Ham & Cheese Tea Sandwiches

4.58 from 71 votes

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Tasty, bite-sized ham and cheese tea sandwiches perfect for tea time, parties, and snack time! Three bites and they’re gone. So easy to make, no cooking is involved, just prepping and assembling.

Ham and cheese tea sandwiches with cocktail forks.

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Ham and Cheese Tea Sandwiches

Ham and cheese tea sandwiches are small sandwiches made with white bread, Swiss cheese and Black Forest ham. Mayonnaise and mustard add extra flavor and preventing dryness, while microgreen leaves add decoration.

The sandwiches are small, so they can be eaten in 2-3 bites. Because of their size, they’re known as finger sandwiches or tea sandwiches.

Savory and tasty, these sandwiches are a great partner for your favorite tea.

RELATED: Cucumber and Cream Cheese Tea Sandwiches

Recipe Highlights

  • These double-stacked ham and cheese finger sandwiches are delicious and perfectly sized for tea time and party appetizers .
  • No cooking needed, these crustless tea sandwiches are super easy to make. They’re fun to make with kids. (No knives needed!)
  • The trick to making these sandwiches is a cookie cutter. It makes it easy to cut into the ingredients and to get them all the same size.
  • Ready in 8 minutes, this recipe makes 4 sandwiches, but you can easily double or triple the ingredients to make more.

RELATED: Cucumber Tea Sandwiches

Ingredient Notes

Ham and cheese tea sandwich ingredients.
  • Very Thin White Bread: Since the sandwich is double stacked, use Pepperidge Farm’s Very Thin White Bread so it’s not so bread-heavy.
  • Sliced ham: You can use any kind of ham. I used Black Forest Ham. Did you know it’s called Black Forest ham since the ham is produced in the Black Forest region of Germany?
  • Sliced Swiss cheese: You can use any kind of sliced cheese but I think it tastes great with Swiss cheese.
  • Mustard: This is my absolute favorite Dijon mustard. It’s so good. Gives the sandwich a little kick.
  • Mayonnaise: My secret to great tasting sandwiches is to use Japanese mayonnaise which tastes better than regular mayo. You can use regular mayo though if that’s what you have.
  • Microgreen leaves: You can use any small green leaves. Just anything with a green color to give the tea sandwich a pop of fresh color.

For full ingredients and detailed instructions, please see the recipe card at the bottom of the post.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Cutting cheese with a cookie cutter.

Step 1: Cut circles out of the cheese using a round cookie cutter.

This cookie cutter will be used to cut circles out of the ham and the bread.

Cutting ham with a cookie cutter.

Step 2: Cut circles out of the ham.

Cutting bread with a cookie cutter.

Step 3: Cut circles out of the bread. Avoid the cutting the crust since these are crustless sandwiches.

Stacking sandwiches together.

Step 4: Assemble tea sandwiches.

The order from the bottom up: Bread, mayo, ham, mustard, cheese, mayo, bread, mayo, ham, mustard, cheese, mayo, bread. Add microgreen leaf and skewer with a cocktail fork.

Expert Tips

  • To make 4 ham and cheese tea sandwiches, you’ll need 8 ham circles, 8 cheese circles, and 12 bread circles.
  • Frozen bread cuts better. Freeze bread then cut out circles. You’ll get nicer edges that don’t look as pinched as you would with room temperature bread.
  • Serve these tea sandwiches with cornichons or mini pickles as they are tart and balances out the richness from the ham and cheese. The cocktail forks can be used to eat the cornichons.
  • The mayo and mustard do two things: they bind the layers together so it’s much neater to pick up AND it keeps the sandwich from being too dry.
  • Feel free to serve these without cocktail forks when making them for kids.

Questions You May Have

What’s the best tea to serve with these finger sandwiches?

A black tea would go perfectly with the hearty flavors of this sandwich. It’ll hold up well through the richness from the ham and the Swiss cheese. I would recommend Earl Grey or English breakfast tea.

Can I use other cookie cutter shapes?

Yes! But avoid using cookie cutters with too much detailing since it won’t be as easy to cut and stack evenly.

Can I make these tea sandwiches in advance?

To make sandwiches ahead of time, assemble sandwiches the night before (but don’t skewer on the cocktail forks until the day of) and loosely cover them with wax paper then a damp paper towel in an airtight container in the refrigerator. This will keep the sandwiches fresh overnight without drying out the bread. Take tea sandwiches out of the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes before serving. Tea sandwiches should be served at room temperature.

