Inspired by the classic Hawaiian pizza flavours, these baked gammon (ham) steaks with pineapple and green chilli are a quick and easy paleo-friendly, gluten-free and low-carb sheet pan dinner.
What Is Gammon?
I’ve had my fair share of bacon and other cured pork products but I’ve never really had much (or any) gammon until I lived in the United Kingdom, where you’d often see it on the menus and in the supermarket’s meat section.
For those of you not familiar with gammon, it’s a British term for dry-cured and brined pork meat from the hind leg of pork that is most similar to thick-cut bacon or raw ham.
It can be smoked and unsmoked, and like bacon, it needs to be cooked before being eaten. Think of it as cured, raw ham (in the U.S. it is often referred to as ‘fresh ham’).
Gammon can come as sliced steaks or sell as a large piece of pork on or off the bone. Once cooked, it’s similar to roasted or glazed ham, and the salty meat goes well with sweet condiments, hence why I decided to bake it with pineapple.
Baked Gammon Steaks
For this recipe, I bought a large piece of gammon off the bone and sliced it into steaks. You can buy pre-sliced gammon steaks, thick-cut bacon, or even regular pork chops, which would work perfectly in this recipe. You could even do a combination of regular pork steaks and some bacon strips, all baked together with diced pineapple and chilli.
For the chilli, I used a long green chilli pepper (e.g. jalapeños), which has just enough heat to add a little kick to the dish. You can omit the chilli or use dried flakes instead. I imagine that even pickled jalapeños could be used in this recipe.
I enjoyed serving these gammon steaks with some roasted sweet potatoes and a green salad. You could have potatoes at the same time in the oven. Leftovers were lovely in a salad or as a filling in a paleo wrap.
PS. I know it’s bad to cook with foil but I was making this dish at a friend’s house and they didn’t have any parchment/baking paper, which I recommend using instead. The pineapple will release juices which will caramelise and can burn slightly, so foil or parchment paper is useful to keep the baking pan easier to clean.
More Baked Sheet-Pan Dinners
- Chicken & Chorizo Sheet Pan Dinner With Asparagus
- Baked Chicken Thighs With Special Green Sauce
- Sheet Pan Salmon & Green Vegetables With Herb Garlic Sauce
- Caesar Chicken Sheet Pan Dinner (Paleo, Whole30, Keto)
Want to Save This Recipe?
Enter your email & I'll send it to your inbox. Plus, get great new recipes from me every week!
By submitting this form, you consent to receive emails from Cooked & Loved
Ingredients
- 750 g gammon joint 1.6 lbs. unsmoked, off the bone, sliced into steaks (or use precut steaks, see alternatives in the notes above)
- ½ fresh pineapple ripe, peeled and cut into small thin wedges
- 1 long green chilli pepper sliced thinly
- Drizzle of olive oil
- Cracked black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 220 C / 425 F (conventional, not fan-forced). Line a flat baking sheet with some parchment/baking paper.
- Place the gammon steaks on top, spacing them apart slightly. Scatter the pineapple wedges over the top and around the ham and top with chilli slices. Finish off by drizzling everything with a little bit of olive oil (about 1-2 tablespoons) and some cracked pepper.
- Bake in the hot oven, middle shelf, for about 25-30 minutes. Serve with a salad and/or cooked sweet potato or other vegetables of choice.
We have a friend who takes fresh pineapple places it in a jar after slicing it up adding the juice and then some chili’s before then leaving to marinate for several weeks. It really is delicious.
That sounds like a great idea! I imagine it would give it a nice little kick. I often make pineapple salsa with fresh chilli and it’s so lovely.
Oooohhhh now this is my kind of meal! My husband and I would both happily devour this. I love pineapple with baked ham and that little extra kick of spice sounds lovely.
So few ingredients bu magical flavors! Sweet, spicy, salty! I love the flavor dimensions! I had never heard of gammon before, learned something new!
What an interesting favor combo! This is the way to do ham!
Pineapple and pork are the best combo! I love how simple this is but so flavorful at the same time.
I totally love Hawaiian Pizza, so I can imagine how delicious this would be!
YUM! I love pineapple and ham together. I love that you added a bit of spice to it.
So simple and so delicious ! Totally perfect. Love the pineapple touch too !
Wow, this hits all my favorites (salty, spicy, and sweet) and so simple too. I love it!