Serve up a showstopper with this simple, slow cooked Gluten Free Glazed Baked Ham recipe for your next holiday.
Perfect for a weekend dinner or holiday table, this recipe uses a simple homemade orange and brown sugar spiced glaze and hands-off cooking. This citrusy-sweet glaze is gluten free, making it perfect for every guest!
Quick Look: Gluten Free Glazed Baked Ham
⏲️Ready In: 2 Hours 5 Minutes
🍽Servings: 16
🥗Nutrition: 546 Calories / 66g Protein
🥘Main Ingredients: Ham, Orange juice, Brown sugar, Mustard, Coriander, Cinnamon, Allspice, Clove
📋Dietary Notes: Gluten free, Grain free, Dairy free, Nut free
⭐Why You'll Love It: No fancy ingredients but lots of flavor, this ham glaze has become our go-to for a gluten free holiday ham! I love the warm spices and citrusy-sweet glaze.
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A sticky-sweet gluten free glaze for this ham makes an incredibly easy. You likely have most fo the ingredients on hand, and a quick trip to any grocery store gets you the rest!
This gluten free glazed ham recipe becomes the star of your holiday table alongside sides like Simple Honey-Roasted Baby Carrots, Roasted Maple Bacon Asparagus, or Brussels Sprouts with Bacon Honey Mustard.
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Key Ingredients
Ham - For this baked ham recipe, I used a pre-cooked bone-in ham, which is what seems to be most widely available in my area.
If you are gluten free or have a gluten free guest, be sure the ham you're buying is gluten free. Meaningful Eats has an excellent post that lists gluten free ham brands.
Orange Juice - Citrus + ham is a classic. Any orange juice will do well here, or you can use fresh-squeezed orange juice. Your choice.
Brown Sugar or Coconut Sugar - Light brown sugar or coconut sugar delivers all the sweetness you need for this not-too-sweet glaze. No need to over-sweeten the main dish of a holiday table.
Stone Ground Mustard - I love adding a little brine and depth of flavor to this glaze! I generally prefer stone ground mustard, but feel free to use Dijon if that's what you've got.
Butter or Fat of Choice - A little fat helps the glaze cling to the ham; that's one of the secrets for glazes like hot honey for hot honey chicken wings and this recipe! If you're dairy free, you can substitute olive oil or ghee.
Spices - A blend of warm spices including cinnamon, coriander, allspice, and clove add a unique twist to this ham glaze, while a touch of cayenne adds the tiniest kick.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
How to glaze a pre-cooked ham
Extra tip: Take the ham out of the fridge about 20 minutes before preheating the oven. This gives the ham a chance to come to room temperature, which in turn speeds up the cooking time a little!
Step 1: Combine all the glaze ingredients in a medium bowl, whisking until smooth.
Step 2: Put the ham in a roaster pan or rimmed baking sheet. Pour the glaze overtop. Use a basting brush to brush the glaze all over the ham, trying to get in the cracks as much as possible.
Step 3: Cover the ham with aluminum foil. Roast at 325 degrees F for 1 hour 45 minutes, basting at 30 minutes and every 15 minutes after.
Step 4: Pour the glaze and ham juices into a saucepan. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer, continuing to simmer until the liquid has reduced by about half and has become more syrupy.
Step 5: Slice and serve the ham, drizzling reduced glaze overtop.
For an 8-ish pound ham, that's it! If your ham is larger, you may need to add a half hour or so of cooking time while the ham is covered.
Variations and substitutions
Make it paleo: Use coconut sugar instead of brown sugar and olive oil instead of butter. That's it!
Make it dairy free: Use olive oil instead of butter.
Use maple syrup: For a maple-citrus spin, omit the sugar and use ¾ cup real maple syrup.
Add chipotle: If you want a little more of a kick in the glaze, add 1 teaspoon chipotle powder!
Top Tips from Chelsea
Take the ham out of the fridge before starting. About 20 minutes before you pre-heat the oven, get the ham out of the fridge so it's closer to room temperature before going in the oven. This helps cut down the cook time significantly!
Reduce the glaze/juices after cooking. While you'd typically reduce a sauce into a glaze before cooking, I've found I prefer the results when simmering down after cooking. That way, you can drizzle the glaze over the ham just before serving and you get more meaty flavor since you're using the ham juices as well.
Gluten Free Glazed Baked Ham FAQs
Yes, you can!
