How to Cook A Ham & Get At LEAST 4 Meals Out Of It!
I love to bake ham (the proper pronunciation in my neck of the woods is “ha-yum”). Its super simple, incredibly delicious, and yields enough to provide several meals. Whats more, anything that is left over is easily frozen to recycle into casseroles, beans, omelets, and more at a later date.
There are as many ways to cook and use a ham as there are stars in the sky. A lot of people like to put a glaze on theirs but my philosophy is: Why over complicate things? Ham tastes GOOD and when I take a bite of ham, I’m not expecting to taste maple or cinnamon or oranges, I just want to taste my ham!
That having been said, of course there isn’t anything wrong with making a glaze, its just that I prefer the taste on its own. So here is your basic “How To Cook A Ham” tutorial with a several options for getting more meals out of it!
You’ll need a shoulder, shank, picnic, or umm….rear ham. No, its not going to say “rear” but I can’t bring myself to type what it will say. Okay, I kinda just typed it, look in that sentence, find a word beginning in “b” and add another “t” to it. ~sighs~ I swear these things were named by men. A lady would have named it “tooshie ham” or “derriere ham”.
I put my ham on a baking sheet that has a lip on it because juices will come out and you don’t want them being spilled off into your oven. Encase your ham really well in Aluminum foil. Now all you do is turn your oven on 250 and cook all day. We are slow cooking this, basically using our oven as the original crock pot. I put mine on in the morning, around eight, and let it slow cook until supper time. I recommend you cook it for at least five hours, anything longer than that just adds to the tenderness so feel free to cook yours all day like I do!
I like to serve my ham with white beans, also known as Northern or Navy beans. What you are seeing here is basically a combination of Northern and Navy beans, I used a bag of each because I didn’t have enough of either one to make a really big pot. How do you cook these beans? That’s simple, just check out my tutorial on how to make dried beans, which is the exact method I used to cook these.
Dried beans are incredibly economical and filling. I make a large pot and then use them for two meals, once as a side dish and once as a main course as you’ll see in my next photo.
Po’ Folks Dinner (Po Folks Sure Do Eat Good!)
This is my first choice in recycling ham and beans. The following day, I heat up the beans and shred a good bit of ham to go in them. Serve this with cornbread and some chopped onions and don’t be surprised if wayward Southern bachelors don’t start lining up at your door!
Do you have a family who bristles at the thought of leftovers? A simple solution to this is to wait two days before recycling them into a new meal. If I have ham on Monday, I might wait until Wednesday to serve this ham and bean dish. This is an easy way to beat the “we had this last night!” whining. My family has yet to notice we are eating leftovers when I serve them this way!
But Mama’s Northern Beans Had This Gravy In Them…
I’ve had a lot of people email asking about the “gravy” their mothers used to have in their white beans. The good news is, that cooks up on its own! You’ll notice the liquid gets very thick when you cook dried beans, especially the longer you cook them. Just look at these photos (which I took specifically of the liquid so you could see).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Shortcut Ham Casserole
Faster than you can order a pizza!
Another thing I like to do for a super quick supper with leftover ham is chop it up and add it to a box of Au Gratin or Scalloped potatoes. Just prepare the potatoes according to box directions, stir in chopped ham, place in a 9×13 inch casserole dish and bake (according to package directions). This is home style convenience food at its finest!
My husband was pretty put off the first time that box of potatoes appeared but he got over it after his first bite of my ham “casserole”. If you want, you can also experiment with adding frozen vegetables to this. I like to add green beans 
.
*Be sure to click on the ad at the bottom of this post to get a $10 book of Betty Crocker Coupons!
Other uses for leftover ham:
I could devote an entire website to this discussion but I’ll keep it to just a few here!
- Country Casserole is EXCELLENT with ham instead of chicken!
- Chop it up and add it to omelets for a great breakfast (or brunch…or dinner…or…)
- Bake up a can of biscuits (if you don’t want to make homemade) and have ham and biscuits! This is an excellent dinner idea (Southerners love our breakfast for dinner!). Serve with Fried Apples and Cheesy Hash Brown Casserole for a feast any Southern heart would bowl over for!
DON’T THROW AWAY YOUR HAM BONE!!
If you do, my ancestors will haunt you! Below are a couple of suggestions for using that bone. I like to keep a bit of ham on mine so when I use it, the dish will have ham in it as well. If you aren’t going to use it within a week, just put it in a ziploc bag and toss it in your freezer!
