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Sweet and spicy, Jalapeño Honey Glazed Ham, is cooked in a homemade glaze of honey, brown sugar, jalapeño and other spices. This honey glazed ham is sweet, sticky, and creates a luscious juice perfect for basting with prior to serving. This ham will be the start of your holiday table!
All about this Jalapeno Honey Glazed Ham
When it comes to the holiday centerpiece, a ham is a great way to go! It’s easy to make, low risk and extremely forgiving!
- Low key: hams come pre-cooked. This gives you the peace of mind knowing that it’s already cooked through, all that’s needed is to reheat it. Plus leftovers can be served cold or at room temperature.
- Easy: heating the ham is as easy as covering it and placing in the oven. Brush the glaze on in the last 20 minutes and let it caramelize for sweet, sticky goodness.
- Sweet & Spicy Glaze: this simple glaze is made of a combination of honey and brown sugar mixed with diced jalapeño and crushed red pepper. The result is a luscious combination of sweet and spice that pairs perfectly with the ham!
Table of contents
Ingredients Needed
- Spiral Cut Ham: select a bone in if it’s available. This helps make for a juicier ham, plus it gives you a ham bone to use to make this Leftover Ham Bone Soup!
- Butter: use unsalted, ham is already salty.
- Vinegar: add in that slight vinegar tang that hot honey is known for.
- Light Brown Sugar: if you want a stronger flavoring use a dark brown sugar.
- Honey: use a good honey for maximum flavor.
- Jalapeno: adds a mild heat and beautiful bits of coloring to the ham.
- Paprika, Crushed Red Pepper & Garlic: the main heat to the recipe comes from the crushed red pepper, it adds more heat than the jalapeno. Add more or less of the red pepper to taste.
How to Make
- Make the glaze: prepare the jalapeño honey glaze in a saucepan on the stove. Combine all of the ingredients and simmer on low heat for 5-10 minutes.
- Prep the ham: Place the ham cut side down in a large baking sheet. Pour half of the glaze over the top of the ham. Cover with foil.
- Bake: the ham should be baked covered for an hour and a half.
- Uncover: remove the foil and brush the remaining glaze over the top of the ham, be sure to get it in between the slices for extra flavoring. Increase the temperature and bake an additional 15-20 minutes until the glaze is caramelized.
Expert Tips
- Glaze: prepare the glaze just before use, as it cools it will harden. If the glaze hardens more than you would like, simply reheat slightly to loosen it back up.
- Applying glaze: separate the slices of the ham gently to ensure the glaze gets in between all of the slices.
- Drippings: be sure to spoon the excess drippings from the glaze over the top of the ham after cooking for even more flavoring.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you cook the ham before you glaze it?
The ham can be glazed and cooked covered with foil to prevent burning. Brush the majority of the glaze on after the ham has been heated and cook uncovered at a higher temperature to caramelize the glaze.
Do I cover ham when I glaze it?
For the initial heating of the ham it should be covered.
How much ham should I get per person?
A general rule of thumb for buying ham is to buy 1/2 a pound per person if buying a bone in ham. Buy 1/3 a pound per person if buying boneless. Doing this takes into account the weight of the bone.
What to Serve with Honey Glazed Ham
This ham is perfect for featuring on your holiday table for Easter or Christmas, or any other occasion you want to celebrate. We recommend serving this with some of our other holiday favorites from Cornbread Dressing to our Perfect Mashed Potatoes. If you need some more ideas here’s a brief list.
- Strawberry Poppyseed Salad
- Mashed Potato Casserole
- Easy Creamed Corn
- Southern Green Beans
- Jalapeño Cheddar Cornbread
- Candied Sweet Potatoes
Make Ahead and Storage Information
- Need to make your ham ahead of time? Perfectly ok! As stated earlier this recipe is very low key and easy going. Bake the ham according to directions with the glaze. Then store wrapped in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Reheat in the oven covered with foil for 1.5-2 hours.
- Leftovers can be stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator for 3 days. It can also be frozen and stored for up to 3 months.
- Leftover ham can be served cold, room temperature or re-heated.
More Holiday Recipes
- Garlic Herb Prime Rib
- Smoked Turkey Breast
- Hummingbird Cake
- Southern Pecan Pie
- Southern Sweet Potato Pie
Jalapeño Honey Glazed Ham
Sweet and spicy, Jalapeño Honey Glazed Ham, is cooked in a homemade glaze of honey, brown sugar, jalapeño and other spices. This honey glazed ham is sweet, sticky, and creates a luscious juice perfect for basting with prior to serving. This ham will be the start of your holiday table!
Ingredients
- 8 pound bone in spiral cut ham
- ½ cup butter unsalted
- ½ cup honey
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 jalapeños diced, seeds and membranes removed
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes more to taste as desired for heat
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a large baking dish (9×13) with cooking spray.
- Add all ingredients for the glaze into a medium size saucepan and bring to a boil. Allow to simmer to reduce the sauce for 5-10 minutes.
- Place the ham in the dish and pour half of the glaze over the top. Reserve the other half of the glaze.
- Cover with foil and bake for 1 and 1/2 hours. Then uncover the ham.
- Pour the remaining glaze over the ham, spreading the slices apart to get inside the slices as well.
- Increase the oven temperature to 400 degrees F.
- Bake the ham uncovered for another 15-20 minutes or until the glaze is caramelized.
- Transfer the ham to a serving plate. Spoon excess drippings over the top of the ham. Slice and serve while warm.
Notes
Temperature: Ham should reach an internal temperature of 140 degrees F to be fully warmed through.
Make Ahead and Storage:
- Make Ahead: Bake the ham according to directions with the glaze. Then store wrapped in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Reheat in the oven covered with foil for 1.5-2 hours.
- Storage: place in a sealed container in the refrigerator for 3 days. It can also be frozen and stored for up to 3 months.
- Serve leftovers: can be served cold, room temperature or re-heated.
Nutrition
Calories: 440kcal | Carbohydrates: 14g | Protein: 31g | Fat: 28g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 12g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 100mg | Sodium: 1755mg | Potassium: 437mg | Fiber: 0.1g | Sugar: 14g | Vitamin A: 145IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 19mg | Iron: 1mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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