I have four recipes to use your leftover holiday ham from Christmas.
Do you plan to make a ham for New Year’s dinner?
You are going to have some leftover ham at some point. Don’t throw it away!
Strategically plan dinners and snacks, with JoAnn’s Food Bites, and you can rid your fridge of that leftover ham.
Inspirational Holiday Ham
I was perusing through a Facebook Foodie Forum and stumbled upon a home chef’s post, which read, in most part…
“I need inspirational recipes to use up all the leftover ham I have from the holiday.”
Which inspired me to do some brainstorming and come up with at least FIVE ways to use leftover ham.
We are not talking about the boring, ham sandwich…or ham and cheese on a stick.
These needed to be worthy of a home chef presenting to the family. Also, it made me ponder, why do we serve HAM at Christmas, in the first place?
Ham Christmas Tradition
Believed to have originated in Germany, as a tribute to the God, Freyr; a boar was sacrificed to celebrate harvest and fertility for the upcoming year.
In England, the boar’s head would be presented with an apple in its mouth, while music played in celebration.
Feast Day, was December 26th, forever linking ham with the Christmas season.
Ham is a holiday meal tradition in Sweden, where it is boiled, glazed with a mixture of egg, breadcrumbs, and mustard; then baked.
Because Christmas comes during the summer months in Australia, cold ham is commonly served along with salads or seafood. 
5 Recipes to Rid Your Fridge of the Holiday Ham
1. Asparagus and Ham Pasta
Probably the quickest weeknight meal would be whipping up some string pasta, such as spaghetti or fettuccine and adding your leftover ham; tossing in some blanched asparagus; then combining with a simple cream and Parmesan cheese sauce – serve with bread and you have an entire meal. Recipe serves two.
Asparagus and Ham Carbonara
Ingredients
- 8 oz. your favorite string pasta
- 2-1/2 ounces fresh asparagus trimmed and cut into 2 inch pieces
- 2 T. butter
- 3/4 cup heavy cream
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1/8 tsp garlic powder
- 1/8 t. black pepper
- 3-4 ozs. leftover cooked ham diced
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente. Drop asparagus into pot in the last five minutes of cooking; drain.
- While pasta is cooking, heat butter and cream in a medium saucepan over medium heat. When mixture begins to bubble, stir in Parmesan, garlic powder, and pepper. Continue cooking until the mixture thickens, stirring occasionally. Stir in ham just to heat through.
- Toss cream sauce, ham and pasta together. Serve with bread.
2. Tuscan Chicken with Ham and Cheese
This was my own recipe, inspired by a dish I had at an Italian restaurant years ago. Prepare one piece of chicken per person.
Tuscan Chicken with Ham and Cheese
Ingredients
- 2 boneless, skinless chicken breast
- 2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil divided
- 1/2 medium-sized onion chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 15 oz can of diced tomatoes
- 2 cups fresh baby spinach
- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 slices of leftover ham one slice for each chicken breast
- 2 slices of Provolone cheese one slice for each chicken breast
- pinch of salt and pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325ºF.
- Season both sides of each chicken breast with salt and pepper
- Start water for boiling your favorite type of pasta noodle
- Heat olive oil in a 12-inch, non-stick skillet
- Once heated, add chicken breast to skillet. Brown both sides. Each side should take 4-5 minutes.
- Remove chicken from the pan, place in an ovenproof dish. Place in the oven while you cook the sauce.
- Return to your non-stick skillet. On medium-high heat, add 1 Tablespoon olive oil. Once hot, saute your onions.
- When onions are just beginning to brown, add the minced garlic and stir in for about 30 seconds.
- Add tomatoes, stir until combined.
- Add spinach. Using tongs turn spinach until it begins to wilt - about 5 minutes.
- Add heavy cream and a pinch of salt and a pinch of pepper.
- Add salt to pasta water and drop the pasta into boiling water.
- Remove chicken from oven and top with a slice of ham and a slice of provolone cheese. Return to the oven.
- Leave the cream mixture to cook until it is boiling. Once at a slow boil, reduce heat to low and add Parmesan cheese, stir to combine.
- Sauce should thicken in about 4-5 minutes.
- Return baked chicken to the skillet.
- Continue on low heat, cover and cook an additional 4-5 minutes.
- Serve over pasta.
If you like this recipe check out this dish:
Creamy Sauce Makes This Tuscan Chicken Dish
3. Ham and Cheese Sliders
Ham and Cheese Sliders
Ingredients
- 1 pound sliced or shaved ham
- 1 pound thinly sliced Swiss cheese
- 1 stick, 1/2 cup butter
- 1 1/2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1 1/2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
- 1 1/2 tsp dried, minced onions
- 1 12 pack of KING'S HAWAIIAN Original Sweet Dinner Rolls
Instructions
- Melt butter and mix in mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and dried onion.
- Place the pack of dinner rolls on a rimmed baking sheet. Using the edges of the baking sheet as a guide, cut the dinner rolls in half, horizontally.
- Place the bottom half of the rolls in a 9x13 baking dish.
- Cover the bottom half with the ham and cheese. Overlapping the food.
- Cover with the top half of the rolls.
- Drizzle butter mixture over the top of the rolls, making sure onion has distributed evenly.
- Refrigerate overnight.
- Bake uncovered at 350ºF for 15-20 minutes.
- Once finished heating up, separate to serve.
4. Ham and Cheese Breakfast Casserole
Ham and Cheese Breakfast Casserole
Ingredients
- 24 oz Frozen hash browns about 8 cups
- 16 oz cubed cooked ham
- 8 oz sharp cheddar cheese shredded
- 12 large eggs
- 1 cup milk (I used skim milk)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
- cooking spray
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350º
- Add the frozen hash browns, ham, cheese to a large bowl. Toss to combine and pour into a 9 x 13 baking dish, that has been sprayed with cooking spray
- In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, salt and pepper. Pour the egg mixture over the hash browns. Pat everything down with the back of a wooden spoon.
- Bake for one hour. The center should be set and the edges golden brown.
