Ham and Bean Soup

 

Preparing and eating a great big delicious ham for Easter brunch is a wonderful traditional. However, it hardly ever seems like it all gets eaten up by your family. Year after year, you are left with a mountain of leftover ham.

Not that we are necessarily complaining, ham makes for great leftovers! But admittedly, eating cold ham and cheese sandwiches for the entire week after can get a little tiresome.

 

Leftover ham doesn’t have to be a burden, you just have to be a little inventive.

Carve off some thick slices of ham, stock up on ingredients at the grocery store and start planning a delicious week with your leftover ham.

Might we recommend starting with some of these recipes?

 

Grilled Ham and Cheese Sandwiches

Perhaps the easiest go-to leftover ham recipe, a grilled ham and cheese is just too darn good not to include on this list. Who doesn’t love grilled ham and cheese? Besides, you probably already have all the ingredients you need at home ready to go: ham, cheese of your choice, bread and butter. It is so easy to make for lunch and it is a kid-friendly favorite.

Want a little bit more out of your grilled ham and cheese sandwich? Now you’re speaking our language! With a few more ingredients and not that much more work, you can talk your sandwich to the next level by turning it into a Monte Cristo. Similar in presentation to a classic ham and cheese, a Monte Cristo’s bread is grilled french toast style and served with a little extra sweetness like powdered sugar or jam. Check this recipe out for a standard Monte Cristo.

 

Ham and Bean Soup

Name a better solution to leftover ham bones, hocks and hunks of meat than to toss it in a pot and whip up a batch of ham and beans soup. Go ahead, we will wait. Hearty and delicious, ham and bean soup is especially great when you get near the end of your ham supply and can help a little go a long way.

Ham and bean soup is also great because there are many, many variations you can take on the same dish. Whether you are making some from scratch, following a recipe you found online or following one handed down from your grandparents, no two batches of ham and beans taste exactly the same. If you want to try some new takes and variations, be sure to check out some of our favorites like Italian-Style Ham and Beans, Great Northern Beans with Ham and Cornbread or Ham, Great Northern Bean and Collard Green Slow Cooker Soup.

 

Scalloped Potatoes

Ham and potatoes are as dynamic a duo as Batman and Robbin. They just make sense together. There are a lot of different ways you can pair the two together, but one of our favorites is scalloped potatoes – or otherwise known as au gratin potatoes.

Gratin is a French culinary term for the golden brown crust that forms from the cooking of the cheese on top of the dish. Au gratin potatoes are cheesy, garlicy and full of flavor. Adding chopped up pieces of ham in au gratin potatoes is also a common practice among cooks. So let’s recap. Cheesy, check. Potatoes, check. Ham, check. I think we’ve said about all we need to say on the subject! If you need some more convincing, why not try out this recipe we found as a side dish for dinner tonight?

See, leftover ham isn’t boring if you think outside the box. Do you mind if we come over for dinner?

These recipes would be perfect to prepare with your leftover Easter ham!

 

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