Ham Glaze Recipes

Glazing a ham can definitely turn it from simple to special for the holiday!

For starters, a glaze is any combination of ingredients that is brushed or slathered on the meat to enhance its flavor. If you Google ham glazes you will get 256,000+ results, so here is the short list. My rule for a good glaze is no more then 5 ingredients. I like to keep it simple and let the flavors in the glaze come through to enhance the ham not overpower it. I also prefer to glaze the ham during the entire cooking time (like basting a turkey) rather than glazing at high heat the last 20-30 minutes. Hope you enjoy!



If you have one of your own glaze recipes that rocks, please share it here. I would love to try it.

1. Honey and Brown Sugar Ham Glaze

• 2/3 cup Brown Sugar
• 3 tbsp Honey
• 1 tbsp Prepared Mustard

2. Orange Glaze

• 1 cup Orange Juice
• 3/4 cup Brown Sugar
• 1 tbsp Dijon Mustard
• 1/2 cup Honey
• 2 tsp Soy Sauce

3. Baked Ham Maple Glaze

• 1 tbsp Mustard
• 2/3 cup Real Maple Syrup

4. Brown Sugar Glaze

• 1½ cups Brown Sugar
• 1½ tsp Dry Mustard Powder
• 3/4 tsp Ground Cloves

5. Marmalade Glaze

• 1/4 cup Orange Marmalade
• 1/2 tsp Dry Mustard
• 1/2 cup Brown Sugar
• 1 tbsp Flour
• Pineapple Juice (enough to create a thick paste)

6. Pineapple Glaze

• 1½ tsp Dry Mustard
• 1½ cups Brown Sugar
• 3/4 cup Crushed Pineapple, well drained

7. Chinese Glaze Recipe by Sophia Young

• 1/2 cup hoisin sauce
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/2 tsp Chinese five-spice powder
• 1 finely chopped garlic clove
• 1 tsp finely grated ginger

8. Ginger Glaze

• 1 tsp Dry Ginger
• 1 tsp Dry Mustard
• 1 1/2 cups Brown Sugar
• Canned Pear or Peach Syrup (to make thick paste)
• 1 tsp Lemon Juice

Instructions (For All Recipes)

1. First, you need to make a slit in the rind of the ham.
2. Trim the rind and fat at the same time, leaving 1/4 inch layer of fat on ham.
3. Make diagonal cuts along the surface of the ham, on the fat layer, making sure not to penetrate the meat.
4. Now, make diagonal cuts in the opposite direction, forming diamond shapes in the fat layer.
5. Take a bowl and put all the ingredients in it (this works for all the above mentioned recipes)
6. Mix the ingredients well and brush over the ham.
7. As the ham cooks, occasionally brush it with the extra glaze .