Recipes Ingredients Meat & Poultry Pork Recipes Honey-Glazed Spiral Ham A fragrant orange-ginger glaze lends big flavor to this simple recipe. Close Credit: Carson Downing Prep Time: 10 mins Cook Time: 1 hr 45 mins Total Time: 2 hrs Servings: 10 to 12 Jump to recipe Our honey-glazed spiral ham recipe is ready for all of your holiday entertaining needs. An orange-scented glaze, which also features ginger and clove, is the perfect complement to the smoky, salty ham and puts a fresh spin on the classic entree. It couldn’t be easier to make, either: Wrap the ham in foil and bake it for an hour to heat it through without drying it out. Stir together the simple glaze—no cooking required—then brush it over the ham a few times to caramelize the exterior. Add a few classic sides—we’re partial to scalloped potatoes, green beans, and a festive salad—and dinner (for a crowd!) is served. How Much Ham Per Person You Need When Entertaining, According to a Chef How to Choose a Ham (and Why We Love Spiral Cut) When shopping for a holiday ham, you're bound to be presented with an array of options. Bone-in or boneless? Fresh or fully cooked? Spiral-cut or unsliced? Unless you're ready to cook a ham from scratch or sign up for a lengthy soaking process, skip the fresh and country hams and opt for a fully-cooked option instead. Bone-in vs. boneless: Boneless ham is easier to carve than the bone-in variety but it's also more prone to drying out. The bone not only helps in the moisture department but is also excellent for flavoring soups and beans once the holiday has passed. Why we're team spiral-cut: For all the benefits of bone-in ham without the hassle of carving, look to a spiral-cut option. These hams are sliced around the bone so serving is a breeze, and it also makes for a gorgeous presentation, to boot. Heating isn't necessarily required, but we love the glistening, burnished finish that a baked-on glaze adds. How to Carve a Spiral-Cut Ham Since spiral-cut hams are pre-sliced, all you'll need to do is remove the pieces from the bone before serving. To do this, insert your knife along the bone and rotate around it to free the slices. You can opt to remove all the ham from the bone and arrange the slices on a platter or carve off just a portion. Ingredients for This Ham Ham: This recipe calls for an 8-pound spiral-cut ham, which is technically half of a whole ham. (Whole hams weigh between 15 and 20 pounds). If serving bone-in ham, aim for 1/3 to 1/2 of a pound per person. This recipe will serve 10 to 12 people with plenty of leftovers or 14 to 16 people without much to spare. Honey: A mild-flavored honey like clover or orange-blossom is ideal for this recipe as you'll be infusing it with citrus and spices. Lightly greasing the measuring cup before adding the honey makes for an easier release and less waste. And don't worry if your honey has crystallized—it's completely normal and easy to remedy. Orange: Reach for one large orange, which will yield the tablespoon of zest and 2 tablespoons of juice needed for the glaze. Like lemons, most oranges sold in the US are coated with an edible wax to prolong shelf life. Remove it before zesting by running the orange under hot water and scrubbing gently with a vegetable brush. Fresh ginger: You'll need a 1-inch-long knob of ginger for the glaze. To remove the skin, use the edge of a spoon rather than a vegetable peeler. A microplane is our preferred tool for grating ginger, but you can mince it very finely with a chef's knife in a pinch. Cloves: Ground cloves add aromatic depth to the simple glaze. If you prefer the flavor of allspice to clove, use an equal amount of it here instead. Black pepper: For a subtle kick, we add 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper along with the other spices. This is no place for pre-ground pepper—fresh is most certainly best. Directions Credit: Carson Downing Heat oven; make glaze: Preheat oven to 325°F with a rack in lower third. Stir together honey, orange zest and juice, ginger, cloves, and pepper. Credit: Carson Downing Wrap ham; bake 1 hour: Wrap ham, fat-cap-side up, tightly in foil. Place on a rimmed baking sheet or in a small roasting pan. Bake 1 hour. Credit: Carson Downing Unwrap and brush with glaze; continue baking, basting every 15 minutes: Unwrap, leaving foil under ham to catch juices. Brush with some of the glaze; continue baking, uncovered, basting with more glaze every 15 minutes, until heated through, 45 minutes to 1 hour more. Credit: Carson Downing Brush with remaining glaze; serve: Brush with remaining glaze; let cool slightly. Serve warm. Credit: Carson Downing How to Store Leftover Ham To store leftovers, remove the bone (reserve it for soup) and place the meat and baking juices in an airtight container. Refrigerate for up to 5 days, or freeze for up to 3 months. The Ham Bone To freeze the bone, wrap it well in plastic, then cover it with a layer of foil or stash it in a freezer bag; it will last indefinitely in the freezer but will provide the best flavor payoff if used within 3 months. How to Use Leftover Ham The best part of serving a holiday ham is, perhaps, all that leftover meat. From sandwiches to soups to casseroles and more, there are countless ways to put the smoky, savory ham to use. Soups: Add both the reserved bone and diced meat to split pea soup—we've got recipes for making it on the stovetop and in a slow-cooker. You can also make a ham stock with the bone and aromatics like celery, onion, and carrot, then freeze it for future recipes. Egg dishes: For a satisfying brunch or lunch, work leftover ham into a next-day strata, cheesy quiche, or this crustless potato bake with broccoli. Sliced ham is also delicious tucked into homemade crepes along with sunny side up eggs. Sandwiches and flatbreads: Take a cue from the Europeans and add leftover ham to a Croque Monsieur or Croque Madame or a toasty panini. Or try it on a flatbread, like in this Alsatian-inspired recipe. Pasta and casseroles: Baked macaroni and cheese becomes even more satisfying when studded with chopped ham. Ham can also often be swapped in for bacon in pasta dishes like this one-pot recipe with broccoli rabe or our fresh angel-hair recipe with peas—just add an extra tablespoon of oil or butter to make up for the lack of rendered fat. 5 More Crowd-Pleasing Ham Recipes to Try Apricot-Bourbon Glazed Ham Virginia Ham With Honey-Mustard Glaze Baked Easter Ham Pomegranate-Glazed Ham With Jammy Cipollinis Glazed Ham With Apricot-Mustard Sauce Updated by Esther Reynolds Esther Reynolds Esther Reynolds is an experienced recipe developer, recipe tester, food editor, and writer with over a decade of experience in the food and media industries.