Unique Ham Sandwiches

By
MacKenzie Smith
MacKenzie Smith
Recipe developer, food stylist, author, and teacher with a passion for sandwiches. She's behind the popular blog Grilled Cheese Social.
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Updated on 08/21/19

These easy sandwich recipes feature ham as the star ingredient but are also filled with different types of veggies, cheeses, sauces, breads, and other animal proteins. The collection offers sandwiches at different levels of difficulty, but in general, they're fairly easy to put together and work well as quick lunches or appetizers at parties, when sliced into smaller portions.

Use our suggestions below as templates to come up with your own creations, and think outside the box because ham comes in many forms. Sharpen your knife, get your cutting board, and make room in your weekly menu for these fantastic sandwiches.

  • 01 of 08

    Ham and Pimento Cheese Biscuit Sandwiches

    Pimento Cheese + Ham Biscuit Sandwiches
    Pimento Cheese + Ham Biscuit Sandwiches. Grilled Cheese Social

    Rich, creamy pimento cheese is irresistible piled on top of a flaky buttery biscuit with a few slices of salty-sweet country fried ham. Add bright pickled red onions, earthy bright green scallions, and bold spices for a satisfying combo.

    It takes a total of 6 minutes to put one sandwich together, but if you have everything ready and double or triple the amounts you can offer these at lunch for each guest to assemble their own.

    Serve with a fruity and refreshing salad like this kale and fruit.

  • 02 of 08

    Southern Ham and Cheese Biscuit Sandwiches

    ham-and-cheese-heart-biscuits.JPG
    Ham and Cheese Biscuit Sandwiches. Grilled Cheese Social

    These miniature Southern sandwiches are perfect for picnics or parties, with flaky biscuits, smokey fried ham, buttery muenster cheese, and sweet honey butter. Buy biscuits at the store or make them from scratch, but the fun part comes when you use a cookie cutter to shape the dough into your favorite shape.

    It takes 35 minutes to make 6 small sandwiches if you're baking them from scratch, but much less if you have store-bought biscuits at hand.

    Serve with a creamy Korean potato salad with apples.

  • 03 of 08

    Ham and Cheese Cornbread Sandwich

    Ham and Cheese Cornbread Sandwich with Pickled Jalapenos
    Ham and Cheese Cornbread Sandwich with Pickled Jalapenos. Grilled Cheese Social

    This sandwich calls for homemade cornbread for an absolutely Southern experience, but feel free to buy pre-made cornbread for an equally tasty result. Make special "chow chow" mayo (similar to picalilli) and spread a generous amount on your warm cornbread. Top with cheddar cheese, thinly sliced baked ham, and jalapeños.

    If you're making the cornbread at home, the sandwich takes a total of 35 minutes to be ready, but only 10 if you're using premade cornbread.

    Serve with a spicy carrot salad.

  • 04 of 08

    Pickled Peach Grilled Cheese with Virginia Ham

    Grilled-cheese-with-pickled-peaches-ham.JPG
    Pickled Peach Grilled Cheese with Virgina Ham. Grilled Cheese Social

    These little slider grilled cheese sandwiches are filled with a dollop of woodsy mulberry jam, some salty slices of Virginia ham, a couple of bright pickled peach segments, and nutty shreds of gouda. Grill them in between two sweet slices of Hawaiian bread, and have your lunch ready in 15 minutes.

    Make with pickled peaches or sweet ripe ones if they're in season.

    Try making this pumpkin salad with tahini dressing, the perfect side for this hearty sandwich.

    Continue to 5 of 8 below.
  • 05 of 08

    Monte Cristo Brie Sliders

    Grilled on the stove and not deep-fried like many are, our Monte Cristos make French toast out of crusty French bread and top them with creamy brie, thinly sliced turkey and ham, and tangy raspberry jam. Make them your own with your choices of types of meats and cheese.

    This ultra-rich sandwich needs a very fresh salad on the side like this marinated kale with garlic salad.

  • 06 of 08

    Traditional Cuban Sandwich

    Traditional Cuban Panini

    The Spruce

    This salty, rich, and tangy sandwich is a must. Cubanos are a take on grilled ham and cheese, but they go a step further, adding pork, pickles, and mustard. In authentic Cubanos, the roasted pork is homemade, marinated in a special sauce, which gives the sandwich its particular flavor.

    Our simpler version uses store-bought ingredients that you put together on top of Cuban bread and then press until the height reduces to a third of the original. Serve with fried yuca. You'll be ready to bite into your Cubano in 15 minutes.

  • 07 of 08

    Chicken Cordon Bleu Sandwich

    Chicken Cordon Bleu Sandwich
    Chicken Cordon Bleu Sandwich. Grilled Cheese Social

    Chicken cordon bleu is typically made by stuffing ham and cheese inside a chicken breast, but for this sandwich, we're stacking the ham and cheese on top of buns, popping it in the broiler, then adding the chicken.

    For a better result, we recommend a brine of buttermilk for the chicken breast for as little as 8 hours and ideally for 48 hours in the refrigerator. Once the chicken is ready, pat-dry and coat with flour and salt and pepper before frying. To make your sandwich, spread mustard on bread and put bread halves with cheese on one and ham on the other under a broiler. Place fried chicken cutlet on top of one half and close with the other on top. Serve hot with some kale chips.

  • 08 of 08

    Goat Cheese and Ham Sandwich with Apples

    Goat Cheese, Apple, Rosemary Ham + Honey Sandwich with Fresh Arugula
    Goat Cheese, Apple, Rosemary Ham + Honey Sandwich with Fresh Arugula. Grilled Cheese Social

    Make this quick sandwich in 10 minutes. Just place ham, apples, honey, arugula, and goat cheese on top of a sliced baguette drizzled with olive oil.

    Use kale instead of arugula or crumb up some Ricotta instead of goat cheese. Make a fresh apple slaw to serve with your sandwich.