Poor Man’s Spam {Recipe From Guam}
The above recipe has been passed down from generation to generation in my family. It was my mother’s recipe, who in turn received it from her mother, etc, etc, etc. For those who don’t know, my mother and father are both from the island of Guam…born and raised. When my mother married my father and moved to the United States, she made sure to take all the recipes she grew up on along with her. This was one of them. I can’t tell y’all how many times she would make this dish while we were growing up. As she would make it, she would tell us that in the beginning of her marriage, this was all my dad and her were able to afford to eat. Hence the name….Poor Man’s Spam. Of course, it’s not like that now with them….however I am sure every time my parents make this recipe, it takes them back to that time in their lives when love was new and money was tight.
When I make it for my family, it takes me back to those evenings, sitting in my parent’s kitchen and keeping my mother company while she sauteed the onions and Spam. Growing up, her and I spent the majority of our mother/daughter time in the kitchen. We would talk about our day and about what boy I was interested in or what kind of pre-teen drama I was having at the time. Sometimes I would sit at the table and watch her while she cooked, leaving the lines of communication open between the both of us. Other times I would stand in front of the sink and wash countless numbers of dishes while conversing with her about my day. These are the memories I hope to make with my children one day. As they are wonderful ones that I have learned to treasure and I can only hope my children will too.
When you first look at the ingredients, it reminds you of the ingredients you need to make fried rice. Then you see the green beans in it and it totally throws you for a loop. We don’t eat Spam on a normal basis. As a matter of fact, I’m not a fan of Spam at all. For some reason though, I don’t mind it in this dish…and it may be due to it being mixed in with the tomatoes. This is a great meal to make when you don’t have a lot of time and need something in a hurry. Make the rice and chop the onions and Spam ahead of time, then throw everything together in a skillet (minus the rice) when it’s time to eat. So simple and so good 😉 Give it a try and see for yourself 😉
Poor Man’s Spam
(serves 6-8)
Ingredients:
1/2 cup to 1 cup chopped onion (however much you would like)
1 can of Spam, chopped
3 tbsp. of olive oil
1 can of green beans, drained (any kind will do…we’ve made it with french style, cut styled, etc…)
1 can of Ro-Tel tomatoes, undrained
Directions:
1. Saute’ onions in oil until soft.
2. Add chopped Spam and saute’ for 2-3 minutes.
3. Add the green beans and tomatoes.
4. Simmer for a good 15 minutes on low to medium heat.
5. Serve over rice.
**Libby’s Notes: You can also use regular diced tomatoes or stewed tomatoes in place of Ro-Tel***
thank you for this! i just stocked up on spam and was looking for new ways to cook it lol. 😉
Hi Libby , we too grew up eating Spam , fried mostly with breakfast or on sandwiches ! I am making this for my second family ( my residents at my job ) I am sure they will love it ! It surely will be a great conversation starter , thanks for posting <3
Hi Kim! My hubby loves fried Spam! Let me know if you have any questions about the recipe 🙂
Hi Libby! I just hopped over from The Country Cook! It's great to 'meet' you!
It's a small world! My hubby is retired military and we were stationed at Barksdale too. (we lived on Earhart)My father retired at Barksdale so I lived in Bossier for 17 yrs! I was just down there last week.
Another thing…when my father was in the Air Force we were stationed on Guam for 2 1/2 years and I LOVED it there!
I'll be back to read more! You have a new follower!
My very dear friend's husband is Chamorro…and though I love some of the dishes she taught me to make, I could never understand the fascination with SPAM in Guam!
LOL
@ LJ-You are welcome 🙂
@ Tina-It's nice to meet someone who is from this part of the US 😉 That's so neat! Welcome to the blog 😉
@ Conni-LOL…I have to laugh at your comment because I totally understand…and I'm Chamorro..LOL. I've never liked Spam unless it was in this dish…I won't eat it on a regular basis though…lol. My parents on the other hand, loved the stuff 🙂
I really enjoyed reading your post about your childhood, and spam. I too have fond memories in the kitchen with my mom, and cooking with spam.
She used to make scrambled eggs with diced spam, and sauteed onions.
I actually like the dish you made with it, and most people probably don't realize it that Spam is made with 90% pork shoulder meat, 10% pork leg, and the side, which is considered ham.
They have to use sodium nitrite in order to preserve the color…other than that, it's low sodium, and not high in cholesterol.
Just wanted to pass this along.
Trust me, during our hurricane season in S. Florida, we stock up on Spam:DDD
This looks good.I dont get to eat spam that often but I love spam musubi 🙂 Thanks for sharing this.
