I am totally obsessed with this Copycat Honey Baked Ham Recipe! It is so simple and yet the results are absolutely insane. No wonder people pay so much money for these! In addition to glazing and roasting, we are also rubbing it with dry sugar and hitting it with a kitchen torch. The crispy edges of this ham are like candy! Originally posted November 23, 2020.

sliced honey baked ham on a plate.
Table of Contents
  1. This Honey Baked Ham Recipe is drool-worthy
  2. Ingredients for Honey Glazed Ham
  3. Finding the right ham for Honey Bake Ham
  4. How to cook a Honey Ham
  5. Step One: Make the Honey Ham Glaze
  6. Step Two: Cook your Honey Glazed Ham
  7. Step Three: Putting the Candy Shell on your Honey Ham
  8. Storing leftover Honey Bake Ham
  9. How to use Honey Glazed Ham Recipe leftovers
  10. More main dish ham recipes to try out!
  11. Honey Bake Ham Recipe

Eric was watching this documentary the other day and I wasn’t really paying much attention. It was about video games and how the first companies got started. (As usual, someone dropped out of college and made it big, what else is new. I don’t know why everyone wants to go to college these days, seems like all the geniuses are dropping out! I’m joking don’t worry. Charlotte, if you read this, I’M JOKING, COLLEGE IS IMPORTANT.

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close up shot of the edge of a piece of spiral sliced baked ham.

Anyway, the guys who made up Pac-Man was being interviewed and my head snapped up when he mentioned pizza. (Are you surprised?) He said that they came up with the Pac-Man shape when they were eating a pizza one day. A whole pizza with a couple slices missing = Pac-Man. How fun is that?

And get this, originally Pac-Man was a typical kill-em-dead type video game. Guys loved it. But they wanted to get women to play. “So we changed it. Eating instead of killing.” Isn’t that so funny? They say the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, but I think we’re seriously underestimating the insatiability of women here! Ha!

honey baked ham recipe (copycat) shown on plate sliced.

Speaking of eating all the things. Are you guys ready for Thanksgiving in just a few days?? I am so here for it! I have just a couple more recipes I want to share with you this week in case you are a last minute planner like me. First up, the best freaking ham I’ve ever had:

This Honey Baked Ham Recipe is drool-worthy

Have you had the famous Honey Baked Ham? Full disclosure, I’ve never tried it. But it is famous for a reason! I get why, now that I’ve made it at home. This ham is seriously unlike anything I have ever had before. I AM OBSESSED.

I did a whole bunch of research to find out why people pay an arm and a leg for Honey Baked Hams.

Do you want to know the secret? Dry sugar and a kitchen torch. They sprinkle the ham with dry sugar and spices and then torch it. JUST LIKE A FREAKING CRÈME BRÛLÉE.

honey baked ham glazed recipes.
crackly edges come to mama

Oh my gosh you guys, it is unreal. The edges of the salty ham are covered in spiced sugar and caramelized. The sugar melts, then hardens into this gorgeous shell, just like on top of your crème brulée. It absolutely CRACKLES. These photos don’t even come close to doing it justice.

I made an 8 pound ham, and I think Eric and I single handedly ate all of the edge pieces of the ham over the course of a day. Okay maybe not all of it, but pretty dang close. The crispy sugared edges are not QUITE as phenomenal after you refrigerate it, so we just kept saying, well, we better eat it now while the sugar is still crackly and shatters in your mouth. No regrets. Let’s make it!

Ingredients for Honey Glazed Ham

Here’s a quick list of ingredients for your shopping. Scroll down to the recipe card below for full ingredients and instructions!

  • 1 half spiral cut ham, (7-8 pounds)
  • Butter
  • Dijon mustard
  • Honey
  • Granulated sugar
  • Nutmeg
  • Cloves
  • Cinnamon
  • Paprika
  • Ginger
  • Allspice

What you’ll need for the Honey Ham Glaze

No ham is complete without the traditional honey glaze! Today’s glaze is so simple. Butter, honey and a lil dijon mustard for good measure.

Finding the right ham for Honey Bake Ham

First start off by choosing a really high quality ham. I love to use a bone-in ham; the bone provides tons of flavor that a boneless ham just can’t compete with. You want a ham that is fully cooked and labeled as smoked (it’s actually really tough to find a fresh ham (uncured, unsmoked) in American markets, so rest assured most of the hams you see are fully cooked.

