Brown Sugar Glazed Ham

This brown sugar glazed ham is coated in a sweet brown sugar and honey glaze, then baked until golden brown and caramelized. The ultimate holiday ham that’s super easy to make and always gets rave reviews.

You can never go wrong with ham for the holidays and this glazed version is both beautiful and delicious. Serve your ham with loaded mashed potatoes and bacon wrapped green beans for a festive meal that your family and friends will love.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• Easy: This recipe pairs a store bought pre-cooked ham with a homemade glaze. The only work involved is to cook the glaze ingredients together, then slather it onto the ham and bake!
• Classic: There’s nothing more traditional for a Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner than a glazed spiral cut ham.
• Elegant: The glaze creates a shiny caramelized coating on the outside of the ham, which makes it look and taste like it was prepared by a professional chef! You can also add festive garnishes on the serving tray to up the elegance factor.

Glazed Ham Ingredients

To make this simple glazed ham recipe you will need a handful of ingredients.

• Spiral Cut Ham: Choose your favorite brand of pre-cooked spiral cut ham. I typically buy a ham at Costco. You will want to discard the seasoning or glaze packet that comes with the ham.
• Butter: Add some richness to your glaze with a healthy dose of butter. Both salted and unsalted butter work well in this recipe.
• Brown Sugar: I typically use light brown sugar. You can use dark brown sugar for a stronger flavor in the glaze.
• Honey: I find that a mild honey such as clover or wildflower honey works well in this dish.
• Apple Cider: Choose fresh apple cider if you can find it for the best flavor. If you can’t locate apple cider, apple juice will work just fine. Do not use apple cider vinegar in this recipe.
• Cinnamon: A sprinkle of cinnamon adds warmth and flavor to the glaze. Be sure to store your bottle of cinnamon in a cool, dark place so that it maintains its potency.
• Nutmeg: Use freshly grated nutmeg for maximum flavor. You can purchase whole nutmegs, and use a rasp to shave off what you need for this ham.

You may want also want to purchase fresh herbs or cranberries for garnish.

How Do You Make Glazed Ham?

Start your glazed ham by making a glaze for your ham. To make the glaze, place butter, brown sugar, honey, apple cider, cinnamon and nutmeg in a pan and simmer until a thick, syrupy mixture forms. Preheat the oven and place the ham in a roasting pan. Brush half of the glaze over the ham before putting it in the oven. Be sure to cover the ham with foil initially so that the glaze doesn’t burn. When the ham is almost done, heat up the remaining glaze and pour it over the ham. Increase the oven temperature, uncover the ham and cook the ham a few more minutes for a perfect caramelized glaze.

Tips For The Perfect Dish

• You’ll need to reserve half of the glaze to use after your ham mostly cooks through. You can store the glaze at room temperature or in the fridge. The glaze may start to harden as it sits – simply microwave the glaze in 30 second increments until it’s liquid when you’re ready to use it.
• While I prefer to use a spiral cut ham for this recipe, you can also use an uncut bone-in ham and score it in a cross hatch pattern before you glaze it.
• Leftovers will stay fresh in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, or in the freezer for 2 months.
• First time making a ham? Check out my full tutorial on how to cook a ham!
• Keep any leftover ham and make one of my leftover ham recipes like ham bone soup, scalloped potatoes and ham or ham casserole.

Glazed Ham Variations

I typically make this recipe as written, but sometimes I use other ingredients depending on what I have on hand.

• Juice: Instead of apple cider, try using pineapple juice, cranberry juice or orange juice.
• Spices: Skip the cinnamon and nutmeg, and try pumpkin pie spice, allspice with a pinch of cloves, cinnamon with a pinch of ginger or even a bit of cardamom.
• Sweetener: Feel free to use maple syrup or molasses instead of honey. If you don’t have a liquid sweetener on hand, use an extra 1/4 cup of brown sugar instead.
• Tangy: Add a teaspoon of Dijon mustard for a tangy glaze.
• Toppings: Use toothpicks to adhere some pineapple rings and maraschino cherries onto your ham before you add the glaze.

This glazed ham is sure to become a favorite with your family as it has been with mine!

What To Serve With Ham

Glazed Carrots

20 mins

Slow Cooker Creamed Corn

3 hrs 10 mins

Mashed Sweet Potatoes

1 hr 20 mins

Pomegranate Brussels Sprouts

30 mins

Cranberry Jello Salad

6 hrs 10 mins

Glazed Ham Video