Shakin & Bakin Foodie Blog

What To Make With That Leftover Holiday Ham

During certain holidays throughout the year, I enjoy making a great tasting ham for our holiday dinners. Once the dinner is over...I am always left with a lot of left-over ham! To solve this problem, I like to freeze my left-overs to use at another time.

When it comes to freezing your ham, I remove the rind and bones and cut my ham into bite-sized chunks or I thinly slice it depending on how I plan to use it. I like to freeze mine in freezer safe storage bags in pint and quart sizes. I freeze in 1 cup, 2 cup and 3 cup capacities which is how I make most of my recipes. You will want to label your bags with the contents and how many cups are inside. Frozen ham will keep for 2-3 months if properly frozen.

Now...what can you make with all of that left-over frozen ham?

1 cup portions: great for ham sandwich spread (ham salad), pizza toppings, taco fillings, toss on fresh vegetable salads, ham and egg omelets.

2 and 3 cup portions: great for ham and bean soup, ham and green beans, ham pot pie, ham and potato soup, pork vegetable soup, split pea soup, ham stuffed manicotti or use it in lasagna in place of beef, ham and rice stir fry, meat and potato stuffed pastry pie, ham Sheppard's pie, cheesy ham pasta dish, ham and broccoli casserole or tossed in a big fresh vegetable chef salad.

There are many things you can make with leftover ham once you have properly frozen it. You can find oodles of great recipes online by doing a keyword search for leftover holiday ham recipes.

Shelly Hill is a mother and grandmother living in Pennsylvania who enjoys cooking, baking and canning a variety of foods for her family and friends.