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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Sunday dinners were nice but growing up with my grandparents every dinner was a sit down together meal. But holiday dinners were my favorite, that was the time that every one had to come home and enjoy the holiday together. The ladies would be in the kitchen cooking and fussing and laughing. The men would be yelling at the tv or arguing over books, tv or whatever. There would be so much food and special dishes and music and moms running around chasing babies. Turns out my pop pop was the one that held those traditions together and since his passing we havent had dinners like that since but i can clearly remember them and hope to create them with my own family now.
Sunday Dinners at Mama Brown’s house… Fried chicken (that had earlier been running around the yard eating scraps), ham (that Daddy Brown got from the slaughter house he worked at part time), and the vegetables from the garden: field peas, blackeyed peas, tater salad, cabbage, turnip greens with turnips, creamed corn. Fried corn pone and homemade biscuits. Butter and homemade preserves. The little layer cakes made from scratch in the finest Geneva County traditions. The relish tray with Mama Brown’s homemade pickles and fresh mater slices.
My Mama and Daddy Brown have long since passed, but if we’re down at Aunt Martha’s, she’ll cook us Sunday dinner.
We’ve instituted a monthly Sunday Dinner at Mama and Daddy’s house, especially since Mama’s health has declined. My four sister-in-laws and myself alternate cooking the meal for the family. Mama and Daddy get a good homecooked meal and to visit with their children and grandchildren, the grandchildren get memories that will last a lifetime.
I have a Question. If you slow cooked the ham all day could ya still use the glaze or would it burn?
Christy,
My Sunday dinners sound much the same but I always gaged how good they were on whether or not my Aunt made her great potato salad! Somehow, after she died, the potato salad became my job! Wish I had a nickel for every bowl I have made. We did the roast and onion soup mix a lot too. I also have cooked lots of chicken casseroles for Sunday lunch. I do one that has Stove Top stuffing on it that is a very quick version of chicken and dressing!
Thanks a million!
My mom always made a big Sunda Dinner for us to eat after church. As lobg as she served her baked macaroni and cheese I was happy. Her Sunda dinners were what inspired me to cook the way I do today.
Loved reading all the stories & memories. My mother made a roast in the oven with gravy and potatoes, green beans, corn, tea and rolls most Sundays. She also made us (me, my brother & sister) breakfast and got us dressed & our hair fixed for church, all while my father sat in his recliner reading the Sunday paper!? lol We rarely went to my grandparents for Sunday lunch because they lived so far away.
Sunday Dinners. Other than Christmas, this was the only other day the entire family got together and we did EVERY Sunday . All of the family, 3 uncles and their families, 2 aunts with their families and then my mom, dad, brother, sister, me and whoever else wanted to come, all showed up at Nannies house at 1100 every Sunday for Sunday Dinner. Nanny would feed about 30 or more of us. Fried chicken every time, sometimes a roast along with the chicken, sometimes cabbage rolls. Always mashed potatoes,fried squash or okra, mac and cheese, pinto beans or green beans, cornbread, fried corn , slaw, all the raw veggies, cucumbers, onions, tomatoes. After dinner,the uncles would watch football, the aunts would clean the kitchen, us kids would go outside and play. Then later that afternoon, we would all come back to the table for gossiping and everybody picking at the dessert, which was usually a Sock It To Me Cake or cornbread and peaches or cornbread and sweet potatoes. Nanny passed away in 1996, we tried to keep the tradition going, on a monthly basis, then every 3 months and now it’s about once a year. There’s nothing like your Nanny keeping the family together.