Baked ham has been a Reilly family tradition for as long as I can remember. Whether it’s a cozy Sunday Supper or a big game day celebration (going as far back as the Packers vs. Broncos Super Bowl in ’98!), ham always takes center stage at our family table.
I’m so excited to finally share this Maple Glazed Ham recipe! It’s a treasured family classic with a couple of fun PWWB twists. Even when I’m far from home, the sweet, smoky aroma of this ham fills my kitchen with all the cozy, nostalgic feels. If you’re craving a comforting, home-cooked meal, this is it!
If you’ve never baked or glazed a ham before, don’t worry—this is the perfect place to start. This recipe is delightfully simple. It uses just a handful of carefully chosen ingredients that highlight the ham’s naturally smoky-sweet flavor. Ham is hands-down the easiest holiday roast to make, so you can feel confident tackling this one, even as a beginner.
As a bonus, it’s festive and beautiful. Picture a bone-in, hardwood-smoked ham, perfectly juicy and tender, studded with cloves, and glistening with a golden-brown glaze of pure maple syrup, brown sugar, and mustard. It’s a total show-stopper, bursting with rich, smoky-sweet flavor. A total staple at my family’s dinner table!
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Glazing and Prepping a Ham for Baking
When it comes to holiday roasts, baked ham is seriously as easy as it gets! Because ham is an already fully-cooked product, the ultimate goal in baking it is to simply warm it through for serving.
…and since we’re all about creating BIG flavors here at PWWB, this citrus and maple glazed ham recipe is all about making the ham even tastier by enhancing its natural smoky-sweet flavor.
What size ham is best? ⇢ In my experience, an 8-10 pound ham is ideal: small enough to not require a ton of time in the oven and large enough to feed a crowd of 6-8 adults. If you’re serving a larger crowd, I suggest baking 2 smaller hams.
Prepare the ham glaze. Combine brown sugar, whole grain mustard, maple syrup, and orange zest in a small bowl and whisk to combine.
Make-Ahead Tip! ⇢ Save time by making the glaze up to 5 days in advance, storing it in an airtight container in the refrigerator until you’re ready to prepare your ham.
Score the ham. Use a paring knife to create a set of 1/4-inch thick score lines 1-inch apart across the length of the ham. Turn the ham 45 degrees and create a second set of score lines, which will create the iconic glazed ham diamond pattern.
Glaze and stud the ham. Spoon a little bit of the maple brown sugar glaze on the ham, using your hands to work it across the entire surface of the ham. Place thinly sliced orange around the surface of the ham, and tack them into place with whole cloves.
Transfer the ham to a baking dish. Slather the rest of the maple brown sugar glaze over the ham, wrap it in foil, and you’re ready to bake!
Bake the ham. Bake at 325 degrees F until a thermometer inserted into the center of the ham registers 145 degrees F, about 15 minutes per pound. Halfway through baking, remove the foil from the baking dish and baste the ham with drippings from the dish. Return the uncovered ham to the oven, basting every 15 minutes of the remaining baking time.
Make Ahead Tip
If you like to do a little bit of prep ahead of time, you can prepare the ham for baking up to 3 days in advance. Store it right in its baking dish, wrapped in foil, in the refrigerator until you’re ready to bake.
PWWB tips for juicy and tender baked ham:
Even though baked ham is simple to prepare, the real challenge is keeping it juicy and tender. Since the ham is already fully cooked, it’s especially prone to drying out during baking. But don’t worry—there are a few easy tricks to ensure your ham stays perfectly moist and flavorful:
- Cover with foil. For the first hour of baking, keep your ham wrapped snugly in foil. This traps the steam inside the baking dish, creating a cozy “ham sauna” that keeps the meat tender and juicy.
- Baste generously. After removing the foil, baste the ham frequently—about every 15 minutes—with its maple glaze drippings. Basting not only locks in moisture but also allows the sweet, citrusy flavors of the glaze to soak into the scored surface, making every bite extra flavorful.
- Finish with high heat. During the last 30 minutes of baking, crank up the oven to 375°F. This helps the glaze caramelize beautifully, creating that irresistible glossy finish that everyone loves.
What to Serve with Baked Ham: Pineapple Sauce and a Holiday Spread!
It’s not a holiday dinner without all of the fixings!
In my family, maple glazed ham is always paired with our signature pineapple sauce—a breeze to whip up while the ham rests. Made with crushed pineapple, savory ham drippings, a touch of Dijon mustard, and a hint of orange zest and cinnamon, this sauce is sweet, zesty, and tangy. It’s the ultimate pairing for smoky-sweet maple glazed ham! The full how-to is in the Recipe Card, below.
Some of our other go-to ham dinner accompaniments include Creamy Garlic Mashed Potatoes, roasted veggies (like Carrots or Smashed Brussels Sprouts!) or a simple Mixed Greens Side Salad.
Have leftover ham you don’t know what to do with? That’s a great problem to have! Whip up a Cheesy Ham and Potato Casserole to enjoy this maple glazed ham all over again!
I cannot wait for you to have your hand at trying this Citrus and Maple Glazed Ham Recipe. It’s the perfect stunning centerpiece to any special dinner table – Easter, Christmas, Sunday dinner, you name it.
