Crispy, bite-size logs of smooth ground ham coated in breadcrumbs. Ham Croquettes (or Croquetas de Jamón) are the perfect breakfast or snack!
To know me is to understand me and to understand me is to know that the perfect breakfast, in my eyes, is 2 ham croquetas.
That’s it.
Well, maybe some cafecito. And Cuban toast. But yeah…croquetas. Ham croquetas. Sigh.
You can have your bacon, eggs, toast, pancakes, and waffles.
I’ll happily enjoy my croquetas de jamón all day everyday!
I mean they inspired the name of this blog for goodness sake. They are ME! Croquetas are me. Bite-size, a ham, a little sassy, addicting, ok I’ll stop now.
Cuban breakfast will forever be my favorite. Not something I can have everyday but my favorite nonetheless.
From goat cheese to risotto to black bean to chicken, I’ve tried all types of croquettes. Some round, some in log form, all delicious. I even tried croquettes when I went to Amsterdam years ago! The Dutch version of a croquette is called kroket.
While I have no complaints about any of these croquettes, there’s a special place in my heart for ham.
These croquetas remind me of home. They remind me of my childhood. Growing up in a Cuban family, you’re pretty much eating croquetas de jamón since birth.
Living in Miami gives you the advantage of being able to enjoy croquetas at any time of day. There are Cuban bakeries on practically every corner!
And that my friends is dangerous AF.
The fact that I can have unlimited amounts of these whenever I’d like requires high levels of restraint.
I couldn’t imagine living in a city where there were no pastelitos (Cuban pastries) or croquetas de jamón at driving distance. On a scale from 1 to 10, my homesickness would be at 24.
Thankfully, I’d have this recipe to save the day!
This recipe is from an old Cuban cookbook called, Cocina Al Minuto. A classic for sure. Ham croquettes are definitely not hard to make but do require certain steps to make them perfectly. They are what we call, a labor of love. Make sure to follow every step carefully.
[clickToTweet tweet=”Can’t wait to make these Ham Croquettes! #ilovecroquetas” quote=”Can’t wait to make these Ham Croquettes! #ilovecroquetas”]
I hope you make it and you LOVE it!
Ham Croquettes (Croquetas de Jamón)
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons butter room temperature
- 1 tablespoon onion chopped finely
- 1 cup milk room temperature
- 1/2 cup flour divided
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon dry cooking wine
- 1 pound ground ham
- 2 eggs beaten
- 1 cup bread crumbs
- vegetable oil
Instructions
- Melt butter in a saucepan and sauté with onion on medium-low heat.
- Slowly, whisk in milk, 1/3 cup of flour, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Constantly stir until a thick sauce forms.
- Add the cooking wine and ground ham to the sauce. Mix it all together slowly. Let it simmer for 5 minutes on low heat.
- Let the filling rest at room temperature then refrigerate for 2 hours. The mixture has to harden in order to form into logs and coat evenly. If this step is skipped, it will be very hard to form logs, coat with breading, and fry. This is an important step.
- Remove filling from refrigerator. Spoon approx. 1 tablespoon of the mixture and form a log 3 inch long and about 3/4 thick. Repeat until you have all the croquettes done.
- In a bowl, whisk eggs and set aside. In another bowl, mix the remaining flour and bread crumbs.
- Dip each croquette in egg and then cover in bread crumbs. Let them rest at room temperature for 5 minutes before frying.
- In a large frying pan, add enough vegetable oil to cover the croquettes completely. Make sure the oil is at 375 degrees F. Fry each one until golden brown, approximately 3-4 minutes.
- Remove from oil and drain on paper towels. Enjoy!
Love it!
Thank you!
I have to make these! Plus I saw you have a pizza croquetas recipe too?! My husband is your new biggest fan :) So far we have found one little Cuban bakery about 30 mins from where we live, so it’s a special treat when we get to have these! How do you grind the ham? Could I just put it in the food processor?
Serene! This makes me so happy! Yes, I have two croqueta recipes on my blog but I definitely would like to make more. :) As far as grinding up the ham, you can either ask them to do it for you at the deli or yes, you can use the food processor. Hope that helps! Xo
Is the nutmeg added to the ham mix or the bread crumbs?
Hi! In the ham mix.
Awesome recipe! My girlfriend is from Cuba and I’m just your average gringo but I swear when I made these for her she couldn’t tell me apart from her abuela!
Oh Tyler, that makes me so happy! Glad you both love them as much as I do! :)
When I made this, the texture was very mushy and off-putting. Do you think I might’ve ground the ham too fine or could it be something else?
Hi Ethan! The mixture should be somewhat mushy which is why you need to freeze it to be able to make the logs, coat with breadcrumbs and fry them. If you felt like it was WAY too mushy, something could have happened between the ground ham as you mentioned (maybe it was too wet) or maybe the milk or not enough flour? Hard to tell really since I wasn’t present when they were made. I’ve made these several times with this specific recipe/instructions so just make sure to follow the recipe exactly as it is written. Good luck! :)
Those pictures of the croquetas de jamon made my mouth water and my mind go back to the day where I could walk into a Cuban bakery in New York and buy these with a cup of coffee. I had to download the pictures just to compare how mine will look when I’m done. Thank you for the recipe.
The nutmeg adds an interesting flavor. Maybe a touch of garlic powder substitute. Ill have to try it. A+ recipe
Seriously excellentt! I, too was raised
with croquettas de jamon, but never paid attention when my mother was making them! Unlike you, I live far away from a bakery that makes these. You have brought back a part of my childhood with this recipe. Gracias!
have you fried cooking these in an air fryer?
No, but if you do, let me know how it turns out! :)
do you dice up the ham really fine?
Yes, you use ground ham.
Just got back from Hialeah and have been craving these since the moment I left .. well really since the moment I ran out as I stopped at a Latin Café on the way out and took a bunch to-go!
Just curious, what kind of ham are you using? The thicker ham slices that are pre-packaged, or more like cooked ham from the deli? Latin Café had some sort of green herb in theirs, any idea what that may have been? Really appreciate the recipe, I’ve tried others and this reads much better. I’ll be trying this one out tonight for some Saturday morning breakfast!
Hi Jarret, you can use any ground ham or place diced ham in a food processor and pulse until ground. Not sure about the green herb but I’d guess it’s maybe finely chopped parsley or cilantro. Hope that helps!
Hello! Can you provide more details about what the ground ham is supposed to be? Do I buy a pound of sliced ham from the deli and put it in a food processor? How finely chopped should it be? Do I remove excess water or leave it? Thanks!
Hi Elizabeth, you can buy ground ham at the grocery store. It is usually available in the meat & seafood section. Aside from that, you can grind store-bought diced ham in a food processor until finely ground like hamburger meat.