- A ham bone is the world’s best seasoning for dried beans – Just toss the whole thing in the pot while they cook and when they are done, remove it and take off bits of ham from it to put back in the pot when you serve your beans – YUM.
- A ham bone is also a GREAT seasoning for soups and stews! Let it cook in there the entire time and then discard after everything is done – making sure you get all of those delicious ham bits off of it first!
Now I’m hungry! What is worse though, is that I cannot stop thinking about the next recipe I am going to post for you. The perfect dessert, coffee treat, or indulgent snack – and its SUPER easy as well as incredibly impressive! Oh, oh oh, I can’ hardly wait!!! But I will, so be sure and tune in for my next post!
My son started back school yesterday but my daughter doesn’t go back until Monday. I have SO much to get caught up on with my email subscribers! Thank you all for your patience!
I hope you are all having a wonderful week! I’ve been busy running around getting some EXCITING things lined up for you in February! Stay tuned!
If you enjoy Southern Plate, please tell your friends!
Grateful to each and every one of you,
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Ham is my favorite meat in the world so I love this post. I don’t want glaze and stuff either. Just gimme the ham. If you stick cloves in it.. I ain’t gonna touch it. I’ve hated cloves since my uncle gave me some clover gum when I was about 4. That spice is from the devil himself lol.
Thanks for this one!
Hey Bill! I just knew you’d be a fellow purist! It tastes so darn good on its own, why mess with it?
Cloves ~shudders~ Oh I can’t even go into those. I had a clove studded ham once…I think they should be placed on the table with the fruit cake myself
I love a good ham. Like you I like just plain ham. A good sandwich with ham, lettuce, tomato, mayo and whole wheat bread. I wish I had one right now, if I was not on this SCALE BACK ALABMA thing. But I could have a half of a sandwich. Have a blessed day and as always HAPPY COOKING
)
Tracy Hey! My sister in law is doing he scale back Alabama thing, too!
Your sandwich sounds heavenly! I gotta go look into the scale back thing more now since two people have mentioned it to me….
I hope you are having a wonderful day. The rain in Alabama FINALLY STOPPED!!! YAY!
I was wondering, won’t cooking it for so long just make it dry out? What steps do you take to avoid a dry ham? I absolutely love ham, it’s great for any meal! Mmmmm.
Hey Xasora! Nope, it won’t be dry at all! In fact, it will be very tender and juicy. The secret is to wrap it really well in aluminum foil. Really really well. I lay out a big sheet, set the ham on top, wrap it around, then lay out another sheet in the opposite direction, set the ham on top and wrap it around. Then I wrap a sheet around it from the sides and top. If you wrap it well, it is cooking in its own juices the entire time and the slow cooking yields the most tender, juicy ham!
A lot of people bake roasts, hams, and chickens and such open in the oven. This is a method of cooking that certain works but is better suited for shorter periods of time as it does dry the meat out. You also have to really work to cut this meat. I am spoiled, I like my meat to basically fall apart on its own
Could you simply cook the ham in the crock pot? If you had a small enough ham/big enough crock pot, that is.
Hey, did you get that ham at Publix recently? That’s a great price for that much ham. I am going tomorrow because they are having a great sale on items I need. You read my mind exactly….I was already thinking some white beans and ham sounded good. Think I’ll make a little slaw to go with it…yumm!!
Laura
Hey Laura!
I got it two weeks ago, I was pretty happy with the price as well. I STILL have ham in my freezer and I served it the first time when my in laws were here, too! I love getting to go to Publix, they have such neat things that I have always had to go to Huntsville for before. A few things though, like cake mixes and such, are double the price of wally world!
I could just spend all day on their baking aisle!!!
Thank goodness someone else likes plain ham. My family talked me into glazing our Christmas ham and as far as I’m concerned, I ruined it!
Laura, make that slaw with packaged shredded lettuce and Ken’s Vidalia Onion Salad Dressing and you’ll never go back to conventional.
Love these blogs and recipes, Christy. Never give it up!
Oops! I meant shredded cabbage, not lettuce.
Jean I know just what you mean! Now my brother sometimes pours a can of coke over his ham and then wraps it and bakes it and its very good, but I still prefer my ham to just taste like ham. Its so good!!! I guess some people just like to taste the glaze instead? Maybe I’m dull! lol
Jean, thank you so much. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate the encouragement!!! It keeps me going!!!! ~hugs~
My family loves ham but the salt does not love me! Do you have any tips for de-salting it a bit? I would dearly love to be able to add ham back into our menu.
