Honey Baked Ham

You can save so much money this holiday by making your own Honey Baked Ham at Home. It’s so simple, you’ll wonder why you haven’t been doing it this way all along!

Tender, savory ham is cooked and glazed with honey, brown sugar, butter, and spices to create an irresistibly tasty, show stopping main dish. You can serve a honey baked ham at Thanksgiving, Christmas, or Easter, making it a versatile holiday recipe that will serve you well for years to come. 

The Honey Baked Ham company has a pretty good thing going. They will make you a sliced, glazed ham and have it ready for you to pick up for your holiday dinner. They’ll even deliver it to you for a price. The base price of a half honey baked ham is over eighty dollars!

I don’t know about you, but I don’t like to pay other people to do things that I can do myself. I don’t need to buy a pre-baked ham – This recipe for honey baked ham is super simple to make at home and will be much less expensive too.

Another great ham recipe that I love is this Pineapple Ham, it’s a classic that my whole family loves so make sure to check it out.

Why you’ll love this recipe

1. Hands Off: Of the time it takes to bake a ham, only a few minutes of it requires you to do anything. You’ll mix up the glaze, add some of it to the ham, and then let it bake for a couple of hours before glazing it again and serving. This will give you time to cook side dishes, or to just spend quality time with your family. 
2. Money Saving: This 11 pound bone-in ham cost me about $38 at the grocery store. Glaze ingredients were a couple of bucks. All-in, I’m making a large ham for $40, rather than ordering one from HBH for $95. You read that right – it’s around a hundred dollars to get a 10 lb honey baked ham!
3. Simple Ingredients: You probably have all of the needed items already! I love it when that happens. 
4. Perfect Glaze: This honey baked ham glaze is well balanced, melding sweet, savory, and spicy flavors with the smokiness and saltiness of the ham. 
5. Everyone Loves It: A classic, sweetly glazed ham is a traditional holiday favorite. You can’t go wrong serving a honey baked ham for Christmas, Easter, or Thanksgiving. This ham is also excellent for a breakfast or brunch menu. 

Key Ingredients

Complete list of ingredients and amounts can be found in the recipe card below.

• Ham: For this recipe, you can use either a boneless or bone in ham.  Using a spiral cut ham makes it so that the glaze can seep into the meat, and saves you the trouble of having to slice it yourself. 
• Honey, Brown Sugar, and Butter: These are the magic ingredients that make this ham so sweet and juicy. The brown sugar and butter turn into this beautiful, sticky caramel while the honey adds more sweetness and moisture. 
• Dijon Mustard: The tangy, savory, and sophisticated warmth of dijon mustard is delicious with ham (and all types of pork), and works to balance the sweetness in this ham glaze. 
• Spices: To copycat the honey baked ham, we’re using some specific flavors. Cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and garlic powder are perfect. 

Honey Baked Ham Recipe

1. Prepare: Allow the ham to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before cooking. This will keep it from being cold in the center. Preheat the oven to 325°F/160°C with the oven rack in the lower third of the oven, and line the roasting pan with foil.
2. Make Ham Glaze: To prepare the glaze, combine the honey, brown sugar, butter, mustard, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and garlic powder in a small bowl. 
3. Set Up: Place the ham in a roasting pan, cut side down, and brush with half of the glaze (use a pastry brush). Reserve the rest of the glaze for later. 
4. Bake: Cover tightly with foil, and bake for 1-2 hours, depending on the size of your ham. Ham needs to bake for 12 minutes per pound. 
5. Glaze: 15 minutes before the ham is done, remove from the oven and adjust the oven temperature up to 425°F/220°C. Uncover the ham, brush on the rest of the glaze, and return to the oven for 10-15 more minutes, or until a nice caramelized crust forms and the ham reaches an internal temperature of 140°F/60°C.
6. Rest and Serve: Allow the ham to rest on a platter for 15 minutes before serving. Waiting allows the sugar glaze to harden. 

Honey Baked Ham Tips

• Get the Ham Ready: Letting the ham sit on the counter for a bit helps to take the chill off, and allows it to cook evenly in the oven. I also suggest drying the outside of the ham with paper towels so it isn’t wet. The glaze won’t stick if it’s watery. 
• Let the Glaze Get Inside: When doing the initial glazing of the ham, push some of the butter/sugar mixture in between the slices of the spiral ham. The butter helps keep things moist and the sugars make everything so, so tasty. 
• Don’t Overcook: Calculate your cooking time before you start by multiplying the weight of your ham by 11 minutes. 

How To Buy A Ham

There are a few things that you need to think about when buying your holiday ham. Ham comes from the back leg of the animal, but there are many different variations available in stores:

Whole or spiral – Spiral cut ham is easier to find and serve, but a whole ham can be juicier but tricky to carve and work with.

Shank end or butt end – A ham is sliced into 2 parts that are sold separately. The shank end is fattier but comes with just one straight bone, and the butt end is leaner but has more bones.

Bone-in, or boneless – A boneless ham is easier to work with but remember it has been deboned and then reshaped so it does not fall apart. A bone-in ham has more flavor and you can use the hambone to make soups and stews, but it requires more work when carving.

Raw, cured, or smoked – Raw ham must be cooked for longer and can retain more moisture. If using cured or smoked, you just need to heat it up as it’s already fully cooked (like our recipe here). A smoked ham has been cured and then smoked.

Amount to buy – Plan about half a pound of meat per person if using a boneless ham, and ¾ of ham per person if using bone-in ham.

What to Serve with Honey Baked Ham

With this ham you are going to want to serve your best holiday side dishes. Bacon Wrapped Asparagus Bundles, Instant Pot Scalloped Potatoes, and Brown Sugar Glazed Carrots all go perfectly with ham. 

More sides that go well with ham: Roasted Brussels Sprouts, Crushed New Potatoes, Cracker Barrel Hashbrown Casserole, Velveeta Mac and Cheese, and Crockpot Green Bean Casserole. 

Don’t forget dessert! Try a new holiday dessert this year with these recipes for Pumpkin Layer Cake with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting, Oatmeal Pie, No Bake Million Dollar Pie, or a classic Blueberry Pie.

FAQs

Keep this recipe handy, it will be the perfect dinner to serve at all of your upcoming holiday gatherings!