Ham Balls are a classic Midwestern meatball recipe. It is even more specific to Iowa and Nebraska. It is an unusual recipe that turns out so incredibly delicious. Ground beef and ground ham are mixed with graham crackers crumbs and formed into meatballs, they are then baked with a tomato brown sugar glaze.
I grew up in Iowa and this is a recipe that we had often! It is a typical Sunday night family dinner recipe.
My husband has become very picky in his old age, I was fascinated with the ingredients and had left over Easter ham saved for bean soup so decided I was going to make these even if I'd end up eating them all myself. Ha! I got 2. He loved them and ate them up as leftovers too. Definitely a keeper recipe. Thanks! Can't wait to try them on grand children. – Lisa
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Ground Ham for Ham Balls
Ground ham can be hard to find in the grocery store. Actually I don’t think I have ever seen it in the store, unless you are in Iowa!
We are talking ground ham here, not ground pork! Ground pork is made from the shoulder (aka. pork butt). The ham is cut from the leg and is dry or wet cured and sometimes smoked. Ham has the distinct flavor that you are looking for in ham balls.
You will want to purchase a 1-1.25 lb. ham steak or bone-in ham steak. Once it is ground you will want it to be the consistency of ground beef. You have a couple options to make ground ham.
- Grab a ham steak at the grocery store and ask the meat counter to grind it for you.
- If you have a meat grinder attachment to your stand mixer you can grind the ham steak that way.
- I prefer to “grind” it in my food processor. Cut the ham steak into 2 inch chunks then pulse the processor about 40-50 times. You will have perfectly ground ham! (see the photo above)
Graham Cracker Crumbs
Unless you have had these Ham Balls you are probably thinking that graham cracker crumbs are a really odd choice! Just trust, they add a sweetness to the ham balls that perfectly compliments the salty ham and the tangy vinegar in the sauce.
If you need to make graham cracker crumbs you can crush a couple plain graham crackers into a fine crumb. Or you can pulse them a few times in your food processor.
How To Make Ham Balls
This ham ball recipe is pretty simple, it is just a matter of mixing the ingredients and baking.
In a large bowl lightly mix together 1 lb ground beef, 1 lb ground ham, 1 cup graham cracker crumbs, ¾ cup milk, and 1 egg.
Form large meatballs, about ⅓ cup in size, and place in a 9×13 baking dish. You should have about 12-15 meatballs.
In another bowl mix together 1 can tomato soup, ½ cup white vinegar, 1 cup brown sugar, and 1 teaspoon dry mustard. Whisk it all together and then pour the sauce over the meatballs.
Place in the oven at 350 degrees for 1 hour, basting the top of the meatballs with the sauce once or twice during cooking.
Let the meatballs cool for about 5 minutes and then serve with mashed or baked potatoes and veggies.
Other Meatball Recipes
If you love meatballs here are a few other recipes to try:
- Instant Pot BBQ Meatballs
- Baked Chicken Meatballs
- Instant Pot Turkey Meatballs
- Easy Meatball Sub Sandwiches
Ham Balls Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
Ham Balls
- 1 lb ground ham - see note about finding and/or making ground ham**
- 1 lb ground beef - 85/15
- 1 cup graham cracker crumbs - finely ground
- 1 egg
- ¾ cup milk
Sauce
- 10.75 oz can condensed tomato soup
- 1 cup brown sugar
- ½ cup white vinegar
- 1 teaspoon dry mustard
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°
- Combine the meatball ingredients. In a large bowl lightly combine the 1 lb ground ham, 1 lb ground beef, 1 cup graham cracker crumbs, ¾ cup milk, and 1 egg.
- Make large meatballs. Form the mixture into large meatballs, about ⅓ cup in size each. Place into a 9×13 baking dish. You will have about 12-15 meatballs.
- Whisk together the sauce ingredients & pour over meatballs. In another bowl whisk together the can of condensed tomato soup, 1 cup brown sugar, ½ cup white vinegar, and 1 teaspoon dry mustard. Pour the sauce over the meatballs.
- Bake 1 hour. Bake in the oven, uncovered, for 1 hour, basting the tops of the ham balls with the sauce once or twice during cooking.
- Cool & eat! Let the meatballs cool for about 5-10 minutes and then serve with mashed or baked potatoes and veggies.
Recipe Tips and Notes:
- Have the butcher grind it for you.
- Use a meat grinder attachment to a stand mixer.
- Grind in a food processor by cutting the ham steak in 2 inch chunks and pulse the processor 40-50 times. (this is the method that I use)
Originally Published December 2019, Copy Updated and Republished December 2020
Ashley says
Haven’t had these in years and the recipe was just how I remember it- delicious!!!
