Don’t let your ham go to waste. I’m sharing my tips on how to reheat sliced ham without drying it out.
Sliced ham is a staple on most dining room tables over the holiday season. From spiral to honey-glazed, ham is a fantastic center to base any meal around.
However, it always seems that after all of the fun has ended, someone ends up taking pounds of ham home to sit in the refrigerator and slowly go bad until it is inevitably thrown away.
Without knowing how to reheat sliced ham without drying it out, the meat never seems to be worth consuming the day after. But, with a little bit of extra work, and maybe a tiny amount of love, leftover ham can be saved, and can be as good or even better the next day.
How to Reheat Basic Ham Without Drying It Out
If you’re not looking to do anything new or unique with your ham, and are just looked to warm up your sliced ham, there is only one good way to go about it: gently and slowly. You want to heat your ham the same way you initially cooked it.
1. Preheat an over to 275-300 degrees.
2. Place slices of ham in a baking pan and cover with aluminum foil.
3. Optionally put a bit of water in the bottom of the pan to introduce steam to the meat.
4. Check the meat every 5-10 minutes to check. The ham should optimally be registering between 140 and 165 degrees for each slice.
Ham Soup
One of the greatest – and most overlooked – uses for leftover ham is as the main component of a soup. With leftover sliced ham, a ham and bean soup can take only minutes to prepare for a warm and filling meal with a surprising amount of protein.
1. Cube the sliced ham into small chunks.
2. In the base of a pot, sautee onions and garlic in butter. Add carrots and celery to finish the vegetable base of your soup.
3. Add the ham to the base vegetables before adding stock to achieve desired soup consistency. Less stock makes a chunkier soup.
4. Season to taste. Because ham is already salty, the soup should not need any additional salt. Black pepper and herbs like thyme and oregano go great with ham.
5. Stir in beans of choice, preferably from a can. Raw beans can take hours of prep, which defeats the purpose of using leftover ham.
6. Allow soup to come to a boil before reducing to a simmer, and allow to continue until warm and the flavors are incorporated, generally only about 15-20 minutes.
Ham French Dip
If you don’t want your ham to dry out, the best solution is to serve it with hot ham juice, ensuring that you get the maximum moisture.
For the ham, allow it to come back up to temperature the same way described above with the basic ham. Then, prepare an au jus using any ham drippings simmered with a bit of soy sauce, pepper, herbs, and a dash of vinegar.
Thicken the drippings with a bit of flour to make the dip come together. Then, shingle the ham onto some crusty bread, and dip into the au jus for a delicious and moist sandwich.