Homemade Spam Recipe – What, Why, and How
Spam. Mystery meat. No thanks. Nasty. Who eats that stuff? I wanted nothing to do with Spam. I didn’t even know what Spam was – only that it was something to be avoided at all costs. I heard that it was popular in Hawaii and that there, people eat it on rice as Spam musubi. Really?? Then, Heidi Berger posted several times on my Facebook page about Spam cupcakes. “Trust me when I say Spam cupcakes are NOT gross ;-),” she insisted.
I didn’t trust Heidi. I knew that Spam cupcakes would be gross because Spam is disgusting – meat in a can just isn’t right (I blindly thought, having never ingested it). Would homemade Spam be better? What gives Spam its flavor, and could I make a version myself that I would feel comfortable eating? Would my homemade version of Spam then make for a tasty cupcake flavor? I had to find out.
What Is Spam?
As many of you know, Spam stands for spiced ham. It’s made with pork shoulder and ham. The ingredient list is actually quite small and contains nothing too scary: Pork with Ham, Salt, Water, Modified Potato Starch, Sugar, Sodium Nitrite. Before I made my homemade Spam, I had to buy a can to see what it tasted like.
I found that Spam tastes like salty ham – very, very salty ham. It wasn’t nearly as bad as legend had it. If I ever bought Spam again, I would definitely buy the low-sodium version [paid link].
Why Bother Making Homemade Spam?
The best reason for making homemade Spam or homemade anything is that when you make it yourself, you know exactly what is going into it. Homemade Spam is decidedly not mystery meat. It’s just plain old pork and ham.
How Does the Homemade Version Compare to the Canned Spam?
The end result tasted pretty close to Spam. It was just about the right color, the texture was similar (not quite as slimy as the original), and the taste was the same, although significantly less salty.
Ingredients
I made homemade Spam using pork shoulder,
ham,
two cloves of garlic, and Morton Tender Quick [paid link] (salt used for curing meat that also gives the homemade Spam its pink color).
How It’s Made
It was really hard to find a recipe for homemade Spam. The closest thing that I could find was a post on Morgans Menu which describes the general idea of how to make Spam, but it’s short on specifics. I used that post as a guideline, however I strayed from her suggestion of using duck and chicken in addition to the pork and ham; I wanted to stick with the classic mixture. I also got some assistance from local chef Chuck Friedhoff who pointed out that Spam is really just a pâté and encouraged me to look at pâté recipes. I never thought of that before, and I now wonder if a gourmet restaurant could get away with serving Spam if they just called it pork pâté.
Begin by preheating your oven to 300 F.
Grind the pork shoulder in a meat grinder (I used a tabletop meat grinder [paid link], but the KitchenAid meat grinder attachment [paid link] would probably have been easier), then set aside.
Finely mince the ham with the garlic in a food processor (I used my mini Cuisinart [paid link]) or by hand.
Dump the pork shoulder, ham/garlic, and Tender Quick into a large bowl and mix by hand until fully combined.
Pack the meat mixture into a bread pan and cover with foil, then place the bread pan into a large baking dish filled 3/4 full with water.
Place the baking dish into the oven and bake for three hours. You want the internal temperature of the Spam to reach 155 F.
Remove from the oven, uncover the bread pan and try not to be too grossed out by all of the fat that has emerged from the meat. Nonchalantly dump all of the fat into a jar or can to dispose of later.
Note: During my first attempt at making homemade Spam, I neglected to dump out the fat. When I later pulled the Spam out of the fridge, it had a layer of white creamy fat on top of it and a layer of natural Jello under that. I could barely stomach it.
Next, cover the bread pan loosely with foil and place a heavy weight on top of the foil. I took bricks and put them in another bread pan and put that bread pan on the Spam. You may need to get creative, but I’m sure you can find something in your house that will work. The whole point of adding weight to the top is to compress the meat and help to extract melted fat and liquid.
Once the Spam has cooled to room temperature, place it into the refrigerator and keep it there overnight.
In the morning, your Spam will be ready to use however you choose to use it.
Note: Since homemade Spam is not canned, it will not last forever. Keep it as long as you would keep ham.
Expert Tips and FAQs
You can buy it in many grocery stores in the United States or find it on Amazon [paid link]. If it’s not available near you, try an online retailer or consider using another curing mix containing salt, sugar, sodium nitrite, and sodium nitrate.