If you see a really cheap ham, keep walking. Take a look at the label and you will find that there is (probably) water added to it. It’s cheaper because you’re paying for water weight. These hams are mushier and not as high quality. (Hams labeled “with natural juices” are a step up.) But honestly just buy what you can afford and no one will notice if the ham isn’t the perfect texture because they will be so distracted by your perfect, crackly, caramelized edges.

half a spiral ham on a cutting board.

I like to buy spiral hams. They are pre-sliced and just make serving so darn easy. Plus, since they are already sliced, you don’t have to deal with scoring the ham. The honey mixture we’re using just seeps right into the sliced edges and gets good and deep.

Plan for 1/2 or 1 pound of ham per person. Choose 1 pound per person if you want leftovers. A half ham is usually about 7 or 8 pounds and serves 8-12 people.

How to cook a Honey Ham

Usually a baked ham is doused in glaze and then baked. But this copycat Honey Baked Ham has an extra step. Basically, you will:

  • Make a quick homemade honey glaze and pour it over the ham.
  • Cover with foil and bake at 325 until warm (Usually this is where ham recipes stop)
  • But then we go and roll the whole thing in a sugar rub, then torch it to crackly perfection!!

Aren’t you so excited?? More details here, but the full recipe is at the bottom of the post!

First, unwrap your beautiful ham and remove all the netting and shrink wrap. Often they have a little ham glaze packet sealed inside. Toss it in the trash with gusto! Sometimes there is a little plastic cap over the bone, take it off.

Place your ham flat-side down on the roasting rack in your roasting pan. If you don’t have a roasting pan, set a metal cooling rack over a rimmed baking sheet. You don’t want your ham getting all soggy sitting in those juices.

pouring honey glaze over a spiral ham.

Step One: Make the Honey Ham Glaze

When should I glaze my ham?

The glaze goes on before the ham is baked. In a small bowl, melt a couple tablespoons of butter. Squirt in a bit of Dijon. Add in a bunch of honey. Stir it together until it’s deliciously syrupy. That’s it!

How to make Honey Ham Glaze

Use your hands to massage the honey mixture into the ham all over, top to bottom, side to side. Work it in between the spiral cuts. It’s okay if some of the mixture drips into the bottom of your pan. Scoop it up and slap it back on the ham.

how to make honey baked ham copycat recipe.

Step Two: Cook your Honey Glazed Ham

Should I bake ham covered or uncovered?

When baking your glazed ham, you definitely want to cover it with foil! A poor ham gets all dried out if you bake it uncovered, even if you have smothered it with glaze as we have. Add about a cup of water to the bottom of your roasting pan to keep everything nice and moist.

How long do you bake ham for?

Bake for about 20 minutes per pound of ham. (You can also slow cook it! See recipe for details.)

Do you cook a ham at 325 or 350?

325! Either temperature will work, but I prefer to bake ham loooow and slow. 325 is best to ensure a juicy, tender ham that is not dried out.

How to check the temperature of baked ham

A meat thermometer is your best bet. Insert into the thickest part of the ham and avoid contact with any bone. Remember, your ham is already thoroughly cooked; it was safe to eat before you put it in the oven. 140 degrees F is the temperature you want for a completely warm and juicy ham.

Let your ham cool about 15-20 minutes before eating (or torching!)

Should I brush my ham with glaze halfway through baking?

Yes and no. If you plan to follow this recipe, you’ll get a Honey Baked Ham copycat with a crackly, delicious Honey Baked Ham sugar-shell, and there’s no need to brush your ham with more glaze while it’s cooking. Instead, we are rubbing it with dry sugar and torching it to get that crackly crust (THEN adding more glaze as a serving sauce.) Just keep reading! So worth it!

However, if you’re not planning to follow the recipe through to the end and want a traditional glazed ham, then yes, about 20 minutes before your ham is done roasting, take it out of the oven, brush with more glaze, and then return to the oven to finish heating.

Our ham is all baked. Now comes the fun part!

