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3 Ingredient Sandwich Spread Recipe for Sandwiches or Dip

This simple, healthy homemade sandwich spread recipe with mayonnaise is a great way to stretch leftover meat into another meal.

I grew up calling it “roadkill”; it may have different names other places. (“Monkey meat” with ground bologna and pickles is similar.)

If you're skipping bread, you can also use it as a dip with some veggie sticks.

sandwich spread with mayo

It should also be noted that it earned me an “A” back in grad school, and a rather confused and curious look from my statistics teacher.

I submitted an analysis for my Applied Statistics class titled, “The Taste of Roadkill”. (This was back in grad school when I got my mechanical engineering degree.)

Using multivariate linear regression (which I haven't used since), I determined that adults preferred the taste of roadkill sandwich spread in combination with real cheese, over the taste of sliced meat and processed cheese slices, nearly two to one. (Kids liked the sliced meat and processed cheese better, but they don't pay the bills.) 

This was good news for our family catering business, as it gave statistical proof to back up our use of budget friendly sandwich spreads like this for hors d'oeuvres and canapés.

The combination of flavors is simple and good. I usually don't measure exactly. I use what have on hand and mix until the texture is right.

Easy Sandwich Spread Recipe

Ingredients

  • Finely chopped cold meat of your choice – my favorites include roast beef, roast chicken and ham
  • Mayonnaise – your choice of homemade or store bought
  • Pickle Relish – your choice of store bought or homemade

Directions

To make roughly 1 cup of meat into sandwich spread, I start with the finely chopped meat. Add about 2-3 tablespoons of mayo and 2 tablespoons of relish, and mix well.

Add more mayo and/or relish to taste. You want it to come together nicely and be easy to spread or scoop with crackers or veggies.

Store in a closed container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.

easy sandwich spread recipe

Avocado Oil Mayo

For this batch of dip, I used leftover roast beef in combination with homemade pickle relish sweetened with honey and Primal Kitchen Mayo. I received a jar of the Primal Kitchen Mayo to review and write up a recipe for, and ended up with a complete case of brain lockup.

I don't use a ton of mayo, and what I use it for most is probably deviled eggs – but everyone does deviled eggs. (And I had just put up recipes on the site for classic and guacamole deviled eggs.) 

Sandwiches, potato salad, pasta salad, Waldorf salad – all great uses for mayo, not so paleo/primal. Fresh garden produce for inspiration? Not this time of year.

Then, digging for lunch, I had a “Duh” moment, and realized the answer and old family favorite was staring me in the face. Sandwich spread recipes don't have to be just chicken or tuna – use whatever you have on hand!

For the foodies reading this post, you'll appreciate the quality ingredients in the Primal Kitchen Mayo. It's made with avocado oil – not canola or soy or olive oil. Avocado oil is loaded with monounsaturated oleic fatty acids (good fats).

I tried to love olive oil mayo because it has the same type of healthy fats, but it's just too floral to my palate. This mayo tastes good!

It also includes organic cage-free eggs, organic egg yolks and organic vinegar – but no sugar. All the stuff you want without the stuff you don't. 🙂

You may also enjoy:

keto friendly meat spread and veggies

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3 Ingredient Sandwich Spread Recipe for Sandwiches or Dip

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4 from 1 review

Simple, healthy homemade sandwich spread recipe (or dip) with mayonnaise that's a great way to stretch leftover meat into another meal.

  • Author: Laurie Neverman

Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 1 cup finely chopped chilled cooked meat, such as roast beef, chicken, or ham
  • 23 tablespoons mayonnaise
  • 2 tablespoons pickle relish

Instructions

Start with the finely chopped meat, then add about 2-3 tablespoons of mayo and 2 tablespoons of relish, and mix well.

Add more mayo and/or relish to taste. You want it to come together nicely and be easy to spread or scoop with crackers or veggies.

Store in a closed container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.

Share a photo and tag us — we can't wait to see what you've made!

Originally posted in April 2015, last updated in 2020.

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13 Comments

  1. I save your emails sometimes for good recipe ideas but was surprised to find this one in my old file. My grandmother used to grind up leftover roast beef and mix it with mayo, a little chopped onion, a little chopped dill pickle, and chopped apple. The apple really made a nice addition.

  2. My mom used make this with venison burger,she would fry it, chill it, then add onions, dill pickles chopped, shredded cheddar. There were 7 kids in my family, mom was good at making due. Thanks for sharing your recipe. It brought back good memories. Dont think she called it roadkill though. Lol

    1. My family is known to have a bit of a raunchy sense of humor. The breading that my sister made up for frying chicken was known as Alfie’s Chicken Sh*t. It all tasted good, so no one was concerned about the awful nicknames.

  3. When I was growing up my Mother used leftover meat to make something similar. She used a hand grinder for the meat and added a tiny bit of onion, dill pickle, cheddar cheese and mayo. I thought it was Heaven on Earth! I cook so that we rarely have leftover meat (there are just two of us now), so haven’t had it for a long time. I may just have to cook a small piece of meat just to make some for old time’s sake! Great post!

  4. Tried clicking on the mayo pic for a link to buy it…but it didn’t work. Where did you get the mayo, or where can I buy it since it was given to you to review??
    Looks good!
    I love using leftovers!!!

  5. Yes I like this post! Roadkill could turn many away. Good idea for left over meat. I scramble my hamburger (buffalo) with vegetables. Sometimes I have left over. This would cause me to save and not eat everything till it is gone. Thank you!

  6. This looks awesome! One of my personal challenges is to learn to make more sandwiches that can be used in meal planning. This looks to check all my favorite boxes. Real food, uses leftovers, frugal & tasty. I like it!

  7. What a great idea! I’ve always liked that ham salad spread from the deli, but lord knows what’s in it. This is definitely a ‘duh moment’ for me to make my own with whatever leftover meat is in the fridge!