Ham Loaf

This vintage ham loaf recipe transforms simple ingredients into a hearty, flavorful meal and is the perfect way to use up leftover holiday ham!

Course Main Course

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 1 30

Resting time 30

Total Time 2 30

Servings

Calories 322kcal

Author Sara Garska

Cost $10

Preheat oven to 325°F.
Spray 9X4 loaf pan with non-stick spray. You can also line with parchment paper to make it even easier to remove from pan
Chop crackers in the food processor until you have 1 cup of crumbs. (About 1 ½ cups of crackers)
Chop ham into pieces and process in batches that allow you to pulverize the ham. For my food processor, I filled the bowl until the half-way point.
Mix ham, cracker crumbs, eggs, milk, salt and pepper in a large mixing bowl.
Put ham mixture into prepared loaf pan and bake for 1 hour.
Combine the ingredients for the topping mixture in a small bowl.
At the one-hour mark, pour the topping mixture over the ham loaf.
Return to the oven and bake for another 30 minutes.
Remove from oven and allow to cool in the pan for about half an hour.
Enjoy warm.

Nutrition information is provided as an estimate.

Prep Tips:

Ham - The recipe calls for one and a half pounds of ham. I used a kitchen scale. If you don’t have a scale this amount of ham filled a gallon bag about halfway. It almost filled a 2-quart bowl. This recipe also says ground ham. Since I don’t have a meat grinder, I used my food processor. I processed until it looked “ground” to me.
Crackers - In this recipe, cracker crumbs are used like you would use bread crumbs in a traditional meat loaf recipe. Granny's recipe didn't specify a type of cracker, so you can use whatever you have on hand. I had some gluten-free crackers on hand and I used those, but I think something like Ritz crackers would also taste fabulous.
Preparing the Pan - For a recipe like this that has a sugar glaze, it’s important to prepare the baking dish so you have the least amount of sticking. I used a non-stick spray for baking and then lined the pan with parchment paper. I like to cut the paper so it is the width of the length of the pan and the long side of the paper hangs over the side. Once you loaf is baked and cooled a bit, you can easily lift the entire thing in one piece from the pan.
Storage - Keep leftovers wrapped in aluminum foil or in an airtight container in the fridge, for up to 3-4 days.