“What can I do with a ham roast?” We hear this, a lot. Fear the ham roast no more. We’re here for you with easy suggestions for using this versatile cut.
What is a “ham roast” anyway? The ham roast is not cured ham. It’s uncured or “fresh” just like other roasts. This cut is as lean as the center loin though not as tender, with longer muscle fibers and less marbling than you’ll find in a shoulder roast or a Boston butt. The ham roast is cut from the hind leg and has a fat cap on the outside. Sometimes the ham roast has a bone; occasionally it’s a hollow round bone with marrow.
before: the ham roast, packaged.
after: egg poached in salsa & pork.
Tips for Cooking a Ham Roast
- Keep the fat! You don’t have to eat it—we enthusiastically do—but do keep the fat intact during cooking to maximize flavor. Fat helps to insulate the meat while it cooks. Save chucks of fat in the freezer for the next time you cook beans. Or eat it.
- Be gentle with heat. Use lower temperatures and longer cooking times than you’d normally use for a roast. Because marbling/fat is mostly on the outside of the ham roast, it’s more sensitive to heat.
- Shred it by hand: Ham roasts rarely fall apart after cooking. It’s easy to shred the meat, however, pulling it apart by hand after it
after: shredded and tossed with marinade, diced onions and tomatoes.
has cooled a bit, or using a knife to push rather than cut the meat apart with the grain. Place shredded meat in a bowl, and add cooking liquid or chopped fat until you have the consistency you like.
- Brine it: Brining boosts the moisture content of the meat, particularly helpful with this lean cut. Riverview Farms’ customer Francois recommends this brine: Boil 1-1.5 cups of water with ½ cup Kosher salt, some sugar, and any other flavors you want to add: star anise, juniper berries, black peppercorn. Mix that with 2 ½ – 3 cups of icewater to quickly cool it down; add thawed roast and brine for about 3-5 hours. Pat dry and roast. Or, brine with a solution of salt and water.
- Cutting Before Cooking: Because it’s so lean, a raw ham roast is perfect for cutting into smaller pieces. Partially thaw the roast in the refrigerator until icy, but not completely thawed and soft. In this state, precise cubes and paper-thin slices are easily cut. Low temperature/slow cooking times are always best for larger pieces like cubes. Thin slices, however, can be quick-cooked as a stand-in for recipes calling for slices of center cut loin.
Easiest cooking: Unwrap roast, rinse, place in crockpot with with a little bit of water. Cook on low setting for 7 hours or so. There’s no need to add salt, pepper, or other flavorings at the start of the cooking process. After cooking, cool and shred. Mix with reserved cooking liquids and simmer with sauces, spices, and marinades.
Easiest flavoring: Rub the roast with a spice mix before cooking: brown sugar, salt (omit salt if you brined), ground cumin, paprika, pepper. Or, add a jar of salsa to the crock pot.
30 Recipe Ideas
- Fajitas
- Pork satay with peanut dipping sauce
- Stir fry strips with Thai red curry sauce
- Stir fry in oyster sauce with broccoli
- Stir fry with minced garlic, deglaze wok with rice wine
- Stir fry & glaze with Vietnamese caramel sauce and serve over salad with red onions & cilantro
- Skewer cubes marinated in oil & rosemary with veggies for shish kabobs
- Stew cubes of pork with roasted peppers, chipolte/adobo chili sauce, or molé. Molé!
- Make chili with braised chunks of pork
- Hot & Sour Chinese Soup
- Moo shu pork
- Cut into thin steaks and grill
- Cut into ½” steaks and pound even thinner, wrap around a cheesy filling, roast, and cut into pinwheels to serve. (Not sure this will work, on second thought.)
- Cut into ½” steaks and pound even thinner, bread and fry for chicken fried pork steak, serve with mashed potatoes & gravy made with the pan drippings or with chicken stock
- Roast, and cut (or pull) into strips and toss with BBQ sauce for sloppy joes
- Roast, and cut (or pull) into strips, serve on sandwich with fresh radishes, chevre and roasted eggplant.
- Roasted pork on grilled cheese sandwich, topped with tomato chutney or fig preserves.
- Bahn Mi: roasted pork, paté, cilantro, quick-pickled carrots, on crusty baguette.
- Pan grill thin slices for breakfast, serve over biscuits with gravy.
- Pork roast with apples
- Cut into cubes, brown, and stew in white wine, stock, mushrooms & onions. Reduce pan liquids and add mustard, pepper and cream to finish.
- Roast pork with sweet & sour chili cilantro sauce
- Roast pork & escarole soup with pasta
- Pork & noodle soup with shiitakes and snow cabbage
- Five-spice pork stir fry with soba noodles
- Pork scaloppini with herbed noodles
- Larb! Dice partially thawed meat into smaller cubes, marinate in lime juice, fish sauce, sugar, and chile flakes, stir fry with minced ginger and serve with slivers of onion and cabbage leaves for wrapping.
- Mojo de Ajo Tacos: Stir fry short strips with liberal amounts of mojo criollo marinade and make tacos with corn tortillas and shredded cabbage served with lime wedges.
- Something with a dried fruit glaze (apricots, maybe?) and almond slivers, on cous cous, perhaps?
- How about anything with a ground cumin spice rub? Pat cubed meat dry, toss with flour (w salt, cumin & pepper), brown cubes on high heat, lower head and sauté with onions & butter, add a lot of light red wine & stew, covered, in the oven for a good long while until tender. Reduce sauce if needed.
- And, of course, you could cure the entire ham roast into ham.