Honey Baked Ham

You can easily make a tasty baked ham recipe at home that is just as flavorful and mouthwatering as the expensive, premade ones. My honey baked ham copycat is perfect for Thanksgiving, Christmas, or Easter dinner, or just because!

Serve this delectable ham with any of your favorite holiday side dishes or my easy homemade ham gravy. For more side dish ideas, take a look at what to serve with ham.

🥘 Ingredients

• Ham - Spiral-cut bone-in ham. The bone adds a ton of flavor, so I prefer it over the boneless variety. You can find spiral-cut ham at any grocery store or butcher counter. You'll typically find it fully cooked, which is completely fine for this recipe
• Butter - Melted butter is combined with honey and poured straight over the top of your delicious whole ham to make the sweet, caramelized coating.
• Honey - It's not a honey baked ham without the honey!
• Sugar - Granulated sugar also helps to create the sweet and crisp coating. Brown sugar works too but will have a deeper molasses flavor.
• Seasoned Salt - My homemade seasoned salt is perfectly balanced with herbs and spices most people already have at home (and a little kick from cayenne). Or, you can use your favorite brand like Lawry's, Morton, or your local store brand.
• Spices - Onion powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, ground cloves, paprika, and allspice combine for a warm and cozy spiced flavor that is remeniscent of the holidays.

🔪 How To Make Honey Baked Ham

Grab a roasting pan, your measuring utensils, a couple of small bowls, and a small saucepan and you are ready to get started.

An 8-pound, bone-in ham is roughly 8 servings of meat. Of course, you can always adjust the servings by buying a larger or smaller ham.

Roast The Ham

Prepare. Preheat your oven to 325°F (160°C/Gas Mark 3) and place your oven rack in the lower position. Set your 8-pound ham into the rack of your roasting pan.

Make the glaze. In a small bowl, whisk together 2 tablespoons of melted butter and 3 tablespoons of honey (photo 1). Then, generously pour the mixture all over the ham (photo 2), making sure to get in between the slices, and then cover it with foil. Don't be stingy with this glaze, you want it all over the ham.

Roast. Pour one cup of water into the bottom of the roasting pan add your ham (photo 3). Roast it in the oven at 325°F (160°C/Gas Mark 3) for about 2 hours (or about 15-20 minutes per pound).

Make The Coating & Glaze

Make the coating. In a small bowl, mix together 1½ cups of sugar, ½ teaspoon each of seasoned salt, onion powder, ground cinnamon, and ground nutmeg, ¼ teaspoon each of ground ginger, ground cloves, and paprika, and ⅛ teaspoon of allspice (photos 4 & 5).

Preheat. Once roasted, remove the ham from the oven and preheat the broiler. Then, pat half of the seasoning blend over the top of (photo 6 - if the ham is too dry, you can spoon some of the juices from the pan onto it before patting on the seasoning).

Broil. Broil the ham for a couple of minutes, or until the topping is caramelized and bubbling, and then remove it from the oven.

Add to saucepan. Add the remaining sugar mixture to a small-sized saucepan. Stir in 3 tablespoons of the ham drippings (photo 7) from the roasting pan (or water).

Boil. Bring it to a boil while stirring frequently and allow it to boil for one minute.

Add final glaze. Pour the glaze over top of the ham (photo 8), using a brush to coat the entire thing. Then, place the ham back under the broiler for one minute, making sure to keep an eye on it.

Rest. Remove the ham from the oven and let it rest for 10 minutes before serving.

💭 Angela's Pro Tips & Recipe Notes

• If possible, choose a bone-in ham. The bone adds a ton of flavor to the meat.
• A boneless ham will likely cook faster than a bone-in spiral ham, so start checking for doneness early and refer to the package for timing suggestions.
• Score the ham for more flavor. Lightly scoring the surface in a diamond pattern allows the glaze to soak in and caramelize beautifully. Follow my guide on how to score ham here.
• Heat and eat. Most hams that you find in the grocery store are already fully cooked, which is totally okay! In fact, you don't even have to heat the ham first if you don't want to. You can add the glaze and coating and pop it under the broiler as directed.
• Instead of using water in your roasting pan, you can use apple juice or apple cider, or chicken broth. I like a combo of apple juice and chicken or beef broth even when making gravy with the pan drippings.

🥡 Storing & Reheating

Keep any leftover ham in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Use it to make some of my fabulous leftover ham recipes!😉

Freezing

Either wrap your leftovers tightly with plastic wrap or place them into a zip-top freezer bag and freeze for up to 4 months. Let frozen leftover ham thaw in the refrigerator before reheating or serving.

Reheating Honey Baked Ham

Leftover ham can be enjoyed warm, cold, or at room temperature.

If you would like to heat it up, you can pop it into the microwave and reheat it in short bursts until warmed through, or bake at 325°F (160°C/Gas Mark 3) for 10 minutes per pound.

❓ Should Ham Be Baked Covered Or Uncovered?

You definitely want to cover your ham with a loose layer of foil. This will help to prevent it from drying out. Adding a cup of water to the bottom of the roasting pan is also ideal for preventing dried-out meat.

❓ Can I Use Unsliced Ham For Honey Baked Ham?

I prefer to use a spiral-cut ham for convenience (plus, you can get the glaze in between the slices!) However, if you have a ham that is not sliced, you always thinly slice it yourself before glazing and roasting.

❓ How Long Does It Take To Cook Honey Baked Ham?

You'll want to roast your ham for about 15-20 minutes per pound. For an 8-pound ham, it will be in the oven for 2 hours or so.

📖 Recipe Card