Baked Ham Recipe with 2-Ingredient Glaze and Amazing Mustard Sauce
This easy baked ham recipe with a 2-ingredient glaze is the simple way to achieve a mouth-wateringly tender and juicy ham. Not only will you find tips and steps for roasting a delectable bone-in ham in the oven, you’ll also find our favorite flavorful mustard ham sauce that no holiday would be complete without. Here’s the ham and lower sugar glaze recipe you need for your next family gathering or holiday dinner with easy-to-follow instructions.
✩ What readers are saying…
“Wow! The sauce is very unique, not like most typical mustard sauces. It really takes the ham over the top and can see where it would also be a very welcome addition when we are all ready getting a bit tired of having ham! Thanks for a great recipe!!!” – Norma
Ham has always been one of my favorite meats and my choice for holiday meals like Easter and Christmas. But since it’s my favorite, I’ve been known to bake a ham for a regular family meal, too!
It’s funny how that’s seen as special because when you do the math, roasting a ham and using it for multiple meals and lunches – plus using the ham bone for a delicious vegetable soup – is really cost effective.
The thing with ham recipes, though, is that so many of them lay on the sugary glaze pretty thick with everything from loads of brown sugar to cups of honey to sweet orange juice. Would you like a bit of ham with your sugar?
However, to keep the ham moist while it heats up you do need to glaze it – and finishing with a glaze does result in those lovely crispy edges. It only needs to be a bit of sweetener, though, to get these results.
So I thought I’d share with you my baked ham recipe that uses a super simple two-ingredient maple syrup-Dijon mustard glaze that results in a moist ham with flavors that compliment the ham instead of drowning it in sweet.
This is a basic baked ham recipe, though, so you can also use another type of glaze – in fact when I have sweet-spicy onion marmalade on the shelf, I always use that! Again, it’s just slightly sweet and the onions with the ham are a great combo. I also like an orange glaze with honey or maple syrup, an option I include in the recipe, too.
And if that’s not enough, I’m including my extended family’s favorite ever mustard ham sauce that has been a part of our holiday celebrations for years! It’s easily made in the microwave or stovetop and really makes the ham special.
Ingredient Notes & Substitutions
- Ham: The recipe calls for a 4 to 8 pound fully cooked ham, which is what is mostly available in the stores. If you have a ham labeled as “cook before eating” that means you need to actually cook it, instead of just heating up a fully cooked ham. You’d still use the same method, you’d simply cook the ham longer until it reaches 160 degrees inside (versus 140 degrees for a fully cooked ham). If you have a larger ham, simply cook it longer.
- Glaze: You can use the mustard-maple glaze or the orange-honey glaze included in the recipe card, or use something like sweet spicy onion jam or honey jalapẽno jelly – or your favorite glaze (that’s hopefully lower sugar, too).
- Mustard Ham Sauce: This recipe calls for eggs, but it is a cooked recipe so you don’t need to worry about raw egg issues. Also it calls for milk and although I haven’t tried it, I’m pretty sure it would work with a milk substitute because cornstarch is added for thickening.
How much ham per person?
For most meals where there are multiple side dishes you can plan on 1/2-pound of ham per person. If ham is more the star, 3/4-pound per person.
Ham and Glaze Recipe: Step-by-Step
Here are a few helpful visual instructions – the full instructions with exact ingredients can be found in the printable recipe card below.
Step 1: Prep ham. Heat oven to 325 degrees. Remove packaging and the plastic circle over the cut side bone if it’s included. Trim off any large sections of fat, if needed (the ham pictured was from a local farm and they often have more fat than store-bought spiral sliced and shank hams).
Step 2: Bake. Place in a shallow baking dish, cut side down. To pan add 1/2 cup water for smaller hams, 1 cup for larger hams. Cover with foil (TIP: lay a piece of parchment on ham so foil doesn’t touch it). Bake about 15 minutes per pound (see baking timing tip below).