Step Three: Putting the Candy Shell on your Honey Ham

It’s time to bust out the pyrotechnics.

sugar and spices in a bowl being used as a dry rub for ham.
  1. In a bowl, combine granulated sugar and the spices. Cinnamon, cloves, ginger, paprika, etc. Set aside half of it, you need it later.
  2. You can use your hands to coat the ham in sugar if you like, but I think it’s way easier to spread the sugar in a rimmed pan, then roll the ham in the sugar.
ham on a sheet pan that is covered in sugar.
  1. Now it’s time to torch! Nothing makes you feel more like a 12-year-old boy with some firecrackers than a kitchen torch. Just call me Sid.
cooking a honey baked ham with a kitchen torch.

Keep the torch moving continually. The flame should not stay in the same spot for any period of time. Move in small circles until the area you’re working on has transformed from little grains of sugar into a melty bubbly shiny caramely bit of lava. Once it’s bubbly, move on to the next area. Within a minute or two, the liquid will harden into a shiny crackly shell, like this:

honey baked ham glaze over ham with sugar over it.

Now I know what you’re going to ask next.

Can you broil the ham instead of torching?

The short answer: yes but not really. How’s that for being clear? You can rub the sugar mixture and broil it, but because of the natural shape of the ham, it will cook unevenly, leaving you with an almost guaranteed burned edge (I know because I tried it.) And don’t get me wrong, we still ate that ham and it was delicious. Just not really the same effect. Plus it’s hard to turn a ham to get all parts under the broiler.

side view of a sliced spiral ham.

A kitchen torch really is the tool you need to recreate the honey baked ham effect. Buy a kitchen torch today and then you have an excuse to make this Crème Brulée Cheesecake, or this Crème Brulée  Pumpkin Pie. Torch all the things!!

After you’ve finished torching your ham and have snuck a thousand tiny bites of the edge, it’s time to make a final glaze to be used as a delightfully syrupy serving sauce. Take that leftover sugar mixture and put it in a small pan with some of the ham drippings (or you can use water). Be sure to skim the fat.

honey baked ham glaze dripping from a pastry brush.

Bring the mixture to a boil and let simmer for a minute or two until thickened. Pass the glaze at the table! It is a sticky and sweet glaze and the perfect compliment to a salty ham.

Storing leftover Honey Bake Ham

A baked ham will keep in the fridge for 7-10 days.

Can you freeze Honey Bake Ham?

If you want to freeze leftovers, make sure you seal well it well in a ziplock or airtight container. You don’t want it to dry out. It will keep in the freezer for up to 6 months. Yes I said months! I feel like I ALWAYS have chopped ham in my freezer from the last holiday. It’s the perfect jump start to a no brain dinner like Split Pea Soup, Ham Mac and Cheese Soup, Hashbrown Breakfast Casserole, or Cheesy Ham Broccoli Frittata.

And that’s everything! This really is my new favorite ham! We could not stop eating it! I will have to buy a store-bought Honey Baked Ham someday (they are like $125!!!) and let you know how they compare. But I really don’t know how it could get better than this! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

How to use Honey Glazed Ham Recipe leftovers

More main dish ham recipes to try out!

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Honey Bake Ham

4.94 from 131 votes
Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 2 hours 20 minutes
Total: 2 hours 35 minutes
Servings: 15
I am totally obsessed with this Copycat Honey Baked Ham Recipe! It is so simple and yet the results are absolutely insane. No wonder people pay so much money for these! Instead of glazing and roasting, we are rubbing it with dry sugar and hitting it with a kitchen torch. The crispy edges of this ham are like candy!

Ingredients

  • 1 half spiral cut ham, (7-8 pounds)
  • 2 tablespoons butter, melted
  • 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
  • 1/3 cup honey

For dry rub

  • 1 & 1/2 cups granulated sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1/2 teaspoon cloves
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon paprika
  • 1/4 teaspoon ginger
  • 1/4 teaspoon allspice

