Sandwich Spread Recipe, But My Mother-in-Law Called it Ham Salad!

My mother-in-law made this sandwich spread recipe made with bologna but she called it ham salad. Of course, I didn’t know any better, I was newly married and naive. Growing up my sandwiches consisted of peanut butter and jelly or bologna and cheese. I had never heard of sandwich spread or ham salad, for that matter.

Sandwich Spread Or Ham Salad!

Ham salad is made with ham. Add some chopped boiled eggs, pickles or pickle relish, chopped onion, and celery, salad dressing, or mayonnaise.  Wikipedia. Just like tuna salad or chicken salad, you just change out the meat. So is sandwich spread called bologna salad?

At the deli at my local grocery store, they sell “sandwich spread”. I’m not sure what they put in theirs but my husband doesn’t care for it so I just started making my own.

I vaguely remember what my mother-in-law put in hers’s so I just kinda developed my own recipe to suit our tastes. Of course to my husband, no one can make “ham salad”  like his mom’s.

 Ingredients For Sandwich Spread Recipe

  • 12 oz thick-cut Bologna
  • 2 large eggs, hard-boiled chopped.
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons dried minced onions or 1/2 small onion finely chopped
  • 3 tablespoons pickle relish, sweet or dill
  • 1 cup finely shredded cheese, mild cheddar, or American
  • 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • dash of cider vinegar
  • salt and pepper to taste

Directions On Making Sandwich Spread Recipe

Grind the bologna.* and place it in a large bowl.  Add the chopped hard-boiled eggs, onion, relish or pickles, and cheese. In a smaller bowl mix mayonnaise, sugar, and vinegar until smooth. Add to bologna mixture and mix well.  Salt and pepper to taste.

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*My mother-in-law used to make a big “batch” and I remember her using a portable metal meat grinder to grind all that bologna. (the one she used clamped onto the kitchen table). But now we have that wonderful machine called a food processor. It will grind up your bologna in a matter of seconds.  No cranking. Just add the bologna with the blade attachment, close the lid, and hit a button.(love that machine!)

Years ago when I made this sandwich spread, I used Miracle Whip. But in later years I found that I cannot eat mustard. (it makes me very ill) and one of the ingredients in Miracle Whip is mustard flour.

So now I use Hellman’s Real Mayonnaise as it is the only product that I can find that does not have mustard flour as one of its ingredients. That is also why I add the tablespoon of sugar, but feel free to omit it if you prefer. I also prefer sweet relish to dill. Years ago I used the small sweet pickles and chopped them up. But the older I got, the wiser I became. Now I use sweet relish instead. No more chopping pickles and no more sticky fingers.

 

I Love Ham Salad/Sandwich Spread

For the last several years I was unable to eat sandwich spread due to the fact of the use of salad dressing (miracle whip). I tried many variations, unflavored yogurt, ranch dressing, and sour cream. But none of them made the spread taste right. Then I stumbled upon Hellman’s Real Mayonnaise. And I thought “What the Heck” and gave it a try. Boy am I glad I did. Now I have been making this sandwich spread more often and love the fact that now I can eat it!

What do you call this wonderful sandwich fixing, “Ham Salad” or “sandwich spread? Leave me a comment below

Have A Wonderful Day!

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4 thoughts on “Sandwich Spread Recipe, But My Mother-in-Law Called it Ham Salad!”

  1. I’ve heard of your recipe, but I always use leftover baked ham. My mom used the same hand-cranked clamp on mincer. I, like you, got a food processor & it’s now so easy. Someday I’ll give your recipe a try bc my hubby will like it, I know. TY.

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  2. I grew up in the 50’s and my mother made bologna (baloney) ham salad also. She clamped the grinder onto the edge of the table and ground the bologna, and the sweet gherkins. She always used miracle whip, not mayonnaise. That was it. When I started making my own i used Piccalilli, which had red sweet peppers in it as well as sweet relish. I have also tasted ham salad made with real ham, but I still prefer Bologna.

    My aunt Merle also made barbecue for sandwiches with Isley’s chip-chop ham using her own recipe for the sauce, it was also great, but we also made it with Bologna. Guess we were addicted to good Bologna, still am.

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