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Croquetas de Jamon (Ham Croquettes)

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Enjoy Cuban croquetas de jamon whenever you need a Cuban street food fix! This easy Cuban food recipe is freezer friendly, a great way to use leftovers, and a hit at parties!

Travel to Miami not required. Make Cuban croquetas de jamon at home with this easy to follow recipe. You can even make them in advance and cook from frozen! Croquetas are a perfect afternoon snack paired with Cuban coffee, light lunch, appetizer, or party food idea. * GoodieGodmother.com

**Fair warning… there’s a good bit of personal chat at the beginning of this post. Scroll about halfway down the page to skip it and get to the croquetas de jamon bit.**

We went to visit my baby sister in Lynchburg this weekend. Her husband is the associate pastor at a local church, so we went to their congregation this Sunday, and the messages left me thinking. My brother-in-law led the Sunday School class and the topic for the week was anger, how God views anger, and how we as Christians should not let ourselves fall into un-productive anger. It’s okay to be angry about certain things, it’s a human emotion, but it should inspire us to positive action and then it’s over. If we let anger into our hearts and into our lives we become angry people and our anger removes our focus from living the life God has planned for us.

Ham Croquettes Recipe

He went on to talk about modern implications and how we deal with anger with the tools available to us now – i.e. social media. Those vague Facebook posts? Not a productive way of dealing with anger or hurt. It’s best to speak to the person directly to try and resolve the issue. And this struck home for me because, while I don’t put up vague posts, I did once after someone un-friended me and I was a bit surprised, a little hurt, and yes, angry, that a situation had gotten to that point.

Spanish Croquetas
This is how thick your batter should look for the filling. If it doesn’t, cook it longer, or add more flour.

I should have done what is more like me, what I knew was right, and contacted her directly. Instead I let my anger get the best of me and I posted that vague status. After, it always did sort of bug me that the person I really wanted to talk to about it was the only person who never saw the post, but I never did anything about it. Which was silly, and Sunday reminded me of how silly that was. It was an incredibly immature way of doing things and that’s not the person I am or ever want to become. Direct communication is best, and if you’re curious, I did contact her with a late apology.

Travel to Miami not required. Make Cuban croquetas de jamon at home with this easy to follow recipe. You can even make them in advance and cook from frozen! Croquetas are a perfect afternoon snack paired with Cuban coffee, light lunch, appetizer, or party food idea. * GoodieGodmother.com

I’m sharing this here because I know we’ve all said things out of anger and when we do, we need to take responsibility for them. We also need to learn to identify the anger and not let it spread, the best remedy if you’re upset is to face the situation and communicate openly and respectfully. We should be spreading love, kindness, caring, beauty, not pettiness.

Croquetas de Jamon Recipe

And now on to the recipe!

Croquetas are fantastic. They’re a great make-ahead party food (hellllloooo holiday parties), or addition to a meal. We typically enjoy them alongside a salad or soup, but will add them to an at-home tapas night spread as well (with an assortment of cheeses, crusty bread, and a sliced Tortilla Espanola).

When we’re visiting family in South Florida, we find these at just about any walk up coffee window because they’re a popular afternoon snack. Last time we were there, we drove almost 30 minutes from my in-laws’ house just to have croquetas at this restaurant because they liked them so much.

You don’t need to travel to Miami to enjoy these though… you probably have most of the ingredients already in your kitchen!

Travel to Miami not required. Make Cuban croquetas de jamon at home with this easy to follow recipe. You can even make them in advance and cook from frozen! Croquetas are a perfect afternoon snack paired with Cuban coffee, light lunch, appetizer, or party food idea. * GoodieGodmother.com

Because the recipe makes about three dozen, and there are only two people that will consume them in our home at the moment, I experimented with freezing the prepared croquetas and I’m happy to say the results were great! So don’t worry about making the recipe in advance and then storing the croquetas in your freezer.