Instructions

  • First start off by choosing a really high quality ham. I love to use a bone-in spiral ham; the bone provides tons of flavor that a boneless ham just can't compete with. You want a ham that is fully cooked and labeled as smoked.
  • Preheat your oven to 325 degrees and place the oven rack in the lower 1/3 of the oven.
  • Unwrap your beautiful ham and remove all the netting and shrink wrap. Often they have a little ham glaze packet sealed inside. Toss it in the trash with gusto, we have bigger plans for this ham. Sometimes there is a little plastic cap over the bone, take it off.
  • Place your ham flat-side down on the roasting rack in your roasting pan. (If you don’t have a roasting pan, set a metal cooling rack over a rimmed baking sheet.) You don’t want your ham getting all soggy sitting in those juices.
  • Make the honey glaze. In a small bowl, melt 2 tablespoons butter. Add 1 tablespoon dijon mustard. Add in 1/3 cup honey. Stir it together until it's deliciously syrupy.
  • Use your hands to massage the honey mixture into the ham all over, top to bottom, side to side. Work it in between the spiral cuts. It’s okay if some of the mixture drips into the bottom of your pan. Scoop it up and slap it back on the ham as best you can.
  • Add about a cup of water to the bottom of your roasting pan. Cover your ham and the pan completely with foil.
  • Bake at 325 for about 2 hours and 20 minutes, or about 20 minutes per pound of ham. (You can also slow cook it! See recipe notes for details.) The internal temperature should be about 140 degrees F. Remember, your ham is already cooked, so this measurement is just to make sure it's heated all the way through.
  • Let your ham cool outside of the oven for about 15-20 minutes. Leave the foil on the ham so it doesn't dry out.
  • Make the dry rub.
    In a bowl, combine 1 and 1/2 cups granulated sugar and the spices: 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon cloves, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon paprika, 1/4 teaspoon ginger, 1/4 teaspoon allspice.
  • Pour half of the sugar mixture (about 3/4 cup) into a rimmed baking sheet.
  • Add the other half to a small saucepan and set aside.
  • Uncover your ham. If the edges of the ham are not very moist, brush with pan juices. Use hot pads to transfer the ham to the pan with the sugar. Roll the ham (not the flat side) in the sugar, using your hands to pat on more sugar as necessary. Continue rolling and coating the ham until the sugar has created a crunchy exterior all over the ham.
  • Torch. 
    Now it’s time to light up the kitchen torch! Place the flame about an inch away from the ham. Keep the torch moving continually.  The flame should not stay in the same spot for any period of time. Move in small circles until the area you're working on has transformed from little grains of sugar into bubbly bits of lava. Once it's bubbly, move on to the next area. Within a minute or two, the liquid will harden into a shiny crackly shell. Continue until the entire ham has a beautiful hardened sugar coating.
  • You can serve the ham right away or place it back in the oven on the “keep warm setting” (about 170 degrees F) until you are ready to serve. Cover with foil so it doesn’t dry out if it’s going to be more than a couple minutes.
  • Meanwhile, make the serving glaze.
    Add the remaining 3/4 cup sugar mixture to a small saucepan. If there are enough drippings in the pan, add it to a fat separator. Once the fat has risen to the top, pour about 1/3 cup ham drippings into the saucepan. (You can use 1/3 cup water if you don't have enough drippings or don't want to deal with separating fat.)
  • Stir together and bring to a boil over medium heat. Let the mixture boil for about 2-5 minutes, until it has thickened into a gaze consistency. Remove from heat. Serve with the ham. This mixture will eventually start to harden and caramelize; just stick it in the microwave or heat the pot on low until it has melted again.

Video

Notes

Slow Cooker Instructions
Place your ham flat side down in the slow cooker. Use your hands to massage the butter/honey mixture into the ham. Cook on low for 4-5 hours until heated through (140 degrees F). Let cool slightly and then continue with the sugaring/torching process as described in the recipe. Keep warm in the oven until ready to serve (optional).

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 631kcal | Carbohydrates: 27g | Protein: 46g | Fat: 37g | Saturated Fat: 14g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 17g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 135mg | Sodium: 2532mg | Potassium: 612mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 26g | Vitamin A: 64IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 17mg | Iron: 2mg
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
Calories: 631
Keyword: baked, Ham, Honey
Did you make this? I’d love to see it!Mention @thefoodcharlatan or tag #thefoodcharlatan!

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Comments

    1. Hi Narumon! You can rub the sugar mixture on the ham and broil it, but because of the natural shape of the ham, it will cook unevenly, leaving you with an almost guaranteed burned edge. I recommend buying a torch!

  1. This looks so good!
    Is there a good way to make the day before and warm up next day?
    Would it be ok to leave in oven during church and dry rub when home? Just afraid of over cooking.

    1. Hi Candi! Yes, you can place the ham back in the oven on the “keep warm setting” (about 170 degrees F) until you are ready to serve. Cover with foil so it doesn’t dry out. Then when you get home from church you can dry rub and torch. Enjoy!

