Holiday Ham Balls
In Southern Iowa, Ham Balls are the thing. We serve them for Easter, Christmas, funeral dinners, church dinners, potlucks, and anything in between. It has come to my attention over the years, that some people have never heard of Ham Balls, and even worse…never tasted them! GASP! My husband hails from PA, and it was a foreign food to him, one that he has since gotten over and now gets just as excited as the little ones in the family when it is on the weekly menu plan.
Over the Thanksgiving holiday, a friend asked if I would make them for her, but in an appetizer form to put in a slow cooker and serve as you would a meatball. What a smart cookie she is, so I have included instructions for the regular method as well as making them as an appetizer.
Ham Balls
Author/Source: Lisa
Lisa @ Onceamonthmom.com
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 pounds ground smoked ham **
- 1 1/2 ground pork (not sausage)**
- 1 pound ground beef
- 3 cups graham cracker crumbs
- 3 eggs
- 2 C milk
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 can ( 10.75 oz) tomato soup
- 1 tsp dry mustard
- 6 Tbsp vinegar
**Note – our local grocer’s meat dept sells a Ham Loaf – which is the mix of the smoked ham and ground pork. If yours does as well – use 3 lbs of Ham Loaf Mix instead of the 1 1/2 lbs ground smoked ham and 1 1/2 lbs ground pork. Additionally, you can make your own ground smoked ham by using a Kitchen Aid grinding attachment or a food processor on pulse action, grinding up cooked ham, cured ham, leftover baked ham.
Directions:
In a very large bowl or roasting pan, mix the ground beef, smoked ham, ground pork, graham cracker crumbs, eggs and milk. I like to use my hands to mix this (wearing disposable rubber gloves), and if so the eggs and milk will be very cold. Mix the ingredients until combined. Using a 1/2 cup measure, form 25 balls. Place in a large roasting pan. Whisk the topping ingredients together and pour over Ham Balls in pan. Bake 350 for 1 hour.
Freezing Directions:
There are two different methods of freezing you can choose. I depends on how I plan to serve..if I am wanting to serve in different meals throughout the month, I typically use a freezer bag and take out the desired amount, place in a baking dish and bake. If I am serving a large meal, I will freeze in a foil pan.
- Flash freeze formed balls on a cookie sheet until hard. Place in a freezer bag. Place a freezer bag of the topping mix in with it as well. (Can divide topping into 2 bags for smaller serving). To serve: Place desired number of Ham Balls into baking dish and thaw in fridge. Before baking, pour thawed topping over Ham Balls. Bake 350 for 1 hour.
- Place formed balls into a large foil (a 9X13 won’t be enough), or 2 smaller foil pans. Pour topping over ham balls. Cover with aluminum foil and freeze. To Serve: Thaw. Bake 350 for 1 hour.
For Appetizer Ham Balls:
A full pan of Ham Balls, ready to eat.
In a very large bowl or roasting pan, mix the ground beef, smoked ham, ground pork, graham cracker crumbs, eggs and milk. I like to use my hands to mix this (wearing disposable rubber gloves), and if so the eggs and milk will be very cold. Mix the ingredients until combined. Line 3-4 baking sheets with parchment paper. Using a tablespoon, heap the mixture to make a large rounded tablespoon ball. Place on baking sheet, making sure the ham balls don’t touch. Bake 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes, or until ham is cooked through and tops are lightly browned. Cool completely. Place baking sheets in freezer to flash freeze. When ham balls are hardened, place contents in a 2 gallon size freezer bag. In a separate quart size freezer bag, combine sauce ingredients and include with the 2 gallon size freezer bag. To serve: Do not thaw. Place in slow cooker, add sauce on top. Cook on low 4-6 hours.
Servings: 25 Ham Balls
This Post will be linked at:
- Mouthwatering Mondays at A Southern Fairytale
- Monday Mania at The Healthy Home Economist (Real Food)
- Just Another Meatless Monday at Hey What’s For Dinner Mom? (Vegetarian)
- Meatless (Vegan) Mondays at Veggie Converter (Vegan)
I’m among the group this is foreign to, do you dice or grind up the ham first?
