Name: The Best Baked Ham with Italian Glaze
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 120 min
Total time: 150 min
Ingredients: 1 tbsp kosher salt (if using regular table salt use half the amount); 2 1/2 tsp light brown sugar; 2 tsp black peppercorns; 1/2 tsp fresh thyme; 1/2 tsp fresh rosemary; 1 dry bay leaf; 2 cloves garlic; 2 tbsp Madeira wine; 2 tbsp White wine; 6 tbsp granulated sugar; 6-8 lb Cooked bone in ham; 1/2 cup water (for roasting pan)

Baked ham with an Italian glaze is a delicious and simple baked ham recipe that feeds a crowd and makes the best leftovers. This baked ham is moist, full of flavor and not your ordinary baked ham thanks to the delicious Italian ham seasoning. With a homemade ham seasoning and a delicious sweet Italian glaze, it is the best baked ham you can make!

baked glazed ham closeup — The best baked ham!

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Total Time: 2 hours 30 minutes

About this Baked Ham with Glaze:

This moist baked ham is not your grandmother's baked ham recipe and we say this in a good way in case you love your grandmother's ham. This Italian baked ham starts with a homemade ham seasoning that is very similar to the spices used in Italian bacon.

The homemade spice rub is then rubbed all over the ham before baking. Then a delicious madeira wine and brown sugar glaze is dabbed all over the ham before it goes into the oven where it is baked until it is fall apart tender.

The flavors of this Italian baked ham are out of this World delicious and it is so ridiculously easy to make. I will show you all the steps below to make this delicious baked ham.

It takes just 30 minutes to make the spice rub and glaze and the rest is mostly hands off baking in the oven. It also makes amazing leftovers!

One of our favorite traditions is making this ham at the holidays then we look forward to making our creamy ham and cheese pasta , ham and ricotta puff pastry calzones and collard greens with ham with the leftovers.

You know when you make this baked ham that you will have an entire week of delicious meals 🙂

top view of glazed ham — Top view of the delicious crust on the baked ham.

Ingredients Needed for this Baked Ham:

6-8 pound cured cooked ham (bone in preferably)
Madeira wine (for glaze)
White wine (for glaze)
Granulated sugar (for glaze)
Brown sugar (for rub)
Fresh thyme (for rub)
Fresh rosemary (for rub)
Kosher salt (for rub)
Black peppercorns (for rub)
Fresh garlic (for rub)
Bay leaf (for rub)
Nutmeg (just a little for the rub)

Notes about the ingredients:

All of these ingredients for this simple baked ham are really easy to find in the stores. Try not to substitute dried ingredients for the fresh since the fresh flavors are really important for the seasoning.

Madeira wine is an Italian wine that is sweet and can be found in all liquor stores. It lends a beautiful sweetness to the ham glaze that makes this baked ham so delicious.

For the white wine, any good quality white wine that you drink will work fine for this recipe. Just buy a bottle you love, use what is called for in the recipe and drink the rest with the meal.

Using a pre- cooked ham:

To make this recipe easy, it uses a bone in already cooked ham. I love buying bone in hams because they stay moist when baking in the oven.

Another thing I love about this type of ham is when buying already cooked hams, all I have to do is add the flavor and warm it. So, make sure to find a ham with the bone and one that is pre-cooked.

How to make this Delicious Moist Baked Ham:

spices for ham — Step 1: Gather spices for rub

To cook a fully cooked ham, as is the case with this recipe, all you are going to be doing is making the ham seasoning and ham glaze then adding those on to the cooked ham before it goes in the oven.

The first thing you want to do is prepare all of your ingredients for the ham. This is the ham seasoning and glaze that is added to the outside of the ham before baking.

baked ham spices in spice grinder — Step 2: Add spices to spice grinder

baked ham seasoning — Step 2: Add spices to spice grinder

Once you have gathered all of your ingredients that you need for the ham seasoning, you are ready to start making the spice blend.

Add the ham seasoning spices to a spice grinder (coffee grinder) or a food processor. Grind the spices until it reaches a smooth consistency.

Next, add your madeira wine, white wine and sugar to a small sauce pan over medium heat until the sugar dissolves and the mixture just begins to bubble. Remove the glaze from the stove and let it cool.

Once you have made your ham seasoning and your glaze for the ham, it is time to start assembling the ham for baking. This part is really easy.

scoring ham — Step 5: Score your ham with a knife.

adding spices to ham — Step 5: Score your ham with a knife.

