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Ham recipes…you can’t have too many, right? Well, until you find the one you love the most. We hope this copycat honey baked ham recipe will be your new favorite! It’s coated in a flavor-packed basting sauce and then encrusted with a spectacular crystallized sugar rub! It’s just like you bought it from the store but at a fraction of the cost!
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When Cade and I first got married we were poor newlyweds living in a state without any family. The holidays rolled around and we started to hear people talk about a place called, Honey Baked Ham. The hype was getting so loud that we just had to try it.
We drove over to the store to buy ourselves a Christmas ham and the moment we walked in and smelled it we knew that people were right. We were so excited to make our first little holiday meal as a married couple. The cashier was a middle aged woman (how weird that it’s me now that’s middle aged!!) and she rang us up. Holy expensive!
I was so shocked by the price and was in a panic, how in the world would we be able to buy this and everything else we needed for Christmas?!! I honestly don’t remember what happened but we ended up with a very tiny bit of ham and from that day on I’ve actually been dying to create a copycat .
Every year I’ve adjusted here and there until this year I finally made it happen. I still don’t get how they bake that sugar crust on without burning it but a kitchen torch gave us our first success this year and Cade, who doesn’t care for ham that much, couldn’t stop talking about how delicious it was and had seconds AND thirds!!
Ingredients Needed for Honey Baked Ham Recipe
The ingredients list for this is short and sweet! You’ll need a few items for the basting sauce and then a few more things for the sugar rub. Most of the ingredients you will probably have in the pantry or spice cupboard.
For the Ham
- Ham (spiral cut)
- Butter
- Honey
- Dijon Mustard
- Cinnamon
- Apple Butter
- Apple Juice
For the Sugar Rub
- Sugar
- Brown Sugar
- Salt
- Cinnamon
- Cloves
- Onion Powder
- Ginger
- Allspice
- Smoked Paprika
The exact measurements for each ingredients can be found in the recipe card down below.
How to Make a Honey Baked Ham Recipe
Baking this ham is going to be done in two steps — baking the ham and then adding the sugar rub and crystallizing it. It’s important to note here that ham takes about 20 minutes per pound to cook, so plan your meal time accordingly.
Ham
- Preheat oven.
- Whisk all the ingredients together in a small saucepan over medium heat.
- With the ham on a roasting rack, slowly pour the mixture over the ham and work it between all the layers. It’s a labor of love and totally worth it!
- Pour apple juice into roasting pan.
- PRO TIP: If you don’t have apple juice, pineapple or orange juice works great or just water will be fine. Any combination of any or all of the above works too.
- Bake.
Sugar Rub
- Mix together all the ingredients in a small bowl.
- Removed the baked ham from the oven and let it cool for a while.
- Put half of the sugar mixture into a clean pan and roll your ham all over in it. Use your hands to press it onto the sides if you have to.
- PRO TIP: If the rub isn’t sticking, brush some of the pan juices onto the outside of the ham and then try again.
- Use a small kitchen torch to crystallize the sugar. Placing the ham under a broiler works too if you don’t have a torch.
- Use some of the pan drippings to make a glaze to drizzle over the top.
For more detailed instructions, see the recipe card below. We have a great post on how to carve a spiral ham if you need it too!
What to Serve with a Honey Baked Ham Recipe?
You’ve gotta have some great sides to go with this tasty honey baked ham recipe! I love all the sides that go with ham so much. I could easily list like 30 different options, but here are my top 10:
- Mashed Potatoes
- Funeral Potatoes
- Green Bean Casserole with Crispy Shallots
- Roasted Garlic Vegetables
- Broccoli Salad
- Candied Pecan Bacon Brussels Sprouts
- Texas Roadhouse Loaded Sweet Potato
- Potato Rolls
- One-Hour Rolls
- Jello Salad
Don’t forget to whip up our favorite ham dipping sauces!
How Much Ham Per Person?
A good rule of thumb is to plan on ½ pound of ham per person if you’re buying a boneless ham and ¾ pound of ham per person if you’re buying bone-in ham. If you’ll be serving lots of little ones as well, use your best judgement!
How Long Will Cooked Ham Keep?
Cooked ham will keep 3-4 days in the refrigerator.
How Do You Reheat Ham?
Reheatin a 325-degree oven until it reaches an internal temperature of 135 to 140 degrees.
This is the ham recipe to end all ham recipes! I’ve worked on perfecting this copycat honey baked ham recipe for years, and I’ve finally nailed it!
