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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Most Sunday’s were left-overs from Sat.. That at times could be our biggest meal. Mom would fry chicken, and some biscuits with green beans and corn! The big deal was going out to eat on Sunday for us! We cooked all during the week it was a treasure to have a break! I guess you can say I grew up in a modern southern family!
BUT dinner on the grounds at church was a BIG occasion! We would start early in the week with planning, and baking what could be made early like cakes and such! Then come Friday night when I got to be about ten I might stay the night with my grandmother to help boil and peel eggs and then we would put them in the frig. Then the next day I would actually be in charge of splitting and making dozens of deviled eggs! Then there would be veggies, a huge pot pie, and I would get to choose something NEW to try out on the congregation from a cookbook!
Two things that have become family standards include bbq hot dogs and Cheesy Bacon Ranch Chicken (This one I introduced while in college).
Now with my small family it varies. We have a meat, starch, veggie, and bread. small group we have to keep it simple! And then sometimes we go out!
Sadly, my family never really had special Sunday dinners. I always wished we had and I think that’s why I love making them now. Start your own traditions, right?
Just like at your house, Sunday dinner was always a big deal. It usually involved a roast that my mom would get up early and begin cooking. After coming home from church, the roast would be done and all that would be left to do was make the roast gravy and prepare the yummy sides that usually involved my mom’s famous mashed potatoes. After moving out and starting my own family, the tradition has not changed. Sunday dinner still happens at my mom’s and it’s a rarity for me and my sisters along with our families to miss it. I have attempted Sunday dinner at my house a couple of times but just can’t seem to pull it off like my mom! She always makes it look so easy, so I figure, if she can do it with such ease, why mess up a good thing..I hope to be at my mom’s table on Sundays for many years to come!
OOPS! I meant Wild Kingdom. Got kind of carried away there with the memories and didn’t proof-read!
I grew up on a farm approx 50 mi west of Birmingham, AL. My dad always had a large summer garden, also he raised beef and grew soy beans. Most all of our food came from the garden and beef from calves he’d set aside for the home freezer. My mother froze lots of peas, beans, corn, okra, tomatoes and canned jams and preserves. Daddy didn’t care for pizza, spaghetti, etc. he wanted veggies with cornbread or my mother’s homemade yeast rolls or angel biscuits! I remember him periodically bringing in crates of chicken halves packed in ice that my mother would package into family portions and freeze. So, Sunday dinners were always larger meals with more vegetables (crowder peas, green beans, fried okra, sliced tomatoes, green onions, sliced cucumbers – all from the garden) along with beef pot roasts or fried chicken, deviled eggs and quite often mother would have me make a pear salad platter by placing letuce leaves, half a pear, dollop of mayo and shredded cheese on top. My dad was diabetic so not a lot of heavy sweets were kept around the house but she’d make strawberry shortcake when the berries were available or angel food cake.
Panzey , my Mama and Ma would make this salad also. Sometimes they would use pineapple slices instead of pears.
Christy, we always sit down at the table and eat when I fix a meal, no matter how simple it is. I call it being “civilized”, any old heathen can eat in front of the dern TV blaring. Even on a Sunday when it’s just my husband and I (and usually Mama), we sit and have a “Sunday Dinner” with all the fixings, including the ever present iced tea. Sitting down at the table together as a family, no matter how big or small, is one of the niceities of life. I encourage all of your readers…turn off the TV and turn to each other…it’s a wonderful way to spend a meal! Love you Christy, and love Southern Plate!
When I was young, everything we ate we grew – vegetable wise. My Daddy had a sister who worked at the IGA in Livingston and once a month, when they came to visit us, they brought a sack of canned food! That was something we very seldom used so to us it was a treat. That Sunday night for supper we would have english peas, creamed corn, corned beef hash, fried potatoes and biscuits. I thought that was the greatest thing in the world that we could eat like city folks! Of course once I got a little older, I realized how backward my thinking was. Sunday was also the only day my Daddy wore his khakis instead of overalls because he didn’t work that day. In warm weather we spent the afternoon on the porch in the swing and rocking chairs (you never knew who might stop by to visit) and then the highlight of the evening was the early supper. We were farmers and most of our suppers were eaten after 8:00 at night. After supper we watched Mutual of Omaha’s Wilk Kingdom with your host, Marlin Perkins, immeidiately followed by the Wonderful World of Disney. What I wouldn’t give for just one more of those Sundays.
Lisa, I remember those Sunday night programs as well. My backward thinking was with store bought bread. Mama always made home made, and that was ‘bad’ in my mind…because we were poor. Only poor people had home made things. I remember feeling like a queen when we got ‘store bought’ bread. As I got older I realized how wonderful it was to have a Mama to make home made bread. Now I have her make me some whenever I get to visit. Home made or home grown truely is the best!!
Our Sunday dinners were whatever was a good sale that week. We always had enough to eat, even thought we didn’t have much money.
Melanie, My great-grandmother married a southern Virginia boy who grew up on biscuits and gravy. She refused to bake him biscuits and NEVER made biscuits for anyone for that matter. She only purchased “light-bread”. Later on, my Momma married a southern Virginia boy and he too grew up on biscuits and gravy. My great-grandmother told my momma that she’d have to make him biscuits and my momma didn’t even know how to. Do you know, when my dad went for Sunday supper, my great-grandmother made him biscuits! So funny, but a true story. My parent have been married for 39 years and my momma prefers to buy those frozen biscuits at walmart and bake them off. Just cracks me up! 🙂