Southern Baked Ham Recipe with 3-Ingredient Brown Sugar Glaze
Set this Southern baked ham recipe on the holiday table and watch everybody try to guess what’s in that shiny brown sugar glaze. It comes from my great-grandmother Lela, and her 3-ingredient glaze is just brown sugar, yellow mustard and a splash of Coke. A bone-in smoked ham bakes wrapped in foil for an hour, gets a second coat of glaze and bakes 30 minutes more uncovered, so you’re looking at about 1 hour 45 minutes plus a short rest before slicing.
A Quick Look At The Recipe
- Recipe Name: Baked Ham With Brown Sugar Glaze
- Serves: 4
- Main Ingredients: approx 8-lb. smoked, ready-to-cook, bone-in ham, packed brown sugar, coke, yellow mustard
- Why You'll Love It: This recipe for baked ham features the easiest and tastiest 3-ingredient brown sugar glaze that makes your ham positively shine. Also, save that ham bone for other delicious recipes!
There’s no honey, ground cloves or pineapple rings in this ham glaze, and nobody misses them. A good baked ham is a wonderful main course for Easter, Christmas or any Sunday dinner, and the leftovers usually give me at least three more meals. One of my favorite ways to use them is to warm up some Jordan rolls the next morning, split them and layer in warm slices of ham for a quick breakfast with a cup of coffee. Save that ham bone with a little meat still on it, too. Pop it in a gallon-size bag in the freezer and it’ll flavor the best pot of pinto beans or Senate bean soup you’ve ever had.
There’s another great ham recipe in my cookbook that you won’t find on SouthernPlate.com, so be sure to check it out.
Why This Baked Ham Recipe Works
The Coke turns the brown sugar and mustard into a glaze that’s a lot looser than you’d expect, so it brushes right on and coats every part of the ham you can reach. Wrapping the ham in foil for the first hour keeps it juicy while it heats through, and then the second coat of glaze bakes uncovered so it can brown on the outside.
What You Need for Brown Sugar Glazed Ham
- Smoked ham: I use an 8-pound smoked, ready-to-cook, bone-in ham. Spiral-cut and boneless hams are out there too, but bone-in is the one I recommend for this recipe, and you get that ham bone for later.
- Brown sugar: Light or dark, whatever you have in the pantry.
- Coke: Any cola works, including Diet Coke or Diet Dr. Pepper. For a more traditional glaze, swap in orange juice, or try ginger ale if you dare.
- Yellow mustard: Just a tablespoon of plain yellow mustard balances out the sweetness.
Helpful Tips Before You Start
- Use a baking pan with sides. The ham juice will leak out, and if it gets in the bottom of your oven you’ll have quite the smell in your house.
- Heavy-duty foil is great if you have it, but regular foil works fine. No sense spending extra money when you don’t have to.
- No basting brush? Spoon the glaze over the ham in big gobs and smear it around.
- If the glaze doesn’t loosen up after stirring, add another tablespoon of Coke.
- I slice my ham with an electric knife I got for about $25, but a sharp regular knife works just fine.
How to Make a Baked Ham with Brown Sugar Glaze
1Stir the glaze
In a small bowl, stir together the brown sugar, Coke and mustard. It will turn a lot more liquid than you expect.
2Glaze and wrap the ham
Line a rimmed baking pan with foil and set the ham in the center. Brush half of the glaze over every part of the ham you can reach, then wrap the foil up and seal it well.
3Bake for 1 hour
Bake the wrapped ham at 350°F for 1 hour.
4Glaze again and bake uncovered
Peel the foil back without moving the ham and brush on the rest of the glaze. Return it to the oven uncovered for 30 minutes more, or until lightly browned.
5Rest and slice
Let the ham sit for about 10 minutes before slicing. If you need to serve it later, cover it with foil to keep it warm, but I suggest slicing within half an hour, because that’s about as long as anybody can stand waiting once they smell it.
What to Serve with Baked Ham
For a holiday or Easter ham, I like it with homemade mashed potatoes or mashed sweet potatoes, a pot of fresh green beans and a plate of Southern deviled eggs. Cheesy hashbrown casserole, candied sweet potatoes and a basket of homemade dinner rolls round it out nicely, and a cool tomato, onion and cucumber salad keeps things light. Planning a big holiday dinner? My holiday menu ideas have plenty more sides to pick from.
Baked Ham FAQs
How long do you bake a ham at 350 degrees?