Heidi says
These are good, but need just a bit more flavor somehow. I removed the ham balls from the pan, used the fat separator to remove the fat and added back to the pan.
Bev Backer says
Are there do ahead things that should be done in a certain way? Otherwise, I plan on making the meat balls and rolling them so the next day all I have to do is put them in the pan and add the sauce.
Is that OK?
Susie Weinrich says
100% that will work great! You may need to add 5 minutes to the baking time when cooking straight out of the fridge. Happy Holidays, Bev!
Mamma T says
I’m from Iowa but using your recipe since I have misplaced my own and this I’d the most similar I could find quick. My only suggestion is to brown the ham balls in a skillet or a sheet pan first then sauce and bake. The mix of textures and flavors is amazing. I do spice my sauce up a bit with Sriracha sauce.
mike says
very easy to make,my whole family love them. my son and daughter-inlaw said thats all they want from us for Christmas.
delighted in Minnesota says
absolutely wonderful – my family loved them! They wanted to take home leftovers. Not enough left. Next time 2 pans.
Karen says
These were so delicious! My husband and I just kept saying how good they were. Such a simple recipe also. We used leftover ham that he had smoked. We simply ground it up. Now he needs to smoke another ham so we can make these again!
Nancy says
This sounds so interesting, but I’m wondering, can the sugar in these be greatly reduced? I usually prefer things to be significantly less sweet than most people; that 1 cup of sugar is giving me pause as that’s more than I use in an entire year.
Susie Weinrich says
This is a “sweet meat” dish. If you reduce the sugar you will probably want to reduce the vinegar amount too, as the sugar balances the vinegar content.
Cheryl Somers says
I have whole pan that were cooked in sauce and then frozen.. didn’t eat them all. What is best way to reheat for dinner
Susie Weinrich says
I would let them thaw in the fridge as long as you can. Then cover with foil and bake at 350 until they are warmed through, could be 15-30 minutes depending how frozen they are.
Janet says
I make these all the time .they are delicious. Sometimes I get lazy and use mini bread pans and make ham loaf instead of meatballs…and one I didn’t have everything for the sauce but I had cookies bbq sauce so I used it and it was quite tasty
Lisa says
My husband has become very picky in his old age, I was fascinated with the ingredients and had left over Easter ham saved for bean soup so decided I was going to make these even if I’d end up eating them all myself. Ha! I got 2. He loved them and ate them up as leftovers too. Definitely a keeper recipe. Thanks! Can’t wait to try them on grand children.
Sherri says
Totally new idea/concept (being from Arizona) for us and really liked these. Pulsated ham. as suggested and looked just like ground beef, per say. used 93% ground beef (what I had) and cinnamon graham crackers as it did not specify but again what I had (and others added cloves so figured it would work). Perfect
Really loved these but need to double the sauce recipe as not enough to actually cover the meatballs and leave as a sauce. So reason for only 4 stars. Now have to make the sauce again for the remains’/left overs.
Will definitely make again just double the sauce.
Janet says
My family loves these. I use some of the left over ham from the holidays
Pam says
I have made these for sometime. My family loves them and they freeze well. The sauce is more of a sweet and sour sauce. Different than putting on beef meatballs. Yummy! I use leftover ham a lot and we have our own lean home raised beef and I add ground pork sometimes. Allow about 3 ham balls per person.
Jenny Stoops says
I looked forward to making these because the ingredients intrigued me, I love ham loaf and (to overcome my hesitancy with the unusual combination of ingredients) all of the positive reviews. I followed the recipe exactly – they looked beautiful! They were not greasy (based on reviews I splurged on a high brand lean ground beef). The texture of the meatball was perfect and the sauce looked beautiful. But….they were not good. They were very strange tasting and not in a good way. Maybe it was the beef/ham combo – maybe it was the Graham cracker – not sure but We literally could not eat them. Disappointed. I hate to waste food- I hate to post negative reviews (nothing against the author ) – but if you are on the fence about the combination of ingredients – follow your instincts.
Pam says
Right there with you. They are awful.
Pretty. Cooked well…… taste terrible.
Victoria OBrien says
Oh my goodness! They usually taste wonderful. Use plain ham—not smoked, not honey-baked, not ham that has been seasoned except for salt/pepper. I made them as written, and they were great.
Maybe you used regular mustard instead of dry mustard? Maybe it was the brand of tomato soup?
Brenda. Hughes says
I’ve had these before. So delicious, you can’t get enough of them