Brown Sugar Ham Glaze

by Sabrina Snyder

Published on Last updated

173 Comments

4.89 from 45 votes
10 servings
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
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Easy Brown Sugar Ham Glaze recipe with amazing sweet and spiced flavor. A PERFECT addition to a holiday ham and only takes 5 minutes to make!

I love making a traditional ham for Christmas or Easter dinner, and this simple glaze has been my go-to recipe for years! For full instructions on how to bake a ham, check out my Classic Baked Ham.

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Sabrina’s Brown Sugar Glaze Recipe

If you want your ham to have the perfect balance of sweet, savory, and shiny, this is a recipe you must try. In my house, glazed ham is almost a given when the holidays roll around, and this brown sugar glaze has been my go-to topping for years. While the ham is roasting in the oven, be prepared for your house to smell like absolute heaven!

I usually bake a spiral ham with whole cloves, but this glaze will really work with any ham you buy. This recipe is perfect for a baked ham that’s about 5-8 pounds, if your ham is bigger consider doubling the recipe.

Time needed: 5 minutes.

  1. Add Ingredients

    Add your brown sugar, honey, orange juice, cinnamon and cloves to a large pot. Stir to combine.Easy Brown Sugar Ham Glaze

  2. Cook

    Bring the mixture to a boil then reduce the heat to medium. Cook for 3-4 minutes to thicken.
    Quick Brown Sugar Ham Glaze

  3. Use as Glaze

    Brush on your ham right away, no need to cool. If your glaze starts to harden as it cools, just reheat it over low until it loosens.ladling glaze over spiral ham in pan

Dinner, then Dessert

Brown Sugar Ham Glaze

Brown Sugar Ham Glaze made with orange juice, honey, and spices is the PERFECT addition to a holiday ham and only takes 20 minutes to make!
Yield 10 servings
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Course Sauce
Cuisine American
Author Sabrina Snyder
ladling glaze over spiral ham in pan
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Ingredients
 

  • 1 cup light brown sugar , packed
  • 1/2 cup orange juice
  • 1/2 cup honey
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

Instructions

  • Bring the ingredients to a boil together over medium heat.
  • Cook for 3-4 minutes to thicken before pouring onto ham and baking.
  • Note: If it cools too much it can harden, just reheat to loosen.

Notes

Note: click on times in the instructions to start a kitchen timer while cooking.

Nutrition

Calories: 141kcal | Carbohydrates: 37g | Sodium: 7mg | Potassium: 62mg | Sugar: 36g | Vitamin A: 25IU | Vitamin C: 6.3mg | Calcium: 23mg | Iron: 0.3mg

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Chef’s Note: Ham Leftover Ideas

Baked ham also makes great leftover ham recipes the next day like sandwiches, ham and eggs, or if you have a bone-in one you can make soup. It’s one of those super versatile dinners that you really get your money out of.

In fact if you’re looking for a leftover ham recipe you HAVE to make these leftover ham soup recipes: My Slow Cooker Ham and Potato Soup is one of the most popular recipes on the site and my Slow Cooker Ham and Bean Soup uses the bone too!

Tips for Making Ham Glaze

  • If you use dark brown sugar for this brown sugar ham glaze, you will get a deeper molasses flavor. If you want a sweeter glaze, use light brown sugar.
  • You can make a quick glaze out of preserves like apricot or blueberry!
  • Replace the orange juice with apple cider for a different holiday flavor.
  • Serve your baked ham with additional mustard on the side for dipping. If you made a sweet glaze with brown sugar, the tangy flavor of the mustard will perfectly compliment it. I use dijon mustard, honey mustard, or yellow mustard.
  • Traditionally this glaze uses cinnamon, but you can also add nutmeg, ground cloves, or allspice to the sauce.

Nutritional Facts

Nutrition Facts
Brown Sugar Ham Glaze
Amount Per Serving
Calories 141
% Daily Value*
Sodium 7mg0%
Potassium 62mg2%
Carbohydrates 37g12%
Sugar 36g40%
Vitamin A 25IU1%
Vitamin C 6.3mg8%
Calcium 23mg2%
Iron 0.3mg2%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Can I make this ahead of time?

You don’t want to glaze a baked ham the day before because the glaze should really be added towards the end of the cook time, otherwise you run the risk of burning the sugar in the glaze. You can glaze a pre-cooked ham the day before if it’s small and won’t take more than 30 minutes in the oven, because you’re really just reheating it.

Variations

  • Pineapple Brown Sugar Glaze and Maple Brown Sugar Glazed Ham are two of the more popular ham recipes, aside from regular brown sugar glazed ham. They’re so popular I made a slow cooker version of the Brown Sugar Pineapple Ham in case you’re feeling in a tropical mood!
  • Make a glazed maple ham by subbing the honey in this brown sugar glaze with maple syrup. For a pineapple glaze, add pineapple juice instead of orange juice, and decorate the baked ham with sliced pineapple rings.
  • Another popular option that uses brown sugar and honey is my really popular HoneyBaked Ham (Copycat) which tastes JUST like the original with no blowtorch needed!
  • Using this same recipe, whisk in an additional 3 tablespoons of dijon mustard, yellow mustard, or whole-grain in. The recipe already contains honey, and the brown sugar will add a really nice sweet and savory flavor to the sugar glaze.

Frequent Questions

Can you use this glaze for ham steak?

Absolutely! Make a glazed ham steak by brushing each side of the steak with a tablespoon or two of this glaze. Then cook the glazed steak according to the recipe, adding any additional glaze as necessary. You can also preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and bake the glazed steak in the oven for 20-30 minutes, or until warmed through.

When to add glaze to ham?

