Contents
Plonk this glazed ham on your holiday table and then step back, listen to the gasps and oohs and aahs, accept countless accolades, and watch it disappear. The innate ham-iness of this baked ham is a big draw but the hints of pineapple, marmalade, and mustard certainly don’t do it any wrong. Quite the contrary, actually. Quite frankly, most folks who’ve tried this have declared it to be the best ham ever. Even our editor-in-chief’s family clamors for it each Christmas and Easter. Sorta makes you want to see what all the fuss is about, eh?–Renee Schettler Rossi
*How to buy a ham
Let’s be honest, shall we? It can be intimidating to step up to the butcher counter and be confronted with countless different types of ham. Spiral-sliced. Smoked. Cured. Uncured. With natural juices. Water added. It’s enough to make you want to just walk away. We have answers. And you’ll find them in our handy How To Buy A Ham cheat sheet.
Glazed Ham
Ingredients
- One (4 1/2-pound) smoked boneless ham* (see *How to Buy a Ham above)
- 3 heaping tablespoons marmalade (smooth not chunky)
- 2 tablespoons pineapple juice
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 heaping tablespoon light brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons whole-grain mustard
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F (160°C).
- Place the ham, skin-side up, on a wire rack placed in a large roasting pan. Pour enough water into the pan to reach a depth of 1 inch (3 centimeters). Cover the ham and pan tightly with foil and crimp the edges to ensure that no steam escapes. Slide the shiny metal behemoth into the oven and roast for 2 hours.
- Meanwhile, combine the marmalade, pineapple juice, honey, brown sugar, and mustard in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook until thickened, 5 to 7 minutes.
- Remove the pan from the heat and season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Remove the ham in its pan from the oven. Crank the oven temperature to 400°F (200°C). While the oven preheats, take a careful look at your ham. If the skin hasn't already been removed, you'll need to do that with a sharp knife, being careful to leave a thin layer of fat. [Editor's Note: Chances are, if you bought your ham in the U.S., the skin will have been removed.] Using the tip of your sharp knife, carefully cut a crisscross pattern in the fat. The ham will be quite hot so be careful.
- Brush some of the marmalade glaze over the ham.
- Return the ham in its pan to the oven and roast, uncovered and brushing with the glaze every 10 minutes, until the surface of the ham is brown and crisp, about 30 minutes more.
- Remove the ham and pan from the oven and let rest for a few minutes. Thinly slice the ham and serve warm or at room temperature.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Recipe Testers’ Reviews
I made this glazed ham over the holidays but it’s a recipe that’s easy enough to do for a nice weekend dinner. There was very minimal prep, and most of the time spent was hands-free while the ham baked—who doesn’t love that?! This was so simple to pull together and provided plenty of leftovers for our small family.
I used orange marmalade and juice from some canned pineapple for the glaze. I left the ham in the foil for 2 hours as directed but I took it out after 20 minutes of basting, as I was using the convection setting on my oven, and the ham seemed plenty brown at that point.
This was the first time I actually made a glazed ham from scratch. Everyone loved the recipe. We decided to do it for Christmas dinner. The recipe is extremely easy to make and requires just a few ingredients.
I was worried it wouldn’t be enough glaze, but as I brushed the ham throughout the baking time, I realized it was the perfect amount. The glaze wasn’t as sweet as those you buy commercially. The orange flavor was pretty prominent, more so than the pineapple juice. (The marmalade I used was an orange one that wasn’t too sweet.) We were 8 total and still had some leftover ham.
There were only five of us for Christmas dinner and we all agreed it was the best ham we had ever had. The REAL issue was trying to find the right ham while taking into consideration the “do’s and don’t” of buying a ham. I have always disliked spiral sliced ham and refused to buy one so I chose a “Kentucky Legend” ham. (No horse by-products). I, too, could not find smooth marmalade so I whirled it with the pineapple juice in the blender then added everything else to cook it down. Do yourself a favor and make double the sauce to serve on the side…and the leftover ham made the very best grilled ham and cheese sandwiches with tomato soup. Yummy……
Terrific to hear, Greg! Thanks so much for taking the time to let us know. And yeah, the leftovers are really something special…
Do you have a recommendation for a smooth, not chunky marmalade? I’m thinking even Smucker’s has a chunky texture. This recipe sounds wonderful!
It is wonderful! Ever since we first had it, my husband insists we make it each year at the holidays! As for a less chunky texture, my husband just grabs the marmalade at Trader Joe’s and it works perfectly fine. A little chunkiness is okay but if that bothers you perhaps either dump the marmalade in a blender or food processor and blitz it until smooth? Looking forward to hearing what you think of the recipe!
I have to also say I love your reassuring ham buying guide. I have been cooking for a long time, but I barely ever buy ham, therefore I am always hesitant and unsure. Your guide makes it feel doable and like it’s not a huge deal that I am destined to fail. Thank you for that.
You’re so very welcome, Mom24. I so appreciate your feedback! Sometimes it’s uncertain just how well (or not well) certain information is received so it’s always helpful to hear what works (or doesn’t). Thank you!
Made this for Christmas dinner. The glaze smelled divine. I used it on a supermarket spiral ham. I was a tad disappointed that the glaze pretty much just glazes the edge of the ham, it was beautiful, impressive looking, caramelized and enticing, but the flavor didn’t permeate the ham. Understandable and a bit obvious but still a little disappointing.
Mom24, I’m so glad to hear you like the flavor of the glaze! So many people have told us they’ve switched to this ham as their go-to for special occasions. It’s even my husband’s go-to ham recipe. One option for next time, should you like the flavor of the glaze to be more pronounced, is to make double the glaze recipe and either pour it all over the ham and let the extra pool in the pan so it mingles with the ham drippings or simply reserve half. Either way, then you have more to spoon over the sliced ham on the platter. And I think you alluded to this, but it’s difficult for any glaze to penetrate any ham given that 1. ham is pretty darn dense, and 2. it’s a glaze and not a marinade. Many kind thanks for taking the time to let us know how it went and we look forward to hearing which recipe on the site you try next.
Hi there! I just wanted to share that I made this over the holidays for friends…and everyone freaked out about how good it was…asking me where I bought the ham! I told them it’s this recipe!! (Because I bought an $11 ham.) We didn’t have pineapple juice but I had leftover (canned) pineapple chunks in the fridge so I blended it up in my blender and used it even though it was chunky in place of the pineapple juice. It turned out awesome!
Seriously, loved this recipe because I have never really been a fan of sliced holiday ham…but now I am…and this will be my go to recipe! I always cut up a bunch and divide into baggies and freeze them to make ham fried rice with. So I’m looking forward to using it in other recipes! And for the first time (because of this recipe) can say I’m looking forward to making one of these hams again! 🙂
Terrific, JulieD, thanks so much! Lovely to hear that you have a new holiday tradition! And you know, coincidentally, I had almost the exact same experience as you. My husband made this and I’m not crazy about ham but everyone raved about it. My brother even asked if you could take some leftovers home, so I packed him some but I was stingy because I wanted more for us. Leftovers have never flown out of a fridge as fast as this ham. It’s definitely a keeper.