The sweet brown sugar and honey glaze on this ham is baked until it turns golden brown and caramelized. The ultimate holiday ham that’s super easy to make and always gets rave reviews.
There’s no such thing as a bad holiday ham, and this glazed version looks great and tastes great. Pile your mashed potatoes full of cheese and wrap your green beans in bacon for a holiday meal that your family and friends will love.
Ham is a classic main course around the holidays. The nice thing about buying a ham is that most of the work is already done for you. Hams come already smoked, cooked, and cut into spirals. All you need to do is add some spices and you’re good to go. This glazed ham has a rich and delicious glaze that caramelizes in the oven. Best of all, it’s super easy to make!.
These are some of my favorite Christmas recipes, like honey baked ham, smoked turkey, or slow-roasted prime rib. You can use them as a main dish for Christmas, Thanksgiving, or Easter.
This easy glazed ham recipe calls for butter, brown sugar, honey, apple cider, cinnamon, and nutmeg. It also calls for a spiral-cut smoked ham. You may want herbs or cranberries for a garnish.
The centerpiece ham is part of many Thanksgiving traditions. When choosing a holiday ham you want one that looks spectacular on the table but also tastes delicious. With so many ham options from bone-in to spiral-cut available how do you select the right showstopper ham for Thanksgiving? Read on for tips on picking the perfect ham to wow your guests.
What to Look for in a Thanksgiving Ham
An ideal Thanksgiving ham should check a few boxes:
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Appearance – Pick a ham with great visual appeal, as it will be the focal point of your table. Bone-in and spiral-sliced hams make a statement.
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Flavor – The ham should taste great on its own but also pair well with traditional side dishes. Look for balanced sweet, salty, smoky flavors.
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Moistness – A ham should be juicy and tender Hams with some fat marbling or a glaze help prevent dryness
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Easy preparation – Thanksgiving prep is busy enough Seek a fully cooked ham that just needs gentle reheating,
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Portion size – Estimate 1/2 pound of bone-in ham or 1/3 pound boneless ham per person. Add a couple extra pounds.
Keeping these factors in mind will guide you to picking a stellar Thanksgiving ham your family and friends will love.
Bone-In Hams for Thanksgiving
Nothing makes a dramatic table centerpiece like a classic bone-in ham with its leg bone still attached. Bone-in hams must be cooked carefully to prevent drying out, but the extra flavor and juice from the bone is worth it. Some good bone-in ham options include:
Spiral-sliced – These hams have spiral slits cut down to the bone so slices are easy to carve. The visual is beautiful, but tent with foil while cooking to prevent drying. Good brands are HoneyBaked and Burgers’ Smokehouse.
Cured – Hams cured with salt, sugar, and spices have deep flavor. High-end cured hams like D’Artagnan’s Black Label bone-in ham are worth splurging on.
Applewood smoked – Smoking over mild applewood gives ham a lovely delicate smokiness. Brands like Cook’s ham use applewood smoking.
Glazed – For built-in flavor, choose a ham with a fruity glaze that caramelizes as it cooks. My family loves Pineapple Brown Sugar Glazed Spiral ham from Honeybaked.
Boneless Hams for Easier Carving
Preparing a boneless ham is simpler since you don’t have to maneuver around the bone when carving. Good boneless ham options for Thanksgiving include:
Pre-sliced – Look for hams presliced into portions which make serving slices much easier. Brands like Boar’s Head offer these.
Maple-glazed – Maple’s rich sweetness pairs beautifully with salty ham. Try Maple Sugar-Glazed Boneless Ham from Burgers’ Smokehouse.
Hickory smoked – For more smoke flavor, pick a hickory-smoked boneless ham like Cook’s.
Champagne cured – Up the fancy factor with a champagne and herb cured boneless ham from high-end brands like Cobblestone Valley Farms.
Petite – For a small gathering, petite 2-3 pound boneless hams are the perfect size. Brands like Burgers’ Smokehouse have these.
Bake a Showstopping Glazed Ham
This recipe results in a gorgeous glazed holiday ham. For best results:
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Choose a 10-12 pound bone-in, cured ham
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Score the ham and coat with a glaze of brown sugar, honey, fruit juice, spices, and pineapple rings
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Place ham in a foil roasting pan filled with 1 inch of water
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Bake covered at 350°F until the internal temperature reaches 140°F
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Remove foil last 30 minutes to caramelize glaze
The sweet and salty glazed ham makes an impressive centerpiece and tastes delicious too.
Carving Tips for the Main Event
Before bringing the ham to the table, follow these steps for perfect slices:
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Let the ham rest at least 15 minutes before carving. This allows juices to redistribute.
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Place ham on a cutting board, flat side down to keep steady.
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Carve across the grain in thin, even slices. Cut perpendicular to the long muscle.
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For spiral hams, simply slice between the spiral cuts.
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For bone-in hams, carve around the bone to release slices.
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Arrange slices neatly on a serving platter. Discard any burnt ends.
