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If you're looking for the perfect glaze for your holiday ham, look no further than my Ham Glaze Recipes! From zingy honey sriracha glaze to pure and simple brown sugar glaze, my list has everything you need for the perfect and easy ham glaze!
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Recipes for Ham Glaze
I'm making it simple to choose the right glaze for ham! In this post I've gathered together all my best easy ham glaze recipes so that no matter what flavor profile you're looking for, you can find the perfect glaze for ham for you. Plus, these recipes all use simple and affordable pantry ingredients.
No matter if you make ham multiple times a year and just want more ideas, or you're a total ham beginner, I promise you'll find the perfect glaze with just the right flavor. Be it a delicious sriracha ham glaze, a classic pineapple ham, or a pure and simple brown sugar glaze, I have a ham glaze recipe for everyone!
Ingredients in Ham Glazes
- Sugar: Sugar is critical to a good glaze. I recommend brown sugar for the richness of flavor and dark color. Sugar helps the glaze cling and caramelize.
- Liquid: You can use almost any liquid, like melted butter, pineapple juice, or apple cider vinegar. Alternatively, you can use another sweetener like maple syrup.
- Spices: You can use any assortment of spices, or none at all; I like serving Christmas ham with nutmeg, ground cloves and ground cinnamon, or making a more Easter appropriate flavor combination with Dijon mustard and rosemary.
How to Glaze a Ham
1: Pre-bake Ham
Start with a ham that has been mostly reheated already; you don't want to start with cold ham, as the glaze will burn in the time it takes for it to heat.
2: Add First Glaze Coat
Once the ham is mostly cooked, cover the entire ham generously with glaze. If it's spiral-cut, make sure to glaze between every slice.
3: Bake Again
Finish heating the ham, uncovered so that the glaze can caramelize. You can add further layers of glaze every few minutes as desired, up to a new layer every 5 minutes!
4: Add Final Coat
Once the ham has completely heated through and is ready to serve, give it one last coating of glaze. Then serve and enjoy! If it's not a sliced ham, save some glaze for adding to each slice as you serve it.
Ham Glaze Recipes
Recipes for Ham
Expert Tips for Glazing Ham
- I recommend always making ham glaze right before using it! Glaze is easy to make and usually just takes quickly heating up a few ingredients and mixing them together.
- Always use a silicone basting brush for applying glaze. They're easy to clean and apply glaze much more evenly than pouring it on or using a pastry brush.
- You can adjust the sweetness by varying how often you apply the glaze, and the ratio of butter or juice to sugar.
- Spiral-cut ham can get dry much faster than ham that hasn't already been sliced, so I highly encourage glazing between the slices at least once if not multiple times.
- These glazes will work on any sort of ham, from bone-in ham, spiral cut, to boneless ham. And make sure to save the ham bone for ham soup!
Isabel's Top Tip
Leftover glaze can be used on all sorts of delicious sides like roasted vegetables, such as my delicious sweet carrots or candied yams!
FAQ
While not strictly necessary, glaze pretty much makes everything about ham better. The addition of glaze helps bring in moisture to ensure the ham doesn't dry out, adds flavor to every bite, and gives the ham a great sticky crust. I can't think of a single reason not to glaze ham!
Because glaze can burn if left in the oven for too long, it's best to glaze ham after it's mostly done cooking. Then, keep glazing the ham every few minutes depending on how thoroughly you'd like the ham coated. Glaze one more time when it's fully cooked!
Hams to Pair with Ham Glaze Recipes
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