For an 8-pound smoked, ready-to-cook, bone-in ham, I bake it wrapped in foil for 1 hour, then uncovered for 30 minutes more after the second coat of glaze. Hams vary, so check the label on yours for its heating instructions too.
Can you make a ham glaze without honey?
This one doesn’t use any honey at all. Brown sugar, yellow mustard and Coke make a sweet, tangy glaze that’s simple to stir together from what’s already in your pantry.
What can I use instead of Coke in ham glaze?
Any carbonated soda works, including Diet Coke or Diet Dr. Pepper. Orange juice makes a more traditional glaze, and ginger ale is fun if you want to try something different.
Southern Baked Ham with 3-Ingredient Brown Sugar Glaze
Ingredients
- 1 approx 8-lb. smoked, ready-to-cook, bone-in ham
- 1 cup packed brown sugar light or dark, whatever you have
- 2 tablespoons coke or your favorite carbonated soda
- 1 tablespoon yellow mustard
Instructions
- Line a large pan with a lip around it with aluminum foil. Place the ham in the center of the foil.1 approx 8-lb. smoked, ready-to-cook, bone-in ham
- In a small bowl, stir together the brown sugar, coke, and mustard to make your glaze. Brush half of the glaze over the ham. Wrap the entire ham well in foil. Place in a 350-degree oven for 1 hour.1 cup packed brown sugar, 2 tablespoons coke, 1 tablespoon yellow mustard
- Remove the ham from the oven and peel back the foil, but don't move the ham. Brush the remaining glaze over the ham and return to the oven, uncovered, for another 30 minutes or until lightly browned.
- Allow it to sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes or so before cutting. If you need to serve it later you can cover it with foil to keep it warm and let it sit on your stovetop. I suggest cutting it within half an hour of removing it from the oven because that is about as long as you'll be able to stand waiting once you smell it.
Notes
- Storage: Keep leftover ham in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Serve it cold or reheat it quickly in the microwave. Freeze leftovers in a freezer-safe container or bag for up to 3 months and thaw overnight in the fridge.
- Soda swaps: Any cola works, including Diet Coke or Diet Dr. Pepper. Use orange juice for a more traditional glaze, or ginger ale for something different.
- Use a pan with sides: The ham juices will leak, and they’ll smoke if they drip into your oven.
- Ham: This recipe is written for a bone-in smoked ham. Check your ham’s label for its heating instructions.
- For a festive touch: Decorate the ham with maraschino cherries.
Nutrition
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When I was a girl, we used to go to my great-grandmother’s house every Sunday. She lived about an hour’s drive away, so by the time we got there, had dinner and spent the afternoon visiting, then drove home… it was an all day affair.
You never knew who would turn up for dinner, and Grandma didn’t either. She’d almost always cook a beef roast with potatoes and carrots, or fried chicken. But… if other people showed up, she’d go to the fridge and start pulling out some pork chops from the night before, or a little “dab” of spaghetti from two nights ago. Combined with the usual vegetables, rolls or cornbread, cucumbers, tomatoes, etc…. there would be quite a spread on the table. Almost like a buffet. LOL Dessert was usually a pie or cobbler of some kind.
When there were big dinners, such as a holiday, the house would be full of people. It seemed like the women were always in the kitchen, the men were either in the living room in front of the tv, or ourside talking, and the children were running everywhere, visiting with cousins that we didn’t see very often. One bedroom always had 2 or 3 babies asleep on the bed. LOL The men would sit at the big dining room table and eat first, the women and children sat at the smaller kitchen table and were served after the men. I’m not sure I’d settle for that these days. 😉
Sometimes we kids would get to spend the night with Grandma. That meant homemade doughnuts or buttermilk pancakes for breakfast. They were out of this world delicious. She’d also bake pies and save all the dough scrap for us kids. We roll it out, cut it into shapes and sprinkle cinnamon sugar on it… then she’d bake it right along with her pies.
I have such fond memories of that time of my life. Sadly, my parents and all of my grandparents are gone, and much of the family has scattered to the four corners. I try to keep that Sunday dinner tradition alive for my own family. That’s the day that I make something that takes a little more time than a week night meal, and there’s always dessert. I think it’s important to slow down and spend time together around the table. It gives us time to connect with one another.
