Ham croquetas

Name: Ham croquetas
Prep time: 13 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 38 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Spanish
Ingredients: 75g Plain Flour; 2 large Egg; 75g Breadcrumbs; For frying Sunflower Oil; 4 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil; 1/2 Leek; 70g jamón ibérico; 60g Plain Flour; 75 ml Vegetable Stock; 330ml Milk; Grated Nutmeg

By The Spice & Simmer Kitchen · Published May 3, 2026

A one-pot Pork recipe with Spanish flavors, built for busy weeknights when you want real food without a sink full of dishes. Comes together in roughly 64 minutes, serves about 4, and uses ingredients you can find at any normal grocery store. The technique is simple: build a base in your pot, layer in the main ingredients, simmer until everything has had time to talk to each other, and serve straight from the pan. If you're cooking for picky eaters, this one tends to land — the flavors are recognizable, the texture is comforting, and there's nothing weird hiding in the ingredient list. Perfect for the kind of evening where you want dinner on the table by 7pm and the kitchen empty by 7:30.

Ingredients

Makes 4 servings · 38 min total

75g Plain Flour
2 large Egg
75g Breadcrumbs
For frying Sunflower Oil
4 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 Leek
70g Jamón Ibérico
60g Plain Flour
75 ml Vegetable Stock
330ml Milk
Grated Nutmeg

Step-by-step instructions

To make the filling, heat the olive oil in a pan until it starts to shimmer. Add the leek and sauté until soft but not coloured. Stir in the ham with a wooden spoon, fry for 1 min, then stir in the flour and fry over a medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is golden but not burnt – this will take about 5 mins.
Meanwhile, combine the stock and milk in a small pan and heat until steaming but not boiling. Season with a few scrapes of nutmeg. Gradually add the liquid, a few tbsp at a time, stirring constantly.
Once you’ve incorporated all the milk stock, continue to cook the filling over a medium heat for about 10 mins or until it thickens and leaves the sides of the pan when you stir it.
Season with black pepper, taste and adjust the salt if necessary – the ham can be very salty to start with. The filling is now done: it has to be really thick because you don’t want the croquetas to turn into pancakes.
Smooth the mixture onto a baking tray (30 x 20cm is fine). Once it has stopped steaming, cover with cling film to stop it drying out. Leave to cool before putting it in the fridge for 1 hr.
When you're ready for the next stage, line up three bowls: the first filled with the flour, the second with beaten egg and the third with breadcrumbs. Take the ham mixture out of the fridge. Put a little bit of olive oil on your hands to make it easier to roll the croquetas.
Roll a spoonful of the mixture between your palms. The size and shape of the croquetas is up to you, but the easiest is a walnut-sized ball. Then begin coating as follows.
Dunk the croquetas into the flour – you want a dusting – followed by the egg, then the breadcrumbs. Put them on a tray and, when you’ve used up all the mixture, place in the fridge for 30 mins.
If you have a deep-fat fryer, heat the oil to 180C and fry for a couple of mins. If not, heat the oil in a deep, heavy-bottomed saucepan until it starts to shimmer. Then add 5-6 croquetas at a time and fry until golden all over. Once cooked, drain on kitchen paper and eat straight away.

Why this works on a weeknight

Ham croquetas lands at about 38 minutes total — a little longer than our 30-minute target, but most of that time is hands-off simmering, which is why it earned a spot in our Skillet & One-Pan collection. The technique is forgiving, the ingredient list is grocery-store standard, and the active cooking time is short enough that you can answer a text message in the middle without ruining dinner.

Cleanup notes

This is a single-pan recipe, so the cleanup is exactly one pan, one cutting board, and one knife. While the dish rests, fill the pan with hot soapy water — by the time you are done eating, the residue lifts off with a single pass of a sponge. Skip the steel wool on cast iron; a stiff brush and warm water are all you need to keep the seasoning intact.

Make-ahead and leftovers

Leftovers keep covered in the fridge for up to three days. Reheat in a dry pan over medium-low with a splash of water or stock to loosen the sauce. Ham croquetas actually improves overnight as the flavors keep talking to each other, so doubling the recipe and packing tomorrow's lunch is a high-leverage weeknight move.

Filed under 🥘 Skillet & One-Pan Pork Spanish