Recipe For Baked Ham With Easy Brown Sugar Glaze
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This recipe for baked ham features the easiest 3-ingredient brown sugar glaze. You’re going to want to keep reading to discover the secret ingredient that makes this glaze so tasty!
This recipe for baked ham is from my great-grandmother Lela. Her easy 3-ingredient glaze includes brown sugar, yellow mustard, and… coke! Yep, there’s no , , or used in this . The addition of coke makes this glaze so tasty and ham so succulent everyone will be going back for seconds.
A good and simple baked ham makes the perfect main course for any meal and any occasion, including Easter and Christmas dinner. The added bonus is that once you bake a juicy ham, you usually have the leftovers to make at least three more meals. The hambone in and of itself is a goldmine for the best pot of pintos you could ever hope to eat or you can use it to flavor a comforting pot of senate bean soup.
One of my favorite things to do with baked ham leftovers is to reheat some Jordan rolls the next morning, split them in two, and layer warmed slices of ham in between them for a quick, easy, and darn good breakfast. Coffee washes it down just right. There are already several recipes on SouthernPlate.com using leftover ham. So glaze that ham and get it baking, but be sure to save the ham bone with a little meat still on it! Just pop it in a gallon size bag and stick it in the freezer.
Okay, now that I am sufficiently hungry, let’s get this show on the road!
There is another great ham recipe in my cookbook so be sure and check it out! It is one of many which are exclusive to my cookbook, so they will never be on SouthernPlate.com.
Recipe Ingredients
- Smoked ham
- Yellow mustard
- Brown sugar (either dark or )
- Coke of choice
In a small bowl place your brown sugar, mustard, and coke.
Give that a good stir.
It will become a lot more liquified than you expect it to.
On the off chance it doesn’t (you know, atmospheric pressure, leprechaun interference, whatever) you can always add another tablespoon of coke.
Line a rimmed (or sided) baking pan with aluminum foil, heavy-duty if you have it.
If you don’t have heavy-duty, just use regular. No sense in spending extra money when you don’t have to.
Place ham in the middle of the foil-lined pan.
Brush half of your glaze over the ham (just the parts that you can get to).
If you don’t have a brush just use a big spoon and put gobs of the glaze on the ham and then smear it around a bit.
Most of the gadgets we have in the kitchen are pretty much space taker-uppers anyway.
Seal that up well and roast ham in a 350-degree for 1 hour.
After your ham is baked it will look like this.
Peel the tin foil back and baste ham with the remaining glaze.
Return to oven and bake ham for 30 minutes more uncovered, or until lightly browned.
Remove the from the and allow it to sit for 10 minutes before slicing. Slice ham how you like and enjoy!
If you need to serve it later you can cover it with foil to keep it warm and let it sit on your stovetop. I suggest cutting your within half an hour of removing it from the oven because that is about as long as you’ll be able to stand waiting once you smell it!
This glaze is delicious!
Feels good when people like your cooking, doesn’t it?
Storage
- Store leftover ham in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Serve cold or quickly reheat in the microwave.
- You can also store glazed ham leftovers in a freezer-safe container or ziplock bag in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before serving.
Recipe Notes
- You can use any coke you like in this , whether that’s diet coke, diet Dr. Pepper, or a simple can of Coca-Cola.
- I definitely recommend using a baking dish with sides. It’s inevitable that the ham juice will leak out and if it gets in the bottom of your oven you will have quite the smell in your house.
- I use an electric knife that I got for about $25 (like the one pictured HERE*) to slice my glazed ham, but a nice sharp regular knife will work just fine.
- You could also substitute the coke for if you prefer a more traditional . Another option is , if you dare!
- Decorate your with for a festive touch!
- There are many different cuts of : , , bone-in … I recommend the latter for this .
Recipe FAQs
What do you serve with this baked ham recipe?
You can serve your baked ham in so many different ways. For the main meal (if this is a holiday or ), serve it alongside side dishes like mashed potatoes (we also have a sweet potato version) and fresh green beans. Another option is to serve it for lunch on a sandwich or with your favorite salad.
You may also enjoy these ham recipes:
Ham Egg and Cheese Casserole (Insta Pot or Oven!)
Ham Salad (Recipes SHOULD be easy!)
Smoked Ham and Veggies Pasta Salad
How to Cook A Ham & Get At LEAST 4 Meals Out Of It!
