for an on-the-go breakfast, lunch boxes, kid snacks or entertaining. A super versatile use for your leftover ham!
Breakfast Ham Hash
I love a good breakfast skillet, just like this Smoked Ham Breakfast Hash from Vindulge.
Potatoes, tomatoes, leeks or onions, peppers, leftover ham, and green onions all scrambles together and then topped with over easy eggs. Just break the egg yolk, give me some toast, and a cup of coffee for the perfect breakfast.
Leftover Ham Sandwiches Recipes
Ham & Brie Breakfast Hand Pies
Ham and Brie Breakfast Hand Pies from Cooking on the Front Burner. This recipe might be worth saving a few extra slices of ham, just to make sure you have enough! These little pockets are flaky pastries full of ham, gooey brie, fig spread, and stone ground mustard. I know these would make an amazing breakfast, but I think they would be perfect for lunch too.
Cheesy Hot Ham and Broccoli Crescent Pocket
Cheesy Hot Ham & Broccoli Crescent Pockets from The Creative Bite. These are like super sophisticated and over-the-top delicious Hot Pockets! Delicious crescent pastries full of ham, cheese, broccoli, cream cheese, and garlic, then…are you ready for this… they are rolled in crushed croutons!!!! What!? Genius! I think this will be a crowd pleasing leftover ham recipe. Even for kids!
Leftover Ham Soup Recipes
Ham & Potato Chowder
Ham & Potato Chowder from Mom’s Dinner. This is a great use for leftover spiral ham, especially the larger end portion that is not spiraled. You can chop that ham up and add it to this soup. It is a super easy and an over-the-top flavorful chowder.
Pressure Cooker Split Pea Soup with Ham
Pressure Cooker Split Pea Soup with Ham from Lemon Blossoms. If you love your Instant Pot as much as I love mine, then this is the recipe for you. A delicious Split Pea Soup with the added salty flavor of ham. In this recipe you can use your leftover ham OR ham bone. Bonus!
Ham & Cheese Soup
Ham and Cheese Soup from Innocent Delight. Ham & Cheese…YES PLEASE! But… this isn’t your regular old cheese based soup. This one is full of gruyere cheese, white wine, nutmeg, and heavy cream. How divine!? I say open a bottle of wine, pour yourself a glass, get out your leftover ham, and get ready to make dinner.
Using the Ham Bone
Red Beans & Rice (Instant Pot or Crock Pot)
Don’t let that ham bone go to waste! This recipe for Red Beans and Rice can be made in your Instant Pot or Crock Pot… either way it makes an amazing dinner using your leftover ham and ham bone!
Ham & Bean Soup
Ham & Bean Soup from Unsophisticook. I love that you can use all parts of a bone-in spiral ham. This soup uses all the flavor that the ham bone can give. You boil the ham bone to make a beautiful ham stock and then add onions, garlic, carrots, celery, potatoes, beans, and ham to make a super hearty dinner.
Leftover Ham Dinner Recipes
Ham Balls
These Ham Balls are a classic Iowa (or Nebraska) dish. ham is ground and mixed with ground beef or pork and cooked in a sweet and tangy tomato based sauce. serve it up with some mashed potatoes and a green veggie!
Smoked Gouda + Cheddar Ham and Potato Casserole
Smoked Gouda + Cheddar Ham and Potato Casserole from Buy This Cook That. Now this is taking traditional scalloped potatoes and ham to the next level! Teri doesn’t mess around with the flavors is this dish. It is full of potatoes, ham, onions, spicy mustard, smoked gouda cheese, and NY cheddar. I think this is a perfect meal in itself!
Leftover Ham Mac and Cheese
Leftover Ham Mac and Cheese from The Brooklyn Cook. Aren’t we all on the search for dinner recipes that will produce a “tear free” dinner for our little ones. Search no further.. this is it! Mac and cheese is always a winner with my kids, and if I can sneak in some leftover ham to boot- success!! Not to mention this is full of easy to find ingredients. Bonus!
