Brown Sugar Mustard Glazed Ham is the perfect juicy centrepiece for your Christmas dinner table! You will love this GLAZE!
The most perfect sticky glaze is slathered all over this juicy, tender, baked Brown Sugar Mustard Glazed Ham, with crisp edges and an incredible flavour.
Don’t even be intimidated by a ham this season with all of the tips and tricks you need right here!
BAKED HAM
More often than not, most times we as a people try baking a ham for Christmas, they end up dried out on the inside without any flavour and a cause for major anxiety before guests arrive. This would have to be the WORST kind of ham.
Take out all the guess work out and find out how to bake a juicy ham with charred crispy edges and a beautiful sticky glaze… right here!
HAM GLAZE
The best glaze for a baked ham contain either honey, brown sugar or maple syrup. The saltiness from the ham and the sweetness for the glaze complement each other so well, that either of those ingredients make for a pretty special glaze.
The glaze I went for is a combination of butter, brown sugar, honey, Dijon mustard (adding a nice tang to the ham) and crushed garlic cloves.
From here you can add in spices like the traditional ground cinnamon and ground cloves, or leave them out. Most recipes call for decorating the ham with whole cloves between each cut. Personally, I didn’t appreciate chewing on the cloves that were wedged in and hidden from sight. However, you can add them if you wish!
HOW TO COOK A HAM
You only need 3 steps to make the perfect, heavenly ham recipe!
- Remove rind –- so easy, you can peel it off!
- Baste ham with a super easy Brown Sugar Ham Glaze
- Bake, basting every 15 minutes!
WHAT IS THE BEST HAM TO BUY?
For ultimate flavour and a juicy result, aim for a fully cooked bone-in ham. The best ham we baked during testing is the half leg pictured (shank end of the leg).
The other type of ‘half leg’ which is the butt end (shaped like a dome) contains part of the hip bone and is harder to carve. It has less meat, although it’s very tender and flavourful.
If you want value for your money, go for the type I have pictured here.
Spiral cut hams seem to be gaining in popularity over in the United States, but unfortunately I can’t comment on them since we don’t have them.
TAKE THE RIND ON OR OFF?
For some reason, this is the most controversial step — taking the rind off. In testing with the rind still on, I found the rind became chewy and gummy as the ham cooled and tough to eat.
Also, the flavours of the glaze stopped at the rind with no flavours seeping into the fleshy part of the ham.
For this reason, I suggest trimming the rind off. Fully cooked ham rind DOES NOT crisp. We tried broiling, baking at high heat and deep frying.
HOW TO REMOVE HAM RIND
When you buy your ham, you’ll notice right underneath the rind there is a gorgeous layer off fat. DON’T trim this away. This fat turns into a beautiful crispy and sticky coating for your glaze and is DIVINE.
To show you, I’ve put together the following EASY steps OR CHECK OUT THE VIDEO BELOW:
- Cut a line through the skin all around the shank end.
- Insert a sharp knife between the rind and fat and run it along to detach both layers.
- Using your fingers, gently separate the rind from the fat. You can insert your hand deeper into the ham to keep detaching it so it’s easier to peel the rind off in Step 4.
- Peel off and discard the rind.
- Run knife cutting into the fat layer about 1/4-inch deep to lightly score diamond pattern all over the surface.
Once your ham is in the oven, get started on your glaze.
TIPS FOR THE BEST HAM GLAZE
My biggest piece of advice is not to simmer the glaze for too long, as you will end up with a hard caramel once it begins to cool, and it’s extremely difficult to slather onto the outside of the ham when glazing. You want to bring it to a gentle simmer and take it off the heat quickly.
I added the pan juices from the ham into the glaze once there were pan juices to use, and WOW! Amazing flavours! My ham wasn’t salty though, so make sure you do some taste testing before adding the juices and add the amount you need to alter the flavour even more.
BASTE
Glaze and baste and baste and glaze and GO NUTS with it. The more the merrier, and ’tis the season, right?
