Glazed Apple Spiral Ham – 🍏🍎🎊 If you’re looking for an EASY ham recipe to serve at your next holiday gathering, make this JUICY apple spiral ham with a spiced brown sugar glaze! Tender green apple slices are the perfect tart contrast to the salty ham that’s coated in a sweeter glaze! Just 15 minutes of hands-on prep work for this SHOW-STOPPING holiday entree for Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s, or Easter that your friends and family will ADORE!
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Easy Baked Spiral Ham with Apples
Holiday ham recipes don’t get much simpler or easier than this sweet and salty spiral apple ham! The apple ham comes together in just 2 hours total time with only 15 minutes of hands-on work. Now that’s a holiday main that I know all the cooks will appreciate!
Thinly sliced green apples are inserted into the spirals of the ham and as the ham bakes, the magic happens. The apple slices help keep the ham super moist while also infusing it with apple flavor from the inside out.
The lightly spiced brown sugar glaze coats every nook and cranny of the ham and apples. By the end of the bake time, the glaze caramelizes around the edges and those crispy bits are everyone’s favorite.
It’s the perfect centerpiece for your Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s, or Easter table. If your family usually makes a more traditional Honey Baked Ham or Pineapple Glazed Ham, consider making an apple spiral ham instead this year maybe with some sugared cranberries as well!
Ingredients for a Glazed Apple Ham
Besides the spiral cut ham itself, the ingredients for this recipe are pantry staples you likely have on hand already. Gather the following to prepare this easy recipe:
- Spiral cut ham – I use an 8 to 10 lb. precooked spiral ham
- Green apples – I prefer Granny Smith apples sliced on a mandoline for this recipe because they’re a good balance of tart against the sweetness of the glaze. See the FAQs below for more apple info
- Dijon mustard
- Light brown sugar
- Orange juice – freshly squeezed is preferred, otherwise choose a bottled OJ that’s not from concentrate. You can sub with apple juice or apple cider if you want to achieve more apple flavor
- Maple syrup – use pure maple syrup, not pancake syrup
- Soy sauce – I use reduced sodium or lite, but regular is fine depending on how salty you like things and how salty your ham is
- Ground cinnamon
- Ground cloves
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How to Make Baked Apple Spiral Ham
Assembling and baking a spiral cut ham is incredibly easy. Even if you’re not a kitchen whiz, you can definitely make this recipe for your holiday dinner!
Here are the basic steps for baking a pre-cooked spiral ham:
- Place the ham into a large roasting pan and add ½ cup water to the bottom of the pan. Turn the ham on its side and carefully tuck half of the apple slices in between each spiral throughout the ham. Then, repeat on the other side. Use toothpicks to hold things together as necessary.
- In a small saucepan, mix together the spiral ham glaze ingredients. Cook over medium heat until the mixture is bubbly and begins to thicken.
- Brush or pour HALF of the spiced brown sugar glaze over the apple stuffed ham. Then, loosely cover the ham with aluminum foil and bake for 1 hour.
- Remove from the oven and pour HALF of the remaining glaze onto the ham (half of the half, or 25% of the total). Return to the oven and bake, uncovered, for another 30 minutes.
- Brush the remaining glaze onto the ham and bake for another 15-20 minutes, or until the glaze has caramelized. Rest, slice, serve, and enjoy!
what to serve with glazed apple ham
Some of my favorite side dish recipes to enjoy alongside your ham!
Recipe FAQs
You should purchase a bone-in, pre-cooked spiral cut ham. Look for one is approximately 8 to 10 pounds. Do not use a fresh bone-in ham (i.e. uncooked) for this recipe; the bake time would need to be drastically increased in that case and the recipe wasn’t designed for that.
The ham needs to bake for 12 to 15 minutes per pound at 350ºF. Remember that this is a pre-cooked spiral ham, so you’re baking the ham just to warm it, caramelize the glaze, and allow the apple flavor to penetrate.
Don’t panic! If the ham is caramelizing too quickly towards the end of the bake time, simply baste the meat with some of the pan juices and cover the top of the ham with foil to prevent it from burning. The foil will act like a shield for the ham. However, if it’s burning towards the end, that may simply be a sign that the ham is done – so check it and consider taking it out!
I like to use green apples, or Granny Smith apples, for this recipe. They add a nice balance of tart against the sweetness of the brown sugar glaze. However, you can also use firm red apples such as Honeycrisp, Gala, Braeburn and so forth. Do not use mushier apples like Red Delicious, please no! You should peel and core the apples before using them in the recipe.
This recipe uses a few tricks to keep the spiral apple ham super moist. First, you’ve got the apple slices tucked between the ham spirals. As the apples cook, they soften and release their moisture which in turn makes for an ultra juicy baked ham. Second, there’s ½ cup of water in the bottom of the roasting pan. As the ham bakes, the water turns to steam so the meat stays moist as it cooks. Finally, don’t overcook it. Simple as that. This ham was already cooked so you’re just warming it and allowing the glaze to caramelize and my advice is that “less is more in this recipe”, if in doubt regarding the baking time.
