Julie Clark
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How to Make a Honey Baked Ham
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Learn how to make a honey baked ham at home. Get that famous sugary crunch on your spiral honey ham in this popular copycat recipe.
From the classic baked ham with a simple brown sugar glaze to the gorgeous Christmas cranberry ham, there’s just nothing like a perfect ham dinner for a holiday meal.
This year learn something new…how to make a honey baked ham. Just in time for Easter dinner, you can make this spiral-cut ham with brown sugar crust at home for a fraction of the price. This copycat honey baked ham recipe will look beautiful on your holiday table!
There are a lot of recipes for copycat honey baked hams, but the best comes from a book full of “secret” recipes by Todd Wilbur. If you love trying to recreate restaurant classics at home, you should definitely check it out. We tweaked his recipe slightly and are sharing how to get that crispy sugary crust in this homemade honey-baked ham recipe.
Ingredients for Honey Baked Ham
- Spiral cut ham. So what does spiral cut mean? It means there is one continuous cut around the bone of the ham. The slices of ham are thin and even, making it really easy to serve to guests.
- Honey. Because it’s a honeybaked ham! 🙌
- White and brown sugar. You can do any ratio of white sugar to brown sugar that you’d like, but we prefer a little more brown sugar. That molasses flavor in brown sugar is unbeatable.
- Cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, paprika, ginger, onion powder. These are all strong spices you only need a small amount of each to add flavor.
✨ See the recipe card for the full recipe and ingredients. ✨
How to Make a Honey Baked Ham
- Place the ham in a shallow roasting pan (or 9×13″ pan). Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Pour the honey over the entire ham. Cover either the ham itself or the pan with aluminum foil.
- Bake, covered, for about two hours. It will take about 10-15 minutes per pound of ham to heat the spiral sliced ham to 140ºF. In a 350ºF oven, plan for it to take about 1 ½ to 2 hours for a 9-10 pound ham. Baste with pan juices once or twice while the ham is cooking, if desired.
- While the ham is baking, mix together the sugar and spices.
- When the ham is fully heated, pat the sugar mixture all over the outside of the ham.
- Place the ham under the broiler (make sure it is not too close to the top broiler. If it is, move it to a lower oven rack).
- Set the oven to broil on high for 4-5 minutes. Watch the ham closely! When food is cooking under the broiler it can start to burn very quickly. You’re looking for the sugar to start bubbling and caramelizing.
- The sugar will be VERY HOT so let the ham rest for a few minutes so that the sugar cools.
Heat the ham in a slow cooker.
If necessary, use the slow cooker to free up the oven. Slow cooker ham is delicious!
To heat the ham in the slow cooker, place the unwrapped ham in the slow cooker, then pour a cup of water in the bottom of the slow cooker. Drizzle the honey over the ham, cover and cook on low for 3 hours or until the ham is heated through.
Then add the sugar topping and place it under the broiler to caramelize it.
Make it a meal.
A few of our favorite sides dishes to go with ham are green beans, baked sweet potatoes, pineapple casserole, corn pudding or corn casserole, roasted carrots or easy oven roasted potatoes.
And don’t forget homemade rolls!
How long is leftover ham good in the fridge?
Store ham in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-5 days. It’s great for sandwiches, casseroles, omelettes and just for snacking.
Can I freeze leftover ham?
Yes! We freeze both the ham bone (perfect for ham bone soup or 15 bean soup) and also freeze the ham. Make sure it is packaged well in a freezer bag. We often double bag it. It’s best to use the ham within 2 months of freezing.
Should honey baked ham be served at room temperature?
If you buy a honey baked ham, you’ll find that they recommend serving the ham cold. I find it is really a matter of preference.
With a ham dinner of mashed potatoes and green beans, we prefer our ham warm. But for leftovers? It’s perfectly delicious cold. Serve the ham whichever way you’d like!
How to Make a Honey Baked Ham
Learn how to make a honey baked ham at home. Get that famous sugary crunch on your spiral honey ham in this popular copycat recipe.
Servings 30
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 3 hours
Total Time 3 hours 10 minutes
Ingredients
- Spiral Cut Bone-in Ham 9-10 pounds
- ½ cup honey
SUGAR TOPPING:
- 1/4 cup white sugar
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon paprika
- Dash of ground ginger
- Dash of onion powder
Instructions
- Place the ham in a shallow roasting pan (or 9×13″ pan). Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Pour the honey over the entire ham. Cover either the ham itself or the pan with aluminum foil.
- Bake, covered, for about two hours. It will take about 10-15 minutes per pound of ham to heat the spiral sliced ham to 140ºF. In a 350ºF oven, plan for it to take about 1 ½ to 2 hours for a 9-10 pound ham. Baste with pan juices once or twice while the ham is cooking, if desired.
- While the ham is baking, mix together the sugar and spices.
- When the ham is fully heated, pat the sugar mixture all over the outside of the ham.
- Place the ham under the broiler (make sure it is not too close to the top broiler. If it is, move it to a lower oven rack).
- Set the oven to broil on high for 4-5 minutes. Watch the ham closely! When food is cooking under the broiler it can start to burn very quickly. You’re looking for the sugar to start bubbling and caramelizing.
- The sugar will be VERY HOT so let the ham rest for a few minutes so that the sugar cools.
- Honey Baked Ham is traditionally served cold, but you can serve this ham warm if you’d like.
Video
Notes
- The spiral-sliced ham may come with a glaze packet. Throw that away and use this brown sugar mixture instead.
- Take the internal temperature in the thickest part of the ham with an instant-read thermometer. Don’t overbake if you like a juicy ham.
- A Butane kitchen torch can also be used to caramelize the ham. I can’t stress enough how important it is to keep close watch on the ham while it is under the broiler. Don’t leave it. Check it often. Take it out of the oven once the sugar is bubbly and caramelized.
- The sugar topping is going to be VERY HOT when it comes out of the oven. Don’t be tempted to touch it or you’ll burn your finger.
Nutrition
Calories: 374kcal | Carbohydrates: 11g | Protein: 29g | Fat: 22g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Cholesterol: 84mg | Sodium: 1616mg | Potassium: 394mg | Sugar: 11g | Vitamin A: 10IU | Calcium: 11mg | Iron: 1.2mg
Ideas for Leftover Ham
If you have a lot of leftover ham and are looking for ways to use it up, try one of these favorite recipes:
Is it possible to do the last step of browning the ham with the sugar on high heat like 475°F in the oven instead of broiler?
What if I wanted to make this entirely in the oven (without a slow cooker)?
Can I make this a day ahead if Im ok with eating cold/room temp?
and are you using a pre-cooked pre-sliced ham for this?
I am looking for an honest to goodness true copycat recipe for the real Honey Baked Ham. Is your recipe the one I am looking for
“place the unwrapped ham in the slow cooker” UNWRAPPED?? Sorry, I didn’t get past reading the entire recipe because I stopped at unwrapped. Typo? Sorry for the stupid question.
There were no leftovers. Definitely a keeper!
If your planning to serve cold, should you broil only or follow the complete recipe and refrigerate after the crock pot and broiler?
Just watched the video and you said you used about a 10 lb ham.
If I did use the oven instead of slow cooker, what temp and for how long please?
Thanks again
Which cloves are preferred, whole or ground, or can you use both?
My ham is not sliced should I slice it the best I can before cooking? Seems like that would be easier than after I cook it. This is the first time I have ever cooked a ham so If you know a pork Prayer please say it lol