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If you’re looking for that perfect ham for holidays, weeknight meals or just because this Honey Baked Ham is just what you need. Simple, flavorful and easy!
I love ham, always have. It is one of my favorite dishes at any holiday feast or just a regular meal. It’s something a lot of people grew up on and have come to enjoy.
This Honey Baked Ham is a recipe that I have been making for many years now, it took me awhile to perfect my favorite ham, but this one stuck and everyone has really enjoyed it.
It is a simple and easy ham recipe that doesn’t take many ingredients or special techniques to do, just a normal recipe for normal cooks like me who love to serve delicious dishes.
Now if you didn’t know, I went to culinary school and I did learn a lot from there especially what flavors play nice together. Alone with other various things that would maybe intrigue or bore you.
But when I come up with a recipe, I make sure that the flavors are on point and enjoyable and with this Honey Baked Ham that is exactly what they are.
Some may seem untraditional, but trust me, I do it for a purpose and once you taste this moist delicious meal you will be so happy that you did.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
- Minimal easy to find ingredients help this dish come together in no time.
- This served a lot of people, if you have a larger ham, just make more sauce for it.
- It is a classic dish with a slight twist that is bound to perk the taste buds of whomever eats it!
INGREDIENTS NEEDED (FULL RECIPE BELOW):
Ham
Beer
Apple juice
Honey
Mustard
Brown sugar
Apple cider vinegar
Cloves
HOW TO MAKE HONEY BAKED HAM:
- Place the oven rack to the bottom position. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Place a roasting rack in the bottom of a roasting pan. If you do not have a roasting rack you can make one by taking a large piece of foil, condensing it down into a long rope, then securing the ends together to form a circle. Place the ham cut side down onto the rack.
- If desired, cut the skin off of the ham.
- Gently score through the fat in a diamond shape all over the ham with a pairing knife, do not cut too deep into the meat. Pour the beer into the bottom of the roasting pan and 1/2 cup of the apple juice. Set aside.
- In a small saucepan, add the remaining apple juice, honey, grainy mustard, dijon, brown sugar, vinegar, and ground cloves. Whisk the ingredients together and bring it to a simmer until smooth, whisking constantly for about 3-5 minutes. Brush half the glaze all over the ham.
- Cover the ham with foil, you may need to overlap two pieces of foil to fit, and bake at 325ºF for an hour and a half to two hours or until the internal temp reaches 110°F.
- Remove the foil, turn the oven up to 375°F, and brush with half of the remaining glaze. Return the ham to the oven and continue to bake for another 20-30 minutes, until an internal temperature reaches 130°F.
- Turn the broiler on low. Brush with the remaining glaze, place into the oven until bubbly, golden brown with a slight char. Keep an eye on it the whole time as it can burn quickly.
- Transfer the ham to a cutting board and rest for 20 minutes before carving.
WHAT KIND OF HAM SHOULD I USE?
For this Honey Baked Ham Recipe we used a Shank End Smoked Ham. That means that this ham is bone in. We do not like to use the spiral cut ham for this recipe.
There is no rhyme or reason behind it, but we find that the flavor really sticks in to the scores of this type of ham compared to a spiral ham instead so this is what we have always used.
According to taste of home the definition of a Shank end ham is as follows “The shank end (or leg portion) sports that classic ham profile, so it’s a good choice for a picture-perfect table. The meat tends to be leaner and it has one long bone, which makes carving easier. The butt end (the top half of the ham) has more tender, fattier meat, lending a richer flavor.”
This is the main reason that we love this ham for our Honey Baked Ham Recipe and have never turned back in all these years!
Just look at those perfect slices! They are absolutely delicious! Now the second thing that you need to think of when making ham is what is great to serve with it!
WHAT SHOULD I SERVE WITH HAM?
There is so much that you can serve with ham that it is crazy to pick just a few things but I’ll share some of my favorite recipes that we make.