Ingredients
- 1 approx 8-lb. smoked, ready-to-cook, bone-in ham
- 1 cup packed brown sugar light or dark, whatever you have
- 2 tablespoons coke or your favorite carbonated soda
- 1 tablespoon yellow mustard
Instructions
- Line a large pan with a lip around it with aluminum foil. Place the ham in the center of the foil.1 approx 8-lb. smoked, ready-to-cook, bone-in ham
- In a small bowl, stir together the brown sugar, coke, and mustard to make your glaze. Brush half of the glaze over the ham. Wrap the entire ham well in foil. Place in a 350-degree oven for 1 hour.1 cup packed brown sugar, 2 tablespoons coke, 1 tablespoon yellow mustard
- Remove the ham from the oven and peel back the foil, but don't move the ham. Brush the remaining glaze over the ham and return to the oven, uncovered, for another 30 minutes or until lightly browned.
- Allow it to sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes or so before cutting. If you need to serve it later you can cover it with foil to keep it warm and let it sit on your stovetop. I suggest cutting it within half an hour of removing it from the oven because that is about as long as you'll be able to stand waiting once you smell it.
Nutrition
*And by the way, if you purchase that knife through Amazon, Southern Plate gets a very small commission from Amazon that goes towards helping us keep up the site.
Never be afraid to try. Remember, amateurs built the ark.
Professionals built the Titanic.
Sunday dinners were nice but growing up with my grandparents every dinner was a sit down together meal. But holiday dinners were my favorite, that was the time that every one had to come home and enjoy the holiday together. The ladies would be in the kitchen cooking and fussing and laughing. The men would be yelling at the tv or arguing over books, tv or whatever. There would be so much food and special dishes and music and moms running around chasing babies. Turns out my pop pop was the one that held those traditions together and since his passing we havent had dinners like that since but i can clearly remember them and hope to create them with my own family now.
Sunday Dinners at Mama Brown’s house… Fried chicken (that had earlier been running around the yard eating scraps), ham (that Daddy Brown got from the slaughter house he worked at part time), and the vegetables from the garden: field peas, blackeyed peas, tater salad, cabbage, turnip greens with turnips, creamed corn. Fried corn pone and homemade biscuits. Butter and homemade preserves. The little layer cakes made from scratch in the finest Geneva County traditions. The relish tray with Mama Brown’s homemade pickles and fresh mater slices.
My Mama and Daddy Brown have long since passed, but if we’re down at Aunt Martha’s, she’ll cook us Sunday dinner.
We’ve instituted a monthly Sunday Dinner at Mama and Daddy’s house, especially since Mama’s health has declined. My four sister-in-laws and myself alternate cooking the meal for the family. Mama and Daddy get a good homecooked meal and to visit with their children and grandchildren, the grandchildren get memories that will last a lifetime.
I have a Question. If you slow cooked the ham all day could ya still use the glaze or would it burn?
Christy,
My Sunday dinners sound much the same but I always gaged how good they were on whether or not my Aunt made her great potato salad! Somehow, after she died, the potato salad became my job! Wish I had a nickel for every bowl I have made. We did the roast and onion soup mix a lot too. I also have cooked lots of chicken casseroles for Sunday lunch. I do one that has Stove Top stuffing on it that is a very quick version of chicken and dressing!
Thanks a million!
My mom always made a big Sunda Dinner for us to eat after church. As lobg as she served her baked macaroni and cheese I was happy. Her Sunda dinners were what inspired me to cook the way I do today.
Loved reading all the stories & memories. My mother made a roast in the oven with gravy and potatoes, green beans, corn, tea and rolls most Sundays. She also made us (me, my brother & sister) breakfast and got us dressed & our hair fixed for church, all while my father sat in his recliner reading the Sunday paper!? lol We rarely went to my grandparents for Sunday lunch because they lived so far away.
Sunday Dinners. Other than Christmas, this was the only other day the entire family got together and we did EVERY Sunday . All of the family, 3 uncles and their families, 2 aunts with their families and then my mom, dad, brother, sister, me and whoever else wanted to come, all showed up at Nannies house at 1100 every Sunday for Sunday Dinner. Nanny would feed about 30 or more of us. Fried chicken every time, sometimes a roast along with the chicken, sometimes cabbage rolls. Always mashed potatoes,fried squash or okra, mac and cheese, pinto beans or green beans, cornbread, fried corn , slaw, all the raw veggies, cucumbers, onions, tomatoes. After dinner,the uncles would watch football, the aunts would clean the kitchen, us kids would go outside and play. Then later that afternoon, we would all come back to the table for gossiping and everybody picking at the dessert, which was usually a Sock It To Me Cake or cornbread and peaches or cornbread and sweet potatoes. Nanny passed away in 1996, we tried to keep the tradition going, on a monthly basis, then every 3 months and now it’s about once a year. There’s nothing like your Nanny keeping the family together.