With brown sugar, tangy apple cider vinegar, your choice of jam, and zippy Dijon, this Brown Sugar Ham Glaze truly is the best. Your holiday ham never tasted so good!
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The best way to gussy up a holiday ham.
Salty, savory ham is a perfect match for a sweet glaze, and this Brown Sugar Ham Glaze is my favorite. Am I biased because it’s based on my mom’s recipe? Nope, Mom knows what’s up!
- A lot of ham glaze recipes add so much sugar, you end up with a ham that’s cloyingly sweet. What I love about this brown sugar ham glaze is that it creates a balanced flavor by pairing the sweetness of sugar with acidity (vinegar), sharpness (mustard), and fruitiness (jam).
- It’s also made with only five simple ingredients. You probably have them on hand in your kitchen right now.
- You can use this glaze with any ham recipe, whether it’s my Crockpot Ham, Baked Ham, or your own fave.
5 Star Review
“The brown sugar is balanced out perfectly with the mustard and the apple cider vinegar. The glaze thickened up so nicely and gave the ham this amazing caramelized crust that was packed with flavor.”
— Samantha —
My Tips and Tricks for a Perfect Glazed Ham
- Brush Generously. This is how you get all that flavor onto your ham! If you have a spiral ham, the excess glaze with drip between the slices, giving every bite maximum flavor.
- Warm It Up If Needed. As the glaze cools, it will thicken. If it thickens too much, you can reheat it on the stovetop until it’s brushable again.
- Use Jam or Jelly. I don’t recommend preserves, which are excellent for PB & J Bars, but not so much for a glaze. The bits and chunks of fruit aren’t well-suited for brushing onto a ham.
How to Make and Use This Brown Sugar Ham Glaze
Combine. Stir all the ingredients together in a small saucepan.
Cook. Bring to a boil and cook until thickened, stirring frequently.
Brush. Add it all over the oven-baked ham during the last 20 minutes of cooking or brush onto crockpot ham when it’s finished cooking. ENJOY!
Meal Prep Tip
You can prepare the glaze up to a week ahead of time to get a jump start on your holiday cooking.
Recipe Variations
- Try Another Vinegar. White wine vinegar or champagne vinegar can be used instead of apple cider vinegar if you’d like; they both have a similar acidity.
- Add Herbs. Cook the glaze with a sprig of rosemary or thyme to infuse some herbal notes into the glaze.
- Get Creative With the Jam. Choose your favorite! My mom uses cherry, plum, apricot, or apple, but you can also combine a few if you’d like.
Brown Sugar Ham Glaze
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Ingredients
- ½ cup jelly or jam of choice my mom uses cherry, plum, apricot, apple, or even a mix
- ½ cup brown sugar light or dark
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
Instructions
- In a small saucepan, stir together the jelly, brown sugar, Dijon, vinegar, and cornstarch. Bring to a boil and cooking, stirring very frequently, until the glaze is thickened and darkened somewhat, about 3 minutes.
- To use on oven baked ham, brush half of the glaze liberally all over the ham during the last 20 minutes of cooking (if the glaze has thickened up too much to spread, simply rewarm it on the stove).To use on Sow Cooker Ham, wait to brush until the ham has been removed from the crockpot.
Notes
- Recipe is my Mom’s
- TO STORE: Refrigerate brown sugar ham glaze in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
- TO REHEAT: Warm up the glaze in a saucepan set over medium-low heat.
- TO FREEZE: Freeze for up to 3 months in an airtight container or freezer bag. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before using.
Nutrition
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this should not be this easy—it’s TOO GOOD. Will be my go to for holiday ham now.
Yay so glad to hear it!
Great addition of jelly.
Thank you Marta!
This glaze was so easy to pull together and added great flavor to our precooked ham. I used a cranberry cherry jam and followed the recipe exactly. I totally plan to use this again because our holiday guests loved it and couldn’t believe it was so simple.
YAY, so glad to hear it, thanks for the feedback Rachel!
Wow, this glaze turned out better than I could have imagined! I was worried it might be too sweet, but the brown sugar is balanced out perfectly with the mustard and the apple cider vinegar. The glaze thickened up so nicely and gave the ham this amazing caramelized crust that was packed with flavor.
So happy to hear, thank you Samantha!
Cooked the ham with this glaze yesterday and the family enjoyed it immensely. Scrumptious flavor. I made gravy using the pan drippings..so yum! Unfortunately, everyone was so hungry and anxious to eat, I failed to take a picture.
So glad to hear you enjoyed it, Abby! Thank you!
The flavors were spot on and with just the right amount of sweetness with a little kick from the mustard. It coated the ham beautifully and gave it this glossy, sticky finish that had everyone grabbing seconds. I will definitely be making this for Christmas and Thanksgiving. Thank you!
Great to hear, thank you Portia!
Dumb question sorry, but recipe says brush on half the glaze before final baking. Do you brush on remaining half when ham comes out of the oven or save for another use? Thanks. Looking to change up my usual honey mustard glaze this year.
Hi Julie, you’ll brush the rest during the last 20 minutes! Enjoy!
How long would you cook a 6 lb ham in the crockpot ?
Hi Kim! It’s going to depend on if it is boneless or not. Here is my recipe for crockpot ham: https://www.wellplated.com/crockpot-ham/
This glaze sounds wonderful. Can I sub coconut sugar in place of the brown sugar?
Absolutely Linda!
I appreciated how fast this glaze came together—only a few minutes on the stove and it was ready. I used a mix of apple and cherry jelly since that’s what I had, and it worked out great. The glaze clung to the ham perfectly and gave it a glossy finish. Really liked the texture too! Thank you so much!!
So great to hear, thank you Pamella!
Really liked the texture and shine this glaze gave the ham. It didn’t burn or get weird in the oven, which sometimes happens with sugary glazes. I used a dark cherry jam and it brought a slight tartness that worked well with the brown sugar.
So glad you enjoyed it, Olga! Thank you!
Made this glaze for Easter and it was easy to prepare ahead of time. I just reheated it gently before brushing it on the ham. The flavor was mellow and well balanced. I used apple jelly and it wasn’t overpowering just a nice, subtle sweetness.
So glad you enjoyed it, Rachelle! Thank you!
This glaze was fantastic! I made it for a big Easter family dinner, and, everyone loved it! I roasted a large12-lb. uncured raw ham shank – but I doubled the ingredients, because they sounded so tasty and inviting. I also used the Good-Good (no added sugar) Apricot Jam, to save on calories. Absolute YUM! Will definitely use your recipe again – thanks for such a great recipe!
SOOO GLAD Tony, thank you!