Have you ever wondered how to cook a spiral ham? Serve a moist, juicy holiday ham this year for your family's special occasions like Easter and Christmas; it's simple to do.
If you are planning on having leftover ham, check out our recipe round up which features our 9 best leftover ham recipes or try it in our ham and bean soup recipe.
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Why This Recipe Works
- The rack is moved to the lowest position in the oven to allow the meat to be in the center.
- This recipe uses a bone-in ham for more flavor.
- The ham is moist because we added chicken broth to the roasting pan, and we tented it with foil so the internal temperature can increase 5 to 15% and the juices can redistribute.
- We used a meat thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the meat and stopped cooking it when it read 125F to 140F so it didn't dry out.
Ingredients
The ingredients for cooking this spiral ham recipe are basic pantry staples. Let's talk about the key ingredients.
- Spiral Ham: We used a bone-in spiral ham for the best flavor.
- Broth: We used unsalted chicken broth because the ham has plenty of salt.
- Aromatics: We used yellow onion rings and fresh garlic cloves.
- Spices: We used fresh thyme sprigs and one bay leaf.
- Fat: We used olive oil to saute the aromatics.
How to Make
Gather all the ingredients for this spiral ham recipe.
- Melt the oil in a small skillet over medium high heat. Saute the sliced onion until soft, then add the garlic cloves and cook for two minutes, stirring constantly. Transfer the onion and garlic cloves to the roasting pan, then add the fresh thyme sprigs and the bay leaf.
- Deglaze the skillet with ¼ cup chicken broth. Scrape the browned bits, called the fond, off the bottom of the skillet with a wooden turner.
3. Pour the fond into the roasting pan.
4. Place the spiral ham in the pan and pour the chicken broth on top.
5. Turn the meat cut side down and cover tightly with foil. Cook at 275°F for 12 minutes per pound or until a meat thermometer reads 140°F. Uncover for the last 30 minutes.
6. If you want to apply a glaze, increase the temperature to 400°F during the last 20 minutes, brush the first glaze all over and in between the slices. Cook for 10 minutes, then apply the second glaze. Apply the third glaze, after it's cooked. To get the glaze to caramelize, put the meat under the broiler for 3-5 minutes, watching carefully so it doesn't burn. (We did not use a glaze for this savory recipe.)
7. Tent it loosely with foil and allow to rest for 20 minutes. This will allow the internal temperature to increase 5 to 15 degrees and allow the juices to redistribute.
8. Serve the spiral ham with the slices of onion and garlic cloves, and a spoonful of pan drippings. You can also serve it with spiced applesauce, or a homemade mustard sauce.
Join the others who love to serve a spiral ham at Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter for their family and friends.
Recipe FAQs
Cook at 275 F for 12 minutes per pound or until the internal temperature is 140 F and heated through. A 10 pound spiral ham would take roughly 2 hours to cook.
Add 2 cups of unsalted chicken broth, place cut side down in roasted pan, wrap tightly in foil and roast.
Cook a fully cooked spiral ham covered until the last 30 minutes. This way the meat will not dry out. If you want a glaze, it's best to do it during the last 20 to 30 minutes, after it is uncovered.
If you have a bone in spiral ham, you'll need ½ to ¾ pound per person. If you want leftovers, buy 1 pound per person. If you are serving boneless, you'll need less than ½ pound per person.
How to Make a Glaze
If you would like to make a glaze for your spiral ham, mix the ingredients together in a saucepan, bring it to a boil, reduce to simmer until it thickens like honey then remove from the heat. Rewarm the glaze over low heat if it thickens too much when it cools.
The best homemade glazes have these elements. You can add butter also, but it's optional.
- Sweet: Light brown sugar for a neutral taste, dark brown sugar for a stronger taste, honey, maple syrup, strained marmalade or apricot jam
- Tangy: Dijon mustard, apple cider vinegar, balsamic vinegar
- Liquid: Orange juice, pineapple juice, cranberry juice, pomegranate juice, apple cider
- Warming Spices: cloves, ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon
- Savory Spices: onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, ancho chili powder, sage
If you are looking for an easy ham glaze recipe, try this. If you are wondering how to apply a glaze so your ham looks and tastes its absolute best, read this.
