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When it comes to holiday celebrations, it’s hard to beat a brown sugar glazed ham. Hams are big enough to feed the whole family, and still have leftovers. And since it’s already cooked, all you need to do is gently reheat it in the oven.
If you’re looking for a picture-perfect centerpiece, you’ll want to a ham glaze recipe to steal the show. The glaze not only flavors the ham with brown sugar, savory mustard and tangy vinegar, but the sugars also caramelize, giving your ham a lightly crispy edge and an appealing finish.
Once you know how easy it is to make a brown sugar glaze with ingredients you have on hand, you’ll never buy an expensive glazed ham again!
Also, try our top rated Easter ham recipes for all of your holiday gatherings.
When to use this ham glaze
The glaze goes on for the final 15 to 30 minutes of cook time, so you definitely don’t want to glaze the ham in advance. It’s best to wait until the ham is heated to an internal temperature of 130°F before hitting it with this easy ham glaze. That way, the sugars will caramelize instead of burn.
Check here- Â how to cook a frozen ham to make it tender, juicy and flavorful.
Key Ingredients in a Ham Glaze
With so few ingredients, you know they’ll all be working extra hard to flavor and tenderize your ham.
- Brown Sugar: You can’t have a brown sugar glaze without the ingredient that gives it its name! Unlike white sugar, brown sugar has molasses in it, creating a distinctly caramelizing quality and an ever-so-light smoky hint.
- Dijon Mustard: To balance the sweetness coming from the brown sugar, Dijon mustard offers a spicier, less acidic flavor than regular yellow mustard. Less acidity is exactly what we’re looking for since that will be added through the vinegar.
- Apple Cider Vinegar: Apple cider vinegar is a powerhouse ingredient to keep in your pantry. While it has many uses, the most basic is its ability to tenderize meat. Because of the apple base, it will add sweeter flavor to your ham than regular white vinegar would.
How to Make a Ham Glaze
This recipe yields about 14 servings.
Ingredients
- 1 fully cooked bone-in ham (5 to 7 pounds)
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 1 to 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
Editor’s Tip: We always opt for bone-in ham so we can use the bone to make split pea and ham soup.
Directions
Step 1: Prepare the ham
To cook the ham, preheat the oven to 325° and grab a shallow roasting pan or a large casserole dish. (Be sure to choose the best ham.) Place the ham on a rack and score the surface of the ham with 1/4-inch deep cuts in a diamond pattern. This opens up the outer layer of the ham, allowing the glaze to soak into the meat. For a traditional look, insert whole cloves into each diamond point of the ham.
Cover the ham with a piece of foil and bake for 1-1/2 to 2 hours, until a thermometer reaches 130°.
Editor’s Tip: If you don’t have a rack for your roasting pan, you can use an oven-safe cooling rack. Better yet, elevate the ham by lining the bottom of the pan with onions, carrots or potatoes. The vegetables will taste great as they cook in the ham drippings!
Step 2: Ready the glaze
While the ham is baking, combine the brown sugar and mustard in a small bowl. Add enough vinegar to create a thick paste. You may not need all the vinegar.
Step 3: Glaze away
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Remove the ham from the oven and discard the piece of foil. Spread the glaze over the ham using a high-heat resistant spatula. The glaze will be thick, but the heat of the ham will help you spread it evenly. Bake the ham, uncovered, for an additional 15 to 30 minutes, until it reaches an internal temperature of 140°.
Tips for Making Ham Glaze
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How can you make this ham glaze recipe your own?
Our brown sugar glaze recipe is very basic, but it has incredible flavor. Feel free to have some fun with it! You can remove the vinegar and replace it with orange or pineapple juice, or you can increase the mustard to 2 tablespoons and add 1/4 cup of honey to make a honey mustard glaze.
Is glazing a ham necessary?
It isn’t necessary to glaze a ham. However, it does enhance the flavor of the ham and elevates the ham with a beautiful glazed look worthy of its place as the center of your holiday feast.
Do you put ham glaze on before or after cooking?
This glaze should be applied to your ham about fifteen minutes before the ham is finished cooking. Applying the glaze when the ham is almost done helps keep it thoroughly coated upon serving and prevents the glaze from drying out from over-cooking.
What else can you glaze?
Don’t feel like you have to use this ham glaze recipe just for special occasions. Brush it on ham steaks before cooking them, or use it to glaze other quick-cooking meats like salmon. You can also use it to glaze vegetables. After cooking the veggies, toss them in the glaze with a little melted butter.
Use Up Extras in These Leftover Ham Recipes
Buttermilk Biscuit Ham PotpieThis potpie is probably the coziest way to rework leftovers. The addition of fresh fennel, tarragon and homemade biscuits really takes this dish to the next level. If you don't have time to make homemade biscuits, use our pick for the
best store-bought biscuits.
Find out
if you can freeze ham.
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green bean casserole creates new flavors and textures that really complement this dish. Perfect for the day after Christmas, it can be a side dish or the main event.
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Sweet Onion Creamed CornThis creamed corn has every comfort flavor you can imagine. Sweet and savory elements fight against each other for dominance and it's for the best that all of them win.
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Ham and Broccoli CornbreadGive your leftover
ham and veggies the perfect home in this cornbread. Easy and accessible, these can make a great breakfast or appetizer for a group.
Sweet Potato and Ham HashA lot of breakfast recipes fail to utilize sweet potatoes, but this is not one of them. This recipe offers a fresh take on breakfast and gives you the option of what to serve it with.
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Mustard Ham StrataStrata are a group of layered casseroles, usually for brunch, with cheese, eggs and bread as the base. This strata has mustard, ham and green onion.
Roasted Red Pepper TrianglesThese roasted red pepper triangles have pepperoni and ham for some strong flavors. The spice from the red pepper is balanced with the cheese and meat.
Grilled Ham BurgersGive your leftover ham new life with these delicious grilled burgers. With crushed pineapple, these burgers are sweet and smokey
Beer-Braised Pulled HamTo jazz up ham, slow-cook it with a beer sauce. Buns loaded with ham, pickles and mustard are irresistible.
Potato Ham Omelet PieThis pie is great to make when you have an abundance of leftover ham you want to get rid of. It contains layers of potato, ham and cheese and makes for a lovely breakfast or lunch.
Linguine with Ham & Swiss CheeseThis pasta uses leftover and pantry staples to make a filling meal. If you're not crazy about canned cream of mushroom soup, try your hand at making
homemade cream of mushroom soup
for this recipe.
Ham & Cheese ZitiThis versatile dish is a crowd-pleaser and easy to whip up with your leftover ham. Don't be afraid to change the cheeses or veggie to make the most of what you have on hand.
Grilled Pesto, Ham and Provolone SandwichesPrepared pesto, basil and pickled cherry peppers add a ton of flavor and brightness to a standard ham sandwich. Serve these sammies with minestrone or a crisp salad for a complete lunch.
Up Next: Check out our
leftover stuffing recipes.
