Canadian bacon substitutes
Canadian bacon substitutes — 6 options, ranked, with the exact amount
Use Sliced deli ham (boiled or honey ham)
Same amount as the Canadian bacon, slice for slice
Thin-sliced deli ham is the answer, at 1:1. Canadian bacon's job in a recipe is salt and lean, mildly smoky pork, not fat, and boiled or Black Forest ham does exactly the same job for a fraction of the fuss. Use ham for eggs Benedict, breakfast sandwiches and Hawaiian pizza and almost nobody will notice. Prosciutto also works if you crisp it for 30 seconds and cut the salt elsewhere in the dish. Regular streaky bacon will do in a pinch, but understand you are swapping in a much fattier, smokier, crunchier ingredient, so drain it well.
- Verdict —
- Works
- Best for —
- eggs Benedict
Updated 19 Aug 2026 · no sponsored swaps
Every option, one card
Ranked| # | Substitute | Instead of Canadian bacon | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sliced deli ham (boiled or honey ham)eggs Benedict | Same amount, slice for sliceWorks | Works |
| 2 | Black Forest hamHawaiian pizza | Same amountOr two thin slices per roundWorks | Works |
| 3 | Prosciutto (or prosciutto cotto)eggs Benedict | Same amount by weightBut expect roughly a third fewer slices per ounceYou'll taste it | You'll taste it |
| 4 | Regular streaky baconwhen it is all you have | 2 to 3 strips per round of Canadian baconYou'll taste it | You'll taste it |
| 5 | Smoked pork loin or Kassler chops, thinly slicedpan-frying alongside eggs | Same amountWorks | Works |
| 6 | Smoked turkey breast or turkey hampork-free breakfasts | Same amountTweak it | Tweak it |
Sliced deli ham (boiled or honey ham)
similar taste and texture
The closest thing on the shelf. Both are cured, cooked, lean pork sold in rounds, and in a stack on an English muffin the difference is very small.
- Best for
- eggs Benedict, breakfast sandwiches, Hawaiian pizza, quiche and egg bakes, grilled cheese
Honey or maple ham is sweeter than Canadian bacon, so pick a plain boiled ham if the dish is savory. Deli ham is thinner, so use two slices where the recipe wants one.
Black Forest ham
enhanced taste, similar texture
A cured, cold-smoked ham. Noticeably smokier and a little darker in flavor than Canadian bacon, which reads as an upgrade on pizza and slightly loud under a delicate hollandaise.
- Best for
- Hawaiian pizza, sandwiches and sliders, breakfast casseroles, when you want more smoke
Sear it briefly in a dry pan and the smoke mellows while the edges frizzle, which is closer to how a griddled round of Canadian bacon tastes.
Prosciutto (or prosciutto cotto)
different taste and texture
Prosciutto is much saltier and more intensely porky, and paper thin instead of chunky. It crisps into a lacy sheet rather than staying meaty. Prosciutto cotto, the cooked kind, is much closer and behaves almost exactly like Canadian bacon.
- Best for
- eggs Benedict, pizza, asparagus and egg dishes, when you want a crisp texture
Cut back the salt everywhere else in the dish. If you crisp it, do it in a dry pan for 30 to 60 seconds a side, it goes from just right to bitter fast.
Regular streaky bacon
different taste and texture
This is the swap most people reach for and the one that changes the dish most. Streaky bacon renders a large amount of fat, shrinks by half, and brings hard smoke and crunch where Canadian bacon brings soft lean meat. A benedict made with it is a different, greasier breakfast.
- Best for
- when it is all you have, breakfast sandwiches, carbonara-style pasta, chopped into salads or hash
Cook it, then drain it on paper towel and blot, or the muffin turns soggy. Do not measure by weight, a raw strip loses about half its mass in the pan.
Smoked pork loin or Kassler chops, thinly sliced
similar taste and texture
Literally the same cut, cured and smoked in the German style. Firmer, drier and more assertively smoky, but the lean loin chew is spot on.
- Best for
- pan-frying alongside eggs, hearty breakfasts, pea soup and bean dishes, sandwiches
Slice it thinner than you would a chop, about an eighth of an inch, and warm it gently. It dries out quickly at high heat because there is almost no fat to protect it.
Smoked turkey breast or turkey ham
different taste, similar texture
The best non-pork option. It gives you the salt, the smoke and the lean sliceable body. What is missing is the faint sweetness and the small amount of pork fat, so it tastes flatter and can be slightly rubbery when it is heated hard.
- Best for
- pork-free breakfasts, egg dishes, pizza, lighter sandwiches
Brush it with a little melted butter or oil before griddling. Without added fat it will stick and stay pale instead of browning.
Questions
5 questionsCan I just leave it out?
In eggs Benedict, yes, and the dish has a real name without it: poached eggs and hollandaise on a muffin is still very good, and adding a layer of sauteed spinach or a slice of tomato replaces the bulk. What you lose is the salt, so season the eggs and add a pinch of flaky salt to the muffin. In a breakfast casserole or quiche you can leave it out but should replace the volume with something savory, such as sauteed mushrooms with a splash of soy sauce, or the custard tastes bland and one-note.
Is Canadian bacon the same as ham?
Practically, they are close cousins. Both are cured pork, but Canadian bacon comes from the loin, which runs along the back, while ham comes from the hind leg. Loin is a little firmer and less salty. That difference is small enough that swapping ham in is close to invisible, which is why ham is the top recommendation on this page.
Can I substitute regular bacon 1:1?
Not by weight or by piece. Streaky bacon is roughly half fat and loses about half its weight in the pan, so use two to three cooked strips per round and drain them well. The bigger issue is character rather than quantity: the finished dish will be smokier, crunchier and greasier. For pizza it is fine. Under hollandaise, ham is a much better call.
How much Canadian bacon is on a pizza?
A 12 inch Hawaiian pizza typically takes about 4 ounces, which is roughly 6 to 8 rounds torn into pieces. Ham, Black Forest ham or torn prosciutto all cover the same area at the same weight. Add it before baking if you want it soft, or in the last 4 minutes if you want the edges to curl and crisp.
Is Canadian bacon healthier than regular bacon?
It is much leaner, because it comes from the loin rather than the belly, so per ounce it carries far less fat and fewer calories. It is not low in sodium, though. It is a cured product, and a serving carries a similar amount of salt to bacon, so if you are watching sodium the swap does not help much on that front.
Tips for substituting Canadian bacon
5 tips- Understand what it is actually doing before you swap: Canadian bacon supplies salt and lean smoky pork, and almost no fat. A round yields perhaps half a teaspoon of drippings, so if a recipe told you to fry your eggs or your potatoes in the fat left behind, you will need to add butter or oil regardless of what you swap in.
- It is already fully cooked. You are only warming and browning it, so 60 to 90 seconds a side in a hot dry pan is plenty. Longer than that and the lean loin turns to leather at the edges.
- Because there is no fat to render, it sticks. Give the pan a very light film of oil or butter, or use a nonstick pan, and let the surface dry with a paper towel first so it browns instead of steaming.
- Peameal bacon, the Canadian original, is wet-cured and rolled in cornmeal and is sold unsmoked and raw. If a recipe says peameal, it needs actual cooking to 145 F, and it will taste sweeter and less smoky than the American product labeled Canadian bacon.
- In the UK and Ireland, back bacon rashers are the same cut but sold raw and often thicker, with a tail of belly fat attached. Treat them like a very lean bacon: start in a cold pan, cook to just firm, and do not expect much grease.