Perfect, juicy, and flavorful Instant Pot ham with the BEST EVER glaze, a beautiful centerpiece for your holiday feast! The ham is prepped in just 10 minutes, and is covered with delicious honey and orange or apricot preserves glaze, then steamed very quickly in the Instant Pot.
This is the best recipe that you will find for your Easter, Thanksgiving, or Christmas Instant Pot baked ham!
Cooking a beautiful roast for your holiday table is easier than you think! Whether you’re planning to make a roast turkey, or a roast chicken in the oven. Or you’re using your Instant Pot and want to make an Instant Pot turkey breast, or this gorgeous Instant Pot ham, I have the PERFECT recipes for you!
All of my recipes are easy, with detailed instructions, and really simple. I only use easy to find ingredients, and always make sure to test the recipes several times before they make it to the blog!
A ham roast is one of the easiest holiday main dishes that basically require no cooking. All you have to do is buy your ham, prepare a glaze, glaze it, and steam it till perfection! The best thing about a ham? With very minimal work, it serves a crowd!
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:
Tip: ALWAYS check the label when buying a ham to know what exactly are you getting. For example, a raw ham will give you cooking instructions on the label.
- 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 of 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.
- Make sure that it fits your Instant Pot! I can usually fit in an 8-10lb ham in my 8-quart Instant Pot.
Tip: Make sure that you order your ham in advance, buying your ham last minute will put you at risk of not getting one as your local supplier may sell out quickly.
The Ingredients
- Spiral ham – I’m using a bone-in fully cooked spiral cut ham.
- For the glaze – honey, orange or apricot preserves (not jam!), brown sugar, Dijon mustard, orange juice and zest, ground cinnamon, ginger, and cloves.
How to Make an Instant Pot Ham
As I mentioned above, since the ham is fully cooked, we are just adding a delicious sweet glaze and warming it up in the Instant Pot. Here’s how to do it:
- Make the glaze – in a small bowl combine all of the glaze ingredients.
- Place the trivet in the instant pot.
- Cover the ham in foil, and create a “bowl” to be able to glaze the ham. Place on the trivet.
- Separate the ham slices and brush glaze in between each piece and all around the outside. Reserve half of the glaze for later. Sprinkle with half of the orange zest. Pour the orange juice over the ham. Seal the ham with foil.
- Cover with the lid and pressure cook.
How Long to Cook a Ham in The Instant Pot?
Cook for 2 minutes per pound plus 15 minutes, so do your math depending on the weight of your ham.
- 5 pounds = 2×5 = 10, 10+15= 25 minutes.
- 6 pounds = 2×6 = 12, 12+15= 27 minutes.
- 7 pounds = 2×7 = 14, 14+15= 29 minutes.
- 8 pounds = 2×8 = 16, 16+15= 31 minutes.
- 9 pounds = 2×9 = 18, 18+15= 33 minutes.
- 10 pounds = 2×10=20, 20+15= 35 minutes.
- 11 pounds = 2×11=22, 22+15= 37 minutes.
Top Tips
- The tinfoil helps hold in the moisture, but can also keep it from heating quickly, so keep this in mind. Use heavy-duty foil. If you’re not a fan of using foil, you can use parchment paper instead.
- This recipe can be varied by replacing the orange preserves with apricot preserves and the orange juice with apple juice. Feel free to leave out the brown sugar for a refined sugar-free ham.
- Honey can be substituted with maple syrup.
- Whether you’re cooking a boneless or a bone-in ham, use the same recipe and don’t change anything.
- This ham recipe calls for a precooked ham, so you are just glazing and basically warming. You don’t need to cook it further. You want it to be heated all the way through though.
- Check the internal temperature of the ham, you want it to be at 145°F for serving.
- Store the leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. You can remove the meat from the bone and store it in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 2 months.
Frequently Asked Questions
A 6-quart Instant Pot will fit 5-6lb ham. An 8-quart Instant Pot will fit a 7-10lb ham.
Yes! It’s perfectly safe to use foil and any food-safe metal in the Instant Pot.