Yes! Let the ham rest for about 15 minutes before carving it. This gives the juices inside the ham time to distribute throughout the meat and also makes it cool off a bit, thereby making it safer to turn the ham on its side in order to carve it. Remember it’s still hot, big, and awkward so be careful.
Carving a bone-in spiral ham is fairly straightforward. To carve the ham, carefully turn it onto its bottom, which is the larger of the flat ends. Using a sharp chef’s knife or carving knife, cut around the bone. Cut these larger slices of ham into smaller slices, using the seams of fat running through the meat as your guidelines.
Yes and no. The ham has already been cooked since that’s the type of ham you’ll be purchasing. So it has been “made ahead”. Therefore, you’re just assembling this and baking it. I don’t know how far in advance you can bake it and then try to keep it warm without drying it out? That would depend on your tolerance for dry meat (mine is absolutely none!)
You could possibly assemble it and then just keep it assembled with the apples in it in the fridge for up to 12-24 hours. But, even tightly wrapped I worry about the apples turning brown and/or soggy. And overall not ending up with stellar results.
I would try to budget your time and your day to make this the same day you plan to serve it and serve it freshly made. And if you want to keep it warm, tent it under foil for an hour or so, and that’s about as far as I would stretch it. After all, this is likely a celebration entree dish for a special day so plan for it accordingly.
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Glazed Apple Spiral Ham
Equipment
- 1 large roasting pan (with a wire rack is preferred)
- 1 mandoline (optional for slicing apples)
- 10 toothpicks
Ingredients
- 8 to 10 pound precooked spiral ham, mostly commonly sold as bone-in
- ½ cup water
- 4 to 5 large green apples, such as Granny Smith; peeled, cored and thinly sliced; see FAQs in post for more apple info
- 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard, do not use yellow mustard
- ½ cup light brown sugar, packed
- ½ cup orange juice, (use apple juice or apple cider rather than OJ if you want a stronger apple flavor in the finished ham)
- ¼ cup real maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon reduced sodium soy sauce, I suggest lite or reduced sodium, you can always add salt later
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon, (I use 1 teaspoon but I love cinnamon)
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves, (I use 1/2 teaspoon but I love cloves)
Instructions
- Ham – Preheat oven to 350F with your main oven rack in the middle position, making sure there's room above to accommodate the ham. Place the ham on a large roasting pan. Make sure to remove the bottom plastic piece from the ham before cooking if there is one, and discard any glaze packets. Add 1/2 cup water to the bottom of the pan (this helps keep the ham moist as it bakes). Set aside momentarily.
- Apples – Peel, thinly slice, and core the apples. If you have a mandolin, bring it out for this task. If you don't, that's fine. Just slice the apples very thin, thinner that you would for apple pie.
- Apple Assembly – Turn your ham on it’s side and carefully tuck half of the apples in between each spiral throughout the ham. Carefully flip the ham over and repeat on the other side with the remaining apple slices. Place the ham upright on the roasting pan; set aside momentarily. Tip – If your bottom spirals begin to loosen you can insert a few toothpicks into the bottom to hold it together.
- Glaze (sauce) – To a small saucepan, add all the remaining ingredients (Dijon through ground cloves), bring to a boil over medium-high heat, and let it bubble gently for about 3-5 minutes, or until the sauce begins to thicken. Tips – Make sure to keep an eye on it and not let it bubble too fast; turn the heat down to medium low, or as necessary. There's a lot of sugar in this mixture and you don't want it to burn with a fast boil. For the glaze brushing below, think of the glaze usage like this: Use 50% of the total amount of glaze in Brushing and Baking #1. In Brushing and Baking #2 use 25% of the total glaze, and in Brushing and Baking #3 use the final 25%. It doesn't have to be perfect, but try your best for optimal results.
- Brushing and Baking #1 – Brush or pour HALF the glaze over the ham (save the remainder). Loosely cover the ham with foil and bake for 1 hour.
- Brushing and Baking #2 – Remove the ham from the oven. Brush half of the saved glaze (so half of the half, or 25% of the total) and bake uncovered for 30 minutes, occasionally basting with pan juices.
- Brushing and Baking #3 – Using the remaining glaze, brush the ham again, and bake for about 15-20 minutes, or until the glaze has fully caramelized and the ham has been warmed through. Tip – If the ham is beginning to brown too quickly or begins to burn while it's uncovered in either Baking 2 or Baking 3, cover it with foil and/or it may simply be done and ready to be taken out of the oven. Because remember, this ham has already been cooked through – you're just warming it and caramelizing the glaze.
- Resting and Slicing – Allow the ham to rest for about 20-30 minutes before slicing and serving. See the FAQs in the blog post for slicing tips.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Can you make apple glazed ham ahead of time?
Yes and no. The ham has already been cooked since that’s the type of ham you’ll be purchasing. So it has been made ahead.
So really you’re just assembling this and baking it. I don’t know how far in advance you’d want to bake it and try to keep it warm without drying it out? That would depend on your tolerance for dry meat.
You could possibly assemble it and then just keep it assembled with the apples in it in the fridge, but even tightly wrapped I do worry about them turning brown and/or soggy.