Most ham recipes should be glazed towards the end of cooking, so the sugar doesn’t have a chance to caramelize too much. When there’s about 20-30 minutes of total time left to your baked ham, pour the brown sugar glaze over the top and put back in the oven to bake uncovered. When it’s done, you can pull it out of the oven and baste it with the pan juices. Add any additional glaze as needed during or after the roasting.

How long does ham take to cook?

Most pre-cooked hams will take about 10 minutes per pound to bake.

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The following images were used in previous versions of this post:

Ultimate Brown Sugar Ham Glaze
Easy Ham Glaze

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years who is the creator and developer of all the recipes on Dinner, then Dessert.

She is also the author of the cookbook Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients, published by Harper Collins.

She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef.

As a personal chef Sabrina would cook for families one day a week and cook their entire week of dinners. All grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning was done along with instructions on reheating. As a private chef she cooked for private parties and cooked in family homes in the evenings for families on a nightly basis after working as a personal chef during the day.

Sabrina has been certified as a ServSafe Manager since 2007 and was a longstanding member of the USPCA Personal Chef Association including being on the board of the Washington DC Chapter of Chefs in the US Personal Chef Association when they won Chapter of the year.

As a member of the community of food website creators Sabrina Snyder has spoken at many conferences regarding her experiences as a food writer including the Indulge Food Conference, Everything Food Conference, Haven Food Conference and IACP Annual Food Professionals Conference.

Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.

See more posts by Sabrina

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

  1. Fantastic glaze! Flavors went perfectly with the ham. Truly a great, 5-ingredient recipe. Was not lacking anything.

    Reply

  2. If I were to put my ham in the crockpot, would I put this on while it’s in there or after it’s done?

    Reply

  3. My picky 4 year old granddaughter gobbled down the glazed ham I made with your recipe. It’s definitely a keeper.

    Reply

  6. My glaze didn’t thicken at all. Followed the recipe, what could I have done wrong? We enjoyed the flavor, but was super runny. I’d like to try again, but need it to thicken. We used raw honey, dark brown sugar and regular orange juice.

    Reply

    1. It sounds like it didn’t get hot enough to thicken. You can always add a slurry to help thicken it too.

      Reply

  7. Absolutely delicious! I didn’t have any orange juice so I used pineapple juice instead and it was and yummmmmmmy. Thank you!!

    Reply

    2. So glad to read that. I don’t have OJ and was planning on using pineapple!!
      It is not clear if you use the glaze to cook the ham or pour it over after is done?
      Actually mine is fully cooked. I am just warming it.

      Reply

  11. This is the best recipe that I have found for a glaze. I made one adjustment to my preference, but the ham was delicious. No complaints. Thank you for this recipe

    Reply

  14. I was tasked with cooking my first ham ever, this Thanksgiving. I must admit that I had no clue where to begin. This glaze was easy, delicious, and received rave reviews from my family. As others have mentioned in the reviews, I opted to use whole cloves in the ham versus ground cloves. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! Happy Holidays!

    Reply

    2. The glaze was delicious. It was my first time making a glaze. My mother used to add cloves and pineapple and on the ham and it was delicious but this glaze just set off my taste buds and my children wanted more! Thanks a million I will keep this recipe for my children.

      Reply

    1. Yes! Absolutely, just add a bit of water to the bottom, about 1 cup. Pour the glaze over it. Happy Thanksgiving!

      Reply

  20. Hi! I know this is a stupid question. But everything Ive read says cut side down. I have a pre-cooked 8 pound spiral Ham. I cut it first then put it on the roasting rack correct? But I’m confused on the cut side down. Won’t the juices run out?

    Reply

    1. Yes, you’ll want to put it int he pan cut side down. The actually helps keep the meat juicy. Also, make sure to tent with tinfoil, that’ll help keep it juicy as well. Hope this helps.

      Reply

  21. Love this glaze, so good! When it started to boil it was like making candy, I thought it would over flow the pan! Is this normal? And it was a bit runny! There were no complaints, a big hit with all my guys!!

    Reply

  22. I made my very first Ham ever, and this glaze Was a show stopper, it made my ham perfect.
    *Picky eaters approved ??

    Reply

      1. Yes, this would be a great addition to it, there isn’t a lot of liquid the ham releases so it wouldn’t get watered down too much.
        Just add a bit of water to the bottom, about 1 cup. Pour the glaze over it. Happy Thanksgiving!

        Reply

  24. This glaze was soooo goood I wanted to drink the glaze in the pan. It was perfect for my Easter 2020 smoked ham!!!

    Reply

  30. Very Good, very sweet. I think next time I will try to add a little dijon mustard to it. I like how the article has variations you can do.

    Reply

  34. This was so good. I put whole cloves in the ham and then used your recipe for the glaze. I received a lot of complements on the ham. Thanks for sharing your recipe.

    Reply

          1. What does this recipe mean by cloves? You know there are cloves of garlic so this is pretty confusing.

          2. Sorry for the confusion, it’s for ground cloves, which is that dark colored spice in the picture of all the ingredients. Happy Thanksgiving!

  40. Both my 15 and 12 year-old kids remarked that this glaze was stupendous! I didn’t have cloves though so used Allspice but it turned out deliciously.

    Reply

      1. I think that would be more of a dry rub but personally I haven’t tried it. If you do, I’d love to hear how it comes out.

        Reply

  43. This was the easiest, yet tastiest glaze I’ve ever made! I followed the recipe exactly, but used pineapple juice instead of orange juice. Not overly sweet, but just the perfect amount. I will always use this glaze going forward. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply

      1. Do I put glaze on ham once is completely done or do I put it on ham that’s close to being done return to oven and let remaining time finish cooking with ham glaze on it. If so how long should I it cook with glaze on it should I glaze it 10 minutes before it’s done 15 minutes before it’s done maybe 30 minutes. ?

        Reply