Just freeze them on a baking sheet until solid, then transfer to a ziploc bag or other freezer container. Do not thaw before baking or frying.

Speaking of baking or frying, I also tested both. When you have croquetas de jamon at a restaurant or from a street stand, they are usually fried, but you can skip the oil and still get lovely crunchy-on-the-outside croquetas in the oven thanks to the double breading. Don’t skip that step! I actually think I preferred the baked, and it’s how I have been heating our freezer stash.

I don’t fry frequently and hate the thought of using that much oil when I can achieve a practically identical result in the oven. This is not like the difference between fried fries and oven fries! The crunch was nearly indistinguishable between the two in a side by side test. The primary difference is that the oven baked croquetas didn’t get the even browning.

Travel to Miami not required. Make Cuban croquetas de jamon at home with this easy to follow recipe. You can even make them in advance and cook from frozen! Croquetas are a perfect afternoon snack paired with Cuban coffee, light lunch, appetizer, or party food idea. * GoodieGodmother.com
For comparison: The fried croquetas are on your left, and the baked are on your right. I shaped the baked into discs to increase the surface area touching the pan and promote browning. You don't have to do this
For comparison: The fried croquetas are on your left, and the baked are on your right. I shaped the baked into discs to increase the surface area touching the pan and promote browning. You don’t have to do this

If you don’t eat ham, you can substitute chicken, turkey, beef – your meat of choice.

Travel to Miami not required. Make Cuban croquetas de jamon at home with this easy to follow recipe. You can even make them in advance and cook from frozen! Croquetas are a perfect afternoon snack paired with Cuban coffee, light lunch, appetizer, or party food idea. * GoodieGodmother.com
Travel to Miami not required. Make Cuban croquetas de jamon at home with this easy to follow recipe. You can even make them in advance and cook from frozen! Croquetas are a perfect afternoon snack paired with Cuban coffee, light lunch, appetizer, or party food idea. * GoodieGodmother.com

Croquetas de Jamon (Ham Croquetas)

Yield: about 36
Prep Time: 25 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes

Traditional croquetas de jamon (ham croquettes) - a delicious and easy make-ahead dish that can be prepared either baked or fried. Makes about 36 croquetas.

Ingredients

  • 1 stick butter
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour (see notes)
  • 1 cup cold milk
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 8-10 ounces ham, diced or minced fine (see notes)
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp paprika
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/2 cup fine bread crumbs
  • 2 large eggs, beaten
  • oil for deep frying (optional)

Instructions

  1. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan, then stir in the flour. Keep stirring for 2 minutes.
  2. Slowly add the milk and cream, stirring to incorporate and make a nice smooth roux. It should feel pretty thick and almost paste-like.
  3. Add your spices and the ham (or meat of choice) and cook an additional 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
  4. Taste the mixture and adjust seasonings to taste.
  5. Let the ham mixture cool completely so it's easy to handle. It will thicken even more as it cools. If you have time, refrigerate until cold. Then it's very easy to handle! You can even make the filling a day or two in advance.
  6. In the meantime, set up your prep station. Eggs beaten in one bowl, breadcrumbs in another, and a place to put the shaped croquetas for cooking.
  7. Take a tablespoon of the ham mixture, form it into the desired shape (a small rod or a ball is traditional) and roll in the breadcrumbs. Then dip it in the egg mixture, re-roll in the breadcrumbs, and set aside. Repeat until you've used all the ham.
  8. If you plan to freeze any, do so here.
  9. If you plan to fry: Heat about 2 inches of oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Fry the croquetas in batches for about 3-4 minutes each and set on a paper towel to drain. Lower the heat if the croquetas are browning too quickly.
  10. If you plan to bake: Preheat your oven to 420 F and bake the croquetas for 12-15 minutes, turning halfway through if desired.

