Cooking Honey Baked Ham

If you’ve gathered with family for a holiday meal, there’s a good chance that honey baked ham was involved. This meat is particularly popular for holiday feasts because it can feed several people easily, but it’s also an appealing option for a weekend dinner when you have a little more time to spare.

With its sweet, savory glaze made from honey, brown sugar, and warm spices, this ham delivers a delicious blend of flavors that pairs perfectly with various side dishes. Although it’s often precooked when you buy it, you can still bake and glaze it to elevate its flavors and give it a tasty, caramelized finish. 

Read this guide to learn how to prepare a mouthwatering honey baked ham, from creating the glaze to properly baking it for the best results. 

What is Honey Baked Ham?

You might know of “honey baked ham” as the company of the same name that prepares and sells spiral baked ham, but this guide is about honey baked ham in the more general sense. Some people also refer to it as honey glazed ham because of its glaze coating.

Honey baked ham is a pre-cooked, smoked ham that’s glazed with a sweet mixture, typically featuring honey, brown sugar, and spices like cloves, nutmeg, and allspice. You apply the glaze before and during baking, creating a sticky, caramelized coating that complements the salty, savory flavors of the ham. Often served at holidays and special occasions, honey baked ham is known for its rich combination of sweet and salty flavors with the familiar, warm, and cozy tastes of spices.

This type of ham is typically made from the hind leg of a pig and can be purchased ready-to-eat, making it convenient for busy cooks. It’s often served alongside side dishes like mashed potatoes, vegetables, or dinner rolls.

What Kind of Ham is Best to Use?

You have a few options when choosing honey baked ham. Not sure which one to pick at the grocery store? Consider the following differences between each type of ham.

Bone-In or Boneless Ham?

Some cooks swear that bone-in ham has more flavor because the bone infuses natural flavoring into the meat. Even if you don’t believe that to be true, the bone has another benefit: It helps retain moisture to prevent the ham from drying out while baking. So if you want to make sure your ham stays as juicy as possible, go for bone-in.

On the other hand, boneless ham tends to cook quicker because the bone isn’t a factor. Boneless ham can also be much easier to carve, as you don’t have to work around the bone. 

Spiral Ham or Whole Ham?

When you think of a honey baked ham, you probably picture a spiral ham. Spiral ham is sliced into thin slices, making it easy to serve for large gatherings. Another benefit is that you can brush glaze into the sliced layers to ensure the flavor of your glaze reaches all parts of the ham.

A whole ham, on the other hand, isn’t presliced, so you’ll have control over how you cut it. It typically stays more moist during cooking, but you may not get as much flavor from the glaze to penetrate the meat. If using a whole ham, score the surface in a crosshatch pattern to help the glaze move beyond the surface of the ham. 

Tips for Cooking Honey Baked Ham

You have plenty of freedom over how to cook your honey baked ham, but these tips can help you get the right technique.

• Score the ham: If you’re using whole ham that’s not already presliced, be sure to score it before glazing and baking. You can do this with a knife, creating crosshatch patterns on the surface of the ham. This helps the ham heat a bit faster while also creating channels for the glaze to move through for extra flavor.
• Cook low and slow: Bake the ham at a low temperature (around 325°F) to prevent it from drying out. This allows the ham to heat evenly without becoming tough.
• Cover the ham: Loosely cover the ham with aluminum foil during most of the cooking time to help it retain moisture, removing it only to baste the ham with the glaze and finally removing it during the final 20 minutes to let the glaze caramelize.
• Baste it often: Baste the ham regularly—about every 20 minutes—as it cooks to make sure the glaze coats the ham evenly. This can also keep the ham moist while cooking. 
• Heat it thoroughly: If you bought a precooked ham, you don’t need to worry about cooking it to a specific temperature. However, you’ll still want it heated thoroughly, from the outside in. Use a meat thermometer to make sure the ham reaches 140°F in its thickest part before resting it at room temperature.

Easy Honey Baked Ham Recipe

It’s time to get cooking! Here’s a simple yet oh-so-tasty honey baked ham recipe to get your mouth watering. 

Ingredients

• Ready-to-eat ham (5-8 lbs)
• ½ cup butter, melted
• ¾ cup honey
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• ¼ tsp ground cloves
• ¼ tsp nutmeg
• ¼ tsp allspice

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F.
2. Place the ham in a large roasting pan with the flat side facing down. If the ham is not already sliced, score the surface of the ham by scoring it in a crosshatch pattern. This will help the glaze seep into the ham.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the melted butter, honey, brown sugar, ground cloves, nutmeg, and allspice until smooth and thickened.
4. Brush a generous layer of the glaze over the ham, ensuring it gets into the scored areas for maximum flavor. Save any leftover glaze.
5. Cover the ham loosely with aluminum foil to prevent it from drying out. Bake in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes per pound, or until the internal temperature reaches 140°F. While it bakes, remove the ham from the oven every 20 minutes and baste it with the leftover glaze. Recover with the foil each time until the last 20 minutes of cooking, when you can remove the foil to allow the glaze to caramelize. 
6. When it’s done, remove the ham from the oven to rest at room temperature for 5 minutes before slicing and serving. 

Recipe Variations

The recipe we’ve included above is just one variation you can use to make savory and satisfying honey baked ham. Follow these tips to switch things up for future recipes:

1. Maple glazed ham: Instead of the honey, use ¾ cup of pure maple syrup. It adds the same amount of sweetness but with an earthier flavor profile. If you’d like, toss in one tablespoon of Dijon mustard for some extra tanginess.
2. Spicy honey ham: Add a kick to your ham glaze by mixing in one teaspoon of red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper. Adjust the amount based on your preferences. 
3. Herb-infused ham: Want an earthier, more herby glaze? Add one teaspoon each of rosemary and thyme for a more fragrant and savory version that doesn’t mask the glaze’s sweetness.
4. Citrus honey ham: Mix in the juice and zest of an orange into the glaze to infuse some citrusy, bright notes.

What to Serve With Honey Baked Ham?

With honey baked ham as the star of your dinner plate, you have quite a few options for your supporting cast. Here are some ideas for tasty side dishes:

• Potatoes: Mashed potatoes are one of the most common pairings for honey baked ham; some people even like to combine forkfuls of ham and mashed potatoes, whose flavors balance each other well. However, there are lots of potato side dish varieties to consider, like scalloped potatoes, baked potatoes, fried potatoes, or boiled potatoes. 
• Breads and grains: Dinner rolls, wild rice, cornbread stuffing, rice pilaf, garlic bread, and fluffy biscuits can all pair well with honey baked ham. If you’re going for a heavier side dish from this or the potato category, consider adding a second lighter side for balance, like a roasted vegetable or a refreshing salad. 
• Vegetables: Your imagination is the limit when it comes to vegetable sides for honey baked ham. Glazed carrots or buttered peas are popular options, but you can also go a little heartier with a roasted vegetable medley or green bean casserole. 
• Other: Think outside of the box with macaroni and cheese, potato salad, pasta salad, sweet potato casserole, a cheese platter, applesauce, or mashed cauliflower.  

Conclusion: How to Make Honey Baked Ham

Now, it’s over to you to make a flavorful honey baked ham in your own oven that’s ideal for holidays and other special gatherings. Whether you stick to our recipe or try one of the suggested variations, you can count on this ham being a crowd-pleaser.

Order a Berkshire Kurobuta boneless ham from Chicago Steak Company. This ham is available in 6-8 or 14-18-pound varieties and is shipped straight to your door.

Honey Baked Ham FAQs