Easter Ham

Easter ham is one of our favorite holiday traditions. This crowd-pleasing roast is an easy way to feed a crowd, and it usually makes plenty of tasty leftovers. If this will be your first time making an Easter ham, don’t sweat it. The meat is already fully cooked, so all you have to do is gently reheat it in the oven. Then sit back, and prepare your favorite Easter side dishes as the aroma of clove-studded ham wafts through the house.

The best hams always feature a homemade glaze. For this Easter ham, the glaze calls for just three ingredients. Orange marmalade provides a bold, citrusy flavor. Dijon mustard gives a tangy, slightly spicy edge. And brown sugar helps the glaze caramelize as it cooks in the oven, giving the roast a gorgeous sheen and unforgettable flavor.

Easter Ham Ingredients

• Fully cooked bone-in ham: We recommend a bone-in ham for this recipe. Bone-in hams are a little trickier to carve than boneless or spiral hams, but they taste better and stay juicier in the oven. Get all the details on how to choose a ham in our guide on how to cook a ham.
• Brown sugar: This molasses-rich sugar creates a delicious glaze for Easter ham. You can use light or dark brown sugar in this recipe. Delicate light brown sugar will accentuate the orange marmalade’s sweetness, whereas dark brown sugar will give the glaze a deeper, richer flavor.
• Orange marmalade: Ham glazes often use jam or preserves to create complexity and a thick consistency. Marmalade is different from jam and jelly in that it typically contains citrus peels. The citrus lends our glaze a bright flavor and a gentle bitter edge.
• Dijon mustard: Mustard adds a touch of heat and a light tang that counters the glaze’s sweet ingredients.
• Whole cloves: This aromatic, tingly spice makes the ham smell like Christmas as it bakes in the oven. Studding a ham with whole cloves also creates a picture-perfect finish.

Directions

Step 1: Prepare the glaze

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Preheat the oven to 325°F. In a small bowl, stir together the brown sugar, marmalade and mustard. Set aside.

Step 2: Prepare the ham

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Score the surface of the ham, making diamond shapes 1/2 inch deep.

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Insert a whole clove in the center of each diamond.

Step 3: Bake the ham

Place the ham cut side down on a rack in a shallow roasting pan. Bake, uncovered, until a thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the ham reads 130°, about two hours.

Editor’s Tip: We normally bake a bone-in ham uncovered, which allows the exterior to crisp up and caramelize. If you use a spiral-cut ham, you should consider wrapping the pan in foil. Spiral hams are precut, so they can easily dry out. Covering the pan creates steam and moist heat, which will keep the ham nice and juicy.

Step 4: Glaze the ham

Brush the ham with some of the glaze.

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Bake the ham until a thermometer reads 140°, 10 to 15 minutes longer, occasionally brushing with the glaze. Serve the baked ham alongside the remaining glaze.

Editor’s Tip: Let the ham rest for 10 to 20 minutes before serving, then carve the ham with a sharp knife.

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Recipe Variations

• Make Easter ham in the slow cooker: To make slow-cooker ham, cook the ham in a covered slow cooker on low. After four to five hours (or when the ham is heated through), add the glaze. Cover and cook on low for an additional 30 minutes.
• Swap out the orange marmalade: Instead of orange marmalade, use pineapple juice to make pineapple-glazed ham or bourbon for bourbon-glazed ham.
• Add spices: Incorporate warm spices like ground cinnamon or nutmeg to add depth to the ham glaze. To add a little heat, include a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper.

How to Store Easter Ham

Store leftover Easter ham in an airtight container in the fridge for up to four days. For longer storage, you can freeze ham in a freezer-safe container for up to two months.

Easter Ham Tips

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What kind of ham is good for Easter?

The best ham to buy for Easter dinner is a fully cooked bone-in ham. The bone adds flavor and keeps the meat juicy as it reheats. (Don’t throw the bone away. It’s great for recipes like split pea soup.) If you’re worried about carving bone-in ham, opt for a bone-in spiral-cut ham. Just make sure you don’t come home with a fresh ham! These hams are raw and uncured, so they’ll take much longer to cook.

How long does it take to cook Easter ham?

How long to cook ham depends on several factors, from the oven’s temperature to the size of the ham and whether it’s bone-in or boneless. In our Test Kitchen, it took about 2 hours and 30 minutes to cook a bone-in ham in a 325° oven. If you want to know—not guess—when the ham is finished cooking, use a probe thermometer like Thermoworks Smoke X. Precooked ham is finished cooking when it reaches an internal temperature of 140°.

How much ham do you need per person?

The official serving size for cooked ham meat is 3 ounces per person. However, if you’re purchasing a bone-in ham, you’ll want to account for the weight of the bone. Plan on 5 to 7 ounces (or 1/3 to 1/2 pound) of uncooked bone-in ham per person.

What should you serve with Easter ham?

Every showstopping Easter ham needs festive Easter side dishes! Try baked mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, glazed carrots or green beans.

What can you do with leftover Easter ham?

There are many ways to use up leftover ham, and you can use leftover Easter ham in most recipes that call for deli ham. We especially love au gratin potatoes and ham, ham and cheddar breakfast casserole and ham chowder.