My glazed honey ham recipe is the perfect Christmas, Easter, or Thanksgiving main course for a fabulous family meal that everyone will love. This delicious ham is glazed with rich butter, sweet brown sugar, sticky honey, and studded with cloves to create an amazing main dish.
Serve with Mashed potatoes, stuffing, green beans, and even mac and cheese. Try making my oat rolls or cloverleaf rolls to pair with your meal. Enjoy!
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Succulent, juicy glazed honey ham is so wonderful to make for a holiday buffet. It’s tender, savory, and glazed with a mixture of butter, honey, and brown sugar that really takes it over the top.
Stud your ham with cloves for that classic holiday look or leave it as it is. Either way, it will be delicious.
Not only is glazed honey ham delicious, but it’s also easy to make. It only takes 5 minutes to prepare. It also keeps very well, so you can have delicious leftovers.
Whether you're a pro at hosting Christmas dinner and holiday parties or giving it a try for the first time this year, you're sure to find my ultimate guide to planning Christmas or my ultimate guide to planning Thanksgiving a great deal of help!
❤️ Why I Love This Recipe
- Irresistible Glaze. Butter, brown sugar, and honey combine to make a mouthwatering glaze. It complements the saltiness of the ham perfectly.
- Easy to Make. This recipe uses a pre-cooked ham, then is simply glazed, and baked. How easy is that?
- Perfect for the Holidays. Ham is a classic for holiday gatherings in so many homes. My recipe tastes just like grandma used to make—if not better!
🥘 Ingredients
Ready-to-eat ham makes this dish so easy to make. I love how simple it is to prepare ham. It takes all the fuss out of dinner.
- Ham – I used a 5-pound, ready-to-eat, pre-cooked ham, like the kind you find at a deli! It makes the dish so easy to prepare. Bone-in ham can also be used here if you prefer!
- Brown Sugar – ½ cup of brown sugar will add that rich, molasses-like sweetness to the glaze! I like to use dark brown sugar here, but you can use light brown sugar too.
- Butter – ⅓ cup of butter, this Is about ⅔ a stick of butter. The mixes with the brown sugar and honey to make an insanely delicious glaze!
- Honey – You can’t have honey glazed ham without honey! ¼ cup of honey makes this glaze delightfully sticky!
- Whole Cloves (optional) – ¼ cup of cloves. This is optional, but studding the ham with cloves creates that classic holiday ham look and infuses the ham with incredible, sweet and spicy clove flavor!
Be sure to see the free printable recipe card below for ingredients, exact amounts & instructions with tips!
🔪 How To Make Glazed Honey Ham
Making a holiday main course really couldn’t be easier, it only takes 5 minutes to prep. To get started get out a microwave-safe mixing bowl, a roasting pan, and a basting brush.
A 5-pound ham makes about 15 servings.
- Prep. Start by preheating your oven to 325°F (163°C) and prepare a roasting pan with a rack. For the easiest cleanup, line your roasting pan with aluminum foil or at minimum, spray with non-stick cooking spray. (*The baked-on honey glaze is extremely sticky!)
- Optional scoring and cloves. If you desire, score the 5-pound ham into a diamond pattern. Try to make the diamonds about 2 to 3 inches big. Then, stud cloves into the middle of the diamonds, making sure you put in the entire end of the clove into the ham.
- Make the glaze. To make the glaze for the ham, melt ⅓ cup of butter in a microwave-safe mixing bowl. Next, add ½ cup of brown sugar, and ¼ cup of honey. Mix until well combined! If the sugar isn’t melting, heat the mixture in 15-second increments if needed to help make the mixture more liquid.
- Glaze the ham. Once the glaze has been made, place your 5-pound ham into your roasting pan and pour the honey glaze all over. Use a basting brush to coat the entire surface of the ham as needed.
- Bake. Place the roasting pan onto the middle of your oven’s center rack (adjust racks if needed to accommodate size). Then, bake at 325°F (163°C) for 50 minutes to 1 hour. Using 15-minute intervals, baste the ham, making sure that you close the oven door to retain heat. If desired, broil for the last 5 minutes to caramelize the glaze before removing it from the oven.
- Serve and rest. Remove the ham from the oven when it reaches 135°F (57°C), then cover loosely with a sheet of aluminum foil. Let the ham rest for about 20 minutes to redistribute juices and carryover cook so it rises to the proper temperature of 140°F (60°C).
💭 Angela's Pro Tips & Recipe Notes
- Ham should rest for about 20 minutes before serving for the best quality. Ham, like any other meat, should rest to redistribute the juices. This way, when you slice into the ham it will be super juicy and won’t dry out.
- When basting the ham, make sure you take the roasting tray out of the oven and keep the oven door closed. You want to keep the temperature steady inside the oven so that the ham evenly cooks. This will also help it not dry out, so the ham stays perfectly juicy.