Stacked ham & cheese tea sandwiches.

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4.58 from 71 votes

Easy Ham & Cheese Tea Sandwiches

By: Jee Choe
Adorable ham and cheese sandwiches perfect for afternoon tea, parties, and snack time!
Prep Time: 8 minutes
Total Time: 8 minutes
Yield: 4 tea sandwiches

Ingredients 

  • 12 slices Very Thin white bread
  • 2-4 slices Swiss cheese
  • 2-4 slices Black Forest ham
  • 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
  • 1 tablespoon mustard
  • 4 microgreen leaves

Instructions 

  • Cut circles out of the cheese using a round cookie cutter.
    This cookie cutter will be used to cut circles out of the ham and the bread. Cut 8 circles of cheese.
  • Cut circles out of the ham.
    Cut 8 circles of ham.
  • Cut circles out of the bread.
    Avoid the cutting the crust. Cut 12 circles out of the bread.
  • Assemble the tea sandwich. 
    The order from the bottom up: Bread, mayo, ham, mustard, cheese, mayo, bread, mayo, ham, mustard, cheese, mayo, bread. Add microgreen leaf and skewer with a cocktail fork.

Video

Notes

  • To make 4 ham and cheese tea sandwiches, you’ll need 8 ham circles, 8 cheese circles, and 12 bread circles.
  • My secret to great tasting sandwiches is to use Japanese mayonnaise which tastes better than regular mayo. You can use regular mayo though if that’s what you have.
  • The mayo and mustard do two things: they bind the layers together so it’s much neater to pick up AND it keeps the sandwich from being too dry.
  • Frozen bread cuts better. Freeze bread then cut out circles. You’ll get nicer edges that don’t look as pinched as you would with room temperature bread.
  • Serve these tea sandwiches with cornichons or mini pickles as they are tart and balances out the richness from the ham and cheese. The cocktail forks can be used to eat the cornichons.
  • Feel free to serve these without cocktail forks when making them for kids.
  • To pair these sandwiches with tea, serve black tea like Earl Grey or English breakfast tea since they’ll hold up well with the richness from the ham and the Swiss cheese. 
  • To make sandwiches ahead of time, assemble sandwiches the night before (but don’t skewer on the cocktail forks until the day of) and loosely cover them with wax paper then a damp paper towel in an airtight container in the refrigerator. This will keep the sandwiches fresh overnight without drying out the bread. Take tea sandwiches out of the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes before serving. Tea sandwiches should be served at room temperature.

Nutrition

Calories: 273Carbohydrates: 38gProtein: 12gFat: 8gSaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 17mgSodium: 594mgPotassium: 126mgFiber: 2gSugar: 5gVitamin A: 141IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 262mgIron: 3mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Afternoon Tea
Cuisine: American
Tried this recipe?Mention @ohhowcivilized or tag #ohhowcivilized!

About Jee Choe

Welcome! I'm a certified Tea Sommelier and a self-proclaimed bubble tea and iced tea master. I'm all about making tea EASY and DELICIOUS.

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12 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    I really enjoyed every tip and step-by-step you shared with us in your “24 Delicious Tea Sandwiches” article.
    It’s wonderful how love can be transmitted through beautiful food.
    Thank you very much for sharing your knowledge and passion!!!

  2. Really looking forward to making these lovely little sandwiches.Thank you for sharing.They are so dainty. Best Wishes Marie.

  3. 5 stars
    Glad I stumbled upon these. Soooo Frigging cute that I just dont want to eat them. Thank you for sharing this recipe.

  4. Made these today, I used English Mustard (as I’m from Norfolk UK – used to be the home of Colman’s English mustard) they were amazing! Thanks for making them available for me to use.

  5. I am so happy I came across your website! How many sandwiches of this size would you recommend per person (I also plan to make scones and a tart.. But just as an idea).

    1. Hi Natalie, happy you found my site! I would make 3-4 tea sandwiches per person but these are on the smaller side so I would do 4-5 per person.

    1. Hi Yamaris, to make these ahead of time, I would cut the circles out the day before then assemble the morning you’ll be serving them. For the bread, you can freeze the circles in an airtight bag or container and take them out of the freezer until the next morning. Once the sandwiches are assembled, you can put them in the fridge covered loosely in damp paper towels so the bread doesn’t dry out.