This Maple Glazed Spiral Ham recipe rivals any store-bought glazed ham and at a fraction of the price. Save yourself some money and make your own spiral ham at home!
Serve this easy glazed ham with Scalloped Potatoes and Roasted Asparagus with Balsamic and Goat Cheese for a delicious holiday meal.
Spiral sliced ham is one of the easiest main dishes you can prepare for a large group on Easter or for any holiday buffet. This convenient cut comes to us fully cooked and sliced so it’s just a matter of warming it through and adding a glaze. If you’ve had issues with dry, lifeless ham, this recipe will be a game changer.
The method I’m sharing today ensures a super moist and tender ham every single time. If your ham came with a glaze packet, toss it and make the simple but insanely delicious homemade maple glaze recipe instead.
Table of contents
FAQ and Valerie’s Tips
Bake a spiral ham at 325 degrees F for 10 to 14 minutes per pound or until it reaches an internal temperature of 140 degrees F when tested with an instant read thermometer. After adding the glaze, increase the oven temperature to 400 degrees F and return the ham to the oven for an additional 10 minutes to crisp the edges and caramelize the glaze.
The most important step you can take to ensure a moist ham is a low oven temperature. Remember, a spiral sliced ham is fully cooked and only requires a gentle reheating. Bake the ham low and slow at no more than 325 degrees F. and don’t be tempted to increase the oven temperature to speed things along. Also, be sure your ham is completely enclosed in foil for the initial cooking time.
Completely enclosing your spiral ham in heavy duty foil prevents it from drying out while cooking and also ensures the sweet glaze stays on the ham and not the bottom of the roasting pan.
When deciding how much ham you need for your group you should count on about ⅓ to ½ pound per person for a bone-in ham spiral ham. For instance, an 8 pound ham is plenty to serve 16. I always get a larger ham than I need because I’m all about having lots of leftovers, especially when it comes to ham.
Ingredient Notes
- Spiral sliced ham -During the holiday seasons you’ll find spiral sliced hams available at most major grocery store chains. I highly recommend the Kirkland brand Applewood Smoked Cured Spiral Ham available at Costco. This is the brand I typically use for my Easter ham and we love it.
- Pure maple syrup – The basis for the glaze is pure maple syrup. We aren’t talking pancake syrup which is mainly comprised of corn syrup. We’re talking 100% pure maple syrup. Check Trader Joe’s or your local big box store for a better price.
- Stone ground mustard – The rustic, graininess of stone ground or whole grain mustard adds a great element and helps balance the sweetness in the maple glaze. I love Inglehoffer Stone Ground Mustard but there are lots of good choices out there. You can substitute Dijon mustard if you’d like.
- Brown sugar – Either light or dark brown sugar will work just fine.
- Cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves – Just a touch of each give the maple glaze classic holiday flavor.
How to Make Glazed Spiral Ham
- Remove the ham from the packaging and place it, cut side down, on a large piece of heavy duty foil. You need the extra thickness and sturdiness of heavy duty foil for this task so pick some up if you don’t have any on hand.
- Enclose the ham completely in the foil. Be sure the opening is on the top so you’ll have easy access when it’s time to glaze the ham. Place the foil wrapped ham in a large roasting pan and transfer it to a lower rack in a preheated 325 degree F oven. Bake for 10 to 14 minutes per pound or until heated through.
Glazing a Spiral Ham
- Add the brown sugar, pure maple syrup, stone ground mustard, cinnamon, nutmeg and a dash of ground cloves to a small saucepan over medium heat.
- Bring the glaze mixture to a simmer for just a couple of minutes and remove it from the heat.
- Remove the ham from the oven and increase the oven temperature to 400 degrees. Carefully peel back the foil, creating a foil bed for the ham, and pour about ¾ of the glaze over the top and sides.
- Return the uncovered ham to the oven for an additional 10 to 15 minutes, or just until the glaze has caramelized (watch it carefully to avoid burning). Remove it from the oven and let it rest for 10 minutes. Spoon any glaze that has been captured in the foil over the ham as it rests and then brush all over with the reserved glaze.
Slice and Serve the Ham
Transfer the ham to a cutting board to slice and serve. It will slice up easily and beautifully in a manner of minutes and you can get on with your holiday meal.
Storage Tips
Transfer any leftover ham to a plastic storage bag or other airtight container and refrigerate within two hours. Use refrigerated ham within 3 to 4 days. For longer storage, wrap the ham in plastic wrap and then in a layer of foil or a freezer-safe plastic storage bag and freeze for up to 1 to 2 months.
