Baked Ham with the Best Ham Glaze
This baked ham recipe is easy to make, and it has the most delicious ham glaze! It’s perfect for Christmas, Easter or any holiday meal.
Baked Ham with Brown Sugar Glaze
I love making a baked ham for a holiday meal because it has an impressive presentation but it’s actually so simple to make. My favorite thing about this recipe is the ham glaze. It’s an incredible combination of brown sugar, orange juice, honey, allspice and cloves and it infuses the ham with the best flavor. Toss the glaze packet that comes with your ham and make this baked ham with brown sugar glaze instead. I promise you’ll be glad you did!
This baked ham recipe is perfect for Christmas or Easter dinner. I like to serve it with Scalloped Potatoes or Twice Baked Potatoes, Broccoli Casserole and a Fruit Salad.
Choosing a Ham
- Quality Matters: You will be able to tell a difference between a cheaper grocery store ham and a more expensive ham. If it’s for a special occasion and your budget allows, you can order a premium ham.
- Bone-In vs. Boneless: I highly recommend buying a bone-in ham. The bone helps to keep the meat from drying out as it bakes.
- Spiral Cut vs. Uncut: A spiral cut ham is easier to slice and serve and you can brush some glaze between the slices for extra flavor. However, you have to be careful not to overcook it since a spiral cut ham will dry out easier. An uncut ham will be a bit moister. You can score the fat in a diamond pattern if using an uncut ham so the glaze can flavor the meat.
- Fully Cooked: This recipe is for a fully cooked ham. We are just warming it up. (And adding that delicious glaze!)
- Shank vs. Butt End: I usually buy a ham shank because it is usually leaner and easier to carve, and it’s easier to find in most grocery stores. However, while more difficult to cut, the butt end is often more tender and flavorful and less likely to dry out because of more fat marbling.
- Half Ham vs. Whole Ham: This depends on the size of the group you are serving. A half ham will typically serve up to 14 people, depending on its size. You will most likely find a half ham at the store, and most half hams are large enough to serve a medium crowd.
How Much Ham Per Person
When buying a bone-in ham, you will need about 1/2 pound of ham per person (or up to 3/4 pound if you want leftovers).
- To serve 8 people, buy a 4-6 pound bone-in ham.
- To serve 12 people, buy a 6-9 pound bone-in ham.
- To serve 16 people, buy an 8-12 pound bone-in ham.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Bone-In Ham: I used a spiral cut half ham from the shank end.
For the Ham Glaze:
- Brown Sugar and Honey: Bring sweetness to the glaze to complement the salty, savory flavor of the ham.
- Orange Juice: I just love the orange flavor with the sweet glaze and ham! If you really want to amp up the orange flavor, you can also add the zest of a small orange (about 1 teaspoon) to the glaze.
- Dijon Mustard: Mustard and ham go so well together. If you’re not a mustard fan, don’t worry, the flavor is subtle.
- Butter: For richness and flavor.
- Ground Allspice and Cloves: These warm spices are so good with baked ham.
How to Cook a Ham
Let the ham come to room temperature for about an hour. This helps it to cook more evenly.
Prep the ham: Take the ham out of its packaging. If there’s a glaze packet or a plastic disk covering the bone, remove and discard them. Put the ham in a roasting pan or a large, deep baking dish, cut side down. Cover the pan/ham tightly with foil. This traps in moisture to keep the ham from drying out as it bakes.
Bake the ham at 325°F, until it’s almost done. When the ham has only 20 minutes of cook time left, you will uncover it, and start brushing on the glaze.
Make the glaze: Heat the brown sugar, orange juice, honey, Dijon mustard, butter, allspice and ground cloves in a saucepan on the stove until it starts to boil. Then reduce the heat and continue cooking at a low boil, whisking often, until the glaze thickens, 5-7 minutes.
Brush on glaze and finish baking ham: When the ham has about 20 minutes of cook time left and has reached an internal temperature of 115-120°F, take it out of the oven and increase the oven temperature to 400°F. Uncover the ham and brush on half of the glaze, trying to get some in between the slices. Return the ham to the oven and bake it uncovered for 15 minutes. Then brush on the rest of the glaze and bake for 5 more minutes, or until the ham reaches 140°F when measured with an instant read thermometer.
Let the ham rest for 15 minutes before slicing and serving.
How Long to Cook a Ham
The total bake time for a ham is about 10-11 minutes per pound. Remember, we are just warming the ham up; it is already fully cooked.
- A 10 pound ham will take about 1 hour 40 minutes to 2 hours total. Be careful not to overcook the ham, since this will dry it out.
- The ham is done when the center (not touching the bone) registers 140°F on an instant read thermometer.
- I start brushing on the glaze near the end of the cook time to get the most flavor. You can even reserve some of the glaze to brush on after the ham comes out of the oven.
- For most of the bake time, cook the ham at 325°F. Then for the last 20 minutes increase the oven temperature to 400°F to brown the ham and caramelize the glaze.
- Most grocery store hams have some liquid injected and will release liquid as they cook. If you buy a quality ham and find that it’s not releasing any liquid after it has baked for a while, you may want to add about 1/2 cup of water to the bottom of the baking dish to prevent the glaze from burning.
What to Serve with Baked Ham
There are so many delicious side dishes that pair well with baked ham! Here are a few of my favorites:
Baked Ham with the Best Glaze
Ingredients
- 8-12 pound bone-in spiral cut ham, fully cooked*
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- ½ cup freshly squeezed orange juice
- ¼ cup honey
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
Instructions
- Remove the ham from the refrigerator 1 hour before cooking to let it come to room temperature. This helps it to cook evenly.
- Preheat oven to 325°F with a rack in the lower third of the oven (remove any other racks that would be in the way of the ham).
- Remove the ham from the packaging. If there is a glaze packet or plastic disk covering the bone, remove and discard them. Place ham in a roasting pan or large, deep baking dish, cut side down. Cover the pan/ham tightly with foil. (You will probably need to use a few pieces of foil to fully cover the ham.)
- You will now bake the ham most of the way at 325°F, covered with foil. When the ham has only 20 minutes of cook time left, you will uncover it, and start brushing on the glaze (see the steps below). The total bake time for the ham is about 10-11 minutes per pound. (A 10 pound ham will take about 1 hour 40 minutes to 2 hours total.) Set a timer for 20 minutes before the ham should be fully cooked to start checking on it.
- While the ham is in the oven, make the glaze: In a medium saucepan, combine the brown sugar, orange juice, honey, Dijon mustard, butter, allspice and ground cloves. Heat over medium heat, whisking often, until glaze starts to boil. Then reduce heat to medium-low and continue cooking at a low boil, whisking often, until the glaze thickens, 5-7 minutes. Remove from the heat.
- When the ham has about 20 minutes of cook time left and has reached an internal temperature of 115-120°F, take it out of the oven and increase the oven temperature to 400°F. Uncover the ham and brush on half of the glaze, trying to get some in between the slices. Return the ham to the oven and bake, uncovered, for 15 minutes. Then brush on the remaining glaze, and bake for 5 more minutes, or until ham reaches 140°F when measured with an instant read thermometer.
- Remove ham from the oven and let it rest for 15 minutes. Then slice and serve.
Notes
- You can also use this same method for an uncut bone-in fully cooked ham.
- How much ham per person: When buying a bone-in ham, you will need about 1/2 pound of ham per person (or up to 3/4 pound if you want leftovers). To serve 8 people, buy a 4-6 pound bone-in ham. To serve 12 people, buy a 6-9 pound bone-in ham. To serve 16 people, buy an 8-12 pound bone-in ham.