Cheesy Ham and Broccoli Tater Tot Hotdish
Cheesy Ham and Broccoli Tater Tot Hotdish from The Creative Bite. Throwback Alert! Who remembers eating Tater Tot Casserole when you were little? I loved it! This is an updated version of the classic. A little ham, a little cheese and broccoli, topped with a lot of yummy golden tater tots. Put a napkin around my neck and hand me a fork!
Leftover Ham Creamy Tortellini
Leftover Ham Creamy Tortellini from The Brooklyn Cook. I love a good 30 minute dinner like this pasta recipe. It is full of easy to find ingredients like cheese tortellini, chicken broth, peas, heavy cream, and shredded cheese. This will be a go-to recipe after Christmas and Easter when I have a lot of leftover ham!
Add Ham To…
Here are a couple dishes that you could add ham to and make an amazing breakfast, lunch or dinner!
Eggs in a Mug
Make a quick breakfast on the go with these Eggs in a Mug. Add a little diced ham in with the eggs and it is like a little breakfast scramble!
Instant Pot Cajun Chicken and Rice
This recipe for Instant Pot Cajun Chicken and Rice calls for smoked beef sausage, but you could absolutely sub out diced leftover ham… or use both!
Cheesy Rice
Add a little diced ham to this cheesy rice recipe and you will have the perfect comfort food dish!
Originally Posted on April 20 2019 – Recipes and Copy updated April 5, 2021
Edwina
I made the ham and kale egg cups and we all enjoyed them for breakfast. Usually when I’m using leftover ham I think of dinner recipes so I was pleased to make a breakfast recipe instead. They were delicious. I love the look of those little ham quiches as well, I’ll have to make them sometime soon. Thanks for so many great ideas to use leftover ham.
Jo Thrasher • Jo Eats
Um is it weird that I’m hoping for a cold front to roll through so I can make the ham chowder? Yes please.
Susie
LOL… I know!! It is such a good recipe, but not sure it is worth having cold weather again. I am SO done with winter.
Deb @ Cooking on the Front Burner
I love all these recipes – thanks for including mine!
Susie
Of course.. thank you so much for contributing. I appreciate it : )
Rose
Leftover ham is a post holiday perk, look at all the great recipes to keep the yummy dinners going in the week after the party.
Susie
Definitely! A lot of these recipes are worth making a larger ham to have leftovers.
Traci
I lovvvve leftover ham! It’s the best excuse to make any one of these gorgeous dishes! Thanks for the roundup…ALL the yummy recipes are right here in one place! 🙂
Susie
I LOVE it too! There are some really great recipes in here! Don’t forget to pin it for easy access later.
Stephanie@ApplesforCJ
Such a great collection of recipes and some really good ideas for using leftovers. I don’t like to waste food either so having other ways to use food in different recipes is always good.
Susie
Food waste kills me! Especially if I had to toss my leftover Easter ham! I use everything down to the ham bone. YUM
Kathy
So many wonderful and delicious options! Definitely saving and pinning this roundup! Love all those great ideas!!!
Susie
There are a lot of wonderful bloggers who contributed to this list! Thank you so much for pinning.
Dannii
What a great idea. We hate wasting any food, so there are some great ideas here. Love the sound of the egg cups.
Susie
I HATE throwing away food, especially any protein! The egg cups are so easy and delish. They are a great “make-ahead” dish for the week. They warm up perfectly in the microwave.
Dana Sandonato
This is *such* a useful compilation. I mean, I always loved eating ham cold out of the fridge, but creating new and exciting meals out of leftovers definitely seems better.
Susie
Also.. my kids can be finicky when I say “leftovers for dinner”, so if I say “mac and cheese with ham” they are less likely to scoff. Always a bonus!
Laineey
What an absolute great round up! One of my favorite meats is ham and I could eat each and every one of these recipes! Now the question is, where do I start?
KalynsKitchen
Looks like a great collection of recipes! Thanks for including some of my favorites.
Susie
Yes! Thank you for checking it out.