If you don’t have a trivet, you can use anything that can elevate the food from touching the liquid. For example, a steamer basket if you turn it upside down, a metal lid of a large jar, a ceramic or a stainless steel bowl, or a real trivet as long as it fits.
Ham Menu and Sides
Make all of your favorite holiday sides for a beautiful feast!
- Creamy mashed potatoes
- Colcannon creamy mashed potatoes
- Scalloped potatoes
- Creamed corn
- Cranberry sauce
- Kale salad with lemon vinaigrette
- Dinner rolls
- Roasted Brussels sprouts
- And don’t forget the pecan pie!
Use the leftover ham to make a ham and cheese quiche, leftover hambone soup, or sliders.
Join our private Instant Pot and Air Fryer Facebook group where we share exclusive recipes, and answer all of your IP and AF questions! We hope to see you there!
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Instant Pot Glazed Ham Recipe
Ingredients
- 8-10 pound fully cooked bone-in ham spiral cut
- ½ cup honey
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ cup orange preserves
- 1 tablespoon orange zest
- ½ cup orange juice
Equipment
- 8-quart Instant Pot
Instructions
- Let the ham sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before cooking.
- To prepare the glaze, combine the honey, brown sugar, mustard, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and orange preserves in a small bowl.
- Place the trivet in the instant pot and pour in 1.5 cups of water. For easy removal, create a foil sling and place it on the trivet.
- Using the tinfoil, cut two large pieces and fold the long ends together, forming one large, wide piece. Place the ham in the middle. Form a large bowl around the ham. Fold the sides together well to help keep the glaze inside.
- Place the tinfoil covered ham in the instant pot.
- Separate the slices and brush glaze in between each piece and all around the outside. Reserve half of the glaze for later. Sprinkle with half of the orange zest. Pour the orange juice over the ham.
- Place another piece of tinfoil over the top and crimp the tinfoil together to seal the ham.
- Secure the lid and set the vent to SEALING. Select the PRESSURE COOK/MANUAL setting and set the cooking time according to pounds (Cook for 2 minutes per pound plus 15 minutes – see the table in notes). The Instant Pot will take around 7-8 minutes to come to pressure and start cooking. When the cooking program ends, let it naturally release the steam for 5 minutes then do a quick release.
- Turn the broiler on to 500°F (260°C).
- Place the ham on a tin foil lined baking sheet and brush with more of the glaze
- Place under the broiler for 5 to 7 minutes till glaze begins to bubble.
- Remove and serve with more glaze and sprinkle with zest.
Notes:
- When buying a ham, plan about half a pound of meat per person if buying a boneless ham, and ¾ of ham per person if buying bone-in ham.
- The tinfoil helps hold in the moisture, but can also keep it from heating quickly, so keep this in mind. Use heavy-duty foil. If you’re not a fan of using foil, you can use parchment paper instead.
- This recipe can be varied by replacing the orange preserves with apricot preserves and the orange juice with apple juice. Feel free to leave out the brown sugar for a refined sugar-free ham.
- Honey can be substituted with maple syrup.
- Whether you’re cooking a boneless or a bone-in ham, use the same recipe and don’t change anything.
- This ham recipe calls for a precooked ham, so you are just glazing and basically warming. You don’t need to cook it further. You want it to be heated all the way through though.
- Check the internal temperature of the ham, you want it to be at 145°F (63°C) for serving.
- Store the leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. You can remove the meat from the bone and store it in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 2 months.
- 5 pounds = 2×5 = 10, 10+15= 25 minutes.
- 6 pounds = 2×6 = 12, 12+15= 27 minutes.
- 7 pounds = 2×7 = 14, 14+15= 29 minutes.
- 8 pounds = 2×8 = 16, 16+15= 31 minutes.
- 9 pounds = 2×9 = 18, 18+15= 33 minutes.
- 10 pounds = 2×10=20, 20+15= 35 minutes.
- 11 pounds = 2×11=22, 22+15= 37 minutes.
Nutrition Information
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
© Little Sunny Kitchen
gary sternal says
can I use pineapple instead
Diana says
Yes! I mix pineapple tidbits in juice with brown sugar and use it as a glaze. Works great!