- Cook a boneless, pre-cooked (fully cooked) ham at 325°F (163°C) for 10 to 12 minutes per pound and a bone-in ham for 15 minutes per pound. Boneless, fully cooked hams that are over 12 to 14 pounds only need about 5 to 10 minutes of cooking time per pound to reach the USDA recommended internal temperature of 140°F (60°C) after resting.
🥡 Storing & Reheating
Leftover ham will last for up to four days in the fridge. Make sure you put the cooled leftovers in an airtight container or wrap them tightly in plastic cling film or foil.
Ham must also not be left out for more than 2 hours at room temperature, so be sure to put those leftovers away quickly.
Freezing
If freezing leftovers, you should slice the cooled ham and put it into a heavy-duty freezer storage bag or airtight container.
If freezing a whole ham, wrap it well in plastic cling film and a layer of heavy-duty aluminum foil. Be sure to label, then store in the freezer for up to 12 months.
Reheating
If you wish to have warm ham to go with leftovers, simply place the leftover ham slices in a baking dish and cover it with aluminum foil.
Then, bake in a preheated 275°F (135°C) for 15-20 minutes, or until internal temperature reaches 140°F (60°C).
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❓ Recipe FAQs
Carryover cooking is when meat continues to “cook” after being removed from the heat source. The retained heat of the meat will continue to rise by 5 to 10 degrees while it rests! In some meats, like steak (never poultry), you want to pull the meat just a few degrees under, so it doesn’t overcook while resting!
This recipe yields about 15 servings of ham, which is perfect for a holiday gathering! Plan for about ½ pound of ham per serving for bone-in ham and ⅓ pound per serving of boneless ham!
I glaze my ham before I bake it, then baste the ham in 15-minute increments throughout. This gives the glaze time to caramelize and become nice and sticky!
🐖 What To Serve With Ham
I have an entire post devoted to what to serve with ham, but here are a few of my favorites! If you are making your ham for Thanksgiving, take a look at these Thanksgiving ham dinner ideas for more inspiration!
- Mashed Sweet Potatoes - Mashed sweet potatoes are savory and sweet, just like this honey-glazed ham!
- Creamed Corn - A creamy side dish you can whip up in 15 minutes flat.
- Brown Sugar Candied Yams - The sweetness of these candied yams compliments the honey and brown sugar in the ham glaze.
- Campbell's Green Bean Casserole - It doesn't get more classic than a holiday ham with Cambell's green bean casserole on the side.
- Butter Herb Rhodes Rolls - These soft rolls are easy to make and the herb butter on top pairs wonderfully with ham.
- Mashed Potato Casserole - A delicious new way to enjoy mashed potatoes.
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📖 Recipe Card
Glazed Honey Ham
Ingredients
- 5 lb ham (ready-to-eat, pre-cooked ham)
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ⅓ cup butter (melted)
- ¼ cup honey
- ¼ cup whole cloves (optional)
(Note: 2x or 3x only changes the ingredient list)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 325°F (163°C) and prepare a roasting pan with a rack. For easy cleanup, line your roasting pan with aluminum foil. *The baked-in honey glaze is extremely sticky!
- (Optional) If desired, score the ham in a diamond pattern and place cloves onto the ham.
- In a microwave-safe mixing bowl, melt the butter then add the brown sugar and honey. Mix until well combined. Heat in 15 second increments if needed to make the mix more liquid and melt the sugar.
- Place ham into your roasting pan and pour the honey glaze over the ham. Use a basting brush to coat the entire ham surface as needed.
- Bake at 325°F (163°C) for 50 minutes to an hour. Baste the ham with glaze in 15 minute intervals, making sure that you close the oven door to retain heat. If desired, broil for the last 5 minutes to caramelize the glaze before removing from the oven.
- Remove your ham from the oven when it reaches 135°F (57°C) and cover loosely with a sheet of aluminum foil. Allow the ham to rest for 20 minutes before slicing and serving.
Notes
- Plan for ½ pound per person per serving for bone-in ham and ⅓ pound per serving of boneless ham.
- Ham should rest for about 20 minutes before serving.
- Cook a pre-cooked (fully cooked) ham at 325°F (163°C) for 10-12 minutes for a whole boneless ham, or 15 minutes for a whole bone-in ham. Boneless fully cooked hams that are over 12-14 pounds only need about 5-10 minutes of cooking time per pound to reach the USDA recommended internal temperature of 140°F (60°C) after resting.
- When basting, remove the ham from the oven and close the oven door so that you maintain the oven temperature.
- Your ham will continue to cook during resting, this is 'carryover cooking'. This is typically a 5-10 degree increase after removing from the oven.
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