We used to eat Spam too when I was little, but we never had it all fancied up like this! All I remember is that my Dad would slice it, fry it, and then we'd eat it with eggs for breakfast. I haven't had it for ages!
@ Elisabeth-Yummmm! Scrambled eggs with diced spam and onions sound good 🙂 I'm not much of a Spam eater but that seriously does sound delish. Thank you for letting us in on that little secret about it too 😉
@ Alisa-You are welcome for sharing 😉
@ Scrambledhen-When we had a few cans left over we would it like that too 😉 Haven't eaten it that way in a loooong while though.
I remember my mom spreading mustard over the whole piece of Spam and baking it. My husband turned his nose up at this way. His favorite way is cold right out of the can. Will try this recipe.
We've never tried that with Spam. I'm going to have to give that a try 😉
My husband loves Spam!! Thank you for the delicious recipe!!
Had some night before last. I don’t understand why it became expensive?? I usually fry it in butter or oleo.
I have not noticed the price change lately. I wonder why it went up? Haven’t tried to fry it in butter yet. May have to try that soon 🙂
Unfortunately, Spam, like everything else has been hit by INFLATION. I have a friend who lives in California, and when Spam here (in Michigan) was going for less than $3.00 a can, it was over $9.00 a can there. She said it was often hard to find as it was considered a “cheap” meat and when cut up it could feed many! I have been subjected to Spam my whole life and I’m almost 68. My dad was in WWII and was a POW for 18 months in Austria. Canned meat was convenient. When I was born my folks were already eating it and so I grew up on it. When I got married, my new husband came from a Spam family too. His dad was in the Korean War and spent a lot of time in a medical army hospital. Again, Spam was cheap, easily, shipped, and stored. When my father-in-law was close to 80, he would make salads that included tiny bits of Spam. Husband has to have it fried with eggs or mac n cheese. I love it cold, slathered with mustard and at times a little bit of horseradish too. Yum, yum, yum!
Yes, even at Costco I consider it expensive and corned beef in the can too. I use spam every once in a while and enjoy it but not sure I would like it every day. This recipe sounds like something I would try at least once, who knows maybe it will be a keeper.
My family not a fan of spam thinking of using diced fully cooked ham, how much do you think and do you think that’s a good idea. Don’t want to waste ingredients if wouldn’t taste good sounds good to me,though.
We have never tried it with cooked ham, however, the taste of ham and spam are similar so it may work. I would start with just 1 cup of diced ham and if you feel like you should add more, then do it 😉 Hope it turns out well for you 🙂
Hi Libby: I love Spam, and I always have a couple of cans in my pantry. I buy the ‘Lite Spam’, b/c it contains less sodium, fat, & calories, but it still tastes terrific. I’ve used SPAM in place of diced ham in casseroles, and also in Pea Salad many times. Also, it’s great when lightly grilled to make “Hawaiian Sandwiches”: > One “King’s Hawaiian Bun”, a leaf of Boston Lettuce, a slice of grilled pineapple, 2 ‘rings’ (not slices) of red onion, a slice of lightly grilled Spam, and a generous smear of softened cream cheese.
Nevertheless, your dish sounds super tasty & easy, so I’ll make it very soon. Please tell what size cans of green beans and tomatoes to use in this recipe.
Hi Angelina! I believe I answered this through email already, however, I just use a 14.5 oz. can of regular cut green beans and a 10.02 oz. can of Rotel tomatoes 😉 Hope that helps some 🙂
That sandwich sounds great. Except for Hawaiian buns, I already have everything else. Going to try it ASAP as I like cream cheese on any type of sandwich! Husband doesn’t like lettuce on anything except for a BLT sandwich. You have to have the L!
I just got here because I saw the recipe for spam. I want to make it soon. I didn’t know that there was a lite spam good to know.
Yes…I believe Walmart has the Lite Spam. Hope you enjoy the recipe 😉
SPAM now comes in 13 pork flavors and roasted turkey. Your recipe sounds like it would work with all 14.
Thank you Elbert. I think it probably would work for all 14 flavors 😉
Do you have the recipe for the TV commercial which shows diced spam, green peas and some kind of liquid ( teriyaki or worchestire). I googled, but couldn’t find what liquid they used. Thank you.
Back when I was little (60+ years ago)my dad got hurt at work and while he was off, we got commodities (this was before food stamps) One of the food items we got was canned luncheon meat aka unlabeled Spam. My mom made that every which way she could think of, and I bet she made a dish similar to this one! I’m going to try this and hopefully bring back some memories!
Thank you for sharing this memory with us Caitlin. I hope you like the recipe!