If you do give it a try, be sure to let me know!: Leave a comment with a star rating below. You can also snap a photo and tag @playswellwithbutter on Instagram. I LOVE hearing about and seeing your PWWB creations! Happy cooking! ♡
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Perfectly Juicy Citrus & Maple Glazed Ham
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours
- Yield: serves 8
- Category: Main dishes
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
This simple Citrus and Maple Glazed Ham recipe is a treasured family recipe that creates the most perfect citrusy and smoky-sweet oven baked ham! The perfect holiday roast for Easter, Christmas, or any celebratory dinner.
Ingredients
- 1 8-10 pound Appleton Farms Hardwood Smoked Bone-In Ham
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1/3 cup whole grain mustard (see Recipe Notes)
- 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
- 1 orange, zested and juiced
- 2 oranges, thinly sliced
- whole cloves, for studding the ham
pineapple sauce (optional, for serving):
- Citrus and Maple Glazed Ham drippings, strained and skimmed of excess fat
- 1 20-ounce can crushed pineapple, drained
- 1 orange, zested
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- kosher salt, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
- Mix the maple brown sugar ham glaze: Add the brown sugar, whole grain mustard, maple syrup and orange zest to a small bowl. Mix to combine; the glaze will have the consistency of a thick paste. Set aside.
- Prepare the ham for baking: Add the fresh squeezed orange juice to the bottom of an 8×12 baking dish, sprinkling in a couple of whole cloves. Set aside.
- Score the ham: Using a paring knife, score the ham with a set of lines, approximately 1-inch apart and approximately 1/4-inch deep. Rotate the ham 45 degrees, and score the ham with a second set of lines, approximately 1-inch apart and approximately 1/4-inch deep, creating a cross-hatch or diamond pattern of scorelines across the entire ham.
- Glaze the ham: Spoon half of the prepared glaze on the ham, using your hands to rub it over the entire surface of the ham.
- Stud the ham with oranges: Arrange the thinly sliced orange over the entire surface of the ham, using whole cloves to tack the oranges in place.
- Glaze the ham: Spoon the remaining maple glaze over the ham and orange slices, again using your hands to rub it over the entire surface of the ham.
- Transfer the ham to the prepared baking dish, covering with aluminum foil.
- Bake the ham until a thermometer inserted into the center of the ham registers 145 degrees F, about 15 minutes per pound (so, a 10 pound ham will bake for 150 minutes, or 2 hours 30 minutes). Halfway through the total bake time, remove the foil from the baking dish and use a baster to baste the liquid that accumulates at the bottom of the baking dish back over the surface of the ham. Return the ham to the oven (uncovered), basting every 15 minutes of the remaining baking time. With 30 minutes left in the total baking time, increase the heat to 375 degrees F to help the oranges caramelize.
- Rest and carve: Remove the ham from the oven and carefully transfer to a cutting board. Set aside to rest for 15 minutes before carving the ham into 1/4-1/2-inch thick slices as desired.
- Optional: Make the pineapple sauce: Meanwhile, as the ham rests, make the pineapple sauce. Carefully strain the ham drippings through a fine mesh sieve into a liquid measuring cup, using a spoon to remove any excess fat. You will need 1/2 cup of liquid for the pineapple sauce, so if you have a little less than 1/2 cup of drippings, simply add in some water (or broth/stock) into the liquid measuring cup to reach the 1/2 cup measure line. Transfer the drippings to a medium saucepan with the crushed pineapple, orange zest and mustard. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to low and continue to simmer, stirring occasionally, until reduced slightly, 10-12 minutes. Transfer to a serving dish.
- Serve: Transfer the carved ham to a serving dish. Serve immediately, with pineapple sauce, as desired. Enjoy!
Notes
- Ingredients Notes:
- Ham: You can use a bone-in butt or shank portion for this maple glazed ham recipe! Shank portions make for an especially gorgeous presentation. I have a slight preference for the butt portions, as they’re a little meatier and a little easier to carve. Use whatever you love most!
- Will spiral-cut ham work? While especially convenient, I tested this recipe with spiral-cut and found it was much more susceptible to drying out. Go for the Appleton Farms Hardwood Smoked Bone-In Ham – it is beautiful to serve and stays totally juicy and tender through baking…all great things when it comes to a baked ham dinner!
- Mustard for the ham glaze: I opt for whole grain mustard. If you cannot find whole grain mustard, you can certainly swap it out with your mustard of choice (yellow, Dijon, brown, etc.). Because whole grain has a milder taste, start with just a couple tablespoons, taste and add more as desired.
- Storing leftovers: Half the fun of ham dinner is enjoying leftovers for a few days afterward! Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Reheat ham in the microwave or oven, or do like the Reillys and toss a slab or two in a skillet to caramelize for a hearty breakfast!
- Freezing instructions: Baked ham is also incredibly freezer-friendly. To freeze, transfer any leftover ham to a freezer-safe container. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw by refrigerating overnight. Reheat as described above.
- 20-Minute Meal Prep: This Citrus and Maple Glazed Ham can be prepared up to 3 days in advance. Mix the glaze and prepare the ham for baking according to Steps 2-3 of Recipe Directions. Store in the refrigerator until you’re ready to bake. Allow the ham to come up to room temperature for about 1 hour before proceeding with baking as detailed in Steps 4-5 of Recipe Directions.
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