Step 5: Here you want to score your ham in a diamond pattern because it looks pretty when it bakes and it allows some of the spices and glaze into the meat portion of the ham.
Step 6: Now you add your spice rub by grabbing a small portion at a time and rubbing it all around the ham.
Step 7: The last step is dabbing the glaze all over the ham on top of the spice rub.

Now you just place the ham in the oven and let the spices and glaze caramelize and the ham warm through. It really is so easy and the results are so amazing.

You will only need to baste the ham once or twice while it is cooking. There are no other extra steps that you have to do once the ham is in the oven.

Tips:

You can make the spice rub and glaze ahead of time to save time. To do this just make the spice rub per the directions and store in an air tight container in the fridge. For the glaze, you can store this on the counter covered for up to 24 hours.

This spice rub and glaze also work beautifully on other cuts of meat. You can use it for pork roast or on a chicken.

Another tip is do not throw out the bone from the ham. It makes the most delicious addition to homemade beans or to collard greens with bacon.

Faqs:

Make sure you cook your ham to an internal temperature of 140 degrees. Although cured hams are already cooked, you still want to make sure you heat the ham all the way through to a safe internal temperature.

What To Serve with This Italian Baked Ham Recipe:

More Easy Entertaining Recipes You May Like:

Best Beef Brisket
Pasta Genovese (pasta and beef roast)
Chicken in Tarragon Sauce
Pork Bolognese
The Best Juicy Pork Chops
Citrus Roasted Chicken
Italian Sunday Gravy

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5 from 5 votes

The Best Baked Ham with Italian Glaze

This baked ham with a homemade spice rub and delicious sweet glaze is the best baked ham you can make!

Prep Time30 mins

Cook Time2 hrs

Total Time2 hrs 30 mins

Servings: servings

Tried the Recipe? We Would Love To Hear From You In The Comments Below!

Author: Melissa

Equipment

large roasting pan

Ingredients

Spice Rub

1 tablespoon kosher salt if using regular table salt use half the amount
2 ½ teaspoon light brown sugar
2 teaspoon black peppercorns
½ teaspoon fresh thyme
½ teaspoon fresh rosemary
1 dry bay leaf
2 cloves garlic

Glaze

2 tablespoon Madeira wine
2 tablespoon White wine
6 tablespoon granulated sugar

Ham

6-8 lb Cooked bone in ham
½ cup water for roasting pan

Follow Keeping It Simple Blog On Pinterest

Instructions

Remove ham from the fridge 30 minutes before baking.
6-8 lb Cooked bone in ham
Pre-heat the oven to 325 degrees.

Making the spice rub

Add all of the spice ingredients to a spice grinder or food processor and grind until smooth.
1 tablespoon kosher salt, 2 ½ teaspoon light brown sugar, 2 teaspoon black peppercorns, ½ teaspoon fresh thyme, ½ teaspoon fresh rosemary, 1 dry bay leaf, 2 cloves garlic
Add to a small bowl and set aside.

Making the Glaze

Add both wines and granulated sugar to a small sauce pan over medium heat.
2 tablespoon Madeira wine, 2 tablespoon White wine, 6 tablespoon granulated sugar
Heat until the sugar dissolves and the mixture just starts to bubble.
Remove from the heat and pour mixture into small bowl.
Set aside.

Ham

Remove your ham from the packaging and place into a large roasting pan.
Score your ham about ¼ inches deep with a sharp knife by making diamond patterns by cutting diagonally in one direction then cutting diagonally in the other direction.
Now take a handful of your spice rub and rub it all over the outside of the ham, pushing it into the crevices as much as possible. You may have to scoop up any spice rub that falls off the ham and rub it back in.
Keep doing this until all the spice rub has been used.
Now take your glaze and with a pastry brush or small paint brush, dab the glaze all over the ham. Do this until all the glaze is used up and the whole outside of the ham is covered with the glaze.
Now add ½ cup of water to the bottom of the roasting pan.
½ cup water
Place your ham uncovered into the pre-heated oven for 1 hour.
After 1 hour, remove the ham from the oven and scoop up the liquid from the bottom of the pan and spoon over the top of the ham until all the ham has been covered in the pan juices.
Place back into the oven for another 30 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 140 degrees.
Remove the ham from the oven when done and place on a serving platter.
Now whisk the pan juices inside the pan.
Slice up the ham and spoon some of the pan juices over the top.
Serve immediately.

Nutrition

Nutrition Values are estimates only.

See full nutrition disclaimer here

Course :Main Course

Baked Ham With Italian Glaze