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Ham Roast
Moist, tender, and incredibly flavorful, ham roasts are easy enough for a family dinner at home, but also special enough for holidays and celebrations.
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From family dinners to holidays and special occasions, ham roasts are perfect for feeding a crowd. This ham roast comes out of the oven with a crispy outside and tender meat inside, and all flavored with a sweet honey mustard glaze.
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Moist, tender, and incredibly flavorful, this ham roast has a salty, crispy exterior and juicy, tender meat inside that will delight your taste buds. Ham roasts are easy enough for a family dinner at home, but also special enough for holidays and celebrations.
Serve this baked ham roast with all the traditional holiday side dishes, such as our green bean casserole, creamy mashed potatoes, and dinner rolls. This ham roast can be served warm, at room temperature, or even straight from the refrigerator. For easier serving, you can transfer your carved ham and ham slices to a serving platter.
The honey and brown sugar glaze on this roast adds the perfect amount of sweetness to the baked ham. Easy to make, simply poop your ham roast into the oven and then let it bake away to a glazed perfection.
Ham Roast Ingredients
- Ham - smoked ham, semi-boneless or bone-in
- Butter - unsalted butter
- Sugar - brown sugar
- Honey
- Mustard - spicy brown mustard
- Salt
- Pepper - black pepper
- Cloves - ground cloves
- Cloves - whole cloves, optional garnish
- Water
You can find these hams in the refrigerated meat section of your local grocery store. Keep in mind that the smoked hams you are looking for are already cooked, and you are actually just warming them through and flavoring them with this honey mustard glaze. You do not want a fresh ham for this recipe.
Whole cloves studding the outside of the ham is an optional garnish that not only will give your delicious ham added flavor but also makes a beautiful presentation. However, if you like the flavor of the cloves but not the work or look of the whole cloves, you can just add ¼ to ½ teaspoon of ground cloves to your glaze mixture.
We like to reserve the juices from the roasting pan to spoon over the roasted ham. As you're spooning the juices over the ham, be sure to get the juices into all those score marks to add extra moisture and flavor to your ham.
How to Make Ham Roast
FIRST STEP: Remove or lower your middle oven rack in your oven before preheating. Preheat the oven to 325°F. You will need a large roasting pan and an extra-large piece of heavy-duty aluminum foil.
SECOND STEP: Remove all the packaging from the smoked ham. If it came with a seasoning packet, I typically just discard it. Place the ham into the roasting pan.
THIRD STEP: Using a very sharp knife, you will make score marks into the skin and fat of the topside of the ham. You will want to create a diamond pattern of 1 to 1½ inch-sized diamonds. Your score marks should be about ½ inch deep.
FOURTH STEP: In a mixing bowl, stir together the unsalted butter, light brown sugar, honey, spicy mustard, salt, black pepper, and ground cloves. Set aside.
FIFTH STEP: Add the water to the bottom of the roasting pan and cover the ham tightly with a large piece of heavy-duty aluminum foil. Make sure that you seal the edges well so that no steam escapes. This helps to ensure that your ham stays moist and heats through evenly.
SIXTH STEP: Bake for 1 hour (or all but the last hour of bake time according to the size of your ham). Remove the ham from the oven and remove the piece of aluminum foil from the ham. Set the foil aside.
SEVENTH STEP: Using a pastry brush, brush the glaze over the entire surface of the ham. Try to get the glaze mixture into the score marks on the top of the ham.
EIGHTH STEP: If you want to add the optional whole cloves to garnish your ham, carefully poke a single whole clove into the center of some of your diamond marks to create a beautiful presentation. If you plan to use whole cloves, you can cut back the amount of ground cloves in your glaze to ⅛ teaspoon.
NINTH STEP: Place the ham back into the oven, uncovered, for the remaining 1 to 1½ hours of cook time. Your ham should have an internal temperature of approximately 140°F. During this time, you can spoon some of the juices from the roasting pan over the top of the ham to baste your ham and keep it moist.
TENTH STEP: Allow your ham roast to rest on the counter, lightly tented with the reserved piece of aluminum foil, for 15 minutes before slicing and serving.
How long should I bake the ham?
Smoked hams are roughly 8 to 10 pounds per ham. You will need to allow 18 to 20 minutes per pound of bake time.
Can I freeze leftovers of this oven-roasted ham?
This ham recipe freezes well and can be kept in the freezer for up to three months.
Why do I need to cover the ham while baking?
Covering the ham for the first portion of the baking time will help to lock in the moisture from the evaporating water in the bottom of the pan to give you moist and tender meat.
How to Store Ham Roast
IN THE FRIDGE: Leftover ham roast can be stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. The leftover ham slices make the best sandwiches for lunch the day after your big meal.
IN THE FREEZER: If you have leftover baked ham, you can store it in the freezer for up to three months. Slice ham and put portions in airtight freezer bags. If you plan to use the ham in soups and casseroles, you can cut it into small pieces before freezing.
Ham Roast
Moist, tender, and incredibly flavorful, ham roasts are easy enough for a family dinner at home, but also special enough for holidays and celebrations.
Ingredients
- 8 pounds smoked ham, semi-boneless or bone-in. It depends on the brand
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 1 cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup honey
- ¼ cup spicy brown mustard
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 cup water
- whole cloves, optional garnish
DIRECTIONS
- Remove or lower your middle oven rack in your oven before preheating. Preheat the oven to 325°F. You will need a large roasting pan and an extra-large piece of heavy-duty aluminum foil.
- Remove all the packaging from the smoked ham. If it came with a seasoning packet, I typically just discard it. Place the ham into the roasting pan.
- Using a very sharp knife, you will make score marks into the skin and fat of the topside of the ham. You will want to create a diamond pattern of 1 to 1½ inch-sized diamonds. Your score marks should be about ½ inch deep.
- In a mixing bowl, stir together the unsalted butter, light brown sugar, honey, spicy mustard, salt, black pepper, and ground cloves. Set aside.
- Add the water to the bottom of the roasting pan and cover the ham tightly with a large piece of heavy-duty aluminum foil. Make sure that you seal the edges well so that no steam escapes. This helps to ensure that your ham stays moist and heats through evenly.
- Bake for 1 hour (or all but the last hour of bake time according to the size of your ham). Remove the ham from the oven and remove the piece of aluminum foil from the ham. Set the foil aside.
- Using a pastry brush, brush the glaze over the entire surface of the ham. Try to get the glaze mixture into the score marks on the top of the ham.
- If you want to add the optional whole cloves to garnish your ham, carefully poke a single whole clove into the center of some of your diamond marks to create a beautiful presentation. If you plan to use whole cloves, you can cut back the amount of ground cloves in your glaze to ⅛ teaspoon.
- Place the ham back into the oven, uncovered, for the remaining 1 to 1½ hours of cook time. Your ham should have an internal temperature of approximately 140°F. During this time, you can spoon some of the juices from the roasting pan over the top of the ham to baste your ham and keep it moist.
- TENTH STEP: Allow your ham roast to rest on the counter, lightly tented with the reserved piece of aluminum foil, for 15 minutes before slicing and serving.
Nutrition
Calories: 321kcal | Carbohydrates: 18g | Protein: 38g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 116mg | Sodium: 2947mg | Potassium: 637mg | Fiber: 0.2g | Sugar: 18g | Vitamin A: 91IU | Vitamin C: 0.04mg | Calcium: 39mg | Iron: 3mg
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