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    🏠Home » Pork | Ham and Bacon Recipes

    Leftover Ham and Turkey Recipes

    Apr 9, 2023 by Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan · 8 Comments

    Leftover ham and turkey are great problems to have, but there are a few challenges for smaller households—time for some easy and delicious recipes.

    ham on a white plate
    Jump To:
    • 🦠Food Safety
    • ❄️Storing Leftover Ham
    • 🐖Leftover Ham Recipes
    • 🍖Leftover Ham Bone Recipes
    • 🦃Leftover Turkey Recipes
    Blue ribbon divider used for visual effect

    I will be talking about store-bought pre-cooked ham. They might be refrigerated and sealed at the store, and they might be spiral-cut. If you have a different type of ham, I have provided some links with options for most other types of ham.

    For the turkey, it is the leftovers from cooking a fresh whole turkey or a breast.

    🦠Food Safety

    Before we proceed, please be sure we are dealing with safe leftovers. It should be considered contaminated and decarded if it was left in the danger zone of 40° and 140°F range for more than 2 hours.

    The meat should have been properly thawed if frozen and stored refrigerated under 40°. And have not spent more than two hours in the food danger zone of 40° and 140 °F during serving. See Summer Food Safety for a more detailed discussion.

    ❄️Storing Leftover Ham

    The first option is the refrigerator. Generally, ham can be stored in the fridge for 3-5 days, but it can vary by type. Please see the FoodSafety.gov Ham Storage Chart for details if you have something other than a store-bought pre-cooked ham.

    Can I freeze ham?

    Yes, ham and ham bones will freeze well. There are those old wives' tales that you can not freeze ham. They are wrong—ham and ham bones both can be frozen.

    Most common hams are good for 1-2 months frozen. There is some variability by type of ham, so please see the FoodSafety.gov Ham Storage Chart for details.

    If you know that you need to freeze some of the ham for later, do that part of the ham as soon as possible. Seal it well; divide it into smaller units if it is large.

    To thaw your ham after it's been frozen, allow it to defrost in the refrigerator. It should thaw in about 24 to 48 hours, depending on the size.

    🐖Leftover Ham Recipes

    We can all do ham and cheese sandwiches and breakfast dishes like ham and eggs. I don't think you need recipes there, but here are some of our favorite recipes that have ham or where ham can make a great addition.

    Old Fashioned Scalloped Potatoes and Ham
    Scalloped Potatoes and Ham are a classic old-fashioned comfort food with creamy sauce, melted cheese, and slices of tender ham and potatoes—perfect for leftover ham.
    Scalloped Potatoes and Ham on a fork
    Plain Fried Rice in 10 Minutes—Customize to Your Taste
    In 10 minutes, you can have this easy Plain Fried Rice with Minute Rice™ customized to your needs and tastes to make the perfect side dish for your Chinese dinner.
    fried rice on a white plate
    Quick and Easy Broccoli Cheese Soup
    This quick and easy Broccoli Cheese Soup uses fresh or frozen broccoli and cheddar, Velveeta, or other cheeses. Make it a copycat of Panera's Broccoli Cheese Soup or one of the other variations.
    broccoli cheese soup in blue bowl

    🍖Leftover Ham Bone Recipes

    There is not much you can do with a ham bone besides soup. But it is an excellent option since the broth is just incredible.

    From a "cooking for two" viewpoint, these recipes are too big unless you have freezer space. If you do, these are great options. If you don't have freezer space, give the ham bone to a friend.

    Crock Pot Ham and Bean Soup
    Fire up the slow cooker to make some delicious ham and bean soup from that leftover ham bone. There is nothing much more traditional than this classic soup. Please enjoy one of the best soups you can make at home.
    Ham and bean soup on spoon
    Ham Bone Vegetable Soup
    Don't toss that leftover ham bone; make a delicious hearty soup loaded with tender vegetables and ham instead. Super easy on in your crock pot or on the stovetop.
    ham bone vegetable soup on spoon
    Puerto Rican Ham Bone Soup with Potatoes and Beans
    An excellent ham soup bursts with potatoes, rice, carrots, and beans in a spicy broth. Give that ham bone a great ending today with this hardy soup you will love.
    Ladle of ham soup

    🦃Leftover Turkey Recipes

    Not everybody had ham, so let's take care of the leftover turkey.

