Ham Appetizers for Holiday Entertaining

A holiday ham doesn’t have only one part to play in your end-of-the-year celebrations. Check out these great ham appetizer ideas for passing around at family gatherings — all finger food and easy to execute.

Ham Appetizers You Won’t Be Able to Pass Up

Ham and Cheese in Puff Pastry

From Ina Garten, The Food Network.
This is one of my all-time favorite holiday appetizers. It starts with premade puff pastry and comes out of the oven bubbling and delicious. (I especially like it because it doesn’t involve filling little individual quiche cups or wrapping dozens of shrimp in bacon. Who has time?)
You can vary the cheese — cheddar is great for a more kid-friendly version, as is part-skim mozzarella — and any hard cheese could substitute for Gruyere. Yum!

 

Smoked Ham Roll-ups

From Nueske’s Applewood Smoked Meats.
This is another take on the “make something big and cut it into small bites” school of appetizer cooking. You could skip the horseradish, add some chopped sundried tomatoes to the cream cheese or augment with green onions for color and a little onion flavor.

 

 

Deviled Ham Sandwiches

From Lisa Lavery at Chow.com.
Deviled ham comes together quickly in a food processor, blended with pickle relish, Dijon mustard, mayonnaise and spices. Recipe author Lisa Lavery says to served the ham “with fancy crackers, or enjoy it on bread for a departure from the everyday ham sandwich.”
Bonus: This can be made three days ahead, to give you more time for other things on the day of the party.

 

Mini Frittatas with Ham and Cheese

From Cooking Light. These bite size frittatas will require the purchase of a mini-muffin pan if you don’t already have one. But they’re savory, surprisingly light (even with regular instead of reduced-fat ham) and so simple to make, that could be a worthy investment.
Made with onions, chives,  cheddar and egg, these taste great hot and at room temperature, so they’re a cinch to make ahead.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Free Holiday Ham Guide

For a go-to all things ham cookbook and guide, download gThankYou’s free “Holiday Ham Guide”. You’ll find everything you need to select, cook, flavor and serve a juicy, beautifully cooked ham. Your friends and family will thank you!

Inside this popular guide you’ll find more recipes for whole ham as well as glazes and appetizers. What are you waiting for? Download your free copy now!