This savory ham salad has just a hint of bite from wasabi powder and makes a great sandwich or dip!
Are you ever just tired?
Oh, yeah. Ummm, me neither. I am always bubbling over with positive energy. I never pick up takeout on the way home from work or put off doing the laundry until I have no clean underwear left.
Ahem. Lies. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
The truth is, sometimes cooking dinner feels like attempting to climb Mt. Everest. After a long day of (answering angry phone calls, listening to screaming children, insert other stressor here), the last thing I feel like doing is making dinner.
But the second truth is, caving in and getting fast food only makes me feel worse. Then I have guilt + burger belly. Not a good combo.
That’s why I am so excited about this week’s #SundaySupper theme, 5 Ingredients or Less.
That’s right. All of today’s recipes have 5 or fewer ingredients, so you can make dinner on the worst of days.
I tend to forget about good ol’ salad recipes, but they’re a great way to use up leftover meats and a cinch to throw together. This ham salad was a natural fit for all our Easter leftovers since it uses both ham and hard boiled eggs.
But what makes this ham so special is the combination of cream cheese and wasabi.
Weirded out yet?
Don’t be. This recipe was inspired by my recent Ohio Egg Adventure, where our host treated us to a Chopped-style deviled egg-stravaganza. He gave each of the bloggers in attendance a $10 budget and charged us with finding a unique ingredient he would be forced to use to make deviled eggs. We wondered the aisles of the North Market, looking for just the thing. I quickly got sucked into the spice shop, where I simply couldn’t stop thinking about the wasabi powder. The idea of wasabi eggs was just too intriguing.
Thankfully, I was not disappointed. Our fearless leader grabbed that wasabi, stirred it into a mixture of cream cheese and hardened egg yolks, added a few glugs of Green Machine Smoothie (yes, you heard right. It was Melanie Make’s contribution!), and piped out one heck of a deviled egg. He finished each serving with a small cube of ham, and the combination was…well…surprisingly tasty.
The wasabi added a fantastic bite, similar to horseradish but a bit mellower, and the cream cheese made for an exceptionally creamy deviled egg. Needless to say, I was impressed.
I decided to use these same elements to make ham salad (minus the Green Smoothie-sorry Melanie!), and the flavors translated perfectly. The tangy-hot zest of wasabi will keep you coming back for bite after bite. Great served with chips, on a big fluffy onion roll, or as a dip with crackers and veggies, this 5 ingredient wonder should be a regular on your post-holiday menu.
Note: If you’re having trouble finding wasabi powder in grocery stores, you can buy it on Amazon here.
Wasabi Cream Cheese Ham Salad
Ingredients
- 2 cups chopped ham
- 4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
- 2 hard boiled eggs, peeled and diced
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- 1-2 teaspoons wasabi powder, depending on the amount of heat you like
Instructions
Recipe by NeighborFood
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As much as I love ham, I’ve never been a fan of ham salad. That is until I see this one. I’m sure it will change my mind on ham salad forever. Bring on the cream cheese and wasabi!!
I may have to pick up some ham today just so I can try this!
Oh my goodness, I am seriously drooling right now. I need this in my life ASAP!
Great twist on a classic. And love the glass bottle coke.
Thanks Krayl! It’s one of my favorite props, but I often forget to use it!
Oh I love Wasabi and this is something I have to try!! Love the combo with the Ham and cream cheese and I bet its super delicious 🙂
The combo really does work great together!
I can testify….this ham salad is so good! I was worried about the wasabi but it really
added that zip. Good job, Courtney!
Thanks mom. 🙂
I’ve never had a ham salad sandwich before but this might start a trend, especially with wasabi!
The sandwich looks beautiful, and adding wasabi is definitely something different. I love seeing how creative everyone gets for #SundaySupper
I love the wasabi addition! I need to pick some up. This is a GREAT idea for a stunning ham salad!! Beautiful photos too!
Thanks Susan! I was amazed at how much zip the wasabi added.
Color me intrigued! Great pick for the #SundaySupper group.
Hehehe…that’s a fabulous saying!
Love the addition of the wasabi, Courtney! I’ve never thought to use it in ham salad and now I don’t know why not!
I think I would love this recipe! Pinning for later!
What a smart idea for using up the Easter dinner leftovers! I love the look of your sandwich!
Great salad, love the spice the wasabi give to recipes.
Last night was one of those nights…I had to work all Saturday afternoon and when 5:00 rolled around, the last thing I wanted to do was make dinner. BUT I finally conjured up the energy to throw something together since 1) the kids needed to eat and 2) takeout would just make me feel worse.
I LOVE the sound of this sandwich AND I have all the ingredients to try this tomorrow night…my busy night!
Totally feel you on those crazy nights. I hope this helped make your busy night a little less stressful!
Can’t even tell you how much I love this! What a fun reminder of our trip. I can make it and think of you!
Haha! Yep, now you can think of me every time you’re eating ham salad.
Ohhh I want a bite of this, I love all the flavors in it!
What a creative dish! Looks great!
I don’t eat a lot of hame but my kids would sing praises if I made them this sandwich meat. I like the wasabi kick to it.
Fantastic recipe, love all the ingredients, I have to try this one for sure!!
I may or may not resemble that tired and burger belly occasionally during the week, and the guilt afterwards. I love this weeks 5 ingredients, I’m finding so many great ideas and recipes to try when work has been exhausting.
Wasabi is amazing – it really perks up anything you include it in. I will definitely be trying this.
Glad I’m not the only one who suffers from burger belly! I’m also loving all these five ingredient recipes. Getting lots of good ideas for busy nights!
What a fantastic Ham Salad… on my must try list.
I have never had a ham salad because well most don’t look as good as yours! However I think you’ve managed to change my mind on giving it a go!
Truthfully, this was kind of a nightmare to photograph. Ham salad is NOT pretty. But I tried to make it look like something you’d actually want to eat. 🙂
What a fun adventure for you I am sure. The cream cheese wasabi sound delicious and mouthwatering too.
Mmmm….this sounds fantastic! And what a fun event that must have been.
This does sound like a mouthwatering combo. I think I need to get myself some wasabi powder!
Definitely! Now that I have it, I’m sprinkling it on everything. It just perks things up a little bit.
Just reading the ingredients in your recipe is making me very hungry! I’m pinning and stumbling this one because it just sounds so darned good! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks so much Renee!
That looks AMAZING! Thank you – this is definitely one I will have to try!
Now this is an egg salad sandwich! I love the wasabi!!
Super excited that I have these 5 ingredients to make this tomorrow! And a way to use up the Easter ham thanks for being creative!
Great! I hope you enjoyed it as much as we did!
Hooray! Another idea for my leftover Easter ham that’s parked in the freezer! Wonderful recipe, Courtney!!!
Yes! I love using up leftovers. Hope you like this as much as we did!
Loved the addition of wasabi powder! I bet it gives perfect kick! (I had sushi last night…I’m a definite wasabi fan!)
Mmm…you and me both! Wasabi makes everything better!
Courtney! LOVE love love that you added wasabi powder!!! Brilliant!
Ha I love the Green Machine Smoothie, now I am curious about that version. 🙂
It was actually really good. It just had a little bit of sweetness from the smoothie. I never would have thought it would work, but it totally did!