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.
LOL, I commented before I even read the recipe! Your glaze–looks so easy. The glaze I have always used has been brown sugar, mustard and pineapple juice out of the can of pineapple rings that I attached to my ham with toothpicks. 🙂
Ahhhh! Sunday dinners. When my parents were living and I was much younger (before I married and moved away), Sunday dinner was a time for the brothers and their families to come home. Both of them lived locally so it was pretty easy. I guess my favorite Sunday dinner was beef roast that had been cooked in the pressure cooker, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans that mom had canned out fo the garden that dad grew, mom’s corn casserole, and biscuits with grape jelly. Sometimes dessert was just a plain yellow cake with no icing that my dad would bake on Sunday morning or sometimes it was a fruit salad. Sometimes no dessert at all–just a second biscuit with butter and grape jelly. Almost always, we had sweet iced tea.
My parents have since passed away many, many years ago. I have been gone from home for many more years. So, the sunday dinner has gone by the wayside. However, when my house sells (pray for me on this issue that it happens soon), and I move back to WV, Sunday dinner will be come a tradition again. My two brothers live within 20 minutes of each other, and maybe see each other twice a year. I have discussed this with the wives and their children. This tradition will be started up again–not every week like it was when Mom and Dad were still living, but defintely once a month!!! I am SOOO excited. We are going to start BIG family Thanksgiving dinners and Christmas Dinners again with the SIBLINGS (my brothers and I) and all of the children who are close enough to make it. I have a niece whose family lives in TN, and I have two daughters who live near Savannah and in Germany respectively, so not everyone will be able to make it every time. But, the tables will always fit one more!!
I grew up in Alexander City,Alabama and no Sunday was complete in our house without Sunday dinner from the Springhill Dairy Quick. Their specialty was broasted chicken, slaw, rolls and crinkle-cut french fries. As a child I avoided the slaw with a passion, but I would fight to the death for the largest piece of chicken, which I would proceed to smother in ketchup. Happily full, I would excuse myself to the couch to watch the Sunday Shirley Temple movie that was shown every week. Sadly, the Springhill Dairy Quick is no longer with us. In the name of progress it was replaced several years ago by the new Green Front store(liquor store to you non-Alabamians) and Sundays have never been the same.
Sunday dinners were not a big deal when I was growing up, but I’m changing that for my children!!
My motto is “if I cook, they will come”. My oldest son is a senior. He invites as many friends as he wants on Sundays. The first Sunday I did this, one of his friendsnsaid it was her first home-cooked meal in two years. I was heart-broken for her.
Two weeks age that same girl helped make the apple pie for dessert!!
My younger children can’t wait to be the one who can have as many friends as they want. It has changed our Sundays forever.
I love it! I think I will adopt that motto as well, “If I cook, they will come.” What a wonderful FIELD OF DREAMS!!
We use to go to one or the other of my grandparents on Sunday after church. We’d go to one, one Sunday and the other, the next. After my mama’s mama died, we just went to my daddy’s mama’s. They use to let the kids and the men folks eat first. Then the women would eat. My Granny wouldn’t do all the cooking. Others chipped in too. After Granny got to old to take care of herself, we went to one of my aunts on Sundays. This continued for a long, long time. Loved all the good southern food!
We would always go to my grandmothers house nearby (she lived 10 mins away) and always had sunday dinner there. One of my favorite meals she made was chimichangas, but it always changed depending on what she had planned. After her passing 6 years ago we no longer have big sunday dinners, but it is something I would like to start up again, inviting my parents and siblings over for a big ole dinner.
I grew up on a farm near Memphis, TN during the 1940’s and 50’s. Our Sunday dinner was usually fried chicken, white gravy, mashed potatoes, green beans, and a delicious caramel cake. On Saturdays, Mom baked her specialty – caramel cake and picked a chicken from the chicken pen, killed it, dressed it and got it ready to cook on Sunday immediately after church. About once a month we had a pot roast with root veggies and a wonderful gravy. During the summer months we had an added fresh vegetable salad straight from the garden. I truthfully can say I have never had a meal since those that tasted as good. I have often tried to make Mom’s caramel cake from her recipe and to duplicate her fried chicken, but so far I haven’t been successful.
My children often tell me that I cook like Mom did, which I might do, but it just doesn’t taste like Mom’s. I really miss her.