Leftover Bone-In Ham Ideas

Most of my traffic related to my pressure cooked ham recipes are clustered around three different times: the Thanksgiving Ham, the Christmas Ham and the Easter Ham. Even if your leftover bone-in ham isn’t related to some sort of religious occasion, you might still be wondering what can be made with big chunk of leftover ham.

In the event you still need to warm up the spiral cut ham that you bought, check out my recipe for using a pressure cooker to cook a pre-cooked ham

How to Pressure Cook a Bone-In Ham

What to do with a Leftover Bone-In Ham

In most cases, the holiday ham has been out on the main table, or perhaps a serving table, for a few hours and it’s been thoroughly picked over. Now you are staring at a plate of scraps, a few big chunks here and there that need carved out and a big gnarly bone.

There’s still so much goodness left as well as several good meals.

This is where your pressure cooker (or Instant Pot) will really excel and do what it does best. You’ll be using it to extract out an amazing stock that will be a base for lentil soup. While that’s cooking, you can use the scraps for ham salad sandwiches.

Making Pressure Cooker Ham Stock with a Ham Bone

There are many kitchen tasks that where your pressure cooker is uniquely the single best, and quickest, appliance for the task. Making bone broth and stock from leftover bones is high on that list

And a leftover ham bone, because of its size and amount of connective tissue, still has an amazing amount of flavor left in it. This is where you’ll use your leftover bone to make stock for soup.

Just be aware that hams are wildly high in sodium and your stock is also likely to be shockingly salty. Be sure to taste test and dilute it as needed.

Making Soup with Leftover Ham

This will be one of the hammiest ham soups that you will ever make.

The number of soups that can be made with the stock is endless, but I’m always a big fan of a simple Ham and Lentil Soup with Vegetables.

And that’s because, in the world of holiday leftovers, you’re very likely to still have a lot of vegetables on hand. Use onions, celery and carrots to make the mirepoix. This is the base for the flavors. At the end, adding bell peppers, more carrots and even green beans will round it out.

Making Ham Salad Sandwiches with Leftover Ham

Finally, you’ll chop up the remaining ham slices and ham chunks to make some of the best ham salad sandwiches you’ve ever tried. And it’s very likely you already have all of the ingredients on hand that you’ll need.

Then, in a mixing bowl with the finely chopped ham, add in mustard, mayo, chopped celery, chopped red onion and some chopped pickles. Mix well and you’re all set.

And that’s it. When complete, you should have nothing left but a big gnarly, fairly clean, bone. All of the goodness has been extracted and you’ve fed your family for a few more days.