Tender Quick (which isn’t a tenderizer) gives the Spam a good mixture of salty and sweet and adds preservatives to keep it from spoiling quickly once refrigerated. The sodium nitrite in the cure also gives the finished product its proper pink color.
Use it anywhere you’d normally use Spam. For some ideas, you could mix it with greens and black eyed peas for a rich and flavorful casserole (don’t add any extra salt to the mixture as there’s more than enough salt in the Spam), eat it on rice as Spam musubi (I’m still a little skeptical about that one, Hawaii), or save some for homemade Spam cupcakes.
Homemade Spam is not canned, so it will not last forever. Store it in the refrigerator and keep it as long as you would keep ham.
Related Recipes
Homemade Spam
Equipment
- Meat grinder
- Meat thermometer
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 pounds pork shoulder cubed, refrigerated or frozen; choose a piece that's pretty fatty – fat is a good thing when making Spam
- 3 ounces ham
- 2 garlic cloves chopped
- 3 1/2 teaspoons Morton Tender Quick [paid link]
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300 F (150 C).
- Grind the pork shoulder in a meat grinder, then set aside.
- Finely mince the ham with the garlic in a food processor.
- Add the pork shoulder, ham/garlic, and Tender Quick into a large bowl and mix by hand until fully combined.
- Pack the meat mixture into a bread pan and cover with foil.
- Place the bread pan into a large baking dish filled 3/4 full with water.
- Place the baking dish in the oven and bake for three hours. Make sure that the internal temperature of the Spam is 155 F (69 C).
- Remove from the oven, uncover the bread pan, and drain the fat into a jar or can to dispose of later.
- Cover the bread pan loosely with foil and place a heavy weight on top of the foil. (I put bricks in another bread pan and put that on top of the foiled Spam. You may need to get creative, but I'm sure you can find something in your house that will work.)
- Allow to cool, then place the weighed down Spam into the refrigerator and keep it there overnight.
- In the morning, your Spam will be ready to use however you choose to use it.
Notes
Nutrition
Hi Stef~ have been looking for a spam recipe, and glad that I found yours.
I have been curing and smoking my own bacon and pork loins for the last couple of years, and want to point out something.
The Morton’s Tender Quick mixture contains both NITRITE and NITRATE in the bag. Nitrite is what you use to make short cured meats that will be cooked. The NITRATE is Cure #2, and is what is used for long cured sausage and salumi that will not be cooked.
So, I would suggest using Cure #1, the nitrite curing salt in the recipe and crafting a cure Based on Equilibrium Curing Method….where every thing in the cure (the nitrite, the kosher salt and the sugar) is based on the weight of the meat. Super easy and always delicious!
The Morton’s company states on their web page, that Tender Quick is not recommended for making bacon and other cured meats that will be cooked.
Whàt about canning for longer shelf life
I haven’t tested this. Sorry!
Is there a substitution for Morton’s?
Can I just use salt in place of Morton’s?
You need to use a curing blend containing salt, sugar, sodium nitrate, and sodium nitrite since salt alone won’t do the job. Take a look at this site for more detail about curing salts: https://www.smokedbbqsource.com/curing-salts-guide/
According to the government SPAM stood for Specially Processed American Meat. The soldiers ate it and much of it was to England during the WW2 war when they were being bombed incessantly. Meat was scares. I learned this on The History Channel, but I’m sure it did mean spiced meat to many people.
Can you freeze left over spam?
Yes!!
Is there a substitute to the MORTON’S? I don’t eat anything with nitrates or nitrites in it. I absolutely love this recipe and want to make it, but hesitant because of the Morton’s. Also, after cooked and cooled can this be vacuum packed and frozen? If so for how long?
I don’t have a grinder could I use another tools like a blender or something
If you mixed fresh made cornmeal mush to this would it be similar to Scrapple? We love scrapple but live in the Midwest so we don’t get over East but once a year to stock up. So this sounded similar.
I like spam fryed
Just wondering does this freeze up good?
I first tasted spam way back in the days of WW2. Yep your thinking is right the Americans have it to us. I’ve got to say they came to England when their not much food around. Bunch of them came around to my Nana’s place once awesome always with lots off food. Every tink seemed be tins (cans) spam oh oh yer I remember it well
would be nice to have a save or print value..