How to Carve
If you are asked to carve the ham, this Thanksgiving, Christmas or Easter, you'll be ready if you watch this or read the instructions below.
- Set up a carving station in your kitchen and not at the dining room table.
- Let your cooked, tented meat rest 20 to 30 minutes before carving on a large cutting board.
- Put the meat on its side. Unlike beef, the grain of a ham isn't uniform.
- Use a paring knife to cut around the bone.
- Cut around the visible seams using a carving knife. These are lines of fat which naturally separate a ham into 2 to 4 sections.
- Slice above the bone to remove an entire section.
- Turn the meat cut side down and slice down along the bone.
- Carefully lay the cut pieces on a platter for serving. If pieces are too large, stack a few and cut smaller.
- Optional, garnish your meat platter with curly parsley, orange slices, fresh bay leaves or red grapes.
Serve
Planning on making our spiral ham recipe for Easter or Christmas and are open for other recipe ideas? Our recipe tastes amazing when served with scalloped potatoes, asparagus, green beans, spiced applesauce, and soft dinner rolls. It's sure to be a crowd favorite!
Store
Make Ahead: All spiral hams are fully cooked, so it just needs to be reheated. It's best to do this the same day you plan on serving it so it doesn't dry out.
Leftovers: If you have leftover meat, use it for these other recipe ideas. For breakfast try: quiche, breakfast hash, omelettes, or breakfast sandwiches. For lunch, try using the ham bone and the cubed meat in soups or just the sliced meat in sliders. For supper, try savory pies, casseroles or vegetable sides like collard greens or black eyed peas.
Reheat: You can microwave individual serving sizes in the microwave until warm, or place the leftover meat in a shallow oven proof dish and cook at 300F for 30 minutes or until warmed.
Freeze: Allow the leftover meat to fully cool, then portion the meat out in freezer zip-top bags and place in the freezer for up to two months. When ready to use, thaw in the fridge overnight.
Expert Tips
- Want more flavor? Use bone-in spiral ham instead of boneless.
- Want to cut down on baking time? Let the meat stand at room temperature for 1 hour to increase the internal temperature of the meat.
- Need moisture? Add 2 cups of unsalted chicken broth to the roasting pan, place a shallow pan with water on the oven rack, or use an oven bag.
- Should I use a meat thermometer? Yes, insert it the thickest part of the meat. You'll want a reading of 125-140°F.
- Why tent with foil? The internal temperature will continue to rise 5-15 degrees, and the juices will redistribute. Let it rest for 15-20 minutes.
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Recipe
How to Cook a Spiral Ham
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 large yellow onion, sliced and separated into rings
- 15 small garlic cloves, peeled
- 8 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 cups unsalted chicken broth
- 10 pound spiral ham
- curly parsley, for garnish
Equipment
Instructions
- Move the oven rack to the lowest position in the oven, this will allow the meat to be in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 275°F, and remove all the packaging from the meat.
- Heat the oil in a small skillet over medium high heat and saute the onion until soft while stirring occasionally. Add the garlic cloves and saute for two minutes, stirring constantly. Transfer the onion and garlic to the roasting pan and add the fresh thyme sprigs and the bay leaf.
- Deglaze the skillet with ¼ cup of unsalted chicken broth. Scrape the browned bits off the bottom of the skillet with a wooden turner. Pour the liquid from the skillet into the roasting pan, then pour the rest of the chicken broth into the roasting pan.
- Place the meat cut side down on top of the onion slices and cover tightly with foil.
- Cook at 275°F for 12 minutes a pound or until a meat thermometer reads 140°F. A 10 pound spiral ham would take roughly 2 hours. Uncover the ham during the last 30 minutes. (If you want to apply a glaze, check recipe notes for recipe ideas and instructions.)
- Remove it from the oven and tent with foil. Let the ham rest for 20 minutes so the juices can redistribute.
