Learn how to cook a Spiral Ham, including how to make a simple honey glaze. A Honey Glazed Spiral Ham is the perfect centerpiece for your holiday table!
Complete your meal by serving this ham with my favorite Cauliflower Mash, a baked Cauliflower Cheese, or my favorite Simple Strawberry Spinach Salad.
A Mouthwatering Honey Glazed Ham
There is no need to order a Honey Baked Ham for your next holiday get together! It truly is simple to do.
A spiral ham is a bone-in pork roast that is smoked, baked, and precut in a spiral shape. These hams are popular for home cooks because all you need to do to prepare them is heat them up and add a glaze.
This sweet and smokey meat is the perfect addition to your holiday table. It’s delicious served with mashed potatoes (or my sneaky Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes!), a baked cauliflower cheese, asparagus, and a Strawberry Spinach Salad.
Ditch the glaze packet the ham comes with. Whisk together a few simple ingredients to make your own – it’s worth the extra step!
What You’ll Need
- 8-11 pound Spiral Cut Ham (these are usually precooked, but double-check the packaging!)
- Honey
- Dijon Mustard
- Rosemary (optional, but adds a lovely flavor!)
- Black Pepper
Whisk Up a Honey Ham Glaze
Popular sweeteners for a ham glaze are honey and brown sugar. I prefer honey because it’s a less processed option. It has a delicious flavor that’s ideal for creating the glossy, chewy exterior of a ham, and also helps seal in moisture during the last bit of cooking!
You need 3 flavors for a good ham glaze:
- Sweet: Honey or brown sugar
- Tangy/Acidic: Mustard, balsamic vinegar, and apple cider vinegar are good options!
- Spicy: You can use cinnamon and nutmeg, For this version, I kept it simple and clean with rosemary and black pepper.
How to Cook a Spiral Ham (without drying it out!)
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 250ยบ F. Place the ham in a shallow baking dish or on a broiler pan to catch the juices. Bake the ham for 2-3 hours depending on its weight. The glaze is added during the last 30 minutes!
Step 2: In a small bowl, whisk together honey, dijon mustard, finely chopped rosemary (or crush dried rosemary if that’s what you have on hand!), and black pepper. I warm my honey to make it easier to mix and brush it onto the ham.
Step 3: During the last 30 minutes of baking time, glaze the ham, then return it to the oven. I do this 3 times with about 10 minutes of baking time. The ham needs to come to 135ยบ F internally. The honey glaze not only gives the ham a beautiful glossy appearance and a sweet bite around the edges, but it also seals in the juices as the ham warms up, keeping it from getting dry. Using a meat thermometer to make sure you don’t heat the ham over 135ยบ F also ensures it stays juicy.
Step 4: Pull the ham out of the oven, and wrap it in a piece of foil. Allow it to rest for 15 minutes. This settles the juices so they stay in the meat and keep it moist.
I baked my ham in my Sharp European Convection Oven. It’s the perfect oven for all holidays! It has a roomy interior, with smart features, like the built-in temperature probe.
After my ham has been cooked for a couple of hours, I set the internal temperature probe to 135ยบ F, and the oven will alert me (and turn off!) when the ham is done. This is super helpful on busy holidays when I have multiple other dishes I am preparing.
Hop on over to the Sharp Home USA website to see if their state-of-the-art built-in appliances are the perfect fit for your dream kitchen!
How Long to Cook a Spiral Ham
How Long to Cook a Spiral HamSpiral cut hams are precooked, so they only need to be heated thoroughly. It’s best to cook them at a low temperature to ensure even heating, without overcooking the outside and drying out the ham.
Cook your spiral ham in a shallow baking dish or on a broiler pan to catch the juices (and turn them into gravy!)
It will take about 14 minutes per pound to cook a ham. This means:
- 8 Pounds: ~ 1 hour 52 minutes
- 9 Pounds: ~ 2 hours 6 minutes
- 10 Pounds: ~ 2 hours 20 minutes
- 11 Pounds: ~ 2 hours 34 minutes
- 12 Pounds: ~ 2 hours 48 minutes
Cook the ham to an internal temperature of 140ยบ F. To reach this temperature, bake the ham until it reaches 135ยบ F, and it will come to temperature while it’s resting.
The Sharp European Convection Oven has a built-in temperature probe, perfect for roasting meats.ย
How to Cut a Spiral Ham
The ham will come with evenly cut pieces in a spiral around the bone. After the ham is baked and has rested for at least 15 minutes, it’s ready to slice.
Use a carving knife, and place it against the bone, shaving off slices down and around the bone. I typically cut 4 sections off the bone for large, thin slices of meat.
Any meat that is left on the bone can later be boiled off to make a delicious soup stock!
How to Serve Ham
Build a delicious holiday meal around this honey-baked ham!
- Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes
- Simple Strawberry Spinach Salad
- Cheesy Garlic Green Beans
- Blueberry Crisp
Storing and Reheating Leftovers
Storing Leftovers: Wrap leftover sliced ham in an air-tight container or resealable bags. Because ham is cured (salt & sugar are preservatives!), it can be refrigerated for up to a week.
Freeze Leftovers: If you can’t get to all the leftovers in a week, wrap the leftover ham in an air-tight container, and freeze for up to 3 months. Allow thawing before reheating.
To Reheat: Place ham in a shallow baking dish with a lid, or cover with foil. Preheat the oven to 250ยบ F, and reheat for about 30 minutes. Ham can also be reheated in a frying pan if cooking smaller portions.
What to do with Ham Leftovers
- Use it in a Ham Casserole, like this Low Carb Broccoli Casserole (in place of the Canadian Bacon).
- As a pizza topper: Try it with pineapple on top of a sweet potato pizza crust.
- Try these Teriyaki Chicken Burgers with a slice of ham, or skewer it up with chicken and vegetables on these Teriyaki Hawaiian Chicken Skewers.
- Make some Pizza Stuffed Chicken Breasts.
- Try a Ham Soup recipe – which allows you to use the bone to flavor the soup stock!
Check out Sunkissed Kitchen for the full recipe.