Do you bake ham with or without foil?
As much as I want to minimize cooking with foil, if a ham is baked uncovered it will dry out quickly. The keys to a moist ham is placing it cut side down, adding some liquid in the bottom of the pan, and covering the pan tightly with foil. However, I developed a trick for making sure the foil doesn’t touch the ham that you can see above: parchment paper!
Step 3: Make glaze. Prep the glaze you’re using – this is the simple mustard-maple glaze.
Step 4: Glaze ham. 30 minutes before the ham should be done, remove ham from oven and turn oven to 400 degrees. Uncover and brush half the glaze all over the ham and return to the oven, uncovered, for 15 minutes. Brush with remaining glaze and bake for 15 minutes more – or until an instant read thermometer reads 140 to 145 degrees. Let rest 30 minutes before carving.
Baking Timing Tip
You will find baked ham recipes all over the internet that range from 10 minutes per pound to 20 minutes per pound – and honestly, none of that matters other than to give you an idea of when to start cooking your ham. The MOST important thing is to make sure the ham is at the safe temperature before you remove it from the oven, which is 140 degrees, minimum for a fully cooked ham (160 degrees for a cook-before-eating-ham). For me, 15 minutes seems to be the sweet spot with timing. And remember to add in a 30 minute rest before carving when you’re making your timeline, too.
Mustard Ham Sauce Recipe
This simple sauce is our family’s favorite and can be made in a microwave or stovetop.
Step 1: Heat ingredients on a stovetop to a simmer until thickened, about 3 minutes OR cook on High in a microwave for 3 minutes and then on Roast for 4 minutes more.
Step 2: Make the sauce while the ham is baking and store in the refrigerator. Serve chilled or warm gently in the microwave if you prefer (I prefer it warm so it doesn’t make the ham cold).
How to Carve a Ham
After a 30 minute rest period (covered) for a regular ham, cut off large chunks around the bone and then slice those chunks thinly.
For a spiral cut ham, simply cut off chunks around the bone and then make sure the pre-cut slices are separated before adding to a serving plate.
Don’t worry about getting all the ham off the bone – save it to make this wonderful Vegetable Ham Bone Soup Recipe in a crockpot, Instant Pot, or on the stove!
Jami’s Tip
Besides the steps listed above for maintaining a moist ham while cooking, baking it low and slow is really the main key to moist ham, so don’t be tempted to turn up the heat to cook your ham faster!
Storage
- Fridge Storage: You can keep slices of ham in an airtight container in the fridge for 4-5 days. TIP: Spoon pan juices over slices to help keep moisture in while refrigerated.
- Reheating: To avoid drying out a number of slices, heat them in a low oven in a covered container for 10-15 minutes or until warmed through or microwave slices for about a minute.
- Freezing: Ham freezes beautifully! Portion the slices however you want into airtight freezer containers or baggies and freeze for 3-4 months for best quality.
- Mustard Sauce storage: The sauce will keep in your fridge in a sealed container for up to a month. TIP: Leftover sauce makes a GREAT spread for any wrap or sandwich!
Budget Tip
Buy hams when they’re on sale during holidays, bake up when you can and portion the slices up for lunches and dinners and save a lot! Bonus: my family always think it’s special when I bake a ham just for them.
Recipes To Serve With Baked Ham
- Slow Cooker Scalloped Potatoes with Cheesy Garlic Sauce (my fav with ham!)
- Easy Baked Potato Fans (Hasselback Potatoes)
- Best Roasted Carrots with Garlic and Spices OR Easy Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Carrots with Onions (love the hands-off for holidays)
- Long Cooked Green Beans with Onions and Bacon (Using Frozen Green Beans)
I hope you enjoy this ham recipe with it’s simple glaze and sauce – if you make it, be sure to leave a rating and review so I know how you liked it!
