Citrus Maple Ham
This simple, flavorful glaze is my new favorite for our Easter menu! A tang from whole grain mustard, sweetness from pure maple syrup and a fresh squeeze of orange & pineapple make this citrus maple ham perfect for the holidays.
Glaze ingredients
- Orange juice and zest. Use one large orange and zest the entire fruit before cutting it in half to juice it. You’ll probably get about 1/2 cup of juice, depending on the orange. There’s no specific measurement you need, whatever you can squeeze out.
- Maple syrup. Try to get a good quality, pure maple syrup. I know it’s not cheap, so do what you can! The glaze will still be delicious. You only need a 1/3 cup, so get a really small bottle if you want.
- Brown sugar. Light or dark will both work, but I like to use dark. Again, I know you might not have dark brown sugar in your pantry and don’t want to spend extra money. Use whichever you like.
- Whole grain mustard. Gives the glaze a good zip! It’s a little more potent than regular yellow or Dijon mustard, and has less of the vinegar taste that yellow normally does. I highly recommend using it!
- Fresh rosemary leaves, cloves and black pepper. Rosemary has a peppery, woodsy flavor that blends in well with the rest of the glaze, while the cloves go along with the sweet maple syrup. Black pepper adds a little extra spice, crack it fresh if you can!
Baking the ham
If you’re not using a disposable roasting pan, line a baking dish with foil for easy cleanup at the end. Depending on the size of your ham, you could get away with using a 9 x 13 pan. I used a deeper two handled skillet that I have for larger recipes.
As long as the pan you use is at least 4-5 inches deep to collect the juices as the ham roasts, the you’ll be okay.
After lining the pan with foil, pour a 6 oz (3/4 cup) can of pineapple juice into the bottom of the pan before setting the ham cut side down. As the ham roasts, you’ll be re-glazing and basting with the juices, which include that pineapple juice as well as some of the glaze. All the pineapple-orange-maple-mustard goodness with the smoky flavor of the ham?!?!? Hello.
Bake the ham according to its weight. Generally, it’s 15 minutes per pound. I had a 10 pound ham, so that was 150 minutes = 2 hours + 30 minutes.
After setting the ham down onto the pineapple juice, rub 1/4 cup of the maple glaze all over the exposed ham. Cover it with foil and allow it to bake for half of your specific baking time. For me, that was 1 hour and 15 minutes.
After baking halfway, remove the foil and baste the citrus maple ham with another couple tablespoons of the glaze, as well as the pan drippings. Leave the foil off and let the ham finish roasting for the remaining time, basting every 15 minutes in the same way. The ham should be well browned and juicy at the end of the roasting time.
Serving
This recipe works for spiral cut hams as well as unsliced. Some people have said that using a spiral cut ham will give you a drier end result. That wasn’t the case for me! Use whatever you want, just make sure that it’s bone in.
Serve the ham sliced with your favorite holiday sides! Any leftover citrus maple ham can be refrigerated for 4-5 days or frozen for a couple months.
Citrus Maple Ham
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 2 hours + 30 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours + 45 minutes
- Yield: Varies
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
This simple, flavorful glaze is my new favorite for our Easter menu!
Ingredients
- One 8–10 lb fully cooked ham, bone in (can be spiral sliced if desired)
- zest and juice from one large orange
- 1/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1/3 cup whole grain mustard
- 1/3 cup pure maple syrup
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 1 TB fresh minced rosemary leaves
- 1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
- 3/4 cup pineapple juice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and line a large roasting pan with foil (unless you’re using disposable.)
- Combine the orange zest and juice, brown sugar, whole grain mustard, maple syrup, ground cloves, rosemary and pepper in a small mixing bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside.
- Pour the pineapple juice into the prepared baking pan and carefully set the ham (widest, cut end facing down) into the pan. Brush the ham with 1/4 cup of the glaze and cover with foil.
- A ham should bake for 15 minutes per pound, so a 10lb ham will bake for 2 hours and 30 minutes. Calculate the correct cook time for your specific ham.
- No matter what your cooking time is, allow the covered ham to roast for half of the cook time, for my ham, that was an hour and 15 minutes. After the halfway point, stop the timer and remove the ham from the oven.
- Remove the foil and brush with a few more tablespoons of the glaze. Baste with the pineapple liquid as well.
- Return the ham, uncovered, to the oven and continue roasting for the remaining time. Glaze and baste the ham every 15 minutes until it’s done.
- After the ham is done, allow it to rest for 20 minutes before serving to keep the juices inside. Store any leftovers in the fridge for up to a week.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 6 oz
- Calories: 155
- Sugar: 13.3 g
- Sodium: 566 mg
- Fat: 5.3 g
- Saturated Fat: 1.7 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 14.5 g
- Fiber: 0.3 g
- Protein: 11.7 g
- Cholesterol: 32.4 mg