- Remove the sliced onion and garlic cloves from the roasting pan and place in a serving bowl. Pour the pan juices in a bowl and skim the fat off. Use the pan juices to baste the sliced ham after it has rested.
- Serve the meat with the cooked onions and garlic cloves, spiced applesauce, a homemade mustard sauce, or gravy.
Notes
- Want more flavor? Use bone-in instead of boneless.
- Want to cut down on baking time? Let it stand at room temperature for 1 hour to increase the internal temperature.
- Need moisture? Add 2 cups of unsalted chicken broth to the roasting pan, place a shallow pan with water on the oven rack, or use an oven bag.
- Should I use a meat thermometer? Yes, insert it the thickest part of the meat. You'll want a reading of 125-140°F.
- Why tent with foil? The internal temperature will continue to rise 5-15 degrees, and the juices will redistribute. Let it rest for 20 minutes.
- If you want to make a glaze, mix the ingredients together in a saucepan, bring it to a boil, reduce to simmer until it thickens like honey then remove from the heat. Rewarm the glaze over low heat if it thickens too much when it cools.
- How to make a homemade glaze: Choose ingredients from the 5 categories.
- Sweet: Light brown sugar for a neutral taste, dark brown sugar for a stronger taste, honey, maple syrup, strained marmalade or apricot jam
- Tangy: Dijon mustard, apple cider vinegar, balsamic vinegar
- Liquid: Orange juice, pineapple juice, cranberry juice, pomegranate juice, apple cider
- Warming Spices: cloves, ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon
- Savory Spices: onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, ancho chili powder, sage
- If you want to apply a glaze, increase the temperature to 400°F during the last 20 minutes, brush the first glaze all over and in between the slices. Cook for 10 minutes, then apply the second glaze. Apply the third glaze, after it's cooked. To get the glaze to caramelize, put the meat under the broiler for 3-5 minutes, watching carefully so it doesn't burn. (We need not use a glaze for this recipe.)
Nutrition
Serving sizes and nutritional information are only an estimate and may vary from your results.
This How to Cook a Spiral Ham recipe was originally published on April 12, 2019. It was updated with new content and refreshed photos on March 25, 2022.
Anon
This recipe was horrible. The cook time is WAY OFF. At 275, it takes like 4 hours to cook a 10lb ham. I even turned my oven up to 450 for the last hour or so, and that hardly even helped. By the time those hours are finally over, everything at the bottom (onion, garlic, thyme) is charred to a crisp. The whole house smells like horrible burnt food instead of delicious ham. I didn’t plan on eating whole onion rings and whole garlic cloves anyway (gross), but it would be nice to not have a black, charred roasting pan to clean up at the end. I’m not new to cooking either, I just get tricked sometimes by terrible recipes online.
Emma
We are sorry to hear about your ham. This recipe's cooking time and temperature are for a full cooked, fully thawed spiral ham, that was resting at room temperature for one hour, before placing in the oven.
Patience
I love this recipe I come back every Easter to make it, but I’m so sad that you removed the tips to make a home made glaze. I love how you had the options of the glaze. The sweet, savory and ect options to use…. I can’t remember them all but I think I remember some of the variations and will just have to wing it.
Emma
Patience, we are so thrilled that you love this recipe! We have added back the tips to make a homemade glaze in the post and in the recipe card under notes. We hope this helps you make the best Easter ham for your family!
Alex
This is total a five star ham! The ham is nice and smoky, and makes your mouth water. This is a must have recipe for holidays, especially for Easter. ❤️ 🍖
Emma
So glad you enjoyed it, Alex!
Isobel
sounds good but what is the olive oil used for?
Emma
The olive oil is actually used to saute the onion and garlic. There was a typo in the recipe card that said to use butter for that step instead of oil. Thanks for catching this for us, Isobel!
Beth
Ham is one of my favorite meats and this one is the most succulent ham I have ever had. You must try this recipe.
Emma
Thank you, Beth! I'm so glad you enjoyed it!