Honey Glazed Ham is one of our favorite holiday mains because it’s sweet, savory, and so easy to make in the slow cooker. The brown sugar, honey, Dijon mustard, and cloves simmer into a simple glaze that coats every slice of spiral ham with classic holiday flavor.
We love this for Easter, Christmas, Thanksgiving, or Sunday dinner because it frees up oven space and stays warm until it’s time to serve. Just baste it every hour so the glaze can soak into the slices and make the ham extra flavorful.
For more slow cooker recipe try Crock Pot Ribs, Crock Pot Pot Roast, and Slow Cooker Roast Chicken.
Why you’ll love it + Why it works:
- Hands-off cooking. The slow cooker does all the work!
- Feeds a crowd. It’s perfect for large holiday dinners, or enjoying leftovers after a smaller family meal.
- Simmering the glaze builds flavor. Brown sugar, honey, mustard, and cloves blend together before coating the ham.
- Basting keeps every slice flavorful. Spoon glaze over the ham each hour so it works into the spiral slices.
Honey Glazed Ham Ingredients
- Brown sugar (1 cup): Adds deep molasses notes and helps the glaze caramelize into a shiny, sticky coating. Use light or dark brown sugar.
- Honey (½ cup): Brings floral sweetness and a syrupy body that clings to the ham.
- Water (½ cup): Loosens the glaze so it can simmer, reduce a bit, and baste evenly.
- Dijon mustard (2 tablespoons): Gives a gentle tang and balances the sweetness so the ham does not taste too sugary.
- Whole cloves (10): Adds warm, classic holiday spice flavor to the glaze.
- Sam’s Choice spiral cut ham, cooked (4-5-pound): The ham is pre-sliced for easy serving and reheats beautifully in the slow cooker. I recommend you choose a ham in natural juices. Avoid ham in water.
How to Make Honey Glazed Ham
PREP. Place cut slices of 1 ham into your slow cooker.
- Add brown sugar, honey, water, Dijon mustard, whole cloves in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes.
COOK. Remove cloves from the glaze and pour the mixture over ham. Cook on LOW for 4 hours, making sure to baste ham with the glaze every hour.
ENJOY! Serve warm with the glaze. ENJOY!
Kristyn’s Recipe Tips
- If the honey-glazed ham is the main dish, plan on ⅓ to ½ pound per person. If you want some leftovers, add another pound or two to the total.
- Keep in mind the size of your slow cooker. A 6-8 quart slow cooker can usually fit a 6-7 pound ham.
- Use leftover ham in breakfast, lunch, or dinner: Frittata, Eggs Benedict Casserole, Ham Salad Recipe, Monte Cristo Sliders Recipe, Ham and Bean Soup, or Mac and Cheese with Ham.
- Oven. Preheat your oven to 325°F and follow the same glazing instructions. Place the ham in a roasting pan and bake for about 15 minutes per pound, basting with the glaze every 30 minutes.
Honey Glazed Ham Recipe
Video
Ingredients
- 1 cup brown sugar
- ½ cup honey
- ½ cup water
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 10 whole cloves
- 1 (4-5-pound) Sam’s Choice spiral cut ham (cooked)
Instructions
- Place cut ham slices into your slow cooker.
- Add all ingredients (except the ham) to a small pot. Bring to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes.
- Remove cloves from the glaze and pour over ham. Cook on LOW for 4 hours making sure to baste ham with the glaze every hour.
- Serve warm with the glaze. ENJOY!
Notes
- If the honey-glazed ham is the main dish, plan on ⅓ to ½ pound per person. If you want some leftovers, add another pound or two to the total.
- Keep in mind the size of your slow cooker. A 6-8 quart slow cooker can usually fit a 6-7 pound ham.
- Use leftover ham in breakfast, lunch, or dinner: Frittata, Eggs Benedict Casserole, Ham Salad Recipe, Monte Cristo Sliders Recipe, Ham and Bean Soup, or Mac and Cheese with Ham.