I am a professional Chef and retired culinary instructor. This is the first time I heard spiced ham meaning. The explanation I heard was SP meant shoulder of pork and AM for cuts from the ham,which is the hind leg. Then salt, cure salt and spices are added. then it is canned and cooked in can!
Hate it! What kind of ham are we adding and why would anyone buy expensive ham to make inferior spam? The whole point of a DIY is to DIY, not grind up some ham and fuse it back together. Half of the google hits bring me back here, so I have seen this useless post a dozen times.
Is there a printer friendly version of this recipe? I would like to put it in my “recipes to try Notebook”, but I don’t want or need all of the pictures. I don’t want to waste all that paper or ink. Thanks
I grew up eating SPAM and still love it! I buy a can at least once a month but need to watch my sodium so don’t indulge very often. I will be trying this recipe and see what I think of it.
Very similar to pork and ham loaf that was made at home for years and eaten as a meat loaf or used for sandwich spread or slices
Thank you for this recipe! I have migraines caused by trigger foods and additives in food is a trigger. Spam is one of the no can do foods. Having recently started making my own sausage with my new kitchen aid food grinder attachment, spam is definitely going to be a new try!
I break down the spam with a pastry cutter, add cheese whiz and green relish, mustard and mayo.
I put this mixture on fresh buns
and then warm it up under the broiler till it is toasty and the cheese melts. I have used this for many get togethers.
How many slices would you say one loaf has?
Thank you
I would not attempt a recipe for SPAM. Canned SPAM is NOT as bad as some people claim. What’s in it? Read the damn ingredients. LOL
I’m delighted to see that you have take a stab at making homemade SPAM – so worth it! I’m still making it in San Francisco and it pops up in some meals I host. Aloha!
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I’m hoping too start myy ownn site soon but I’m a little lost on everything.
Would you proose starting with a free platform like WordPress
orr go for a paid option? There aare so many options out there that I’m completely
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i am stunned. i am sooo going to make this! for over five years, i have hesitated buying most canned foods because of the bpa lining issue. i am over the moon happy now. i make most things from scratch and why i have not tried making homemade spam, i do not know. i am already seeing crisped little bits of your spam loaf being used in fried rice. i will definitely go for a manageable sized version so that i can skip out on that “tender quick” addition. i will definitely try the many things mentioned in the comments section, as well. mind bend happening here. i am very, very grateful for your creativity and share. cheers ~
Why do they serve spam sandwiches on ground hog day?
Because it is ground hog.
How do you copycat and make “Spam with bacon.” I would assume this is a variant recipe, but I would really like to know. All my guests love that version of Spam and it would be much healthier for them to lower the salt and make it myself.
Can the final product be vacuum sealed and frozen? If so, what is the “freezer life”?
Thank you so much for this recipe and answering my questions.
I don’t have a meat grinder so can you get the same results using already ground pork?
I think it would work. But, you’d want it to be really fatty – ideally pork shoulder.
This looks great! Thank you. Just to clarify, Hawaii’s Spam Musubi is not a type of sushi, but is actually a type of rice ball or onigiri (japanese).
Chicken / Turkey Spam
you could try the recipe as above but use 3 lbs of ground chicken or turkey to your liking .. I would also suggest that for a little more flavor you might want to add add about 1 tablespoon of onion powder if you like .. prepare it the same as the recipe above and enjoy :)
Thank you for sharing this recipe! I find Spam very salty as well, but, when making it yourself you have control over the amount of salt used.
We always had several roomers and boarders growing up. They would all go home for the week ends as most were university students. SO, after five days of meal planning and cooking, Mom used to make this some Saturdays. She would coat it with brown sugar, add a bit of water so it wouldn’t stick to the pan and bake it in the oven until the sugar got sort of crusty. She would serve it with rice and a side of scalloped tomatoes and home made chocolate pudding for dessert! I loved Saturdays!! :~)
Having lived in Hawaii I have learned to love spam! Try it cubed and sauté it, then at the last minute add shoyu (Hawaiian soy sauce. less salty though, and Walmart carries it) and brown sugar to make a glaze and eat it over rice- Yum!
You. Threw. Away. The. Fat. And. Jelly?!