There are so many things that you can serve with this Honey Baked Ham, that the possibilities are endless, just make what you love to make. These are just some of the things that we make often.
HOW TO STORE:
To store ham the best way to do so is to cut if all off the bone and place it in an airtight container and in the refrigerator it will keep for up to 3-4 days, you can reheat in the microwave.
This can also be frozen, do the same as above but place in a freezer safe container or freezer bag and it should keep up to 3-4 months frozen. To reheat let thaw in refrigerator overnight and then microwave.
TIPS AND TRICKS:
- I love to save the cooking liquid and I serve it along with the ham as a thin gravy. It is so flavorful and I don’t want to waste it.
- After your large event (or Tuesday night dinner) and you want to heat the ham up again for another time to serve, I suggest carving the ham off the bone. Placing the cooking liquid in a large pot or skillet on the stove and adding the ham slices right into the cooking liquid to heat up. This prevents the ham from drying out. So do not throw out those drippings!! You can also use it as a base for soup.
- The ham is tender and juicy with a fantastic sweet glaze. This is a fantastic ham!! This glaze will also work on spiral hams, I suggest when brushing the glaze on the ham to try and get some of the glaze between the slices.
- If you don’t want to use a beer, you can use more apple juice in its place. Other options are hard apple cider, wine, chicken stock, or a lemon-lime soda.
- This can be frozen, see my tips above.
If you want a juicy and flavorful ham recipe then you need to look no further than my Honey Baked Ham, this will be one you’ll want to keep in your recipe book!
If you like this recipe you might also like:
Honey Baked Ham
Ingredients
- 1 shank end smoked ham 10-15 pounds
- 12 ounce beer
- 1 cup apple juice divided
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1/3 cup grainy mustard
- 1/4 cup dijon mustard
- 1/4 brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
Instructions
- Place the oven rack to the bottom position. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Place a roasting rack in the bottom of a roasting pan. If you do not have a roasting rack you can make one by taking a large piece of foil, condensing it down into a long rope, then securing the ends together to form a circle. Place the ham cut side down onto the rack.
- If desired, cut the skin off of the ham.
- Gently score through the fat in a diamond shape all over the ham, do not cut too deep into the meat. Pour the beer into the bottom of the roasting pan and 1/2 cup of the apple juice. Set aside.
- In a small saucepan, add the remaining apple juice, honey, grainy mustard, dijon, brown sugar, vinegar, and ground cloves. Whisk the ingredients together and bring it to a simmer until smooth, whisking constantly for about 3-5 minutes. Brush half the glaze all over the ham.
- Cover the ham with foil, you may need to overlap two pieces of foil to fit, and bake at 325ºF for an hour and a half to two hours or until the internal temp reaches 110°F.
- Remove the foil, turn the oven up to 375°F, and brush with half of the remaining glaze. Return the ham to the oven and continue to bake for another 20-30 minutes, until an internal temperature reaches 130°F.
- Turn the broiler on low. Brush with the remaining glaze, place the oven until bubbly, golden brown with a slight char. Keep an eye on it the whole time as it can burn quickly.
- Transfer the ham to a cutting board and rest for 20 minutes before carving.
Notes
- I love to save the cooking liquid and I serve it along with the ham as a thin gravy. It is so flavorful and I don’t want to waste it.
- After your large event (or Tuesday night dinner) and you want to heat the ham up again for another time to serve, I suggest carving the ham off the bone. Placing the cooking liquid in a large pot or skillet on the stove and adding the ham slices right into the cooking liquid to heat up. This prevents the ham from drying out. So do not throw out those drippings!! You can also use it as a base for soup.
- The ham is tender and juicy with a fantastic sweet glaze. This is a fantastic ham!! This glaze will also work on spiral hams, I suggest when brushing the glaze on the ham to try and get some of the glaze between the slices.
- If you don’t want to use a beer, you can use more apple juice in its place. Other options are hard apple cider, wine, chicken stock, or a lemon-lime soda.
- This can be frozen, see my tips above.
Nutrition
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