Best Ham Recipe
This baked ham recipe is why Sam I Am changed his mind about ham…
Bone-in-Ham and Ham Sauce
Best Ham Recipe
Best Ham Recipe. When it is time to start learning how to do the traditional holiday meals on your own, it can be intimidating! So what do you do? Call your mom, of course! That is how I found out that a ham really isn’t hard. It is easy, but you will be completely missing out if you don’t try making it like my mom and grandma. This recipe turns a regular old ham into something you will be asked to make again and again. Best Ham Recipe. Bone-In Baked Ham Recipe. Yum.
I talked my mom into teaching you what she taught me. What better way to learn how to do it than from the pro herself! I also roped my dad into taking photos of it since they don’t live by me – he did a great job, right? Take it away mom (and just so you know, she is a cooking GENIUS and I’m not just saying that cause she’s my mom:):
“My name is Pam and I am a copy-recipe-a-holic!”
I recently was asked to do a food demonstration. My friend, Mary, who has had lots of my “foodie” creations in the past, said, “Ooh, make that ham and ham sauce!”
So I brought my bulging categorized hanging file of recipes I’ve copied from Food Network and food websites to the demonstration. Then I explained that with all of those tantalizing recipes, I was going to demonstrate “tried and true” ones – BONE-IN HAM AND GRANDMA’S HAM SAUCE. I learned them from my mother-in-law and have been making them for special occasions for years.
BAKED BONE-IN HAM
- 6 – 8 lb. bone-in ham (ask butcher if you don’t see it)
- 1 cup (approximately) orange juice
- 2 cups (approximately) lemon-lime soda
- 1 cup of brown sugar
- ½ cup white vinegar
- 1 teaspoon of dry mustard
- 1 teaspoon of ginger
Stir together ingredients in a roaster pan with a lid.
Place ham, fat side up, in a roaster pan, and baste the juicy mixture over the ham.
Cover and bake at 300 degrees for about ½ hour per pound (it’s not exact, and at the low heat, it’s hard to mess up but the key is LOW and SLOW!) Baste occasionally with the juices at the bottom of the pan.
GRANDMA’S HAM SAUCE
In medium saucepan beat together with a fork:
- 1 egg
- 5 Tablespoons water
- 5 Tablespoons vinegar
- Then add:
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 Tablespoon of flour
- ¼ teaspoon (or to taste) celery seed
- 1 Tablespoon of dry mustard
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
Cook and stir on LOW heat until mixture thickens.
Cool completely to room temperature, covering with a saucepan lid.
Whip ½ cup whipping cream
When cool, fold in whipped cream.
Chill and serve with ham.
This sauce MAKES the ham!
You HAVE to try it! Try it and you may, try it and you may I say.
Thanks, mom and grandma! I hope this recipe makes your holiday meal extra special!
Merry Christmas!
Don’t make your ham until you read this…
Ingredients
Instructions
alysha says
Mmmmm I’m trying to stop myself from drooling on my keyboard! I’m really going to try this since! (Something I don’t attempt to do very often…ham sorda intimidates me.)
P.S. Thank your mom for us and your dad did such a great job with the pics!
Jamie M. says
YUMMY!! I am making Ham on Friday so I may just give this a try.
Joan Morris says
Looks sooo yummy! I can’t wait to try it. Thanks!
Mindy says
I can attest to how delicious this ham and sauce are!!! My husband begs me to make it. Way to go Mom looks amazing as usual.
Ann says
This looks yummy! I don’t have a roasting pan — do you think this would with a crock pot?
Tesla says
I have the same question!!
Missy says
I would think it would work because the key is to cook it slowly on low heat, which a crock pot does, on low of course. If you try it, let us know if it works!
Allison says
Yes, I make my ham in the crock-pot all of the time. (I prefer low heat but I have done high in a hurry too.) It is fail proof and I can leave it if I go out which is nice. One question though, what is ham sauce? It sounds fun, but is it used like gravy? Sounds yummy!