That is just shocking. Try making gravy. Or using it for frying grease. Delicious.
I had the same response. I could understand draining the fat off, but throwing away perfectly good aspic?
Um, now that I’m ready to make this, is there any reason not to weight the stuff as it’s cooking?
I’m not sure that I follow your question. Why not just weigh things before getting started?
Aces! I don’t eat SPAM often, but when you want it, you gotta have it. So, when I searched for a recipe, I found your blog. Thanks for posting this. I have ham. I have pork. And, now, I will have SPAM.
You have to try this recipe! We call them Spam burgers but we called them Pizza moons when we served them to a friend who said she would try Spam if she didn’t know it was in a recipe! lol
1 can Spam, ground
1 stick butter (I usually use less)
1 can tomato paste
1/4 lb. Velveeta
garlic powder to taste
Cook in saucepan until hot and Velveeta is melted. Spread on a hamburger bun half and broil a few minutes until bubbly. YUM!!
my mother-in-law called them pizza burgers. Her recipe includes finely diced green pepper. I never use Velveeta any more – it is too sweet for some reason. I pay the big bucks for the American processed that Kraft makes. I made these a while ago and was unable to find the recipe – I forgot it was supposed to have an entire stick of butter. I left out the butter and they were still gooey and tasty. I jut use a fork to mash the Spam into submission rather than have to find my grinder and then have to clean it after I use it.
FRIED IT WILL BE VERY SALTY. WE LIKE IT WITH A FRIED EGG ON A TOASTED HAMBURGER BUN
When I was younger; and my family received commodities from the government; we had a mystery meat also. It was very much like spam.We used to dice that meat in small cubes; fry it then add to spanish rice. It was wonderful [bites of meat in every biteful].Another meal we included the mystery meat was —Pizza burgers. WE would grind up the meat, add hamburger, onions, green bell pepper, tomato soup, mushrooms [if we had them] spices; then open face the sandwich on hamburger buns. Top with cheese, bake until warm and cheese is melted. Delious!!!! I still make these two dishes 40 years later. Both are requested many times throughout a years time. Thanks so very much for the Spam recipe. Linda
Can you freeze this spam when it is done??????
Yes! I did. :)
Your recipe says to cook for 3 hours with a internal temperture of 155 degrees. At what temperture do you have the oven set?
300 F.
I love Spam and can’t wait to try your recipe! We eat it fried as a breakfast side, on sandwiches and I have a recipe from Betty Crocker recipe cards from the early 80s that I still remember and make.
thank you for sharing this, I have several cans put away and now know what to do with them. Now if only I could find a way to make chip chopped ham like you buy in the deli. Thanks again.
I’m from Hawaii.. So naturally, I’m ALL for spam, we have a huge spam festival every year lol.
The “spam sushi” is called a spam musubi, it’s SO good.
Thanks so much for this! I get the weirdest looks when I tell people how much I love spam. Now I’m gunna try and make it at home, to make a bunch of delicious spam musubi! :)
That is gross but cool! rotflol I would never have thought to make my own spam. It’s cool that you did it for me. thank you
I love that this is homemade! Spam is much loved here in Hawaii, bit I buy the Lite version. The slime layer was gross, so I definitely want to make this. Living in Denver, my friends would tease my Spam musubi, but they LOVED it once they tried it and would ask me to bring some to work for them.
Spam musubi is something that you simply must try when in Hawai’i. Effectively it’s a slice of spam between two layers of rice and wrapped around with seaweed. The other place to get it is LA, if you are ever there. It would be great to make it with the homemade version of spam so that it doesn’t have any kind of sliminess to it.
In my husband’s family, they have always run the fat down the drain with really hot water and never had a problem. But, I looked into it after your comments and you’re right, it should be put into a jar or can. I updated the post. Thanks!
Agreed! I was absolutely horrified when I read that step. I always keep an empty can from my food prep (tomato sauce for example) ready so I can pour meat fat into it. Isn’t this common knowledge??
Spam is one of my husband’s favorite meals. I am sure he’ll appreciate the surprice I am preparing him tonight, because there is nothing more delectable than homemade food.
This is just flat out amazing! We have Spam in our house, but only for that emergency moment when we have eaten our way through our entire food pantry! I do have to say though, this I might try in a non-emergency situation! We have a friend who makes an amazing Spam Stir-Fry, I’m going to have to share this recipe with him!
