Ham Roast

This ham roast comes out of the oven delicious and moist with a crispy outside and tender meat inside, all flavored with a sweet honey mustard glaze.

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This ham roast is the perfect way to celebrate any occasion. There’s just something about that salty, crispy exterior and the juicy, tender meat inside that will get your taste buds tingling; plus, the honey and brown sugar glaze adds the perfect amount of sweetness to the baked ham.

Ham Roast Ingredients

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This ham roast is one of the most succulent and savory dishes out there. The tender, juicy meat will melt in your mouth with every bite.

From the perfectly browned honey mustard glaze to the juicy meat, this dish is truly divine.

To make this delicious recipe, you’ll need:

• 8-pound smoked ham (semi-boneless or bone-in ham. It depends on the brand)
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup brown sugar
• ¼ cup honey
• ¼ cup spicy brown mustard
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 cup water
• Optional garnish – whole cloves

PRO TIP:

You can find these hams in the refrigerated meat section of your local grocery store. They are roughly 8-10 pounds per ham. You will need to allow 18-20 minutes per pound of bake time. 

Substitutions And Additions

HAM: You can find larger-sized hams at the big box stores that are roughly 16-18 pounds. They often come already spiral-sliced and will also contain a flavor packet. I discard the flavor packet and use the glaze in this recipe. You would need to double the amount of glaze if cooking a larger ham.

GLAZE: You can also use this brown sugar glaze on a boneless ham. If cooking a boneless ham, you will want to follow the package instructions for cook times and temperature. You can put the glaze onto your ham before cooking and lightly tent the ham. These boneless hams typically take much less time to heat through.

HONEY: I like to use a standard wildflower or clover honey (like what you can get in the honey bear bottle at the grocery store) for this roast ham recipe. When you use the more unique or gourmet honey, their flavors do not blend as well with the mustard. This is one of those times when the basic ingredient is the best choice for the recipe.

MUSTARD: This brown sugar ham glaze is very easy and can be customized with your favorite mustard. I often substitute a Dijon or yellow mustard for the spicy golden mustard.

How To Make This Ham Roast Recipe

It is surprisingly easy to make a ham roast, so there is no need to be intimidated.

First, you will prepare your ham by using a sharp knife to cut a diamond pattern on the outside of the roast. This will allow all that sweet and tangy glaze to seep into the meat, making it flavorful and moist.

Place the ham, covered in foil, in the oven to bake for an hour. Once the time is up, you will add the glaze all over the outside of the roast. Bake for another hour until the meat is heated through.

STEP ONE: Remove or lower your middle oven rack in your oven before preheating. Preheat the oven to 325°F. You will need a large roasting pan and an extra-large piece of heavy-duty aluminum foil.

STEP TWO: Remove all the packaging from the smoked ham. If it came with a seasoning packet, I typically just discard it. Place ham into the roasting pan.

STEP THREE: Using a very sharp knife, you will make score marks into the skin and fat of the topside of the ham. You will want to create a diamond pattern of 1 to 1½ inch-sized diamonds. Your score marks should be about ½ inch deep.

STEP FOUR: In a mixing bowl, stir together the unsalted butter, light brown sugar, honey, spicy mustard, salt, black pepper, and ground cloves. Set aside.

STEP FIVE: Add the cold water to the bottom of the roasting pan and cover the ham tightly with a large piece of heavy-duty aluminum foil. Make sure that you seal the edges well so that no steam escapes. This helps to ensure that your ham stays moist and heats through evenly.

STEP SIX: Bake for 1 hour (or all but the last hour of bake time according to the size of your ham). Remove the ham from the oven and remove the piece of aluminum foil from the ham. Set the foil aside.

STEP SEVEN: Using a pastry brush, brush the glaze over the entire surface of the ham. Try to get the glaze mixture into the score marks on the top of the ham.

STEP EIGHT: If you want to add the optional whole cloves to garnish your ham, carefully poke a single whole clove into the center of some of your diamond marks to create a beautiful presentation. If you plan to use whole cloves, you can cut back the amount of ground cloves in your glaze to ⅛ teaspoon.

STEP NINE: Place the ham back into the oven, uncovered, for the remaining 1 to 1½ hours of cook time. Your ham should have an internal temperature of approximately 140°F on a meat thermometer. During this time, you can spoon some of the juices from the roasting pan over the top of the ham to baste your ham and keep it moist.

STEP TEN: Allow your ham roast to rest on the counter, lightly tented with the reserved piece of aluminum foil, for 15 minutes before slicing and serving.

How To Serve

You can transfer your carved ham and ham slices to a serving platter. This baked ham roast is great for any family dinner or holiday meal with all the traditional holiday side dishes, such as our green bean casserole, creamy mashed potatoes, and dinner rolls.

You could also add a little bit of sweetness to your meal with succulent slices of freshly grilled pineapple or pineapple coleslaw.

This ham roast can be served warm, at room temperature, or even straight from the refrigerator.