  2. I think you just saved my Christmas dinner. We are iced in, here in Oregon; we can’t get out to family and family can’t get to us. So, the prime rib is going in the freezer and I’m going to adapt your recipe for the two lovely ham steaks that I’ve been saving for something special. It doesn’t get more special than Christmas, even if it is just my husband and me. Add scalloped potatoes, roasted asparagus, and a small cheesecake (for him) and chocolate pecan pie (for me) and it will be a wonderful Christmas dinner . . . that is suddenly looking a bit more like Easter than Christmas (but if it wasn’t for Easter, we wouldn’t celebrate Christmas). Happy Christmas, to you and your family.

  3. Your direction to toss the little glaze packet out with gusto made me laugh! Much needed laughter on a Christmas Eve where I wasn’t 100% feeling in the holiday spirit. 

    1. Hi Cheryl! Yes, you can use spicy mustard instead. As long as you enjoy the flavor of whatever mustard you’ve got on hand, you’ll enjoy it in this recipe (as long as you don’t mind a little heat). Hope it turns out perfectly!

    2. 5 stars
      I’ve NEVER cooked a ham before, but love Honeybaked, so I tried this recipe and my ham turned out PERFECT!!  Only difference is I cooked at 275 for 1hr20min for a 9lbs half-sized bone-in ham.  Only issue was I set off the smoke detector once lol ^^; but it’s always been sensitive and the ham wasn’t even burning (stupid thing), but it was directly above my workspace…so that was likely the problem.  Oh well, it was fine.  

      Oh, and I sent a picture to my very wealthy, “5-star-or-bust” in-laws and they said they were jealous!!  

      The whole meal cost less than $40! (Probably a lot less, actually bc the ham was 99¢/lbs so $10 after tax?) And with leftovers we’ll be fed for at least a week!

      1. I’m so happy to hear it was a success Meryl! Feels good to save all that money right?? Thanks so much for taking the time to review!

  4. 5 stars
    Made this for the two of us for after family Thanksgiving dinner. Awesome. I omitted ginger & paprika. As good as HB and about 1/4 the cost. I warmed it in my electric smoker about two hours at 245 degrees (3 lb ham). Thanks for a great recipe.

    1. So happy it was a hit DLee! Great idea using an electric smoker, I bet it was fabulous. Thanks so much for sharing your review!

  5. Trying this tomorrow…had to order torch. Can’t wait. I forgot the Dijon but I’ll think of something. Thank you for sharing this with us. I hate the package stuff too, that is how I found your recipe. Happy Thanksgiving!

    1. Hi Annabeth! This recipe hasn’t been tested without heating the ham with the glaze on, but if you try it, I do recommend that you still rub the glaze on the cold ham so that the dry rub will stick. If you try it this way, let us know how it turns out! Enjoy :-)

  6. 5 stars
    I made this for Easter! It was a great hit. I’m very picky and I loved it. I’m glad I tried it out this is the way I’m gonna make my ham from now on.

  7. 5 stars
    delish! just decided to try this with my small, inexpensive spiral sliced ham from walmart…halfed your ingredients, as it was only 3.5 pounds, and i didn’t have a torch:(…but it was so small, i could stick large forks in it and turn it under the broiler (will def. buy a torch for next time…i watched it very carefully, and it was beautiful!  best ham recipe ever!!

    1. Hi! This looks amazing. Planning on making it for Easter. If I have a non-sliced, bone-in ham, should I slice it before or after doing the sugar coating?
      Thanks!

      1. Hi Sarah! I’ve tried this before with a non-sliced ham, and I recommend slicing after completing the sugar coating step. Thanks for commenting, enjoy!

  8. Tried this for tomorrow’s Easter dinner. Don’t even THINK about baking this for 20 minutes per pound. It’s not totally burnt, but it is extremely over cooked. I’m just hoping my family will eat it anyway.

  9. 5 stars
    This was the BEST ham! We ate every crumb! I couldn’t find a spiral ham, so used a bone-in ham. I didn’t think it could taste like the original Honey Baked Ham, but it did! In fact, I think it was better! I didn’t have a kitchen torch, but my husband had a blow torch in the garage! It worked perfectly, too!

    1. You know things are getting good when somebody busts out the blow torch Angelynn 😂 So glad you guys enjoyed it!! Thank you so much for coming back to comment!

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