Before you run away, let me clarify – no monkeys were harmed in making this Monkey Meat.
There are also no bananas… let me explain…
We’re talking family recipes this week, and this Monkey Meat is an OLD family recipe. I was actually just introduced to Monkey Meat last month, and I was extremely intrigued at the name alone. I was at a family reunion, so my mom and her three siblings were there, and at the mere mention of “Monkey Meat” they would tilt their heads back, close their eyes, smile and make an, “mmmmm.” sound.
I simply had to know what it was, and what was in it. Oh, and WHY the name?
So here’s what it is – it’s a sandwich spread (also makes a great dip for crackers) made from bologna, dill pickles and a little bit of mayo.
Here’s WHY – When my grandparents were younger and had 4 hungry kids (living on a very modest income) my grandma looked for ways to “expand” their pantry. By grinding up the bologna and her homemade pickles, she was able to stretch the meat out a little further and save a few extra pennies. My grandfather was a Science teacher, and the name “Monkey Meat” was most certainly coined by him. He passed away when I was just 9 years old, but I remember him always having the quirkiest jokes and always being the life of the party. I actually went off to college with aspirations to become a science teacher myself.
But alas, I ended up here. Sharing Monkey Meat with my friends. (we’re still friends, right?)
When I made these sandwiches for my kids and told them it was “Monkey Meat” they were a little confused. Ok, I had to do some serious talking with my 4 year old to convince her there was actually NO monkeys in it. She finally took a bite, and LOVED IT. My oldest kids requested these in their lunch box, and I couldn’t be happier.
With our school being a nut free zone, they can get sick of their regular sandwich selection.
Plus they can brag to their friends about it. I hope I don’t get any notes home from the principle…
Look, we all know family recipes can be a bit… well, odd. And yes, this one definitely is, but it’s totally worth a try!
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Monkey Meat… it’s not what you think
Ingredients
- 1 lb. stick bologna, cut into cubes
- 5 to 6 baby dill pickles, drained
- 1/2 cup mayo, + more if needed
Instructions
- In a food processor pulse the bologna several times until it becomes very finely chopped, place in a large bowl.
- Wipe out the food processor and add the dill pickles, pulse a few times until very finely chopped. Add the dill pickles to the bologna along with the mayo. Stir to combine, keep chilled and spread on butter crackers or in-between to pieces of bread for a delicious sandwich!
Video
Nutrition
Caramelized Onion Hummus Recipe
Lou Leighner
Love it! We called it Ham Salad.
Pauline
My mom always made this when I was a kid. Also for big parties, showers etc.. we always used sweet pickles instead of dill pickles. Delicious!
Marcy heilborn
my dad made this-back in the late 50’s and early 60’s–he used one of those hand grinders that attached to our metal dinner table-used ring bolonga,dill pickles, and Miracle Whip–it was fantastic!
Voni
My dad use to make this for us, but e used pickled bologna, onions, olives, dill pickles and mircle whip! But we called it “Dog Food”!!
Carol B
we always made this with sweet or bread and butter pickles instead of the dill.. love it this way much better
andy's gramma
We called it “bologna salad”, and it was Miracle Whip, bologna and sweet pickles. We must have been more “well off”, lol, because our meat grinder hooked up to the electric mixer. There was a little stumpy thing you used to push the hunks of bologna and pickles in. We’d fight over who got to feed the chunks in. Loved watching the spread squeeze through the holes like little squirmy worms.
With 6 kids, dad made a ton of it, enough to last us a whole week’s worth of sandwiches for lunch. Was a treat when he made it!
Tanya
My family makes this but we also add onions, tomatoes, lettuce and boiled eggs using slices of bread with the lettuce when ground to absorb the water the lettuce releases! My oldest uncle is in his 80’s and he says he doesn’t ever remember eating Bologna any other way! We call it simply ” Bologna salad”
Jane
when we have leftover ham we grind with the bologna makes good sandwiches
Jackie Jenney
I make this using bologna, sweet pickles, shredded sharp cheddar cheese, boiled eggs and miracle whip. The names I’ve heard it called is combination spread/meat or funeral meat. It’s served as sandwiches at a lot of funerals in the South. I also made it for showers and weddings.
Chrissy
We’ve always called this “minced ham”. We use onion in it as well. A good old recipe that takes a meat grinder for it to be really good!! I remember my Mom making this all the time!!! Yummy for sure
Jessica Ingenbrandt
*principal
Cheryl
My Nanny (grandma) made it with Bologna, or canned ham or even Spam depending on what she had on hand, I remember her using a hand grater for the meat, pickles and even boiled eggs (think tuna fish). So delicious. I still make it and my family loves it!!