I wish there was smell-ernet happening right about now, because juicy, tender Brown Sugar Mustard Glazed Ham smells just as good as it looks.
The BEST part is slicing through it like butter, and seeing the juices burst out and run down behind each slice. NO DRY HAM OVER HERE!
Happy Holidays everyone!
What side dishes go with ham?
Whether you’re making this for dinner yourself or bringing it to a Holiday gathering, these side dishes will make your crowd even happier!
Garlic Parmesan Scalloped Potatoes
Honey Dijon Apple Bacon Cranberry Salad
Easy Soft Dinner Rolls
Brown Sugar Mustard Glazed Ham Recipe Video
Try our Honey Baked Ham or our Maple Glazed Ham!
Brown Sugar Mustard Glazed Ham
Ingredients
- 8-10 pound (4-5 kg) bone-in fully cooked ham,
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, reduce fat or full fat
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup honey
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 4 cloves garlic, smashed
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300°F | 150°C and arrange a rack in the lower third. Remove any plastic packaging or netting from the ham. Trim away the rind and discard. Set the ham aside to rest at room temperature for 1-2 hours.
- Line a baking tray or dish with several sheets of aluminium foil or parchment paper if you prefer (it will make cleanup a lot easier).
- Remove the rind or skin of the ham (refer to steps in post), ensuring you leave the fat on. Using a sharp knife score a 1-inch-wide diamond pattern (don’t cut more than 1/4 inch deep) over the entire ham. Place the ham in the baking tray; pour 1/3 cup of water into the base of the pan and cover the ham with two pieces of foil or parchment paper and bake for 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, heat the butter in a small pot or saucepan over medium heat until golden browned. Add in the brown sugar, honey, mustard, cinnamon and cloves, stirring to mix together well until the brown sugar has completely dissolved, (about 2 minutes).
- Reduce heat to low and add in the garlic. Allow it to become fragrant, cooking for a further minute or two until the glaze just begins to simmer, then set it aside and let cool to lukewarm (the glaze should be the consistency of room-temperature honey).
- After 30 minutes baking time, carefully remove the ham from the oven and increase the oven temperature to 425°F | 220°C. Discard the foil or parchment paper and pour 1/3 of the glaze all over the ham, brushing in between the cuts to evenly cover. Return to the oven and bake uncovered for 15 minutes.
- Remove from the oven, brush with another third of the glaze and some of the pan juices, and repeat again after 15 minutes more minutes of baking until a dark golden-brown crust has formed, (about 30 minutes total). For added depth of flavour, mix some of the ham pan juices together with the glaze in the pot which will help keep it runny enough for brushing. If your crust is still pink after there suggested baking time, turn on your broiler (or oven grill), and allow it to broil for 2-5 minutes, while keeping an eye on it so it doesn't burn from the sugar.
- Let the ham rest 10-20 minutes before slicing.
Wendy says
OMG! I had a plain ordinary pre-cooked ham from Costco and decided to “spiff it up a little”! This is the BEST recipe of anything I think I’ve ever made, especially from the millions on Pinterest! We all remember licking spoons when making cakes and cookies….I was constantly finding excuses for that, and “just another taste”! (And I NEVER sample what I’m cooking!)
It was so good I sliced up the whole ham and marinated all the pieces! Thank you!
Jessica says
Omg, delicious 🤤 I used just a small ham (no bone) for two people and used this glaze and it came out AMAZING. Will be saving this recipe.
T says
Here on NYE 2022 and used this recipe- amazing results. We had some pinkness in the fat still remaining so I cheated a bit by drizzling honey over the ham at the end 5mins which darkened perfectly. The glaze was still so amazing (the glaze is a winner and I wish I made more for dipping in everything in!) This is a recipe we are comimg back to for sure!! My 11 and 4year olds really enjoyed this too.
