Quick & Easy Recipe: Creamy Tomato SPAM

"WAIT...WHAT?!" you say???  Yeah, I know some of you are probably grossed out at the thought of this.  Spam is one of those foods you either love or hate.  And, fortunately, my whole family LOVES Spam...  

So here's some quick history on the canned meat.  Spam is a pre-cooked meat product that was introduced by Hormel back in 1937 that can be served hot or cold.  It was basically made of the unwanted meats.  This meat was 1st marketed to housewives who wanted quick and easy meals but soon gained attention from  the U.S. military.  Millions of cans were shipped out to feed our soldiers.  Since then, it's remained a staple in (some) family house holds.

I remember growing up, my family would slice the spam and fry it until lightly toasted (crispy on the outside but soft on the inside).  These slices would be served with a side of jasmine or calrose rice and ketchup.  MM MM GOOD. 

This was our favorite way to have it until we found another recipe.  I call it "Creamy Tomato Spam."  I discovered this at my cousin's house one day when her mom made it and served it to us for lunch.  It was LOVE at first taste.  And, yes, I'm going to show you how it's made....

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​Prep Time: 10-15 minutes
Cook Time: 10-12 minutes
​Ingredients needed:

• 2 tbs olive oil
• 2 cans of low-sodium SPAM
• 6 cloves of garlic
• 1 small yellow onion
• 1 can of tomato sauce or tomato bisque
• Sea Salt to taste
• ​Cracked ground black pepper to taste

Garlic...I use a LOT because I love it and use it in almost all my dishes. How to remove the skin is I will take a clove and smash it under a knife. This will loosen the peel and will be easy to remove. Then I will mince each clove the best I can:

Onions are cut in quarters, sliced lengthwise, then chopped to achieve diced pieces:

Spam - remove from the can.  Slice then chop (similar to the onion) to achieve, once again, ​ diced pieces:

Add oil into a pot and heat on high:

Add garlic and onions and stir frequently to keep garlic from burning and until onions are almost transparent. Turn down heat to Medium to further prevent garlic from burning.

Add spam and stir for about 3-5 minutes:

Add can of tomato sauce or tomato bisque:

You should have something that looks like this...

Serve with a half cup of rice and top with fresh cracked pepper and ENJOY!

Like the housewives back then, I love that this is quick and easy.  My kids love when I throw this together on the stove.  Trust me...my fellow SPAM lovers will add this to their list of fave SPAM dishes. 

​If you're willing to give this easy recipe a shot, share your pics and/or let me know what you think!

​~XOXO, Mari