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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.
Just an observation, in the remarks proceeding the recipe you call for a spiral ham yet don’t show one in the photo and nor does the actual recipe call for one. I’m going to make this for Easter with a boneless smoked ham from a meat processor we’ve just discovered in Santa Rosa.
Woody, thank you for commenting. Yes, we do explain what spiral-sliced ham is since it’s a relatively common cut that’s in a lot of markets this time of year. As you noted, this recipe is marvelous when made with many kinds of ham, including a simple boneless smoked ham. Again, thanks for your observation and we wish you a happy, happy Easter!
I tried bagging my ham and it worked fine with this recipe. I used 7-Up in the bag along with pineapple juice. It was a spiral ham and turned out great. It was tender and juicy almost all the way through. I think having a bone in ham interfered with the juices. I love cooking in bags—it’s convenient and I don’t have to open the oven multiple times to inject juice and glaze which I pour over the top. I use pineapple slices on top after cooking and reheat for about 15 minutes.
Marie, that sounds wonderful, thank you so much for sharing your tips and tricks with us!
This reminds me so much of The Silver Palate’s glazed corned beef recipe, which I’ve been making for over 30 years. I’m imaging it would taste almost the same, with the brown sugar, marmalade, and mustard.
Nods. They sound quite similar, Roni. The Silver Palate is such a treasure, isn’t it?! I learned so much about cooking from those cookbooks.