Sounds like something I may try.
Liza – The ham ball mix is a ground meat mixture. If your local grocer doesn’t carry the ground ham loaf mix, you need to purchase ground smoked ham, and ground pork. Hope this helps. Lisa
Lisa – My mom was just making these the other day! I grew up in Iowa, so they were a staple during holiday celebrations too! My grandma makes the best ones! I live in MI now and they are not familiar with them…neither is my husband. Thanks for the reminder…I’ll put these on the menu for next week. Blessings!
As a young bride I was astonished to hear woman talking about making ham balls. I had this picture in my head of someone sitting down with a melon baller tool and trying to make pretty round “ham balls”.
Since then I have learned to make and love ham balls, going to try this recipe as soon as possible. Thank you for the recipe and bringing back that funny memory for me.
OK, I’ve never heard of this so I’m still confused on the smoked ham. Is this like a smoked ham that someone grounds afterwards or is it like a smoked ham luncheon loaf that has been run through a grinder.
Shannon -
Smoked Ham is a ground ham product in your grocers’ meat department. In our area, our meat department sells the mix of ground pork and ground smoked has as “Ham Loaf”. So I just purchase 3 lbs of ham loaf and 1 lb of ground beef for the recipe.
Lisa
my grocery store doesn’t have ground smoked ham or ham loaf mix. what can i use instead? could i buy smoked ham lunch meat and put it in the food processor? or is that something totally differnt?
Stacy-
Great question! I just take it for granted that in Iowa we have ham loaf in our grocers’ meat department. AFter doing some research, here is what I found.
Using a Kitchen Aid grinding attachment or a food processor on pulse action, grind up cooked ham, cured ham, leftover baked ham.
Hope this helps! Enjoy!
Lisa
I am from Michigan and we don’t have readily ground up ham in the meat section. I’m not sure what I would substitute for the ground ham without a grinder of my own. Maybe canned ham? I’ve never heard of ground smoked ham before now.
Using a Kitchen Aid grinding attachment or a food processor on pulse action, grind up cooked ham, cured ham, leftover baked ham.
I have NEVER heard of these. They sound delicious. I’ll definitely give them a try.
I wasn’t able to make this correctly because we do not have ground ham and I didn’t grind the ham at home. I made these using ground pork and ground beef … I also used a different type of tomato soup versus the original kind. With those said changes, my husband and my one daughter really liked them … my two other kids did not.
How many balls does one recipe make? And, how many balls constitutes as one serving? I’m part of a 7 family co-op that i’d love to make this for. Perhaps I’d serve them with green beans and mashed potatoes… but I wondered what a good serving suggestion would be for a family of four times 7 families based on the above recipe quantities.
Sorry, my question wasn’t great. I know the recipe makes 25 balls, but how many balls would you say each family would need? If it’s a four person family (2 balls per person? or are they large enough where one ball would be sufficient?)…thanks!
Ceri-
The ham balls are a nice size…so normally my kids eat about 2 and adults 3-4 depending on their ages. My suggestion with a family of four would be 12 minimum.
I made these for Easter and this recipe is a keeper. I have already shared it with family down “south” in Kansas. I used the ham loaf mix from Fareway plus ground beef. Very good.
Thanks for sharing Beth! Here in Iowa I use Fareway meats as well!
Is the tomato soup the kind you have to add milk to or ready to eat tomato soup?
It is the condensed tomato soup, which is the kind that you have to add milk to.
I lived in Iowa for ten years and haven’t had the infamous Iowa Ham Balls since I moved nearly five years ago. There is a meat market in our community, so I am going to ask them to grind the ham for me. It’s worth a try. BTW – I am now in southern Georgia and quite sure no one is familiar with ham balls.
I have made something like this for a long time here in MI, but I use a spicy pineapple sauce over mine. They are great no matter what covers them!
I used 3 lbs ground pork (still hard to find in CO) and these still tasted great! Probably not the same, but still good!