Mama Kelly aka Jia says
That ham sauce looks just wonderful! I usually make raisin gravy for our Christmas Ham but this makes me want to break tradition.
stacy says
I just made this ham and ham sauce for our Christmas party and everyone LOVED it! It is so easy and so delicious! I promise!!! Thanks for the step by step and great photos!
Arliss says
Wow. This looks awesome. I LOVE ham! I also am a “copy-recipe-a-holic” so I look forward to trying this one. My husband likes ham…but tries to avoid it. He always prefers turkey….Ugh….not turkey again! So I’m hoping the ham sauce will “entice” him to let me make this a Christmas holiday tradition. Thanks and Merry Christmas.
Kay says
I LOVE this recipe! It is so good! I now feel like why have ham if you don’t have this sauce? This post is making me rethink my Christmas dinner plans. Nice photos, too!
Julia says
Looks yummy! Do you think it could be done in a slow cooker?
Marie says
I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to make ham differently than my Grandma’s recipe. Just thought I’d share it since it is so simple.
1 small jar of Apricot/pineapple jam
1/2 cup of orange juice
1/2 cup of brown sugar
2/3 Tablespoon of Dijon mustard
In a sauce pan, combine the above ingredients on medium low heat.
In a seperate bowl, combine 2 tablespoons water and 2 tablespoons of corn starch and add to the sauce pan to make the syrup thick.
Boil to make syrup.
Cut Rine off ham
Pour syrup over ham. Cover with foil and cook ham according to the package directions.
Erin says
OH MY GOSHHHHH! This looks DIVINE! I am allergic to turkey and am always looking for ways to “shake up” boring old traditional ham. Gonna try this recipe!
Merry Christmas!
Debi says
The ham looks yummy, but I can’t help noticing the MacKenzie-Childs in the photo. Now, I’m dying to see the rest of your kitchen!
Patty Mickelsen says
I am going to make that yummy sauce for our Holiday dinner!
Krystal says
Yummmm!!! I love ham! I’m featuring this post on my blog today if you’d like to check it out.
sassysanctuary.blogspot.com
Julie L says
Well you were right, tell your mama and grandma – THANK YOU. This was the best ham I ever made. Thank you
Tracey Marzich says
What would you recommend making for Easter that is outside the traditional fare, especially for the main course. Would it just be wrong to make duck? Someone said no way to rabbit and I would agree! Okay I was trying to be funny there-never have made rabbit and probably won’t.
Thanks-
Cindy Gabrielsen says
I just now read this ham recipe…I’m feeling lucky ’cause it’s just I. Time for Easter ham! Yummy sounding ham sauce. Cindy Gabe
Ami says
This looks amazing! Can’t wait to try it!
Camilla says
made this yesterday and it was really delicious. i was worried about the ham sauce but i it was really good!!
Janeal says
Tried this last year and I am back to get the recipe to make it again. It was fabulous!!!!
Pam says
Does this recipe work with a spiral cut ham from Costco?
Missy says
Yes. You could do it with any ham, but the bone-in ones tend to be more juicy and turn out fantastic when cooked this way!
Carol says
I cooked my ham for Easter via this recipe and I thank you!!!
Skipped the sauce, as I got lazy. Next time.
Mista says
Wondering if this could be done in a CROCKPOT???
jennifer says
I made this for thanksgiving I was kinda nervous because I’d never seen anything like this… But it was the biggest hit at the table people came back for 3rd and 4ths of just ham and the ham sauce!!!! It was the best!!!! Thank you for sharing.
Sally says
My mom’s recipe is similar but she used dill pickle juice instead of vinegar and studded the ham with orange and pineapple slices, whole cloves and maraschino cherries. It wa a beautiful presentation as well as super delicious.
jrose says
I just took my ham out for Sunday when I read this I am going to try this sounds really good
Shelley says
You will LOVE it. Promise! 🙂
Angie D says
Is it possible to use something besides the soda? Like lime juice and carbonated water and honey?