Oh my goodness, thank you sooo much for the guidance on homemade Spam. I’m one of those Hawaii people for whom Spam is much beloved, despite its mystery meat nature. I can’t wait to try this for Spam musubi.
I grew up with spam but I don’t eat pork now. I think they make a chicken version of it (spicken?). If you would post a recipe for that, I would try it!
You know, They do make Turkey Spam and its really good.
I am in the same boat as most of the other “oldies” here, I am 72 and remember well the poorer days when spam replaced ham. I loved fried spam for breakfast with fried eggs and a pancake with maple syrup. Spam was so good dipped onto the left over maple syrup on the edge of the plate. I quit eating spam years ago after a couple of heart attacks and the salt content. Once in a while I did cheat and eat 1 slice of the lower salt version which is still a tremendous amount of salt.
I am definitely going to give this a chance by using 2 Teaspoon of tender quick for a much lower salt version.
If it comes out as good as I hope it does I mat try it with a nice fatty chicken.
Thank heavens we pour off the fat!
you could try the recipe as above but use 3 lbs of ground chicken or turkey to your liking .. I would also suggest that you could add about 1 tablespoon of onion powder if you like :) .. prepare it the same as the recipe above and enjoy :)
You rock!
I haven’t tasted Spam in probably 40 years or more. When I was a tad, it was on our weekly dinner rotation – one can served 6 of use (food portion used to be way smaller, which is why people were thinner). The brown sugar topping made it almost like real ham! Or that’s what my mother tried to make us believe. I have no idea what Spam costs these days, but I’ll bet on a $/weight basis it’s probably in the same ball park as ham (ham used to be tons more expensive than Spam, which is why thrifty people served it for dinner). I keep threatening to do something interesting with Spam and serve it to unsuspecting siblings (Spam croquettes, anyone?) but I doubt if I’ll ever get around to doing that. So I’ll enjoy your efforts!
Really fun post – thanks.
I love that you made your own spam. I love it when anyone makes something processed from scratch! I don’t care for spam – we had it as kids when money was tight. My husband loves it though.
Hey Christy! Have you checked out the price of Spam lately? not so cheap….. I like Spam and so does my husband. He makes a mean omelet, and adds it in, or serves it on the side mmmmm….. I will definitely be trying this recipe.
This is so incredibly cool! I grew up with Spam, and still eat it from time to time. I definitely want to try making my own. My favorite way to eat is basically like mentioned above… slice it (~1/4″ thick) and fry until golden on both sides. Stick in between some good ol’ white bread and enjoy. Although I do like it other ways. And Bacon Spam is the favorite choice of my family, so I think I’ll have to try putting bacon in mine (even better)! Thanks for this =)
I think you may have me convinced that Spam is worth trying (and making!).
One note: grease/oil/fat should NEVER be poured down the drain, even with hot water! It will eventually solidify in a sewer pipe and cause sewage to overflow (that’s the number one cause of sewer overflows nation-wide). Just pour your grease into a glass jar and throw it away when cooled :)
With the homemade Spam recipe you might also want to try “Fried Spam” just slice it off and fry it until golden brown. Serve it like a BLT only SLT or with biscuits and gravy. WONDERFUL!!!
SPAM is like potatoes….there are hundreds of ways to eat it. I am 78 and have eaten it all my life. I keep a can all the time for quick easy suppers. I live 9 miles from “the store” so I tend to stock things that keeps well. I make my own breads and a fresh loaf with “SPAM Salad” sandwiches are good.
Fried is good. Cut into pieces and eaten as a finger food snack.
Breaded with a buttermilk/egg/flour batter and fried is even better. It has a nice crispy crust that way.
I still like the same menu my father liked with SPAM. Fried Spam, cottage fries, pickled beets and biscuits. And for dessert some molasses over our own butter, we had a cow so fresh butter, buttermilk and cream was a fact of life..then sopped it with a biscuit. Impossible to keep it off your chin.
Off topic a little. Thinking of all this makes me remember so well how good my women ancestors biscuits were. I watched my Great Grandmother, Grandmother, and Mother making these. I could make good biscuits when I had a family to feed. But never up to theirs.