Many of your recipes have been a part of those meals for us, so thank you for the part you play in our Sunday dinner memories. 🙂
I bought a ready to cook spiral ham one time and did this. Do not make that mistake. Make sure it is not a spiral ham. If it is, it will dry out like you can’t imagine. I’ve got to buy another ham and try it again. And, by the way, that was advise given from my grandmother. When I asked what I had done wrong, her first question was what kind of ham did you buy. Thank you “Crissy Lissy” for the great ham recipe.
By the way, my mom’s already got lunch planned out for Sunday. Is your mom that way too? You can always ask them on Friday what’s for Sunday lunch and they already know. I wish I was that organized.
I think Sunday dinner is where I began cooking. When I was in high school I would go to Sunday School with my family, but while they stayed for church I would go home and fix dinner and it would be on the table when they got home. The menu did not vary much as it was based on my dad’s preference which was steak , mashed potatoes, gravy, peas, and lettuce salad. I generally baked a cake the night before. My mom was a terrific cook, but I think she loved the relief of me cooking on Sunday. I still love to do Sunday night suppers for my kids as they don’t eat much of the traditional food except here.
OK. This is a little opener before my Sunday dinner comment. I am a southerner true and true. I was born in South Carolina and have lived here my whole life. All my family, back for generations are South Carolinians. Now lately when I talk to people, they cannot believe I am from SC. Apparently I have no southern accent whatsoever.
When we had Sunday dinner at home, the ones I remember most are either steak on the grill or fried chicken. My dad would cook steaks on the grill and we would also have a salad and a baked potato. My dad used charcoal and he would pour gasoline on the coals and then set that baby on fire. I know that this is probably not politically correct nowadays but this is how he did it. On fried chicken Sundays we would drive to downtown Charleston from Mt. Pleasant. We would first go to the Piggly Wiggly on Meeting Street and get some potato salad and then we would stop at the Church’s Chicken to get our chicken.
My favorite Sunday dinner was prepared by my Granny. My dream dinner would be fried chicken, chicken and rice pirlow (I don’t think this is the correct spelling but I spelled grammatically so you would know how we said it) butter beans and homemade biscuits with a slice of tomato from the garden. My grandfather grew the best tomatoes in the world, no lie. The world has lost one of the greatest home gardeners as he passed away last year. Thanks for listening it was actually kind of cathartic to relive some of these great memories.
I’m guessing that the name of that dish is “rice pileau,” a tasty combination of sausage, bacon, onions, chicken and rice. And of course a Southern tongue would say “low” for the French “leau.” Gotta love it.
This looks fantastic. I wonder Christy if you enter these memories in a journal for your children. I grew up on a farm and we lived a very simple life. My grandfather lived with us my entire life and the memories he shared with us were priceless. I often times wished I’d have recorded his stories for my grandchildren. Let’s just say I am over 60 years old and I share what I can remember but sadly that seems to be less and less as years go by. The richness of our lives shouldn’t die with us.
For the good old days again. Thanks so much for your Family stories for they are the same for a lot of us. Thank you again.
I grew up like you – mom made those wonderful Sunday dinners. She was probably up by 5 am putting the green beans in the pressure cooker, putting a roast with all the trimmings in the oven, making a salad & perhaps two desserts. She also made her own yeast rolls. By the time we got home from church we just added a couple more veggies & set the table. Wow, what wonderful memories – I’m afraid my family eats out most Sundays. We’re some of those good Baptists that hurry from church to get to a restaurant before the Methodists!!! Love your articles & all your “southerness”. A girl after my own heart!!!
M y favorite Sunday dinner was pot roast made with beef short ribs. My Mama would make this before we went to church.She would season and flour the shortribs brown them in Armour lard,which was all we had in our small grocery stores in Quinlan,TX.pop.less than 500,then after they were all browned she would put salt,pepper,and flour in the drippings and let that brown,add water and let it thicken, quarter potatoes and onions then cut carrots in large pieces and put this all in a dutch oven. Then she would make yeast rolls and a pie crust. She would dress for church and when we got in from church she would mix up either coconut or chocolate for our pie,punch the rolls down,make tea then make the rolls out,open a jar of her pinto beans or green beans and a jar of corn,all vegeables she had canned herself. That was my favorite. Her fried chicken was also a close favorite but that roast I could taste all the while at church. My Mama was the best pie maker in the world and her hot rolls too. I sure miss her and all her good cooking. We lost her June 7,2010. She was 93 and cooked for us till her death.
Wish I could have eaten dinner with y’all. Sounds wonderful.