Orange Ham Glaze for Baked Ham
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Upgrade your spiral ham with my orange ham glaze! It’s made with the usual suspects: orange juice, orange zest, and sugar. My secret? The added cinnamon and smoky chipotle powder!
Ham holds a special place in my heart. I love it in ham and bean soup, it’s so tasty in these ham and cheese lasagna roll ups, and I can’t get enough of it in my special crustless spinach quiche with ham. It’s also one of those quintessential holiday foods that always finds its way to the table. It’s a staple at Christmas and Easter parties, and I’ve also seen it served on Thanksgiving for folks who don’t like turkey (I know — but to each their own, right?)
Speaking of large gatherings, I’m already thinking about what to serve for the holidays. I typically like to pick up a spiral ham — a pre-cooked and pre-cut piece of meat — and then I add a little something special to make it my own. That’s how I came up with today’s recipe: my orange ham glaze for baked ham!
INGREDIENT NOTES AND SUBSTITUTIONS
- Spiral Cut Ham – I like to go for an 8-10 pound ham. It’s perfect for large groups — you won’t have to worry about there not being enough to go around.
- Orange Juice – Most of the flavor in this ham glaze comes from orange juice! Use your favorite brand.
- Orange Zest – For even more added orange flavor.
- Sugar – It wouldn’t be a true glaze without the addition of sugar. It cooks down with the rest of the ingredients to create a sort of syrup that you can pour over the meat.
- Cornstarch – This thickening agent also takes on a certain sheen to whatever liquid you add it to. Perfect for a glaze!
- Cinnamon – Spicy and warm, I love pairing cinnamon with savory ham.
- Chipotle Powder – My secret ingredient! It’s smoky and earthy and gives my orange ham glaze a really unique flavor profile.
- Dijon Mustard – Ham and mustard go together like…you know the drill! Dijon also brings on a bit of heat, balancing the other sweeter ingredients.
- Red Pepper Flakes – I like to add just a pinch of red pepper flakes too.
- Ground Clove – Similar to cinnamon, clove is spicy and warm.
- Salt – To round out all of the other flavors!
HOW TO MAKE ORANGE HAM GLAZE FOR BAKED HAM
- Prep The Ham. Take your ham out of the fridge and allow it to sit at room temperature for 2 hours.
- Combine The Glaze Ingredients. Whisk together the orange juice, zest, sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, salt, ground close, red pepper flakes, chipotle powder, and Dijon mustard and place in a saucepan over high heat. Lower the heat to medium and allow to cook until your orange ham glaze thickens. Make sure to stir often! The glaze should turn a thick amber color. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Bake The Ham. Preheat your oven to 325° F. Unwrap the ham and pour the glaze over it, being sure to get into all of those nooks and crannies with a food-safe brush. Wrap the ham in aluminum foil and place it on a roasting rack over a pan filled with 2-3 cups of water. Allow the ham to bake for 1.5-2 hours, or until the internal temperature is 110°F.
- Baste, Re-Bake, & Serve. Remove the baked ham from the oven and turn the temperature up to 400°F. Baste it with the glaze once more, then place it back in the oven (uncovered) for 15 more minutes so that the outside caramelizes. Serve with your sides of choice and any extra orange ham glaze!
Do You Put The Glaze On The Ham Before Or After You Bake It?
You should do a little bit of both! I like slathering on my glaze before I wrap the ham in aluminum foil for baking round 1. Then, I remove the ham, crank up the heat, baste it some more, and cook it uncovered for about 15 more minutes. The results are a perfectly caramelized outside and a perfectly tender inside.
What Can I Substitute For Orange Juice In Ham Glaze?
If you don’t have any OJ on hand or simply don’t want to use it, you can replace it with orange concentrate or orange extract combined with water. If you have an allergy and don’t want to use orange at all, you can always try replacing it with apple cider, pineapple juice, or even apple cider vinegar.
Do You Cover Ham When Baking?
You should start by leaving your ham covered in aluminum foil. This helps keep it juicy! You can finish off the roasting process by removing the cover during the last 15 minutes. This will make the outside nice and crunchy.
This recipe post, originally published on Kevin Is Cooking March, 2017, has been updated with new content, photos and/or video in October, 2022.
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Orange Ham Glaze for Baked Ham
Ingredients
- 8-10 lb spiral cut ham
- 2 cups orange juice
- 1 tbsp orange zest
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1 1/2 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp ground clove
- 1/2 tsp chipotle powder
- 1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
- 2 tsp dijon mustard
Instructions
- Remove covered ham from refrigerator and let sit at room temperature 2 hours.
- In a saucepan over high heat whisk together the orange juice, zest, sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, salt, ground clove, chipotle powder, red pepper flakes, and dijon mustard. Turn heat to medium and cook until thickened. Stir often. The sauce will be a thick amber. Set aside.
- Preheat oven to 325°F. Unwrap the ham and baste it all over with half the sauce. Get in all those nooks and crannies with the brush. Wrap it back up in enough aluminum foil to seal it and place on a roasting rack over 2-3 cups of water in a roasting pan.
- Bake ham for 1.5-2 hours, or until the center registers 110°F, about 12 minutes per pound.
- Remove ham from oven and turn oven temperature to 400°F.
- Bast once more so the outside caramelizes for a crunchy exterior and in the oven it goes again uncovered for 15 minutes. Serve with any remaining sauce.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
I can see your glaze working great on pork chops or even roasted duck as well as ham.
These sound awesome. Keep up your great work.
thanks Kevin we think this is better than ham in a bag we talked about doing.
thanks, Tom
Made this Ham for Christmas dinner, Best.Ham.Ever! The only thing I changed was I used chili powder instead of chipotle powder since I didn’t have any on hand. Thanks to this recipe, I have a new Christmas dinner tradition!
Hi Nick!
Thank you for stopping by to let me know! I love that you enjoyed it!
Or, slather an uncircumcised ham with spicy mustard, wrap it top to bottom in bread dough sealed, and bake it at 400F in the oven. Crack open the bread crock, discard and eat ham.
Oh my that sounds good!