The flour was in a big metal can. They just grabbed a handful of lard and dumped it into the hole scooped in the flour…mixed that up by pinching it through their fingers and then poured fresh buttermilk in..Just kneaded and rolled the dough ball around with one hand until it was “right”, then pinched pieces off, rolled between their hands and put in a bread pan that was black with age and use. Took about five minutes or so to make a pan of biscuits. It was like breathing. They were the best biscuits I have ever eaten. And the flour was always clean. I still wonder how they did that. Old southern country cooks really knew how to cook.
Sonya, I am like you, including age. However, I don’t live 9 miles from the grocery store. I am only about 4 city blocks from the nearest one. I have been eating Spam for a long, long time. I prefer it over most all cold cuts. Also, just like you Dad, I like my Spam fried.
Cheers to all from Kentucky where all cooking is good. Remember that really good fried chicken got it start here in Kentucky when old Colonial Sanders first whipped up a batch of his “Finger Lickin’ Kentucky Fried Chicken”!!!
I hope this is tasty but fear about the preserve any way nice recipes :)
I would agree. – The Morton’s QuickTender has Nitrite in it. – I’d follow the recipe in all other respects. – Looks like a neat Pork/Ham Loaf, Monty Python style. One wouldn’t really need the Nitrite, since “shelf-Life” isn’t an issue. – Only add as much salt as one would to taste.
I have the same concern about nitrates/nitrites, and Mortons tender quick has propylene glycol in it too! Since you’re not canning it, why add preservatives? You’re keeping it in the fridge just like meatloaf, and you don’t put nitrates in that
Sodium nitrite is a salt and an anti-oxidant that is used to cure meats like ham, bacon and hot dogs. Nitrite serves a vital public health function: it blocks the growth of botulism-causing bacteria and prevents spoilage. Nitrite also gives cured meats their characteristic color and flavor.
Stop believing all the BS, water will kill you faster if you drink enough.
I am a chef and I understand your concern for the curing salt, but in this recipe the only reason it calls for the pink salt is to keep that pink color spam is known for.
Use pink himalian salt instead
Nope, not the same, needs to be pink Curing Salt!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anwy2MPT5RE
The very best use I found for Spam was about 30 years ago. Flake your can of Spam with a fork and stuff it into cleaned mushroom caps.
Bake at 350 for 30–40 minutes, until done. Really a popular appetizer as long as you tell no one it is Spam!!
Yes they will not know what it is, spam is almost forgoten. Just tell them its Pate (French) & they will be delighted. Meat loaf is a Pate to.
Spam was a staple around our house growing up. It was cheaper than most meats, and because it was tasty(salty) a little went a long way. Spam salad instead of ham salad, fried spam on sandwiches or with eggs for breakfast. The favorite was Spam-eggs! One can could be stretched to feed all 7 of us. My mom would smash it with a fork, fry it a bit, add eggs, and scramble. Enough fat cooked out in the frying process to cook the eggs. Every road trip we took usually started very early (5 a.m.) in the morning. Daddy would load the kids in the car while Mom made a loaf of bread into Spam-egg sandwiches, which we would eat at the first restroom stop! Eventually, Spam went from being one of the most affordable meat product to one of the most expensive meats we ate. It’s still a favorite for nostalgia…and now breakfast-on-a-bun. We just don’t eat it as often anymore, because it’s also has one of the highest fat content calories at somewhere around 70% of it’s calories from fat. Since we are now all 50-ish, and have family history of obesity and heart disease, I look forward to trying(and sharing) this recipe very soon! If anyone succeeds in making a lower fat version without compromising the taste much, I’d like that info, too!
I am a new visitor to this site and have been spending a few hours absorbing the info. Thanks Stef and all the other contributors!
I make terrines and brawns (I think the Americans call it head cheese?) and have developed a range of recipes. A few comments on the fat: 1. don’t throw the fat away, use it to fry eggs and in savoury pie crusts (I use half butter, half lard); 2. solidify the mixture in the fridge first, then scrape off the fat (it would have risen to the top) – you need the gelatine to hold the structure if you’re going to slice the spam for a cold dish and it would cook away in heat anyway (it also carries a lot of the flavour); 3. to make chicken or turkey spam – boil the bones with the meat to get the gelatine (a bit more work to pick the meat off the bones but well worth the result).
Happy spamming!