Glazing a ham is quite effortless, as the ham itself is already cooked, and the oven does its thing with the savory-sweet glaze, which comes together in minutes. This has been one of my workhorses for holidays and special occasions for decades: it's an impressive centerpiece that requires little attention and is hard to mess up.
And it makes the best leftovers the next day. You'll have everyone oohing and aahing, trust me.
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An easy centerpiece
This is a fantastic holiday main course and one of the recipes I look forward to making every year.
It's incredibly easy once you get your hands on a whole ham.
It might also be due to leftovers that make other ham recipes extra flavorful. My favorites are this breakfast strata, these extremely popular ham sliders, and this old-fashioned ham salad for sandwiches in the Summer.
Bone-in ham or boneless? I like both. The first option can have more flavor, but the second one is easier for beginners, and you'll still get a fantastic ham.
Ingredients
Quantities are listed in the recipe card towards the end of this post. The Ingredients page has more details and lists the brands we use.
- Whole ham: It should be cooked boneless, with the skin or fat layer on top. A smoked ham is also a great option.
- Brown sugar: light or dark.
- Mustard: I like Dijon, but brown or ancient mustards also work.
- Bourbon and orange juice: the bourbon (or whisky) evaporates a lot during baking, but use only juice if you want an alcohol-free glaze.
Steps to make glazed ham
It looks and is an impressive main dish, but it takes little work on your part. That's one of the great things about serving this ham.
Maple bourbon glaze
It takes 5 minutes, and besides chopping the garlic, you simply mix all the ingredients in a saucepan and heat them until they're all integrated.
Basting
The glaze is brushed in 2 or 3 parts. The last one will render that shiny, sticky layer.
Wrap in foil
If you don't cover your ham while cooking, it tends to dry out. So use aluminum foil for most of the cooking process and remove it during the last part, when you glaze it the final time.
Side dishes for glazed ham
If you serve it hot (for Christmas, Thanksgiving or winter occasions):
- Sweet potato casserole, a classic with pecans.
- Green beans with almonds or sesame green beans.
- Roasted pumpkin wedges, one of my most popular recipes.
- My take on corn pudding.
- Mashed potatoes or sweet potatoes.
- Brussels sprouts.
- Glazed carrots.
- Classic popovers.
If you serve it cold (for brunch or outdoor occasions):
- Classic potato salad, potato egg salad or this unique pesto potato salad.
- Coleslaw, regular or apple cranberry slaw.
- Macaroni salad.
- Mixed green salad.
- Mango corn salsa.
- Peach chutney, my favorite or the traditional mango chutney.
- Pear arugula salad.
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Maple Glazed Ham (with bourbon and orange)
Ingredients
- 1 whole ham, about 6-7 pounds or 3 kg, boneless and cooked, with a top layer of fat
- 1 cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup orange juice
- ¼ cup bourbon
- ½ cup maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- ⅛ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 3 or 4 sprigs of fresh thyme, plus more to serve
- 1 orange, in thin slices, to serve
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C). You'll probably need to use the lower third oven rack for your ham to fit comfortably, so adjust accordingly.
- Prepare a large roasting pan. Line it with aluminum foil big enough to wrap the whole ham.
- Have 1 whole ham at room temperature. Pat it dry, place it on top of the foil and score a straight or crisscross pattern with a sharp knife. Be careful not to cut the ham itself, just the fat layer.
- In a small saucepan, mix 1 cup brown sugar, ¼ cup orange juice, ¼ cup bourbon, ½ cup maple syrup, 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard, 1 garlic clove, ⅛ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper and 3 or 4 sprigs of fresh thyme. Stir over medium heat until fully integrated and the sugar is dissolved.
- Brush the ham with ¼ part of this mixture.
- Wrap it completely with the foil and cook it in the preheated oven for 1 ½ hours (about 15 minutes per pound). At half time, carefully open the foil (it'll steam) and brush the ham with more glaze, making sure you have glaze left for a final brush.
- Remove the ham from the oven, open the foil and brush it with the remaining glaze. Bake for 10-15 more minutes without wrapping to allow the glaze to become shiny and sticky. If not browning quickly, increase the temperature to 350°F (180°C) or place it under the broiler in the oven to caramelize it more. Be careful not to burn it!
- Transfer the ham to the serving platter and allow it to stand for 15-20 minutes before cutting. Serve surrounded with 1 orange, thinly sliced, and more thyme sprigs.
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