Proper resting and carving yields beautifully thin slices ready to pass around the Thanksgiving table.
Pairing Ham with Thanksgiving Sides
One bonus of ham? It partners well with so many classic Thanksgiving flavors.
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Bread and biscuit – The saltiness of ham balances bread and biscuit dough. Layer in sandwiches or eat ham slices with hot rolls.
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Turkey – Smoked or cured ham has enough unique flavor to complement turkey without competing.
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Potatoes – Mashed potatoes seasoned with ham drippings or au gratin potatoes layered with ham are divine pairings.
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Veggies – The salty umami of ham brings out the sweetness in roasted veggies like Brussels sprouts or glazed carrots.
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Fruit – Ham has an affinity for fruity flavors. The tanginess balances the saltiness.
Take advantage of ham’s versatility by serving it alongside different Thanksgiving favorites.
Making Leftover Ham Even Better
Leftover holiday ham should be eaten within 3-5 days. Here are tasty ways to reinvent the leftovers:
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Dice ham for omelets, frittatas, and quiches for breakfast.
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Fill croissants, biscuits, or sandwiches with sliced ham, cheese, lettuce, and mustard.
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Toss diced ham into pasta salad, potato salad, or soup for extra protein.
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Make ham hash by sautéing ham bits with potatoes and onions.
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Stuff ham and cheese inside puff pastry for easy ham pockets.
With some creativity, you can transform leftover ham into fun new dishes to continue enjoying throughout the week.
Holiday Ham FAQs
Get answers to common questions about cooking the star of your Thanksgiving meal:
Should I bake a precooked ham?
Yes, bake even if the label says “fully cooked.” Reheating enhances flavor.
What temperature should I cook ham to?
Cook until the internal temperature reaches 140°F for optimal safety and juiciness.
How long does holiday ham last?
Store leftover ham up to 5 days refrigerated. Freeze portions for longer storage.
Can I prepare ham ahead of time?
Yes! Cooked, glazed hams reheat beautifully after chilled overnight.
Preparing the perfect Thanksgiving ham just takes a bit of planning. Choose a showstopper bone-in or boneless ham, bake low and slow, carve neatly, and pair with all your favorite sides. Then get creative with the leftovers! With these tips, your holiday ham will be a mouthwatering success.
How Do You Make Glazed Ham?
Start your glazed ham by making a glaze for your ham. Put butter, brown sugar, honey, apple cider, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a pan. Add apple cider and simmer until a thick, syrupy mixture forms. Brush half of the glaze over the ham before putting it in the oven. When the ham is almost done, heat up the remaining glaze and pour it over the ham. Increase the oven temperature and cook the ham a few more minutes for a perfect caramelized glaze.
Tips For The Perfect Dish
- Keep half of the glaze aside to use after the ham is mostly done cooking. The glaze can be kept at room temperature or in the fridge. As the glaze sits, it may start to harden. To make it liquid again when you’re ready to use it, just microwave it for 30 seconds at a time.
- If you want to use a bone-in ham for this recipe, you can score it in a cross hatch pattern before you glaze it. I like to use a spiral-cut ham for this recipe.
- What’s left over can be kept fresh for up to three days in the fridge or for two months in the freezer.
- Want to know how to cook a ham the right way the first time? Check out my full guide!
- I have recipes for ham bone soup, scalloped potatoes with ham, and ham casserole that you can use any ham that you have left over.
If you want to follow this recipe, you need to use apple cider juice, not lemon juice.
A ham needs to cook for about 20 minutes per pound in the oven at 325 degrees F. This is for a standard half ham around 7-8 pounds.
You can plan on serving about 3/4 pound of ham per person for a standard bone-in half ham. Adding an extra pound of ham per person will give you a lot of food to take home after the meal.
The overwhelming majority of hams are already cooked. All you’re actually doing is warming your ham through to the proper food safe temperature. If you stick a thermometer into the thickest part of a ham and read at least 145 degrees F, the ham is ready to eat.
There are two common ways to cook a ham. You can bake a ham in the oven, or cook it in a crock pot. Either way you will make a glaze and pour it over the ham before cooking. When it’s almost done baking in an oven, add more glaze and turn up the heat until it’s done. If you choose to cook your ham in a slow cooker, check out my crock pot ham recipe.
This is how I usually make the recipe, but sometimes I change it up based on what I have on hand.
- If you don’t want apple cider, try pineapple juice, cranberry juice, or orange juice instead.
- Change up the spices you use instead of cinnamon and nutmeg. Try pumpkin pie spice, allspice with a pinch of cloves, cinnamon with a pinch of ginger, or even cardamom.
- If you don’t want to use honey, you can use maple syrup or molasses instead. If you don’t have any liquid sweetener, add an extra 1/4 cup of brown sugar.
- Tangy: For a tangy glaze, add a teaspoon of Dijon mustard.
This glazed ham is sure to become a favorite with your family as it has been with mine!