- Oven. Preheat your oven to 325°F and follow the same glazing instructions. Place the ham in a roasting pan and bake for about 15 minutes per pound, basting with the glaze every 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 325°F. Fill the bottom pan with water and place the roasting rack on top. Place ham on top of the rack and cover the entire pan with aluminum foil. The steam from the water underneath will keep the ham moist while reheating it. Bake until warm throughout.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Recipe FAQ
This type of ham is convenient because the precooked ham has also been pre-sliced. A butcher makes one continuous cut from one end of the ham to the other. These pre-cut, even slices make it easier to slice and serve the ham at dinner. Spiral ham can come as a boneless ham or bone-in.
For tasty variations, pin pineapple and/or maraschino cherries to the top of the ham. Use a toothpick to hold them in place. The pineapple juice and cherry juice will add a delicious layer of flavor to the ham. Add extra flavor with a dash of spices such as nutmeg, ginger, or cinnamon.
Store leftover ham in an airtight container(s) in the fridge for 4-5 days or freezer for 2-3 months.
Quickly reheat ham in the microwave, but the best way to get a moist reheated ham is to use a roasting pan in the oven.
Preheat oven to 325°F. Fill the bottom pan with water and place the roasting rack on top. Place ham on top of the rack and cover the entire pan with aluminum foil. The steam from the water underneath will keep the ham moist while reheating it. Bake until warm throughout.
Complete the Meal
Side Dishes
Green Bean Bundles
30 mins
Dinner Rolls Recipe
2 hrs 40 mins
Best Mashed Potatoes
35 mins
Mashed Potato Gravy
10 mins
Desserts
Pecan Pie Bars
1 hr
Apple Pie Recipe
3 hrs 45 mins
Angel Food Cake
55 mins
Hershey’s Chocolate Cake
1 hr 35 mins
More Crock Pot Dinners
Crock Pot Pot Roast
7 hrs 5 mins
Crockpot Ham
3 hrs 40 mins
Crock Pot Brisket
8 hrs 5 mins
Slow Cooker Roast Chicken
4 hrs 5 mins
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This recipe was first shared in December, 2017.
I made this ham for a Sunday family dinner a couple weeks ago and if was delicious! So easy and everyone raved over it. We had leftovers the next week too!
This ham was everything and more that I wished it to be! thank you so much for sharing this amazing recipe
I make this ham every year, at least twice, and it always is a hit!
This was so delicious, and I love that it only has 5 ingredients!
Delicious glaze, easy recipe, thanks
The recipe was fantastic and i appreciated that you put on the storage info as we, happily, have leftovers.
This is the best ham!! I prefer ham over turkey any day & this is our go-to recipe!! Makes juicy & tasty ham!
I have never been that great at making ham but when I came across this recipe it sure got easier for me. It’s simple and oh so delicious!
This is by far my favorite ham recipe ever. So easy simple and fill of flavor!
Just made this for dinner the other night and was delicious. The kids loved it!
Best way ever to make ham. We had this for our Easter dinner/birthday celebration yesterday. It got rave reviews. So nice to not have dry ham. Thanks for the great recipe, it is now my go to.
Thanks for sharing! I’m so happy you liked it so much! 🙂
Best Ham recipe. Delicious 😋
I love the addition of Dijon mustard in this recipe. The packets that come with spiral ham are always too sweet, and the Dijon mustard is a perfect way to cut the sweetness of the brown sugar.
Sooooo delicious, full of flavor. We made it for thanks giving. Everyone loved it.
Hi Kristyn
Recipe sounds delicious, but I bought a 8lb ham. Do I double the glaze and cooking time?
I would double the glaze & I’m not sure about the cooking time. It definitely take longer, just not sure how much longer.
I made this last night and it is FANTASTIC!!!! I don’t usually cook with ham, but it was too tempting to pass up….. and it is damned delicious!! Thanks for sharing such an awesome recipe!!
You are so welcome! Glad you tried it!
Hi, do i take the ham off the bone Before i cook it? Thanks
Either way is fine. I like to, but the meat should come off easily, if there is bone. Enjoy!
Love idea for Ham.thank you.
Hope you like it!
What is a clove are u referring to a garlic clove sorry im not a cook and love this type of ham
They are called whole cloves. You can usually find them in the baking aisle.
Do you have any lactose free recipes??
Everything looked really good
Thanks so much for stopping by!!