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!

Fork picking up piece of baked ham.

 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 honey, ground cloves, or pineapple rings used in this ham glaze recipe. 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 light brown sugar)
  • Coke of choice 

Adding mustard to glaze ingredients in mixing bowl.

In a small bowl place your brown sugar, mustard, and coke.

Stir glaze ingredients together well.

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.

Cover ham with glaze.

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 roasting pan.

Brush half of your brown sugar 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 oven for 1 hour.

Baked ham in tray.

After your ham is baked it will look like this.

Cover ham with remaining glaze.

Peel the tin foil back and baste ham with the remaining brown sugar glaze.

Return to oven and bake ham for 30 minutes more uncovered, or until lightly browned.

Slicing baked ham.

Remove the glazed ham from the oven 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 cooked ham 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!

Plate of baked ham.

This brown sugar 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 ham glaze, 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 orange juice if you prefer a more traditional glaze. Another option is ginger ale, if you dare!
  • Decorate your cooked ham with maraschino cherries for a festive touch!
  • There are many different cuts of ham: spiral cut ham, boneless ham, bone-in ham… I recommend the latter for this baked ham recipe.

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 Easter ham), 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

Green Eggs and Ham

How to Cook A Ham & Get At LEAST 4 Meals Out Of It!

Plate of baked ham (Easter menu ideas)

Baked Ham With Brown Sugar Glaze

This recipe for baked ham features the easiest and tastiest 3-ingredient brown sugar glaze that makes your ham positively shine. Also, save that ham bone for other delicious recipes!
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
Keyword: ham
Servings: 4
Calories: 419kcal

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

Calories: 419kcal
Tried this recipe?Mention @southernplate or tag #southernplate!

*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.

 

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136 Comments

  1. I loved this post……it took me back to being a kid and having Chicken Fried Steak after church every Sunday of my life! After church, we would go to the restaurant that my Memom ran and she would make us the most amazing Chicken Fried Steak complete with mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans and rolls…..I have eaten all over the world and that is one of my fondest food memories. Thanks for the trip down memory lane, it is amazing how food can “take you back” to special times in your life!

  2. I am still cooking Sunday dinners, and my kids and grandkids all come.. today its minute steaks, fried then a gravy made with the bits in the pan, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, maybe some green beans, a salad and biscuits.. its my grandsons birthday and he wants cheesecake for desert… lots of Sunday dinners come straight out of your cook book..

    hugs Jo in Oklahoma

  3. good memories, after church a short trip up to wisconsin. to grandmas… fried chicken, homemade soup, stuffing and hungarian pastries!

  4. When I was a little girl, we often ate Sunday lunch with my Strickland grandparents. We would always have fried chicken and either a beef roast or a baked ham. Most times there was either turnip greens or collard greens, peas, butter beans or string beans. There woud be a fruit salad of some sort, home made corn bread, and often her home made biscuits. Dessert would be a caramel cake or a home made butter roll. It was served with ice tea. There would be home canned pickles, olives, and stuffed celery also. She did all that and still made it to church. We would sit down to a big family meal and later on in the afternoon, if it was summer time, we would have home made churned ice cream. I miss my grands very much and also my dad and all of the others that have gone on to their reward.

  5. My favorite smell of Sunday dinner was roast beef cooked with onion soup. It wasn’t cooked in the crock pot like I prefer to do now, but in browning bags stuffed with meat and veggies.

    I am planning to fix hamburger steak with mushroom gravy, mashed potatoes, and a green vegetable yet to be determined for my boys and their girl friends tomorrow. I love Sundays when my family comes together and a day that has always been held special is a day of family and counting our blessings.

  6. I wasn’t born in the south, but I was raised by parents who were born and raised in the south. My mom always made big Sunday dinners, that we always looked forward too. It was the one night a week we would all sit down and eat together. I keep saying I am going start having Sunday dinner at my house.

  7. my mom and i were just talking about this the other day because i asked her how she got so much done on sunday mornings when my brothers and i were little and still made it seem so unhurried. she and dad were always up before the rest of us, getting things put together so that when we got home from church, dinner would be almost ready. when my brothers and i were getting ready for church, mom was browning a roast, cutting up potatoes and carrots to throw in with it (unless it was a mashed potatoes day), making slaw, getting half runners ready to cook, and panning rolls from the dough she’d made the night before and kept in the fridge. i used to love to eat little pinches of the dough she’d hand me while she worked. (that might be weird but i loved it!) she’d also give me little bites of raw potato and let me sprinkle them with salt and eat them. when we got home after church, the smell of that roast in the oven met us before dad even unlocked the door. she starved us all to death while we waited for it to hit the table. we always had the same meal on sundays, and never ever tired of it. such precious memories. thanks for asking about our memories. i’ve just been able to spend a little time in my mind sitting at the counter watching my momma work on dinner. =)

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