Copycat Honey Baked Ham Recipe (holiday recipe) - The Chunky Chef (2024)

Save yourself some serious money during the holidays by making your own Honey Baked Ham recipe at home! Tender ham is cooked with butter and honey, then slathered with a sticky sweet and smoky glaze that’s broiled until it gets a great sugary crust!

This Copycat Honey Baked Hamis one of those recipes we have love to have for holidays like Thanksgiving and Easter. A couple of our other favorite Easter recipes are my Honey Butter Roasted Carrots and Broccoli Salad. This is one of my Easterrecipes I know you’ll want to keep on hand!

HONEY BAKED HAM

In our family, we always got a big Honey Baked Ham for the holidays… a ham for Easter and either a ham or turkey breast for Thanksgiving. One of my relatives used to work for Honey Baked, so we could score them at a pretty good discount… but even with that reduction in price, they were still pretty expensive!

An 8 lb bone-in half ham (like you can find in most grocery stores), from Honey Baked will run you over $75. Seventy Five!!! That’s a 300% markup from what I can buy at my grocery store.

So why not save some serious cash this holiday, and make your own version at home!

HOW TO MAKE HONEY BAKED HAM

I prefer my ham to be warm, so that’s what I’ll be detailing here.

1. If warming in the slow cooker, trim ham to fit (if needed). Depending on your ham and your slow cooker, you may need to shave off a little bit to make the ham fit. If you’ll be warming your ham in the oven – omit this step.
2. Combine butter and honey then massage into ham.I like to get some of the honey butter mixture in between the slices.
3. Cover and cook on LOW for about 4 hours.Again, this is for warming the ham in the slow cooker – omit if warming in the oven.
4. Combine dry glaze ingredients.
5. Pat half of the sugar mixture on the warmed ham, then broil.Just for a few minutes, until bubbly and a little caramelized. Then remove from the oven.
6. Add remaining sugar mixture to saucepan with water or ham juices.Heat this mixture to a boil, and boil for about a minute, then remove from heat and brush or pour the glaze over the ham.
7. Broil ham again. Just for a minute or two, being careful not to let it burn!
8. Let ham rest at room temperature for 5-10 minutes. This allows the glaze to fully harden and get that classically crackly crust.

ADDITIONAL COOKING TIPS

• DRY THE HAM – The hams from the grocery stores come in those sealed bags, which contain water. Give the ham a little pat dry with some paper towels to make sure the butter and honey don’t just slide right off.

DO YOU HAVE TO COOK A HAM

It depends. Most hams you buy at a grocery store are pre-cooked and/or smoked, which means you don’t have to cook them. You certainly can if you want to, but it comes down to whether you want cold or warm ham to serve. Just double check the package when you’re buying… if it doesn’t say pre-cooked or smoked, head over to the meat counter and ask the butcher to be sure.

VARIATIONS OF THIS RECIPE

• BOURBON – Not traditional to a Honey Baked Ham, but oh so delicious! Instead of using water or ham juices to make the glaze, try using some of your favorite bourbon.
• OVEN – Bake ham, covered loosely in foil, at 275 F degrees on a foil lined roasting pan or super heavy duty rimmed baking sheet. Bake for approximately 12-15 minutes per pound. Then glaze as directed in the recipe and broil.
• ROOM TEMPERATURE – if your ham is smoked or pre-cooked, you don’t have to warm it at all. Take the ham out of the refrigerator and let it sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes. Massage the ham with the butter and honey mixture, then glaze as directed in recipe and broil.

MAKING COPYCAT HONEY BAKED HAM AHEAD OF TIME

I’ve not made this entire ham ahead of time, so I can’t guarantee the flavor and freshness if you make it that way.

However, you can combine all your dry glaze ingredients (sugar, seasoned salt, onion powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, paprika and allspice), and store in an airtight container.

STORAGE

Leftovers should be refrigerated in an airtight container and consumed within 4 days. Leftovers can also be frozen.

You’ll probably have quite a bit of ham leftover, so here are my personal favorites to use up those leftovers (aside from a classic ham sandwich!).

• Slow Cooker Cheesy Ham Chowder
• Ham and Cheese Spinach Puffs

With Easter coming up, it’s the perfect time to watch your grocery store for the prices of bone-in half hams to go down. When you see them on sale, grab one! They can be frozen if need be. This way you can save even MORE on your main dish for the holiday get together!

SPECIAL EQUIPMENT FOR THIS RECIPE

• Slow Cooker – this 7 qt slow cooker is big enough to hold most 8 lb spiral hams without too much trimming. Plus, it’s programmable!

BE SURE TO SCROLL DOWN TO CHECK OUT OTHER READERS’ COMMENTS FOR TIPS AND REVIEWS.

AND DON’T FORGET, IF YOU’VE MADE THIS RECIPE, LEAVE A COMMENT AND PLEASE GIVE IT A STAR RATING LETTING ME KNOW HOW YOU ENJOYED IT!

Recipe originally published in Feb. 2018 and has been updated in Mar. 2020 with additional information.