MaryAnn Coy says
Hi, We used this recipe together for our Christmas Dinner yesterday and it was excellent. I have oven roasted many hams over the year from whole brined and smoked hams for pigs we raised when I was growing up, to small canned hams I cooked when I was single and working the holidays. I’ve done more than a few in the slow cooker, seethed in pineapple juice. or even in the microwave on occasion when I had no access to an oven.. But this years ham at 12 lb, was too large for anything but roasted in the oven. Fortunately it was a spiral sliced ham with the rind and excess fat trimmed. I have always oven roasted using just the pan juices and I’ve never try sealing it in foil for moistness. This is the first time I’ve ever used a glaze on ham. It cam out almost perfectly. Perhaps if I had used the broiler unit to finish but I’d never used the broiler on this stove. It’s taken me a year and a half to get use to the stove top and oven’s idiosyncrasies, so I didn’t want to ruin things by using a unit I was not used too! The glaze was perfect, just not as crispy like a broiler would make it, maybe next year. I made a few changes to the glaze used pineapple from a can of rings I toothpicked to the ham (I love these Pineapple rings). Used dark brown sugar, substituted Maple Syrup for honey, since honey is so very expensive this year, added a 20 Oz can of drained crushed pineapple juice, and, a half teaspoon of ginger to the spices. Basted it at the beginning, at 1 hour, 2hours and 21/2hours. Turned up to 400°. Basted with pan juices at 15 and 30 minutes. Removed from the oven, and let set for a few minutes then removed to a serving platter,. The slices opened out nicely so my husband poured the pan juices over the spices and top of the ham. Then let it sit for it’s 20 minutes rest. I wanted a complimentary sauce to serve on the ham, but I couldn’t find just what what I was looking for. So I made another batch of glaze, without garlic this time, and decreased the spices by half. I made the same changes as the first time. Including adding the 20 Oz of crushed pineapple. I reduced it by half but it was still too thin and my husband was carving so I added a 2Tb cornstarch to 2 Tb cold water slurry and added it to the sauce. That made it nice and thick. We tried the ham with just the glaze and it was excellent, with the.sauce it was also excellent. Flavor is incredible this recipe is a keeper. For sides, since the ham was so rich, we kept it very simple, with baked sweet potatoes and steamed asparagus. Mince Pie ala mode for dessert. A very yummy Christmas dinner. Will be saving this recipe to use again.
Divya says
I have to comment, this is my second year making this ham and I almost couldn’t find the recipe!!! I scoured the internet for about an hour until I found it again.
I. Love. This. Recipe!!!!
I was looking forward to this all year long. It truly truly is delicious. And I appreciate the detailed instructions and ham prep advice and pictures you have. 5 stars all around!
maryann penza says
I rarely write a review. But this recipe produced the BEST ham we ever had. Followed all except I cooked the ham a little longer before glazing. The Glaze was perfect and end result was decadent and juicy. Hats off. This is my go to recipe for this ham. OUTSTANDING!!!
Lisa says
Even though I’ve been cooking for decades and am one of the best cooks I know, I’m always on the hunt for new recipes for any occasion. Our tradition is There Is No Tradition. That said, this ham technique and glaze was a smash hit for Easter. The grandkids loved it and Grandpa didn’t even notice the rind was gone. I made 2 hams, one to bring and one for home, and I’m so glad I did. Thank you for a great addition to the Recipe Box.
Jane-Marie says
This was absulutely delicious but I was wondering if the brown sugar should be packed? I used the cup but thought it could use a bit more.
Jay R says
Amazing Glaze, how sweet the taste. I rarely follow recipes precisely. I cut yours in half and added some spicy brown mustard in place of some of the dijohn.. Didn’t use the garlic. (We were having garlic bread.) The texture was lovely. It was easy to work with and there was some left over, so folks added some to the ham. This was spectacular. Thanx for the great recipe.
Henny says
I never liked ham, but now I love it. I always found ham too salty. Now I see what all the fuss was about. My family agreed. Beautiful flavour. I’d give more stars if I could. I followed the recipe except I added double the cinnamon and cloves. Thank you to the chef.