Virginia Leingang
I’ve truly enjoyed reading these comments on this sandwich.Really brings back memories for me I’m 83 years old
and during the war in the ”40 Spam was available where foods were rationed. The food grinder was used to grind spsm
Street pickle relish wwa mixed with Miracle Whip spread on home made bread and we loved it. Would love to have one now. Thanks
Zfor the memories. Love the comments.
Esther Lewis
my gramma lied to us and told us it was devilled ham! didn’t find out it was bologna until my mid forties! we loved it! sometimes she would add in hard cooked eggs, but only for special occaisions!
Amanda Bahney
We called it money meat too in my house
Lindy VANSCONIS
I love hearing names other families called this salad. My grandma always called it alligator meat! I wouldn’t eat it as kid because of that!
Shannon
This is amazing. I totally thought my mom came up with this cause we were broke at the time. My WHOLE. LIFE. I thought no one else had ever made it. Love it. Though we called it…..wait for it…… “Ground up stuff”
Carol
We have also used hotdogs instead of bologna and add some mustard.
Shawn
I’ve never heard hot dogs, but that sounds great!! 🙂
Joan
OMG we lived on this growing up. Packed lunches for school all the time. My grandma, too, used a meat grinder. Bologna was cheap and we had a big family. We used relish in place of the pickles. And yes—we called it MONKEY MEAT!!! You have made my day and I will share this with my siblings lol
Shawn
Too cool! I’m glad I helped bring back some good memories! 🙂
Shannon M chicaal7@aol.com
Such a neat recipe!! I’ve never tried it, it’s on my list to try! Luv what your family named it! Thanks for all of your wonderful post!
Diane Sanders
Have to tell you that this recipe so intrigued me that I made it while at my parents. My husband, parents and I were amazed at how good it was. We laughed a lot at the name and had fun trying to dream up other names for it. It was a riot. Thanks for not only the fun but a good quick sandwich recipe.
Shawn
Ah that is the sweetest story!! Thank you so much for sharing, and I’m so glad you guys all enjoyed it! 🙂
Greg Jones
My mother made this recipe a lot when I was growing up. Always loved it, especially on her homemade oatmeal bread. The flavors seem to combine nicely with lemonade for some reason.
Gina Robichaud
Hunh. Never thought of trying baloney this way. We’ve made the same thing, only with canned ham. I’ll have to try this!
Sue
We add cheese and hard boiled eggs and call it sandwich spread! It’s a recipe that came from grandmother! I haven’t made it in years!
Rhoada Hruska
We always called this Party Meat because every kids birthday party that we went to as kids always served these.Made exactly the same way as this recipe. Ground with a meat grinder. Now I make them in a food processor, Love this stuff.
Jo Anne Hayon
You can buy this in a local meat marketer here in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. We don’t call it monkey meat we call it what it is-good old bologna spread. I have made it also from leftover ring bologna.
Ellie
My momma always added hard boil eggs and used sweet pickles not dill, been eating this spread since I was a little girl.
Susan
I’ve never had this with bologna but I have had it with Spam. We grated the Spam and used sweet pickle relish and mayonnaise. We put it on English muffins with a slice of american cheese on top and then put under the broiler until the cheese melted. Best Foods/Hellman’s mayonnaise only!
Bob S
Try adding 1 dozen hard boiled eggs.
Barb
We used Spam and sweet relish with Miracle Whip. Brings back memories.
Karen
I’ve made this with Spam and it’s really good too. Don’t laugh, my mother in law used to make it and we all loved it.
Nancy
We called it ham salad. Love it. The only difference in our family is that we used sweet pickles not dill. One of my favorites
Shawn
Yum! I’ll have to try it with the sweet pickles too! 🙂
Marie
Yes, my grandmother used to make this as far back as the 20’s, her mother may have made it too. We call it ground Bologna and we put it through a grinder. It is great to take fishing.
Shawn
So neat! I still can’t believe how long this recipe has been around for! 🙂
Michaela
My fiancé’s mom makes a version of this, but with hotdogs instead of Bologna. I thought it was a tangy ham salad until they told me the ingredients! It’s surprisingly delicious! They always tell me a story from shortly before I started dating my fiancé, about how they served it at a cousin’s wedding reception as an emergency plan B after the Bride and Groom accidentally burned the Turkey they were supposed to be serving. His mom remembered eating something similar as a kid, but didn’t know what exactly was in it, but they had a lot of hotdogs stocked up in the freezer so that’s what they used for the wedding! It turned out to be a hit and is a family staple for summer sandwiches now!
Jana
We called these “Funeral Sandwiches”!
Melodie
What a blast from the past! I grew up on this. I can remember my Mom with her meat grinder making this for us. And we loved it!
Lea
This and many other ground meats were definitely budget stretchers. If we had left over ham or beef roast, mom always ground it up, threw in some pickles, onions and boiled eggs with the mayo. What would be meat for one or two sandwiches if sliced, made four to five when ground up and things added to them. I still love these.