Choose the ham first, then its glaze: honey and cider, maple and Dijon, pineapple, extra smoke, or dark molasses. Image note. An original AI-assisted H&P serving scene based on verified recipe facts, not a photograph of food made or tested by Hearth & Petals.
Christmas Dinner Ham: 5 Glazed Recipes
Your Christmas main
Start with your dinner plan
The scored-ham starting point leads to maple and Dijon; the darker molasses option follows it. Both choices use cooked rind-on ham. All five recipes stay below, including the slow-cooker and smoker choices.
Honey-cider spiral ham
Sara Welch's oven ham has the familiar fan of spiral-cut slices beneath a glossy brown sugar glaze. Honey and apple cider bring the sweetness, with cinnamon and nutmeg keeping it lightly spiced.
Maple-Dijon leg ham
Nagi Maehashi's maple-Dijon glaze sits over a broad surface of diamond-scored fat. This is the cooked, rind-on bone-in leg ham to choose for carving at the table, with maple, brown sugar, cinnamon, and allspice.
Molasses and cloves
Dark molasses and a clove-studded surface give Nigella Lawson's ham a more dramatic finish. Her U.S. variation uses a fully cooked ham, preferably with the rind on and without spiral cuts.
Pineapple-maple ham
Brown sugar, pineapple juice, and pure maple syrup coat Sara Welch's cooked, smoked spiral-cut ham. Choose this to keep the oven free, provided you have a large oval 7- to 8-quart slow cooker and a stovetop for the sauce.
Twice-smoked ham
Susie Bulloch adds another round of smoke to an already smoked spiral-cut ham, then finishes its brown sugar-honey glaze under the oven broiler. Choose this for a Christmas centerpiece with extra smoke, while keeping both appliances in the plan.
plan the kitchen around the main
Keep the label with the recipe
Keep the package label with your saved recipe. It needs to identify the ham as cooked or ready to eat and match the specified cut. If it needs cooking before eating, these cooked-ham choices aren't the right instructions for that purchase.
Use a food thermometer to check the ham's internal temperature. FoodSafety.gov says to reheat cooked hams packaged in USDA-inspected plants to 140°F. Other precooked ham needs 165°F for reheating; keep the package category attached to the number.
If the label doesn't make the ham's cooked status or packaging category clear, ask the producer before applying a recipe's reheating temperature. Nigella's U.S. variation also relies on the producer's oven directions.
Keep the full maker recipe with your shopping list and equipment notes. Use its ingredient quantities and cooking schedule for the ham you buy. A glossy surface can't tell you whether the center has reached the required temperature.
Sources: FoodSafety.gov — Cook to a Safe Minimum Internal Temperature · The BEST Sweet Rub for Pork and Chicken — Susie Bulloch
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quick answers
Before you choose the ham
Which ham cut does each recipe need?
The oven honey-cider ham, pineapple-maple slow-cooker ham, and twice-smoked ham use cooked spiral-cut ham. Nagi specifies a cooked, rind-on bone-in leg ham. Nigella's U.S. note prefers a fully cooked ham with the rind still on and no spiral cuts.
Which option leaves the oven available for sides?
Sara's pineapple-maple recipe uses a large oval 7- to 8-quart slow cooker, followed by stovetop sauce reduction. It has no oven finish. Check that your ham fits the cooker before choosing it for oven space.
Does twice-smoked ham still use the oven?
Yes. Susie's recipe adds smoke to a pre-smoked spiral ham, includes a covered stage with chicken stock, and uses the oven broiler to finish the glaze. Plan for the broiler as well as the smoker.
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