How to Save the Ham Bone
Package up and refrigerate that meaty ham bone right after slicing your ham. A leftover ham bone can be refrigerated for 3 to 4 days in an airtight container or wrapped tightly in foil. For longer storage, wrap the ham bone in plastic wrap and then in a tight layer of foil and freeze it for up to 3 months. Allow your frozen ham bone to fully thaw in the refrigerator overnight before adding it to recipes.
There’s nothing more comforting than a pot of Baked Beans from Scratch or Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup in the days following the holiday.
Leftover Ham Recipes
I believe the best part of serving ham are the leftovers waiting for you the next day. There are SO many things you can do with leftover ham. Here are some of my favorites.
Maple Glazed Spiral Ham
Ingredients
- 7 to 9 pound bone-in fully-cooked spiral sliced ham
- ½ cup pure maple syrup
- ½ cup brown sugar, light or dark
- 2 tablespoons stone-ground or whole-grain mustard
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 pinch ground cloves, no more than ⅛ teaspoon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
- Remove ham from packaging and enclose it securely, flat side down, in a very large piece of heavy duty foil. Close the foil so that it will open from the top. Place it flat side down in a large baking dish or roasting pan and transfer to the preheated oven. Bake for 10 to 14 minutes per pound or until heated through and the internal temperature of the ham reads 140 degrees F when measured with an instant read thermometer.
- Meanwhile, whisk together glaze ingredients in a saucepan over MEDIUM heat. Bring to a low boil then reduce the heat to LOW and allow to simmer for 3 to 4 minutes or until thickened and syrupy. Remove from the heat and set aside. The glaze will continue to thicken as it rests.
- After the initial cooking time, remove the pan from the oven and increase the oven temperature to 400 degrees F. Open the foil to expose the ham and pour about ¾ of the glaze evenly over the top and sides. Return the uncovered pan to the oven for an additional 10 to 15 minutes, or just until the glaze has caramelized (watch carefully to avoid burning).
- Remove from the oven and allow it to rest in the foil for 10 minutes. Spoon any glaze that has been captured in the foil over the ham as it rests and then brush it all over with the reserved glaze.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated using generic ingredients, and is an estimate not a guarantee. For more accurate results, please refer to the labels on your ingredients at home.
Glaze recipe adapted from Dave Lieberman via Food Network
More Holiday Main Dish Ideas
This post was originally published on March 31, 2015. It has been updated with new text and images.
Making your maple glazed spiral ham now can’t wait till it’s finished looks delicious
We made this delicious ham from Costco for Christmas. It was a hit, and your recipe and reheating instructions were superb! Very practical and easy to follow. Thank you and Happy New Year to all! AK from Texas!
Can this be cooked a day before needed and reheated? If so, at what temperature and for how long?
Hi Alexis. A spiral sliced ham comes to you fully-cooked so heating it up twice may dry it out a bit. For the best result, I’d recommend cooking it just before you want to serve it, unless you want to serve it cold. If you want to get some of the prep out of the way you could prepare the glaze and refrigerate it overnight.
Do you have any gravy recipes that would acompany the spiral cut ham?
Hi Michelle. I do a pineapple sauce that we love but that is the only type of sauce or gravy I’ve done with ham. You can find it HERE.
Appreciate your glaze and preparation instructions but I will never buy a Kirkland’s ham again. It was terribly fatty. A couple of people had told me they were good hams but never again.
I’ve had such good luck with the Kirkland hams. I’m so sorry you had a bad experience, Robin! I buy one every year and have they’ve all been excellent.
Made this tonight. My mother said it was the best ham she ever tasted! I used a Trader Joe’s uncured ham.
Oh, don’t you just love that? I’m so happy the recipe worked out so well for you and thanks for the tip on the TJ’s ham. I’ll check those out next time I’m over there.
I fixed our spiral sliced ham this way today. Oh my! It was the BEST ham I have ever had! YUMMO! Thank you!
I’m so glad it worked out so well for you! Thanks so much, Kristen 🙂
I’m drooling over this delicious dish! Looks so yummy! Thank you for sharing the recipe <3
This is an excellent recipe. Thank you very much.
Thank you for posting this! It is very helpful for a new bee and I truly appreciate the time you spent posting this! Many blessings your way!
You are very welcome, Bridget! I just popped my ham in the oven for our Easter brunch. Enjoy 🙂
DI’d the instructions say 325 degrees
Yes, that’s right – 325 degrees.
Those Kirkland hams are the best, ain’t they? Gonna try your glaze/cooking method on the next one.
Then it’s ham sammiches, ham/potato casserole, bean and ham soup, ham and’ eggs, curried ham for days!