More HAM RECIPES You Will Love:
Whether you are looking to cook a whole ham or just need to use up some leftovers, these recipes will have you covered…
- World’s Best Brown Sugar Ham
- Garlic Honey Mustard Ham
- Secret to the Best Ham Fried Rice
- Spring Ham and Asparagus Lemon Cream Sauce
- Cheesy Ham and Potato Bacon Casserole
- Ham Lemon Orzo with Parmesan and Peas
- Ham and Cheese Sliders
- Hawaiian Ham and Pineapple Casserole
- Hash Browns Ham Frittata
- Ham Hock Soup
- Easy Ham and Cheese Scones
- How to Make Ham in a Slow Cooker
- All our BEST PORK RECIPES here!
Honey Baked Ham
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4.45 from 25 votes
Servings: 8
Prep Time: 10 minutes mins
Cook Time: 2 hours hrs
cooling time: 15 minutes mins
Total Time: 2 hours hrs 25 minutes mins
Ingredients
For The Ham
- 2 Tablespoons Butter
- 1/3 Cup Honey
- 1 Tablespoon Dijon Mustard
- 1 Tablespoon Apple Butter, *optional but better with it
- 1/4 teaspoon Cinnamon
- 7-8 Pounds Ham, spiral cut
- 1 Cup Apple Juice
Sugar Rub
- 1 1/2 Cups Sugar
- 1/4 Cup Brown Sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon Salt
- 3/4 teaspoon Cinnamon
- 3/4 teaspoon Cloves
- 3/4 teaspoon Onion Powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon Allspice
- 1/2 teaspoon Smoked Paprika
- Kitchen Torch
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 325.
Ham should be cooked for about 20 minutes per pound so plan accordingly.
See AlsoBest Ever Turkey Brine RecipeIn a small saucepan over medium heat, whisk together the butter, honey, mustard, apple butter and cinnamon.
2 Tablespoons Butter, 1/3 Cup Honey, 1 Tablespoon Dijon Mustard, 1 Tablespoon Apple Butter, 1/4 teaspoon Cinnamon
Place the ham, cut side down on a roasting rack in a pan. Slowly pour the mixture over the ham and massage it between each layer. If any drips onto the pan just scoop it up and rub onto the ham.
7-8 Pounds Ham
Pour the apple juice into the bottom of the pan. Water, pineapple or orange juice, or even a combination is fine.
1 Cup Apple Juice
Bake for about 2 hours or until heated through.
Rub
Meanwhile, mix together all ingredients for the sugar rub in a small bowl.
1 1/2 Cups Sugar, 1/4 Cup Brown Sugar, 3/4 teaspoon Salt, 3/4 teaspoon Cinnamon, 3/4 teaspoon Cloves, 3/4 teaspoon Onion Powder, 1/2 teaspoon Ginger, 1/2 teaspoon Allspice, 1/2 teaspoon Smoked Paprika
Remove the ham from the oven and allow to cool for 15 minutes tented with foil.
Pour half of the sugar mixture into a clean pan and roll all sides of the the ham in it, using your hand to scoop the sugar rub, really pressing it onto the sides. If it isn’t sticking, brush a little of the pan juices onto it and then press onto the sides.
Using a small kitchen torch, slowly move the flame all over the ham to crystallize the sugar. If you don’t have a kitchen torch you can place the ham under a broiler. Just be sure to keep it far enough away from the heating element and rotate the ham side to side and front to back (literally lay it on it’s sides at the end.) Watch carefully as this method can burn the sugar or make the sugar all off. We really, really don’t recommend this method. A torch is much easier.
Kitchen Torch
Pour 1/2 cup of the pan drippings into a saucepan with the remaining sugar and bring to a slow boil, turn down to a simmer and continue to coo, stirring occasionally until reduced slightly. Set aside. Cooling will thicken this more so don’t go too crazy cooking it.
Serve immediately with glaze poured over.
Notes
Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator.
Nutrition
Serving: 1poundCalories: 1225kcalCarbohydrates: 61gProtein: 86gFat: 70gSaturated Fat: 26gCholesterol: 254mgSodium: 4980mgPotassium: 1183mgFiber: 1gSugar: 59gVitamin A: 149IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 38mgIron: 4mg
Author: Sweet Basil
Course: All of the Best Pork Recipes on the Internet
Cuisine: American
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