Maple Glazed Ham

Maple Glazed Ham is the perfect holiday ham recipe with a simple sweet and tangy glaze made with Dijon mustard, maple syrup, and fresh herbs. The perfect, simple and easy baked ham recipe for Easter!

 

Estimated reading time: 8 minutes

Certain holidays and occasions call for a delicious baked ham and this Maple Glazed Ham is the recipe we reach for every Easter! It’s the BEST juicy ham recipe, baked to perfection, with the most tasty glaze that you can easily prep ahead of time! We love to serve it with some scalloped potatoes or mashed potatoes, our delicious roast carrots and this Easy No Bake Mini Eggs Cheesecake and for a simple and tasty Easter dinner!

There are so many different several kinds of ham and choosing the right one is important in making sure your Easter ham turns out perfectly. For this recipe it’s important to use a fully cooked ham. It can be a whole ham or half a ham, bone-in or boneless, smoked or unsmoked. We recommend choosing a ham with skin and some fat on it, and one that’s not pre-sliced.

Make sure not to pick a ham that already has flavour and glaze on it. The flavour could be too overpowering and may mask or interfere with the flavour of the maple glaze.

Scoring a holiday ham is important before roasting because it helps the meat soak up all the delicious flavour from the glaze. Lucky for us, scoring a ham is easy!

Sometimes a smoked ham can have a tough skin and since you want your scoring to look pretty, a sharp knife will help you make clean slices.

Some chefs remove the skin and fat before roasting a ham, but it’s perfectly ok to leave some of the fat on since it adds a TON of flavour! Remove the skin, if you want, but try to leave as much of the fat on as possible.

With the ham directly in front of you (skin and fat side up), make slices on a 45 degree angle all over the top of the ham. Rotate your knife 90 degrees and make slices in the opposite direction, all the way across the top of the ham, to create a diagonal cross pattern.

It’s a good idea to make your diagonal cross pattern as small as possible to ensure more of the glaze can soak into the top of the ham. This will also prevent large cracks from forming while the ham roasts.

If the glaze is too thin, try simmering it in a saucepan on medium heat to reduce the sauce and allow it to thicken.

If the glaze is too thick, add in a little water at a time until the glaze is at the desired thickness.

Try not to overcook the ham. Baste the ham often while cooking and be sure to follow the recipe as written so the ham doesn’t dry out. Be sure to let the ham rest after baking to help it stay nice and juicy! Also, use an instant read thermometer to test the internal temperature of the ham to be sure it’s not overcooked.

If the slices are falling apart while trying to serve it, cut thicker slices or use a sharper knife to make clean cuts in the ham.

A ham that is already glazed or is heavily smoked can have some flavours that are too strong and they can clash with the maple Dijon glaze. Pick a bone-in ham to help retain the moisture and contribute to the flavour, or a boneless ham for quick cooking.

It is important to score the ham and remove the some of the excess fat but leave some fat too (this will help keep the ham moist as it bakes). If the ham is not prepped properly, the glaze won’t stick to the ham.

If you don’t baste the ham, the ham may end up being dry and lack flavour. It is important to baste the ham with the glaze while it is cooking to keep the ham moist and allow the flavour to get stronger.

You’ll need these items on hand in your kitchen to make this ham glaze recipe (paid links):

• large knife
• meat fork
• Cutting Board
• mixing bowls
• liquid measuring cups
• measuring cups and spoons
• Whisk
• Oval Baking Dish
• Basting Brush

You will need these ingredients to make this ham glaze recipe (paid links):

• 1 whole smoked ham about 2.5 pounds (a city ham, country ham, or Prague ham works best for this recipe)
• 3/4 cup real maple syrup
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 2 cloves garlic finely minced
• 4 small shallots finely minced (optional)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 tablespoon fresh chopped rosemary (or 1 teaspoon dried)
• 1/2 tablespoon fresh chopped thyme 

Try these fruit and nut variations for a twist on this Maple Dijon Glaze recipe.

1. Orange Maple Dijon- Add the juice and zest of an orange for a citrus flavoured ham.
2. Apple – Add in applesauce or apple cider to the glaze for a maple apple Dijon flavour.
3. Pineapple – Place pineapple rings on top of the ham as it bakes to infused the ham with the flavour.
4. Pecans- Add chopped pecans to the glazed ham before baking.

We hope you love this maple glazed ham recipe as much as we do! Let us know in the comments below, what’s your favourite Easter recipe? We’d love to know!

• Slow Cooker Mashed Potatoes
• Apple Walnut Salad
• Easy Juicy Roasted Turkey
• Roast Turkey Gravy From Scratch
• Easy Vegan Green Bean Casserole (Non-Vegan Option)
• Rustic Slow Cooker Garlic Mashed Potatoes
• Maple Rosemary Roasted Sweet Potatoes
• Rosemary Dill Roasted Potatoes
• Roasted Potatoes and Carrots

Watch the video below to see exactly how we make this tasty recipe. You can find more delicious recipe videos on our YouTube channel.