Notes

  • If for some reason the roux doesn't look thick, add more flour, a tablespoon at a time. Sometimes water content in the butter requires a little more flour to set up. An extra minute or two of cooking should also do the trick.
  • The exact amount of ham is up to you. That's what makes this a great recipe for using leftovers! I wouldn't go above a pound for this recipe though, because you need enough binder.
  • I've recently started using my big food processor to mince the ham nice and fine. If you have one, it's a great way to save time.

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Stephanie

Monday 31st of May 2021

Could you fry them before freezing and then reheat in an air fryer? I have used this recipe a bunch of times but my fiancé does not care for the lack of crunch that comes from baking or just using the air fryer, and I don’t like to fry very often. Just looking for a shortcut since he likes to snack on them a couple nights a week, and I don’t want a pot of oil sitting on my stove.

Mary (The Goodie Godmother)

Monday 7th of June 2021

Hi Stephanie! I bet you could, and it would be a great time saver!

Americo Borza

Thursday 21st of January 2021

Hi, could you be so kind as to tell me the weight of your "cup of flour". Depending on how you and I fill it, the difference could be huge. Weight measurement is precise and will help me. My mom used to make croquettes of the Spanish/Italian style and I loved them. Unfortunately, she never used recipes. She cooked by experience. Me, I need all the help I can get. I have tried the Cuban style croquettes sold frozen in the super markets. They are genuinely terrible. Any suggestions helping me make a Spanish (from Spain) croquette would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

Mary (The Goodie Godmother)

Sunday 24th of January 2021

1 cup is 120 grams when I measure. Fluff, lightly scoop and level with a flat edge so the flour isn't packed into the cup. Weight also works. As croquettes can vary in style (as you know), I'm not sure if these will exactly be what you are looking for. But the recipe does get rave reviews from my (Spaniard) father, so hopefully they're close.

Ashley

Friday 28th of August 2020

I've made these at least 3 times now, and I have a batch in my freezer. They are SO good. I've found that they cook up very nicely in my air fryer.

The last batch I doubled and added Swiss cheese. I'm wondering if I used too much cheese though because after the filling cooled there was a lot of grease pooling.

Do you think these could be made with fish? I was thinking the flavors might go with well with catfish.

Mary (The Goodie Godmother)

Monday 31st of August 2020

I'm so glad you love them as much as we do! And hooray for the air fryer... so convenient!

Possibly. I've noticed if I add too much cheese (or I tried a brand I don't usually buy once), there can some unexpected pooling. I usually just dab it off though.

Fish croquetas are definitely a thing and I think catfish would be delicious! The recipe would probably be slightly different in terms of seasoning, but you could just wing that by adding what you like and using a mild cheese. I'd love to know if you try it out!

Glenda

Monday 2nd of December 2019

I miss my Miami croquetas!!!! My husbands birthday is coming up and I want to surprise him! What kind of ham do you use?!?

Mary (The Goodie Godmother)

Monday 2nd of December 2019

What a sweet idea! Honestly, I use whatever ham I happen to have. I've used deli sliced ham, the thicker slices of sweet ham you can find at the grocery store near the bacon, or leftover spiral ham (like after a holiday meal). They all taste the same when chopped very fine in the food processor!

Viv

Tuesday 14th of August 2018

Any tips on rolling into the rods? We attempted making some the other day and they just seemed to fall apart as I was breading them. They wer delicious, just looked terrible! And as a Cuban living in Utah with nowhere to buy croquettes I really need to figure these out (or I may go broke constantly flying down to Miami to bring them home)!

Mary (The Goodie Godmother)

Monday 27th of August 2018

How long did you cook the roux? Mine cools to almost a play-doh consistency (it's already thick coming off the stovetop) and once it's cool it holds together pretty well. If it was already that thickness, maybe chop the ham a tiny bit smaller? Or even chill the mixture a few minutes and work with it cold. Sometimes, it can be a little more challenging depending on ambient humidity. But one of these tricks always works for me. :)

It's hard to find good Cuban food outside of South Florida, isn't it? Good luck with this recipe!

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