Honey Bourbon Glazed Ham

Posted in Blog, Main Course, Recipes
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Honey Bourbon Glaze on ham

I have been making this honey bourbon glazed ham at every Thanksgiving and Christmas family celebration for 10 years.

I feel like a lot of people are intimidated by making a ham but this recipe is really simple.  It is a sweet, glazed ham but the sweetness isn’t overpowering.

We usually serve this ham, along with a small turkey, at Thanksgiving and have plenty of leftovers after 20 people eat.

My husband was craving, as he calls “My Ham”, this month so we made it for Easter this year, too.  

If you follow me on Instagram, you can see my post about how our dog loves the ham, too.  This is the second time she’s jumped up on the counter and knocked the ham to the floor trying to get to it.  Last time it was just the bone with some ham on it, but this time, it was the ham, glaze, everything.  It was such a mess to clean up.  

Honey Bourbon Glazed Ham Slice on Plate

 

The Ham

Start with a bone-in whole or spiral sliced ham. If it isn’t sliced, you can slice the top about an inch deep across the whole top of the ham.  You’re basically just wanting the glaze to get down in the ham.

The Glaze

The glaze is prepared by adding the ingredients to a saucepan and cooking on medium to low heat for 15 minutes. Watch the glaze carefully! It will bubble over and make a mess so keep an eye on it.  I’ve done that many times while being distracted cooking other things.

My favorite part is glazing the ham. I like to cook it for about 30 minutes so it starts to really open up where it’s cut. I pour about 1/4 of the glaze all over the ham. Then I place it back in the oven and do that 3 more times throughout the cooking process.

 

The ham comes out flavorful and delicious.  

Check out my recipe notes for tips to prepare this ham the night before you need it.

I served this ham with brussel sprouts and mashed potatoes.  Twice Baked Potatoes would also go perfectly with this ham.

Honey Bourbon Glazed Ham

This sweet, juicy ham is the perfect entree for your holiday party.

Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Keyword Ham, Honey Bourbon Glazed Ham
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 3 hours
Total Time 3 hours 20 minutes
Servings 20 people (approx.)

Ingredients

  • 10 lb bone-In Ham spiral sliced or Whole
  • 1 cup bourbon
  • 2/3 cup molasses
  • 1 1/4 cup apricot jam half of 18 oz jar
  • 2 cups honey

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

  2. Take the ham out of the packaging and place it on the rack in a roasting pan.  If it's not sliced, cut slices across the entire top.  I like to go 1 to 2 inches deep so the glaze gets as far down in the ham as possible.

  3. Put the ham in the oven on the lowest rack and bake for approximately 30 minutes to allow the slices to start opening up.

  4. While the ham cooks, in a medium saucepan, add the bourbon, molasses, jam, and honey.  Cook over medium to low heat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Be careful it doesn't get too hot or the mixture will boil over.  Strain the glaze to get out any pieces of fruit from the jam.

  5. Take the ham out of the oven and pour around 1/4 of the glaze over the ham, ensuring that as much of the ham is glazed as possible.  Place back in the oven.  

  6. Keep glazing and cooking the ham, alternating back and forth, every 30-45 minutes or so.  You don't have to time putting the glaze on necessarily.  The whole ham will take about 3 hours total to heat through. Make sure all of the glaze is put on throughout the cooking time.

  7. If the ham begins to burn, you can lower the cooking temperature or cover the top of the ham with foil.

  8. Let the ham cool for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

Recipe Notes

I have made this ham the night before serving it and it still tastes delicious. I usually use an aluminum pan so I can just throw it all right into the oven. I love the spiral sliced hams because I can literally pull slices off so it’s all ready to go the next day. Just refrigerate the ham slices overnight and heat them up the next day in the oven. I recommend saving some of the glaze to pour over all of it before reheating but not completely necessary.

 

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