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Baked Ham Recipe with 2-Ingredient Glaze and Amazing Mustard Sauce
Equipment
- 13×9 or larger baking pan
Ingredients
Ham
- 1 4 to 8 pound smoked ham*
- 1/2 to 1 cup water
- 1/2 to 1 cup glaze of choice (see notes for options)
Instructions
Baked Ham
- Heat oven to 325 degrees. Remove packaging (and circle over bone if included) and trim fat from ham if needed. (You can score the ham if you want now – I usually don't bother.)
- Place ham in a shallow roasting pan, cut side down. Add 1/2 cup water to pan for hams 4-6 pounds and 1 cup of water for 7-8 pounds or larger. Cover with foil (TIP: place a piece of parchment on top of ham before foil so that foil wont' touch the top of the ham).
- Bake about 15-18 minutes per pound.** Examples: a 4-pound ham would need 1 to 1.5 hours and an 8 pound ham would need 2 to 2.5 hours. Regardless of size, the final temperature should be 140 degrees for a fully cooked ham (or 160 degrees for a "cook before eating" ham).
- GLAZE: 30 minutes before ham is scheduled to be done, remove from oven and turn oven up to 400 degrees. Remove foil (save to tent the ham later) and brush with HALF the glaze. Return to oven for 15 minutes, uncovered. Remove from oven and brush the remaining glaze over the ham and cook 15 minutes more or until a thermometer reads 140 degrees (or 160 degrees if your ham wasn't sold fully cooked).
- Remove the ham from the oven and let rest, covered with the foil, 20-30 minutes before carving.
Make Ham Sauce
- Microwave: Put eggs, cornstarch, sugar, salt, and mustard in a 4 cup or larger glass bowl and whisk until no lumps remain. Then whisk in milk and vinegar.
- Cook on HIGH for 3 minutes. Stir well. Cook on ROAST for 4 minutes longer or until thickened.
- Stovetop: Add eggs, cornstarch, sugar, salt, and mustard to a medium saucepan and whisk until no lumps remain, then add milk and vinegar, whisking until smooth.
- Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, about 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Lower heat and stir until thick, only about 30 seconds more. Remove from heat.
- Store ham sauce in the refrigerator. Serve chilled with ham or heat slightly to avoid chilling the ham.
Notes
- Maple-Mustard: 1/4 cup maple syrup + 2 Tablespoons Dijon mustard for 4-5 pound ham; 1/3 cup syrup + 1/4 cup Dijon mustard for 6-8 pound ham.
- Orange-Honey: 1/3 cup honey + 1/4 cup orange juice
- Spicy-Sweet Onion Marmalade Jam
- Honey Jalapẽno Jelly (spicy is a fun twist to ham)
Nutrition
It took me 30 minutes to find the recipe for the sauce.
Scroll, scroll, scroll…
You can always hit the “jump to recipe” button at the top if you’d like to bypass my tips and info – it takes you right to the recipe!
Made this sauce yesterday to go with a ham my husband smoked. He just coated with honey but I made your very yummy mustard sauce to go with it. Wow! The sauce is very unique, not like most typical mustard sauces. It really takes the ham over the top and can see where it would also be a very welcome addition when we are all ready getting a bit tired of having ham! Thanks for a great recipe!!!
I’m so glad you tried this recipe, Norma! Yes, it’s a long time family fav and I hope it becomes one for your family.
Had to follow-up: Shared some of this with our son who was impressed and said it would also make a great sandwich spread instead of mustard, mayo, etc. The sauce thickens nicely upon standing in the fridge. I tried some on ham and eggs and thought it was fantastic. I think “Amazing Mustard Sauce” doesn’t do it justice!
Oh, yes – I always use any leftovers for wraps and sandwiches! (I should add that to the description…) I’m jus thrilled you love it like we do!
Hi Jami,
I live in Oregon and am curious where you purchased your ham locally?
It was just a 1/4 pig we bought from a friend-of-a-friend situation. 🙂