Black Forest Ham substitute

Best substitute

Speck (Speck Alto Adige)

Use the same amount as the black forest ham you are replacing

Best for charcuterie and Wurstplatte

Close match

The closest swap is speck at 1:1, because it is the other supermarket ham that is both dry-cured and genuinely cold-smoked. Westphalian ham is even closer if your shop carries it. If all you can get is prosciutto or serrano, use it 1:1 and add a very small pinch of smoked paprika somewhere in the dish, because smoke is the one thing they are missing. For a cooked dish such as quiche or Flammkuchen, ordinary smoked deli ham or gently rendered smoked bacon will do the job. Before you shop, work out which product your recipe means: the German original is a firm, salty, raw dry-cured ham eaten in paper-thin slices, while the pink, moist, slightly sweet Black Forest ham sold at most American deli counters is a wet-cured cooked ham with a dark glaze, and the two are not interchangeable on a plate.

Other black forest ham substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Westphalian ham (Westfaelischer Schinken)
Close match
Use the same amount
The other great German cold-smoked dry-cured ham, smoked over beech and juniper.
What changes
Best for
charcuterie, sandwiches, German and Austrian recipes calling for Schinken, asparagus season dishes
Prep. Slice paper-thin; thick slices of a ham this dry chew like leather.
If a German butcher or a good deli has it, this is arguably the truest replacement of all, closer than speck. Expect it to be drier, firmer and more assertively smoky than Black Forest ham, with a nuttier, almost mushroomy depth from the beech smoke and a darker red colour. Because it is drier and saltier, use a little less if the ham is a seasoning in a cooked dish rather than the star of a plate. The only real drawback is availability outside Germany.
3Prosciutto plus a pinch of smoked paprika
Different taste
Use the same amount plus about ⅛ tsp smoked paprika per 60 g of ham
Italian air-dried ham, corrected for the smoke it does not have.
What changes
Best for
sandwiches, pasta and risotto, quiche and tarts, wrapping vegetables, pizza and Flammkuchen
Prep. Stir the smoked paprika into the fat or liquid of the dish, not onto the ham.
Prosciutto is the easiest cured ham to buy anywhere in the world, and left alone it makes a lovely plate that clearly is not Black Forest ham: sweeter, milkier, more floral, with no smoke at all and a softer, silkier bite. The fix is to put the smoke back somewhere else. Dust the paprika into the oil, butter, cream or dough of the dish rather than onto the slices themselves, and use a genuinely smoked Spanish pimenton rather than sweet paprika. In a cooked dish this reads convincingly as smoked ham. On a cold board it reads as good prosciutto with a hint of smoke, which is still a pleasant thing to eat.
4Serrano ham (jamon serrano)
Different taste
Use the same amount
Spanish dry-cured mountain ham, unsmoked, drier and more mineral than prosciutto.
What changes
Best for
charcuterie, sandwiches, salads, wrapping vegetables
Prep. Trim the hard outer edge if present; slice thin across the grain.
Serrano sits between prosciutto and Black Forest ham in character. It is drier and firmer than prosciutto with a nuttier, more savoury, slightly gamey depth, which coincidentally gets it closer to the German ham in intensity even though it has never seen smoke. It also holds up better in cooking than prosciutto, browning rather than dissolving. Add the same small pinch of smoked paprika if smoke matters to the dish. Its saltiness is high, so taste before adding any salt.
5Supermarket smoked deli ham or American-style Black Forest deli ham
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount
Wet-cured, fully cooked sandwich ham, often sold with a dark glazed edge under the Black Forest name.
What changes
Best for
quiche and egg bakes, Flammkuchen and pizza, ham and cheese rolls, casseroles and gratins, children's sandwiches
Prep. Pat slices dry with kitchen paper before adding to quiche, tart or pizza.
This is what most North American shoppers actually find when they go looking, and it is the right answer for cooked dishes and the wrong answer for a charcuterie plate. It is brined rather than dry-cured, so it is much wetter, noticeably sweeter, far milder, and its smoke is usually light or added as flavouring rather than earned in a smokehouse. In a quiche or a gratin, where cream, cheese and eggs are doing most of the talking, the difference all but disappears. On a board next to good bread and butter, it tastes flat and faintly sugary where the original should taste dense, salty and woody. If you use it in a baked dish, pat the slices dry first so the extra brine does not water down your custard or dough.
6Smoked bacon, blanched or gently rendered
Taste and texture differ
About ⅔ the weight of the ham
Smoked pork belly, cooked briefly to tame the fat and the salt.
What changes
Best for
Flammkuchen, potato dishes and gratins, soups, lentils and one-pots, pasta, green beans and cabbage
Prep. Render slowly over medium-low heat, drain, and hold back the recipe's salt until the end.
For any dish where the ham gets cooked, bacon is a genuinely good stand-in, because it brings the two things Black Forest ham brings to hot food: salt and real smoke. What changes is the fat. Bacon comes from the belly and is two to three times fattier than a cured leg, so a dish that should taste clean and smoky can turn greasy. Cut it small, render it slowly in a dry pan, and pour off most of the fat before it goes into the dish. Use around two thirds of the weight the recipe asks for, because bacon smoke is much louder. Do not use it raw or in place of thin slices on a cold plate.

