The best leftover ham recipes start with the bone: simmer it into a smoky stock, then build a ham and white bean soup that feeds the house for two nights. After that, sliced ham goes into eggs, sandwiches, fried rice, and a dozen other things listed below.
Our applewood smoked spiral ham carries its smoke into every dish it goes in. Here is the soup, ten more ideas, and how long leftover ham keeps.
- First, save the bone
- Ham and white bean soup
- Ten more leftover ham ideas
- How long leftover ham keeps
- Questions people ask
First, save the bone
When the last slices come off, do not throw the bone away. Wrap it and refrigerate it, or freeze it if soup is more than a few days off. There is a lot of meat and flavor left on it.
Cut the remaining ham into three piles: neat slices for sandwiches, diced meat for eggs and rice, and the ragged bits near the bone for soup. Bag them separately so you are not slicing cold ham at 7 am.
An applewood smoked ham is worth this small effort. The smoke lives in the fat and the bone, so the stock from one bone carries that flavor into the whole pot.
Ham and white bean soup with the bone
Serves 6. About 20 minutes of work and 90 minutes on the stove. Ingredients:
- 1 ham bone with some meat left on it, plus 2 cups diced leftover ham
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 onion, 2 carrots, 2 celery stalks, all diced
- 3 garlic cloves, chopped
- 8 cups water or low sodium chicken broth
- 2 cans (15 oz each) white beans, drained, or 1/2 lb dried beans soaked overnight (about the same cooked amount)
- 1 bay leaf, 1 teaspoon dried thyme, black pepper to taste
- 2 cups chopped kale or spinach (optional)
- Warm the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Cook the onion, carrot, and celery until soft, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic for one more minute.
- Add the ham bone, water or broth, bay leaf, and thyme. Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer. Cook 60 minutes, partly covered. If using dried beans, add them now.
- Lift out the bone. Pull off any meat, chop it, and return it to the pot with the diced ham and the canned beans. Simmer 20 minutes more.
- Stir in the greens until wilted. Taste before salting; the ham brings plenty. Add pepper and serve.
The soup keeps 3 to 4 days in the fridge and freezes well. For a thicker soup, mash a cup of the beans against the side of the pot. The slow simmer is the same idea as our guide to the art of slow cooking heritage pork.
Ten more leftover ham recipes and ideas
- Ham and cheese omelet. Diced ham warmed in the pan first, then eggs, then cheese. Five minutes.
- Ham fried rice. Day old rice, diced ham, peas, scallion, egg, soy sauce. The smoke does the work of bacon here.
- Grilled ham and Swiss on rye. Butter the outside, mustard on the inside, medium heat until the cheese runs.
- Ham and potato casserole. Sliced potatoes, ham, a simple cheese sauce, 45 minutes at 375°F.
- Split pea soup. Same method as the bean soup with a pound of split peas and no canned beans.
- Ham quiche. Store bought crust, 4 eggs, 1.5 cups milk, a cup of ham, a cup of cheese, 40 minutes at 350°F.
- Ham, egg, and cheese breakfast sandwiches. Make eight, wrap, freeze, microwave on weekdays.
- Ham salad. Ground or finely chopped ham, mayo, pickle relish, a little mustard. Sandwiches or crackers.
- Ham and pineapple pizza. Diced ham on a Friday pizza. The applewood smoke and the sweet fruit are made for each other.
- Ham and greens. Collards or kale simmered with the last of the bone and a splash of vinegar.
How long leftover ham keeps
| Leftover ham | Refrigerator (40°F) | Freezer (0°F) |
|---|---|---|
| Spiral cut ham, sliced or diced | 3 to 5 days | 1 to 2 months for best quality |
| Ham bone | 3 to 5 days | 1 to 2 months |
| Ham soup | 3 to 4 days | 2 to 3 months |
The fridge and freezer figures for spiral cut ham come from the USDA hams and food safety page. Frozen ham stays safe past two months, but the texture starts to suffer. Wrap it tight and freeze in meal sized packs.
Questions people ask about leftover ham
What can I use leftover cooked ham for?
Soup with the bone, eggs and omelets, fried rice, sandwiches, casseroles, quiche, pizza, and greens. Dice it once and bag it, and the week takes care of itself.
How long will leftover ham last in the refrigerator?
Three to five days for spiral cut ham, per USDA. Freeze what you will not eat by then.
Can you eat ham 5 days old?
USDA gives spiral cut ham 3 to 5 days in the fridge, so day five is the limit. Soup made from it inside that window keeps another 3 to 4 days.
Is a ham still good after 2 years in the freezer?
Safe, if it stayed frozen the whole time, but the quality will be poor. USDA’s best quality window for cooked ham is 1 to 2 months. Use old frozen ham in soup, where texture matters least.
Next time, buy a ham big enough for leftovers. The best leftover ham recipes come from a ham worth eating twice: Heritage Duroc, applewood smoked, from hogs raised crate free and antibiotic free on Iowa family farms. It sells out around the holidays.
Check spiral sliced ham availability, and find the rest of our cuts in the farm shop.