Recipe
🥙 LUNCH
Pan de Jamón (Ham Bread)
A soft, lightly sweet enriched loaf rolled into a spiral around smoked ham, bacon, green olives and raisins, the Venezuelan Christmas bread.
Venezuelan · advanced · serves 10
prep 40 min · cook 35 min
~392 cal · 17g protein · 57g carbs · 11g fat · 2g fiber · 15g sugars · 5g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Pan de jamon is Venezuela's Christmas bread, a soft, lightly sweet loaf rolled around ham, and it is a fixture of the holiday table alongside hallacas and pernil. The earliest versions, from early twentieth-century Caracas, were filled with ham alone; olives, raisins and bacon were added over time to give the sweet-salty balance it is known for today.
An enriched dough of flour, milk, butter, eggs and sugar is rolled out, layered with thin slices of smoked ham, strips of bacon, green olives and raisins, then rolled into a tight spiral. Baked until golden, each slice shows a swirl of bread and filling.
Salty, briny and just sweet enough, it is served in slices as part of a festive spread, and also turns up as breakfast or an afternoon snack through the season.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally nut-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 10
4 cups bread flour
3/4 cup whole milk, warm
4 tbsp butter, softened
1 egg
1/3 cup sugar
2 1/4 tsp instant yeast
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 lb smoked ham, thinly sliced
4 strips bacon
1/2 cup green olives stuffed with pimento, drained
1/2 cup raisins, soaked and drained
1 egg beaten with 1 tsp milk, for the wash
Instructions
1
Make the dough: dissolve the yeast and a spoon of the sugar in the warm milk, then mix with the flour, remaining sugar, salt, egg and butter into a soft dough. Knead until smooth and elastic.
2
Cover and let rise until doubled, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
3
Roll the dough out into a large rectangle about 1/4 inch thick, with a long side facing you.
4
Cook the bacon just until the fat renders but it is not crisp. Layer the ham over the dough leaving a clean border at the far edge, then lay the bacon over the ham and scatter the olives and raisins evenly.
5
Roll the dough up tightly from the long edge into a spiral log, pinch the seam and tuck the ends under, then transfer seam-side down to a lined tray and let it puff about 30 minutes.
✎ Chef’s note
Prick the loaf all over with a fork before baking so steam escapes and the roll does not burst.
6
Brush with the egg wash and bake at 350F (175C) for about 35 minutes until deep golden. Cool at least 20 minutes before slicing into spirals.
Venezuelan Christmas tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Caracas. Caracas eats corn in every form: arepas split and stuffed at all hours, cachapas griddled from fresh sweet corn and folded around soft cheese, and hallacas wrapped in plantain leaves at Christmas. Black beans, shredded beef, ripe plantain, and salty white cheese are the constants.
🗺️
Venezuela. Venezuela runs on the arepa, a griddled corn cake split and stuffed a hundred ways, and the Christmas hallaca. Corn, black beans, plantain, and fresh white cheese anchor a warm, comforting table.
🌍
South America. Migration reworked the plate within living memory. Japanese arrivals in Peru and Brazil produced Nikkei cooking, Italians made pasta and pizza entirely ordinary in Argentina, Uruguay and Sao Paulo, and West African cooking carried into Bahia by the slave trade gave Brazil dende palm oil, okra and a whole ritual repertoire.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Venezuela
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Arepas con PericoGriddled corn arepas split and filled with perico, soft scrambled eggs cooked down with tomato, onion, and pepper.
Pabellón CriolloShredded beef, black beans, white rice, and fried sweet plantain on one plate, Venezuela's national dish.
Browse all Venezuela recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Oven.
Storing it: Best the day it is made. Wrap well and refresh in a warm oven, or freeze and reheat straight from frozen.
Make it a Venezuela meal
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QuesilloDessert
Asado Negro (Black Roast)Dinner
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Frequently asked questions
What is Pan de Jamón (Ham Bread)?
A soft, lightly sweet enriched loaf rolled into a spiral around smoked ham, bacon, green olives and raisins, the Venezuelan Christmas bread.
Where does Pan de Jamón (Ham Bread) come from?
Pan de Jamón (Ham Bread) is a Venezuelan dish from Caracas, Venezuela.
Can Pan de Jamón (Ham Bread) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Pan de Jamón (Ham Bread) recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Pan de Jamón (Ham Bread) safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Pan de Jamón (Ham Bread) take to make?
About 75 minutes total (40 minutes prep, 35 minutes cooking), serving 10.
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