What is Black Forest Ham?

Black Forest Ham is Black Forest ham, in German Schwarzwaelder Schinken, is a boneless pork leg that is dry-salted with garlic, coriander, juniper and pepper, cured for several weeks and then cold-smoked over fir and spruce until the outside goes almost black.

Cooking tips

Work out which ham your recipe means before you shop. A German or Austrian recipe that says Schwarzwaelder Schinken means the raw, firm, dry-cured, cold-smoked ham that comes in translucent slices. An American recipe that says Black Forest ham almost always means the moist pink cooked deli ham. Swapping one for the other is the single most common way these recipes go wrong.
Smoke is the flavour you are replacing, not saltiness. Any dry-cured ham will give you salt. Only speck, Westphalian ham or actual smoked bacon give you the woody, faintly piney note that makes Black Forest ham recognisable, which is why a pinch of smoked paprika is worth adding when you fall back on prosciutto or serrano.
Add thin cured ham late in the cooking. On Flammkuchen, pizza or a tart, put it on in the last two or three minutes or drape it over after the dish comes out of the oven. Baked from the start, the slices dry into salty crisps and the aroma you paid for evaporates.
Keep the strip of fat along the edge. In a dry-cured smoked ham the fat is where the smoke concentrates, so trimming it leaves you with salt and meat but very little perfume. This holds for speck, prosciutto and Westphalian ham used as substitutes too.
Salt the dish last. All of these hams, and bacon especially, are salt-forward, so a quiche, gratin or lentil pot that tasted correctly seasoned before the ham went in will taste over-salted afterwards. Cook first, taste, then decide.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between German Black Forest ham and the Black Forest ham at my deli counter?

They share a name and almost nothing else. Genuine Schwarzwaelder Schinken is a protected regional product: the leg is dry-salted with garlic, coriander, juniper and pepper, cured for weeks, cold-smoked over fir and spruce brushwood, then aged for months. It is never cooked, and it comes off the slicer firm, deep red, salty and distinctly smoky. The version sold in most North American supermarkets is a wet-cured, fully cooked sandwich ham with a dark caramel-coloured coating that imitates the smoked exterior. It is perfectly good sandwich ham, just softer, sweeter and much milder. If a recipe treats the ham as raw charcuterie, buy the dry-cured kind or substitute speck; if it goes into a quiche or a bake, the deli version is fine.

Can I substitute prosciutto for Black Forest ham?

Yes, at 1:1, and it is the most practical answer for most kitchens. The gap is smoke: prosciutto is salted and air-dried but never smoked, so it tastes sweeter, milder and more floral where the German ham tastes woody and savoury. Close most of that gap by stirring about an eighth of a teaspoon of smoked paprika per 60 g of ham into the fat or cream of the dish. Prosciutto is also more delicate, so it will melt away in long cooking where Black Forest ham would hold its shape.

Can I just leave the ham out?

It depends what job it is doing. In a quiche, tart, salad or gratin where it is one component among several, yes: you will lose salt, smoke and a little fat, so season slightly more assertively, add a small pinch of smoked paprika, and consider a handful of sauteed mushrooms or roasted onion for the savoury depth you gave up. In a dish built around the ham, such as a Schinkenbrot, a rolled ham appetiser or a plate of asparagus with ham, leaving it out removes the point of the dish, and you are better off using speck, another cured ham, or even smoked salmon for the wrapped appetisers.

What is the best substitute for Black Forest ham in Flammkuchen or quiche?

Smoked bacon, cut into small strips and rendered slowly in a dry pan until it has given up most of its fat, then drained. In hot dishes bacon supplies both salt and genuine smoke, which is exactly what the ham was contributing, and the crisp edges are welcome. Use about two thirds of the weight of ham the recipe calls for because bacon is stronger and much fattier. Ordinary smoked deli ham also works and is milder and leaner, and speck is the luxury option, added in the last couple of minutes so it stays supple.

Is there a good substitute for Black Forest ham if I do not eat pork?

Not a close one, and it is worth being honest about that. Smoked turkey breast is the usual stand-in and it does supply salt and light smoke, but it is much leaner and blander, with none of the dense, aged, faintly funky character of a long-cured leg, so a plate of it does not read as charcuterie. Beef bresaola is a better match for the dry-cured texture and depth, though it has no smoke, so add a small pinch of smoked paprika. In cooked dishes, smoked paprika plus browned mushrooms or a little tomato paste will give you smoke and savoury depth without any meat at all.

Related substitutes

More meat & protein substitutes

Black Forest Ham substitute

Other black forest ham substitutes

2Westphalian ham (Westfaelischer Schinken)

3Prosciutto plus a pinch of smoked paprika

4Serrano ham (jamon serrano)

5Supermarket smoked deli ham or American-style Black Forest deli ham

6Smoked bacon, blanched or gently rendered