Molly says
This ham sauce is amazing!!!!! Made it last year for Christmas and will surely be making it again this year. It’s the perfect combo of creamy and zippy to pair with your ham….awesome on leftover ham sandwiches too,
Jenn says
Does the sauce taste really mustard-y?
Denise says
How long with the ham sauce keep in the refrigerator? Could I make it the night before?
Missy says
Yes!
Morgan says
I am not clear on the ham sauce – you serve it cold? Is it like a horseradish consistency and you dip your bites in it, rather than pouring it over the ham?
Missy says
Yes, I suppose it is more of a dip than a sauce..
Lezlie says
I am making the ham sauce right now, and I have been stirring for 15 minutes and it has only thickened the teensiest amount. Does it take a long time to thicken, or could I have done something wrong?
Shelly says
What kind of orange juice? Sweet or sour?
Maria says
When you make the whip cream, do you add sugar to make the cream?
Thanks.
Kami says
This may sound ridiculous but…….what is whipping cream?? Is this the same as whipped cream that typically is placed on top of desserts? Obviously, I am a cooking novice but am working to change this. I appreciate any input. Thanks and Happy Thanksgiving! :o)
Katie says
Whipping cream is a bit different than whipped cream. Whipping Cream usually comes in a carton (looks like a milk carton), it is thick cream and can be whipped by the baker to make it double in volume. Whipped cream is thick cream that has already been whipped.
Kath says
Also called Heavy Cream.
Hilary says
I’m making my first ham tomorrow for my boyfriend who is gluten free. Is there any advice on how to alter this for just a ham steak? He could never eat a whole ham, but I’m dying to try this recipe
Hilary says
I’m making my first ham tomorrow for my boyfriend who is gluten free. I was wondering if there was any advice for how to cook this as just a ham steak. There’s no way he could eat a whole ham and I’m dying to try this recipe!
Ester says
Can you use corn starch instead of flour to make it gluten free? if so, how much corn starch would you use?
Flora says
Wow this recipe is amazing! I made my ham today and let me tell you everyone loved it! Several people asked me for the recipe so they can make it tomorrow. I’ll never make a ham any other way! Thank you for the amazing recipe!
Jessica says
Can you make the sauce in advance?
How large of a ham do you recommend for 10 people?
Megan says
Thank you for posting this recipe!! I have made it several times now and get rave reviews, my guest keep going back for more Ham! Best Ham ever and love the Ham sauce too!
Matt says
I am a man, I am making this now 🙂
Intruded the website!!
Dianna says
If you don’t have a lidded roaster pan can you use one of those disposable aluminum pans and cover it tightly with foil and bake it in a regular oven at 300?
Missy says
Yes I think that should work great!
Catelyn says
I really want to make this for thanksgiving but I can’t find an uncooked ham anywhere… Is this an uncooked ham or a smoked ham ? Please advise thanks !
Katie says
It’s a precooked smoked ham. Good luck!
Missy says
just make sure it still has the bone in it still – this makes a big difference
Jeannette says
Why does it have to have the bone in? and does it have to be covered?
Megan says
I have to try this ham sauce. My grandmother always made one with sour cream, yellow mustard, and horseradish. It’s delicious but this one sounds intriguing!
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Kerry says
Do you Serve the Ham Sauce Cold?? I’m going to try making this for Easter. I think I have almost everything on hand which is a bonus 🙂
Kerry says
Okay I made this for Easter Dinner my Ham got done in much less time then in this recipe so I had to turn the heat down to 250 and tent with aluminum foil. It was drying out a bit so I took it out of the oven cut it off the bone and put the ham slices into the pan juices covered with foil at 250 until dinner time. I made the Ham sauce up the night before, served it cold and OMG it was really good. The ham sauce was a HUGE hit! It’s going on my permanent rotation. Thanks for sharing this recipe with us.