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.
Most Sunday’s were left-overs from Sat.. That at times could be our biggest meal. Mom would fry chicken, and some biscuits with green beans and corn! The big deal was going out to eat on Sunday for us! We cooked all during the week it was a treasure to have a break! I guess you can say I grew up in a modern southern family!
BUT dinner on the grounds at church was a BIG occasion! We would start early in the week with planning, and baking what could be made early like cakes and such! Then come Friday night when I got to be about ten I might stay the night with my grandmother to help boil and peel eggs and then we would put them in the frig. Then the next day I would actually be in charge of splitting and making dozens of deviled eggs! Then there would be veggies, a huge pot pie, and I would get to choose something NEW to try out on the congregation from a cookbook!
Two things that have become family standards include bbq hot dogs and Cheesy Bacon Ranch Chicken (This one I introduced while in college).
Now with my small family it varies. We have a meat, starch, veggie, and bread. small group we have to keep it simple! And then sometimes we go out!
Sadly, my family never really had special Sunday dinners. I always wished we had and I think that’s why I love making them now. Start your own traditions, right?
Just like at your house, Sunday dinner was always a big deal. It usually involved a roast that my mom would get up early and begin cooking. After coming home from church, the roast would be done and all that would be left to do was make the roast gravy and prepare the yummy sides that usually involved my mom’s famous mashed potatoes. After moving out and starting my own family, the tradition has not changed. Sunday dinner still happens at my mom’s and it’s a rarity for me and my sisters along with our families to miss it. I have attempted Sunday dinner at my house a couple of times but just can’t seem to pull it off like my mom! She always makes it look so easy, so I figure, if she can do it with such ease, why mess up a good thing..I hope to be at my mom’s table on Sundays for many years to come!
OOPS! I meant Wild Kingdom. Got kind of carried away there with the memories and didn’t proof-read!
I grew up on a farm approx 50 mi west of Birmingham, AL. My dad always had a large summer garden, also he raised beef and grew soy beans. Most all of our food came from the garden and beef from calves he’d set aside for the home freezer. My mother froze lots of peas, beans, corn, okra, tomatoes and canned jams and preserves. Daddy didn’t care for pizza, spaghetti, etc. he wanted veggies with cornbread or my mother’s homemade yeast rolls or angel biscuits! I remember him periodically bringing in crates of chicken halves packed in ice that my mother would package into family portions and freeze. So, Sunday dinners were always larger meals with more vegetables (crowder peas, green beans, fried okra, sliced tomatoes, green onions, sliced cucumbers – all from the garden) along with beef pot roasts or fried chicken, deviled eggs and quite often mother would have me make a pear salad platter by placing letuce leaves, half a pear, dollop of mayo and shredded cheese on top. My dad was diabetic so not a lot of heavy sweets were kept around the house but she’d make strawberry shortcake when the berries were available or angel food cake.
Panzey , my Mama and Ma would make this salad also. Sometimes they would use pineapple slices instead of pears.
Christy, we always sit down at the table and eat when I fix a meal, no matter how simple it is. I call it being “civilized”, any old heathen can eat in front of the dern TV blaring. Even on a Sunday when it’s just my husband and I (and usually Mama), we sit and have a “Sunday Dinner” with all the fixings, including the ever present iced tea. Sitting down at the table together as a family, no matter how big or small, is one of the niceities of life. I encourage all of your readers…turn off the TV and turn to each other…it’s a wonderful way to spend a meal! Love you Christy, and love Southern Plate!
When I was young, everything we ate we grew – vegetable wise. My Daddy had a sister who worked at the IGA in Livingston and once a month, when they came to visit us, they brought a sack of canned food! That was something we very seldom used so to us it was a treat. That Sunday night for supper we would have english peas, creamed corn, corned beef hash, fried potatoes and biscuits. I thought that was the greatest thing in the world that we could eat like city folks! Of course once I got a little older, I realized how backward my thinking was. Sunday was also the only day my Daddy wore his khakis instead of overalls because he didn’t work that day. In warm weather we spent the afternoon on the porch in the swing and rocking chairs (you never knew who might stop by to visit) and then the highlight of the evening was the early supper. We were farmers and most of our suppers were eaten after 8:00 at night. After supper we watched Mutual of Omaha’s Wilk Kingdom with your host, Marlin Perkins, immeidiately followed by the Wonderful World of Disney. What I wouldn’t give for just one more of those Sundays.
Lisa, I remember those Sunday night programs as well. My backward thinking was with store bought bread. Mama always made home made, and that was ‘bad’ in my mind…because we were poor. Only poor people had home made things. I remember feeling like a queen when we got ‘store bought’ bread. As I got older I realized how wonderful it was to have a Mama to make home made bread. Now I have her make me some whenever I get to visit. Home made or home grown truely is the best!!
Our Sunday dinners were whatever was a good sale that week. We always had enough to eat, even thought we didn’t have much money.
Melanie, My great-grandmother married a southern Virginia boy who grew up on biscuits and gravy. She refused to bake him biscuits and NEVER made biscuits for anyone for that matter. She only purchased “light-bread”. Later on, my Momma married a southern Virginia boy and he too grew up on biscuits and gravy. My great-grandmother told my momma that she’d have to make him biscuits and my momma didn’t even know how to. Do you know, when my dad went for Sunday supper, my great-grandmother made him biscuits! So funny, but a true story. My parent have been married for 39 years and my momma prefers to buy those frozen biscuits at walmart and bake them off. Just cracks me up! 🙂