Baked ham should freeze for up to 3 months. But try to use that ham in soups like Creamy Ham & Potato Soup, stews, or casseroles - I just find defrosted cooked meat tends to lose some of its flavor if eaten alone.
As a general rule of thumb, at minimum I make ½ pound of meat per person. This same rule applies to turkey, baked ham, or any large piece of meat I'm prepping.
During a holiday or large gathering, people tend to eat a little more than they normally would, hence the ½ pound per person.
The ½ pound per person minimum has never steered me wrong yet! But I also tend to bump up what I buy by a couple pounds so I know I'll have leftovers for recipes like Quick Sautéed Collard Greens with Ham!
Since the ham is pre-cooked, the goal is to warm up the ham without drying it out.
For an 8-ish pound ham, it'll take about 1 hour and 45 minutes total at 325 degrees F.
Yes, but... Cooking a pre-cooked ham is a bit of a balance.
Cook it too quickly at a high temperature, and it'll get dry and tough. Set the temperature too low and you'll be waiting all day for that ham to heat through. The goal is a happy medium where the ham stays tender but heats down to the bone, just enough for the fat and tendons in the meat to start loosening up.
Serving suggestions
Making this gluten free glazed ham for Easter or Christmas?
For Easter, serve with springtime sides like Maple Bacon Asparagus or Bacon-Wrapped Asparagus.
At Christmastime, hearty salads like Orange Pecan Kale Salad with Citrus Tahini Dressing or Winter Kale and Delicata Squash Salad make excellent side dishes!
More sides for any time of year:
Gluten free recipes for leftover ham
Did you try this gluten free glazed baked ham recipe? I'd love to hear what you think! Please leave a comment and rating or tag me on Instagram - I appreciate your feedback.
Print📖 Recipe
Gluten Free Glazed Baked Ham Recipe
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour 45 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours 10 minutes
- Yield: 14 servings 1x
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
Serve up citrusy-sweet glazed baked ham for your next holiday meal! With an orange sugar glaze and unique blend of spices to add warm flavor, this ham is perfect for holiday tables or big weekend get-togethers.
Ingredients
- 8-10 pound precooked spiral cut ham
- 1 cup light brown sugar OR coconut sugar
- ½ cup fresh orange juice
- 2 tablespoons melted butter OR olive oil
- 2 tablespoons stone ground mustard
- 1 tablespoon coriander
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon allspice
- ½ teaspoon clove
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Remove ham from fridge. Two hours prior to starting, take the ham out of the refrigerator and let it come to room temperature. (Highly recommended! But if you forget this step, you may have to cook the ham for 20 minutes or so longer.)
- Prep oven and ham. When ready to cook, preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Place ham flat side down on a rimmed baking sheet or in a roaster pan. Using a sharp knife, score 1-inch deep diagonal slices across the top of the ham, working around the bone. Repeat going the other direction, creating diamonds in the top of the ham.
- Prepare glaze. In a medium-sized bowl, mix the coconut sugar, orange juice, butter or ghee, mustard, coriander, cinnamon, allspice, clove, cayenne, and salt. Pour about half of the mixture over the ham, using a brush to make sure the glaze touches every side.
- Bake ham. Cover the ham with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and peel the aluminum foil back to quickly baste the ham with the glaze and juices on the bottom with a basting brush. Cover and return to the oven, continuing to baste every 15 minutes, for another 1 hour and 15 minutes. Remove from the oven let the ham rest for at least 20 minutes.
- Reduce glaze. While ham is resting, carefully pour the juices or use a ladle to transfer the juices to a saucepan. (Alternatively, remove the ham to a platter and cover with foil while it rests.) Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Let simmer for 10 minutes or so, until the liquid has reduced by about half and has become syrupy.
- Slice and serve. Slice the ham and drizzle with reduced glaze.
Notes
- About 20 minutes before you pre-heat the oven, get the ham out of the fridge so it's closer to room temperature before going in the oven.
- If your ham is smaller than 8 pounds, reduce the cook time by about 10 minutes per pound. If larger than 8 pounds, increse cook time by about 10 minutes per pound.
- While you'd typically reduce a sauce into a glaze before cooking, I've found I prefer the results when simmering down after cooking. That way, you can drizzle the glaze over the ham just before serving and you get more meaty flavor since you're using the ham juices as well.
Theresa Brandon says
Chelsea I am allergic to coriander. Could I leave this out or is their a substitute for the coriander I could use.
Chelsea says
You can leave it out! 🙂