Our pork tenderloin and honey garlic pork chops are two more delicious recipes to enjoy when you want to add this tasty protein to your menu.

MORE HAM RECIPES

Sandwiches

Grilled Ham and Cheese

Sandwiches

Baked Ham & Cheese Sandwiches

Storage

IN THE FRIDGE: Leftovers can be stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. The leftover ham slices make the best sandwiches for lunch the day after your big meal.

IN THE FREEZER: If you have leftover baked ham, you can store it in the freezer for up to three months. Slice ham and put portions in airtight freezer bags.

If you plan to use the ham in soups and casseroles, you can cut it into small pieces before freezing.

Smothered in a simple glaze made with brown sugar and honey and baked to perfection, this ham roast recipe is perfect for any special occasion. Once you pop it in the oven, it will happily bake away while you are preparing the rest of your holiday meal.

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• Country Biscuits and Sausage Gravy

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Ham Roast

4.95 from 35 votes

This ham roast comes out of the oven delicious and moist with a crispy outside and tender meat inside, all flavored with a sweet honey mustard glaze.

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 2 hours

Total Time 2 hours 15 minutes

Servings 16

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Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 8 pounds smoked ham, semi-boneless or bone-in. It depends on the brand
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup brown sugar
• ¼ cup honey
• ¼ cup spicy brown mustard
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 cup water
• whole cloves, optional garnish

Instructions

 

• Remove or lower your middle oven rack in your oven before preheating. Preheat the oven to 325°F. You will need a large roasting pan and an extra-large piece of heavy-duty aluminum foil.
• Remove all the packaging from the smoked ham. If it came with a seasoning packet, I typically just discard it. Place the ham into the roasting pan.
• Using a very sharp knife, you will make score marks into the skin and fat of the topside of the ham. You will want to create a diamond pattern of 1 to 1½ inch-sized diamonds. Your score marks should be about ½ inch deep.
• In a mixing bowl, stir together the unsalted butter, light brown sugar, honey, spicy mustard, salt, black pepper, and ground cloves. Set aside.
• Add the water to the bottom of the roasting pan and cover the ham tightly with the large piece of heavy-duty aluminum foil. Make sure that you seal the edges well so that no steam escapes. This helps to ensure that your ham stays moist and heats through evenly.
• Bake for 1 hour (or all but the last hour of bake time according to the size of your ham). Remove the ham from the oven and remove the piece of aluminum foil from the ham. Set the foil aside.
• Using a pastry brush, brush the glaze over the entire surface of the ham. Try to get the glaze mixture into the score marks on the top of the ham.
• If you want to add the optional whole cloves to garnish your ham, carefully poke a single whole clove into the center of some of your diamond marks to create a beautiful presentation. If you plan to use whole cloves, you can cut back the amount of ground cloves in your glaze to ⅛ teaspoon.
• Place the ham back into the oven, uncovered, for the remaining 1 to 1½ hours of cook time. Your ham should have an internal temperature of approximately 140°F. During this time, you can spoon some of the juices from the roasting pan over the top of the ham to baste your ham and keep it moist.
• Allow your ham roast to rest on the counter, lightly tented with the reserved piece of aluminum foil, for 15 minutes before slicing and serving.

Notes

• You can find these hams in the refrigerated meat section of your local grocery store. They are roughly 8 to 10 pounds per ham. You will need to allow 18 to 20 minutes per pound of bake time.
• Remember, these smoked hams are already cooked. You are actually just warming them through and flavoring them with this honey mustard glaze. You DO NOT want a fresh ham for this recipe. Fresh hams need special cooking instructions, and while they are delicious, they will not look like the traditional holiday ham that is so famous.
• I highly recommend using a disposable aluminum roasting tray and heavy-duty aluminum foil for cooking these hams. I like to place the disposable roasting tray onto a large rimmed baking sheet to make transportation to and from the oven much easier. It is a bonus that it makes clean-up super easy too.
• Oven temperatures vary and may need to be recalibrated periodically to ensure they are accurate. Make sure to keep a close eye on your ham as the suggested cooking time approaches.
• The whole cloves studding the outside of the ham is an optional garnish that not only will give your delicious ham added flavor but also makes a beautiful presentation. If you like the flavor of the cloves but not the work or look of the whole cloves, you can just add ¼ to ½ teaspoon of ground cloves to your glaze mixture.
• I like to reserve the juices from the roasting pan to spoon over the roasted ham, being sure to get the juices into all those score marks to add extra moisture and flavor to my ham. My family even likes to spoon some of the juices onto their individual servings on their plate, like you would gravy over turkey.

Nutrition

Calories: 321kcal | Carbohydrates: 18g | Protein: 38g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 116mg | Sodium: 2947mg | Potassium: 637mg | Fiber: 0.2g | Sugar: 18g | Vitamin A: 91IU | Vitamin C: 0.04mg | Calcium: 39mg | Iron: 3mg

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