Kate Hey! Actually, I have a grandmother who is bothered by the salt as well. She takes her entire ham, puts it in a large pot (it would have to be pretty big) and covers it with water. Then bring it to a boil on the top of your stove and let it boil for about fifteen minutes. Drain off the water and wrap it in foil, baking as usual. This will significantly reduce the salt.
If you don’t like salt, make sure you steer clear of the Country Ham, it’ll do ya in!!
Nothing goes further than a ham, unless it’s a second whole chicken roasted on the side with tonight’s dinner.
For Christmas, my daughter has a whole spiral sliced ham (NO GLAZE) on her open house buffet table, and I get the leftovers (bones, ham bits and all) for my Red Beans and Rice on Christmas Day. Since her open house is usually mid-December, I can make my RB&R several days ahead and let the flavors develop. With an overnight brunch casserole in the frig, my kitchen is pretty lonely on Christmas Day. Ahhhhh. With a bit more ham, I’d make Senate Bean Soup to serve with cornbread in cooler weather. Keep the recipes coming, please.
Hey Mary!
Check out my new option on Southern Plate, I can now respond directly beneath the comment, this is so neat!
You are my guinea pig
Whenever my mother bakes a ham (or my grandmother), they often save the bone for me. Its like getting to take home a prize, isn’t it!?
My mother LOVES red beans and rice. If you share it, I’d love to have your recipe!!! If you don’t, I understand! (christy@southernplate.com…hehe!)
I love the bean soup and cornbread, too! Oooooh I think I might make soup today now!!!
Thank you so much. Long as y’all keep reading, I’ll keep a postin’!!!
Gratefully,
Christy
I’d love to share the recipe, although I imagine there are many like it out there. Mine came from a friend during a brief sojourn in Louisiana during the 1960’s. As the story goes, Monday was washday and nobody was in the kitchen cooking, so this pot sat on the stove all day for those who needed a filling meal. Since it freezes well, I always make a double recipe to have some around in case I need a mental “washday.” I hope your mother enjoys it as much as we do.
I’ll send the recipe by separate email, since I don’t know how to attach it here.
I love using ham bones for soup. I make the typical bean soups with them but I also really like them for brothy soup with kale or collards.
Ooooh yes, everyone here knows good food, I’m tellin’ ya!!
Y’all make me so hungry! lol
Not for that restaurant mess though, for real, honest to goodness, down home good stuff!!!
Very good tips. I bake my ham and put it into freezer bags and then use it in dishes as I need it. Ham is so good and it really is lean. Thanks for such a good post.
Thank you so much for reading it! You know, I baked that ham, fed six people, used it in beans the next day, made a few omelets with it, and still had a good amount to put in my freezer!!!
I hope you’re having a great week!!!
Gratefully,
Christy
I love ham. It is one of my favorite things about the holidays because that is when I eat it most. I have bought a ham and will cook it as you suggested. I will also be checking out your white bean recipe. I love white beans with ham but have yet to cook them exactly right. So I look forward to using your dried beans tutorial.
I stopped by from Simply Vicki – now I am going back to enter the contest for your cookbook.
Have a great Monday!
Toni
Have y’all ever had ham dumplings? As long as I can remember, my Mama and Granny always made ham dumplings with leftovers. You just boil the ham bone until some ham falls off, then toss in some dumplings (preferably homemade, although the frozen ones suffice in a fix).
Ham dumplings… I’m getting hungry just thinking about it!
[...] Use leftover meat to make another meal. Christy at Southern Plate used 1 ham to make 4 different meals. Don’t want to eat ham 4 nights in row? You don’t have to. Make the casserole and [...]
[...] See How to Cook A Ham & Get At LEAST 4 Meals Out Of It! from Southern [...]
Thanks for the great cooking tips and gadgets and thanks for sharing.
[...] Ham [...]
Those ham and beans pics look delicious! A while back I did a series on dutch oven ham recipes. Sorry, but I do like glazes and things!
Thanks!
Mark
Leftover navy beans make wonderful homemade baked beans. Just add diced onion, ketchup, and a ton of brown sugar and bake. The thinker the broth gets the better.
darn-I always end up with a typo-should say thicker!