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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Great addition of jelly.
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/