    Leftover freshly cooked turkey is refrigerated for four days if sealed well and maybe frozen for three months.

    slicing a turkey breast on a white platter
    Leftover Turkey Tetrazzini with Parmesan Topping
    The perfect leftover turkey recipe. With tender chunks of turkey, creamy sauce, pasta, vegetables, and a crispy Parmesan topping, you may want to cook extra turkey this year. Or make it with rotisserie chicken for Chicken Tetrazzini.
    large serving of turkey tetrazzini on a blue plate
    Turkey Chili
    This healthy three bean turkey chili recipe is easy to make in your crock pot or 30 minutes on the stovetop. A great-tasting chili with vegetables, three types of beans, and ground turkey. But it is also an excellent rotisserie chicken or leftover turkey recipe.
    Bowl of Three Bean Turkey Chili with sour cream and cheese

    Two chicken recipes, both with turkey options.

    Double Crust Chicken Pot Pie—Quick and Easy
    Double crust chicken pot pie is easy and quick to make at home. With two refrigerated crusts, you can have classic homemade chicken (or turkey) pot pie with tender vegetables and moist chicken. All in a simple roux you make yourself.
    chicken pot pie on white plate
    Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole
    Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole, made from scratch with no cans of soup, has a fabulous buttery Parmesan topping—perfect for an easy dinner or made ahead for later.
    fork full of casserole
    dogs with bunnies
    The Easter Bunny is in trouble... "Give up the ham, or the bunnies are toast."
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    Originally Published April 20, 2019.

    More Ham and Bacon Recipes

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      Bacon Wrapped Pork Medallions
    • Candied Bacon on a plate
      Spicy Candied Bacon
    • pile of cooked bacon on a white plate
      How to Cook Bacon in the Oven—Quick and Easy
    • ham bone vegetable soup on spoon
      Ham Bone Vegetable Soup

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    1. Sandra Murdico

      December 23, 2020 at 6:59 pm

      I cook different beans once a week in my Crock Pot. I just rinse them good and put them in the Crock Pot with seasoning I like and a ham bone or ham. I turn on high for 2 hours and then on low until done. You don't have to worry about gas with a Crock Pot, that I have found anyway. When I cook a ham, I leave a little ham on the bone. I use a meat cleaver or small hatchet (just for this) and chop the ham bone in half. I store each half in a separate Zip Lock Freezer Bag and toss them in the freezer. Any ham left over, I separate by large handfulls in zippered sandwich bags getting all the air our before sealing. I them put them in a gallon Zip Lock Freezer bag all together, seal and put in the freezer. I can them just take a bag of the ham out for cooking dry beans or soup. Hope this helps someone. Have a wonderful holiday!

      Reply
    2. Carolyn S.

      April 13, 2020 at 11:49 am

      When I was a young wife & mother, a bone-in ham was my favorite thing. I could get many meals from it. We didn't have slow cookers back then. Now I do, so I slow cook the bone in 8 cups of water to make ham stock, strain it and let it sit in the 'fridge overnight so the fat will rise and I can skim it off. Then I proceed to make Congressional Bean Soup.

      Reply
    3. Claudia Matusiak

      April 13, 2020 at 10:00 am

      I don't think your grammar check fixed the problem, should be "Old "Wives Tales."

      Reply
      • Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan

        April 13, 2020 at 10:07 am

        Thanks for the proofread. I think this one is on my mother who always said wise not wives.
        Stay Safe.
        Dan

    4. Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan

      May 17, 2019 at 4:49 pm

      Welcome to the blog.
      We love leftover ham. The picture at the top was our "for two" 8 pound ham. We do freeze some but mostly it is what you discussed. I have to do one every 2-3 months.
      Thanks for the note.
      Dan

      Reply
    5. bill berdan

      April 22, 2019 at 9:16 am

      I used leftover into turkey burgers

      Reply
    6. Kevin

      April 21, 2019 at 12:32 pm

      Great post, although "..old wise tail.." got me thinking about my yellow Labrador. 🤣

      Reply
      • Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan

        April 21, 2019 at 2:01 pm

        Hi Kevin,
        Welcome to the blog.
        So much for the grammar checker... Fixed and thanks for the proof-read.
        Dan
        dogs tails

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