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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Hi Christy and All),
I grew up in the South – well, not really – Southern California, but my mom was an Okie and Dad was from Little Rock (my Gramma too). I remember dinners my mom and Grandmother cooked together sometimes. Grandpa passed when I was about 11 & we moved to Grandma’s house. She had her own apartment we built over the garage but spent most of her time with us. Our Sunday dinner’s were the best! Southern fried chicken, home canned green beens with bacon and onion. There was always some of the bacon fat in there too & they were yummy. I also loved the breaded, fried okra we made. I liked mine well done, but my dad liked his still soft (read, mushy : ( ). We always had mashed potatoes with cream gravy along with fresh creamed corn in the summertime. Oh, and homemade ice cream – what a treat! My family were also great pie makers. (Grandma made fried pies too – hers were filled with stewed apricots – yum!) Pecan pie was my mom’s favorite and I think of her whenever I bake one. I became the family baker at around 12 and loved to make yeast cheese bread for my dad too.
I’m really enjoying your site and have had a lot of fond memories rekindled on here. Among them, the country sayings folks shared. I grew up with a great many of them. I never fit the “CA Kid” mold, so somehow my “roots” stayed planted firmly in my southern heritage – and I thank the Lord for my family passing it along!
Deborah your experience with the young man that was mentally challenged brought a grin to my face. I have had the same thing to happen to me. It’s funny that one person can eat so much. By the way, we always had breakfast, dinner and supper. Supper consisted of leftovers from dinner. Now it is breakfast, lunch and dinner.
My Mom was a wonderful cook. We had fried chicken, roast, chicken and dressing etc. for the main part of our meals. She also baked delicious cakes (won blue ribbons when they were entered into the fair).
But sometime my Dad cooked Sunday dinner. It consisted of pork and beans, unheated, bologna, cheese, crackers, light bread, sardines (for him and my sis) Mom and I wouldn’t eat sardines, and maybe store bought cookies. He owned a small grocery store and those were his Sunday dinners. I remember once the preacher’s daughter came home with us for Sunday dinner. Mom fixed us sliced bananas with rich creamy milk for our dessert. Evidently it was one of those times when she wasn’t expecting company. But we enjoyed it anyway.
I’m sure we all enjoy our memories, especially as we get older. Hope we are leaving lots of good memories for our families.
I love Sunday’s in the south, I make a big lunch, even when my kids don’t make it in for the weekend, it was a tradition taught to me by my precious Moma.
This is my favorite memory of our Sunday dinners.
My dad pastored a Baptist Church when I was a child, (he still does at almost 80) he always brought folks home with us for lunch on Sundays. In the late 60’s a mentally challenged young man had started attending our church and dad felt he needed to bring him home with us for lunch, at this point I need to tell you, he was close to 7ft tall, weighed probably 250, and even at 14 I was terrified of him. Mom had her usual spread of fried chicken, green beans, mashed potatoes, gravy, mac n cheese, hot rolls, ice tea and chocolate cake. We knew that company got the plates of food first so we started with the chicken, he put every piece on his plate except the 2 legs, next came the beans he took most of them, and on and on leaving very little in each bowl. We knew by the looks we were getting not to say a word, company was treated like royalty. Mom just silently got up fixed the 3 of us kids pb & j sandwiches and I kid you not he asked “could I have one of those?”. She smiled so sweetly and said “Here you go this ones your’s” as she gave him mine.
He spent many lazy Sunday’s with us and became like a member of the family, and we never again passed the plates to him first.
We always had a big Sunday breakfast before we went to Sunday School and church. I remember sitting in Sunday School wondering if anyone else there smelled like bacon or sausage. Now that I am much older I see the method to the madness of the big breakfast cook before church. When we got home, we weren’t starving and mom had time to cook a big dinner at a more leisurely pace. She worked all week and Sunday was her time to shine. She could pack a lot of mothering into an afternoon. There never was a certain menu but it was always a good meal.
My Mom cooked Sunday dinner until she passed away 2 years ago and I loved any thing she cooked, There was always a housefull on Sunday. Now we only get together for holidays and birthdays with my sister and I sharing the cooking, I miss my Mom.
When I was young, we had whatever. As I got older (with older siblings gone) we had fried chicken, steak, pork roast and veggies. My mom would cook 3 meats and lots of veggies. She made a lot of pies. Sometimes, banana pudding or cake, but my Dad loved pie.
My favorite Sunday dinner was my Mama’s fried chicken, home cut french fries with asparagus served with Hollandaise sauce. Salad would have been a slice of pineapple/or pear half, laid on a bed of lettuce, topped with a “dab” (as Mom used to say) of mayo and sprinkled with grated (done by hand, not “store-bought”) cheddar cheese. On special occasions there may be a marachino cherry perched on top of the mayo. For dessert, homemade chocolate pudding or a piece of homemade cake-hot milk, or devil’s food with vanilla ice cream on top. I lost my Mom on October 3rd-she was 96 and was still helping with the cooking every holiday-she even made my birthday cake last year when she was almost totally blind and on a walker. How I miss her home cooked meals, fixed with love, and the time spent with her in her little kitchen.