Treasured Craft Kitchen

One of the biggest surprises from posting my recipes on social media has been just how many people didn’t realize you could make your own deli meat at home. This Honey Maple “Ham” proves that you don’t need overly expensive specialty equipment, mystery ingredients, or even curing salts to create flavorful sandwich meat right in your own kitchen.

Using a simple pork loin, a handful of pantry spices, and the precision of sous vide, you’ll end up with tender, juicy slices perfect for sandwiches, wraps, breakfast biscuits, or meal prep throughout the week. While this isn’t a traditional cured ham, it captures the sweet, savory flavors people love in honey ham while letting the natural flavor of the pork shine through.

If you’ve ever looked at the price of deli meat and wondered if there was a better way, this recipe is for you.

Why Make Homemade Honey “Ham” Deli Meat Instead Of Buying It?

Incredible Flavor

The combination of maple syrup, honey, smoked paprika, and warm spices creates that classic honey ham flavor with just enough sweetness to balance the savory pork.

Perfect for Meal Prep

A single pork loin makes enough sliced deli meat for lunches throughout the week, and it freezes beautifully for later.

No Artificial Preservatives

Unlike many store-bought deli meats, you’re in complete control of every ingredient that goes into this recipe.

Surprisingly Affordable

Making your own deli meat at home costs significantly less per pound than purchasing premium sliced lunch meat from the deli counter.

Ingredients

For a full list of ingredients, be sure to reference the recipe card below!

• Pork Loin – Pork loin is the ideal cut for homemade deli meat because it’s naturally lean, cooks evenly, and slices beautifully once chilled. Be sure to use a boneless pork loin rather than pork tenderloin, which is much smaller and has a different texture.
• Maple Syrup – Real maple syrup adds a rich sweetness that complements the pork without making it taste sugary. Choose pure maple syrup rather than pancake syrup for the best flavor.
• Honey – Honey helps balance the savory spices while adding subtle floral notes that mimic the flavor profile of traditional honey ham.
• Smoked Paprika – Smoked paprika gives the pork a gentle smoky flavor that resembles smoked ham without needing a smoker.
• Ground Mustard – Ground mustard adds a mild tang that brightens the sweetness of the maple and honey while enhancing the overall pork flavor.
• Ground Ginger – Ginger adds warmth without making the pork taste spicy. It works behind the scenes to round out the sweetness and deepen the overall flavor.

Equipment You’ll Need

Sous Vide Machine – Sous Vide is like slow cooking, but its perfect every time. No more worrying about overly mushy produce and no more under cooked proteins. Precision cooking has never been easier with this. Plus, although the built in recipe timer feature is nice if you connect to wifi…. it totally still works with manual buttons even if you don’t want to give it permission to wifi access.

Vacuum Sealer – This vacuum sealer comes with a 5 year warranty and you can buy replacement parts like rubber gaskets on their main website. This is huge if you only like to buy tools once and want them to last a lifetime.

Silicone Sous Vide Bags – Good bye single use plastic! These silicone bags a total game changer for using the sous vide cooking method more often. No more ruining the environment. No more recurring expenses. Just a simple solution to the plastic issue.

Sous Vide Machine

Buy Now →

Vacuum Sealer

Buy Now →

Silicone Sous Vide Bags by Silivac

Buy Now →

Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. This comes at no additional cost to you.

Instructions to make Honey “Ham” Deli Meat

1. Form a Paste
   In a small bowl, combine all spices and honey together until a paste forms. The consistency will resemble a creamy peanut butter. Set aside.
2. Trim Pork Loin
   Begin by finding an edge of the fat cap that you are able to firmly grasp, even if its just two fingers at the start that can hold on tight. Using a knife, trim fat cap entirely off or as much off as possible. Any fat left behind will render down during the cook.
3. Apply Paste
   Next, massage the spice paste onto the trimmed pork loin. Make sure to get all sides including both ends.
4. Vacuum Seal
   This next part is critical to sous vide cooking. Seal the spiced pork loin in a BPA free vacuum seal bag. I use these resealable silicone bags when ever possible to cut back on single use plastic.
5. Sous Vide
   In a water bath set to 150°F with your sous vide machine, completely submerge your sealed pork loin for 3 hours. If your bag is floating, simply weigh it down with a metal spoon.
6. Fully Chill
   After 3 hours of cook time in the sous vide bath, remove bag from the pot. Allow the bag to cool down before placing in the refrigerator to fully chill (overnight is best).
7. Slice and Enjoy
   Finally, remove the loin from the bag and pat dry with a towel. It is now ready for slicing! Slice your homemade honey “ham” deli meat as thin as you would like. The juices can be reserved for a au jus dipping sauce or discarded.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why Trim All of the Fat Off?

Its true, the fat cap of a pork loin is traditionally kept on this cut of meat due to how lean it is and difficulty to keep moist. Sous vide fixes that problem entirely for us. Cutting the fat cap off will give you a more appealing end product since cold cuts with fat still on it can appear unappetizing to many.

What is Sous Vide Cooking?

Sous vide (French for “under vacuum”) is a cooking method where food is sealed in a bag and cooked gently in a precisely temperature-controlled water bath. This technique takes the guesswork out of cooking, ensuring that proteins and vegetables are perfectly and consistently cooked throughout without overcooking.

Is There an Alternative to Cooking in Plastic?

Traditionally, sous vide cooking has always relied on these BPA free vacuum seal bags that often come with your vacuum seal machine. In a personal effort to ditch single use plastics and minimize micro plastic leeching, I now use these resealable silicone bags.

The silicone is medical grade, and platinum cured meaning it is the same silicone used in many baby bottle tops and implants as well as the medical tubing used during surgeries. Read the full Technical Verification & Safety Standards report here.

The reusable bags only fit 1 lb loins, so you’ll have to adjust your spices down. The cook time and temperature remain the same. You can also cook more than one bag at a time if your water bath is big enough!

NOTE: This is NOT a sponsored post but as an affiliate, I do receive commissions in the event a purchase is made through any external links. This recipe and opinions on recommended products are authentically my own.

How Long Does Homemade Honey “Ham” Deli Meat Last?

Unopened, vacuum-sealed sous vide meat lasts for 3 to 4 weeks in the fridge, provided you flash-chill the bag in an ice bath immediately after cooking and keep your refrigerator at or below 4°C (40°F). Once the bag is opened, treat it as standard leftovers and consume within 3 to 4 days.

Below is a photo how I prepare it for the freezer to be kept indefinitely. I start by fanning out the exact number of slices I would use in a full work week (counting at 4-5 slices per sandwich). Then I vacuum seal for long term freezer storage. To use, thaw in the fridge overnight before opening.

Homemade Honey “Ham” Deli Meat Recipe Card