Pineapple Glazed Ham
Pineapple Glazed Ham is sweet and savory, made with a fully cooked spiral ham smothered in a pineapple brown sugar glaze, then broiled until caramelized and juicy!
Here is one of my family’s favorite holiday dinners, Pineapple Glazed Ham! It will make your entire house smell amazing, made with a fully cooked spiral ham that’s topped with a pineapple and brown sugar glaze, then broiled until caramelized on the outside and juicy on the inside. It’s perfect for feeding a crowd, and will definitely be one of your new favorite holiday dinner recipes!
If you loved this recipe, you’ll also love my Slow Cooker Spiral Ham. For leftovers, try my Ham Salad, or my Ham and Split Pea Soup!
Table of contents
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Sweet and Savory – The salty savory ham pairs perfectly with the sweet pineapple, brown sugar, and honey, balanced with dijon mustard.
Crowd Pleaser – I almost never have leftovers when I make this. It’s definitely a favorite at holiday gatherings!
Ingredients You’ll Need
Ham. I’m using a bone-in, fully cooked spiral ham for this recipe. It’s a lot easier to prep a spiral ham, because you’re basically just reheating it and it’s already sliced.
I throw away the glaze packet that comes with the ham, and make sure to discard the plastic piece over the end of the ham bone (if it has one).
Pineapple. I’m using canned crushed pineapple and the juice it comes in. Make sure it’s in 100% juice, not syrup.
We’re using the pineapple juice in the glaze for flavor and to add some liquid on the bottom of the roasting dish.
Brown Sugar. This serves two purposes. The first is to sweeten the glaze with a deeper flavor, because brown sugar has some nice deep molasses notes.
The other purpose is to broil the ham at the end, and the brown sugar will give you a really nice caramelization.
Honey. This adds sweetness and flavor to the glaze.
Dijon. This adds a really nice savory note to the glaze. You can also use dried mustard in the seasoning instead of dijon.
Spices. Ground cinnamon and ground cloves gives this a really nice flavor and balances out some of the sweet notes in the glaze.
Kitchen Tools
For this pineapple glazed ham recipe you’ll need a large roasting pan and a medium saucepan for the glaze.
How to Make Pineapple Glazed Ham
Preheat the oven to 325°F. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the glaze ingredients until well combined.
Place the spiral ham on the roasting pan on its side, so you can gently separate the slices of ham. Pat it dry with a paper towel.
Pour half of the glaze over the ham, trying to get some in-between the slices of ham.
Flip the ham on the roasting pan so it is cut-side-down (the flat side) on the pan. Cover the baking sheet with tinfoil, creating a tent around the ham.
Bake for 1 1/2 – 2 hours, depending on the size of your ham. The ham should take about 10-15 minutes per pound to cook.
While the ham is cooking, place the rest of the glaze ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce to a high simmer and cook until it begins to thicken, stirring often, about 20-25 minutes.
When the ham has about 30 minutes left, remove the aluminum foil and pour the rest of the glaze over the top.
Sprinkle the remaining brown sugar on top of the ham and cook until the ham is 140°F in the center.
Once the ham is finished cooking, broil for 2-5 minutes, or until the top of the ham is caramelized. Watch it closely so it doesn’t burn, because the broiler can do that fast!
Recipe Variations
- Add some heat with a dash of cayenne pepper, hot sauce, red pepper flakes, or chili oil.
- Instead of adding the dijon to the glaze, use extra and brush it all over the ham before adding the glaze on top of that.
- Try using toothpicks to attach some pineapple rings and maraschino cherries for presentation!
Recipe Tip! The ham is already pre-cooked, just check the packaging to make sure. The USDA recommends heating it to 140°F, which will take about 10-15 minutes per pound of ham that you have.
Frequently Asked Questions
You can use either canned or fresh pineapple for this recipe! If you’re using fresh, remember to remove the core of the pineapple and pulse it in the food processor a few times. You may also want to get a small can of pineapple juice to add some extra liquid to the glaze.
Recipe Tip! If you didn’t tent your ham with aluminum foil, it’s not the end of the world. The ham will release liquid as it cooks, and covering it helps keep the ham moist and prevents it from drying out.
More Holiday Dinner Recipes
Cooking Tips
- Do your best to get the glaze in-between the ham slices before flipping it over to bake with the flat-side-down. Don’t pull the slices so far apart that they come off, just gently open them a little bit.
- Ham takes about 10-15 minutes per pound at 325°F, so leave yourself enough time because this will be in the oven for 1-2 hours. We’re using a lower heat to prevent the ham from drying out.
- If your roasting pan has a rack that fits into it, you can use that. It works with or without one.
- The glaze is simmered until it thickens into a syrup-like consistency. You want it to coat the back of a spoon. When it gets to about there, take it off the heat and let it cool slightly, it will thicken a little more.
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Pineapple Glazed Ham
Ingredients
- 9 pound fully-cooked spiral ham, bone-in
For the Glaze
- 20 ounces crushed pineapple in juice, (1 can)
- 1 1/2 cups brown sugar, (1/2 cup reserved)
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
Equipment
- 1 large roasting pan
- 1 medium saucepan
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325°F. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the glaze ingredients until well combined.
- Place the spiral ham in the roasting pan on its side. Pat it dry with a paper towel. Gently separate the slices of ham.
- Pour half of the glaze over the ham, trying to get some in-between the slices.
- Flip the ham so it is flat-side-down on the pan. Cover the roasting pan with aluminum foil, creating a tent around the ham. Bake for 1 1/2 – 2 hours, depending on the size of your ham. The ham should take about 10-15 minutes per pound to cook.
- While the ham is cooking, place the rest of the glaze in a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce to a high simmer and cook until it begins to thicken, stirring often, about 20-25 minutes.
- When the ham has about 30 minutes left, remove the aluminum foil and pour the rest of the glaze over the top. Sprinkle the remaining brown sugar on top of the ham and cook until the ham is 140°F in the center.
- Once the ham has finished cooking, broil for 2-5 minutes, or until the top of the ham is caramelized. Watch it closely so it doesn't burn, because the broiler can do that fast!
Notes
- The ham is already pre-cooked, just check the packaging to make sure. The USDA recommends heating it to 140°F, which will take about 10-15 minutes per pound of ham that you have.
- If you didn’t tent your ham with aluminum foil, it’s ok. Covering it helps prevent it from drying out for the time that it’s in the oven.
- You can cut along the natural spiral, but you also want to cut a few the opposite way so you can easily lift pieces of ham away from the bone.
- If the ham has a bone in it, get about 1/2-1 pound per person, because some of that ham’s weight is bone and not meat. If it’s boneless, you’ll need about 1/4-1/2 pound of meat per person depending on how many sides you serve with it.
- Do your best to get the glaze in-between the ham slices before flipping it over to bake with the flat-side-down. Don’t pull the slices so far apart that they come off, just gently open them a little bit.
- The glaze is simmered until it thickens into a syrup-like consistency. You want it to coat the back of a spoon. When it gets to about there, take it off the heat and let it cool slightly, it will thicken a little more.
Nutrition
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