4 delicious recipes for Christmas ham. Enrich your festive menu with them!

When it comes to Christmas Eve dinner in the United States, most of us can’t imagine it without roast turkey and mashed potatoes.

In Anglo-Saxon countries, a typical dish is roast turkey and ham.

You can find inspiration on how to prepare something new for your Christmas Eve dinner – try it from our recipes for Christmas ham.

Whichever option you choose, you won’t regret it.

Baked ham with honey

Even though the recipe’s name says honey, we recommend not using only honey but combining it with maple syrup and sugar. This will create a more balanced taste and make the glaze easier to work with.

Ingredients:

• approx. 9 pounds ham with bone
• 1/2 cup cane sugar
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/3 cup maple syrup
• 2 tbsp Dijon mustard
• whole cloves

Method:

1. Mix honey, sugar, maple syrup, and mustard in a bowl.
2. Stir until the sugar dissolves.
3. Preheat the oven to 338°F.
4. Run a sharp knife under the skin of the ham.
5. Carefully separate the skin in one piece by running your fingers between the skin and the fat.
6. Make diamond-shaped incisions about half a centimeter deep in the fat.
7. Insert a clove into the centers of these diamonds.
8. Transfer the ham to the transported baking dish and coat it with about a third of the glaze.
9. Bake in the oven on the lowest shelf for about an hour and a half.
10. In the meantime, brush twice more with the honey glaze.

Christmas baked ham tastes great with baked potatoes or mashed potatoes.

Christmas ham with apples

Do you think that only duck can be baked with apples? Try this easy ham recipe, and you’ll fall in love with it right away.

Ingredients:

• approx. 5 pounds of whole bone-in ham
• 1/2 cup cane sugar
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 1/2 cup apple juice
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 2 onions
• 2-3 apples (optional)
• 1-2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• a pinch of ground ginger
• a pinch of ground cinnamon
• fresh rosemary for garnish

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 320°F.
2. Cut the surface of the ham spirally using a sharp knife.
3. Place the ham on a rack that you place on a shallow baking tray.
4. You can also add onions cut in half and possibly apples.
5. Depending on the size of the ham, bake for approximately an hour and a half.
6. During this time, prepare the apple glaze.
7. In a small saucepan over low heat, combine the sugar, applesauce and juice, maple syrup, mustard, and spices.
8. Afterward, brush the ham with the glaze every 10 minutes and bake for another 30 minutes.
9. Before serving, remove the Christmas roast ham from the oven, garnish with rosemary, and leave to rest for approximately 10 minutes.

For example, you can serve Christmas ham prepared this way with mashed potatoes or roasted broccoli.

Baked ham on oranges

In addition to apples, you can also use oranges to prepare Christmas ham.

Ingredients:

• approx. 5 pounds of whole bone-in ham
• 5 oranges
• 1 cup of honey
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
• whole cloves

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 338°F.
2. Cut the skin of the ham to separate it from the fat.
3. Peel the skin and remove it.
4. Grate the peel of one orange.
5. Put honey, orange juice, mustard, and grated orange peel in a bowl.
6. Heat over low heat to melt and mix all ingredients.
7. Brush the ham with one-third of this glaze.
8. Cut the remaining oranges into thin slices.
9. Place the slices on top of the ham and secure with cloves.
10. Place the ham on a baking sheet and brush the oranges with half the remaining glaze.
11. Bake for an hour and a half, basting the ham with the remaining glaze every 15-20 minutes.

Festive ham with spicy glaze

If you prefer spicier flavors over sweet ones, add spices and a small amount of alcohol to the ham rub glaze. Don’t be afraid of the apricot jam in this recipe.

Ingredients:

• approx. 5 pounds ham with bone
• 1 1/2 cup of apricot jam
• 1/1 cup of spiced rum
• 2 tablespoons of barbecue sauce
• 2 teaspoons of ground ginger
• Bay leaf
• whole cloves
• fresh sprigs of rosemary for garnish

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 338°F.
2. Using a sharp knife, remove the skin from the ham, not the fat.
3. Cut the fat into diamond shapes approximately 0.2 inches deep.
4. Insert nails into the centers of the diamonds.
5. Pour a cup of water into a large roasting pan.
6. Place the ham on a wire rack over the roasting pan and wrap it in foil.
7. In a small saucepan over low heat, combine marmalade, rum, ground ginger, and barbecue sauce in a saucepan.
8. Heat until mixture thickens slightly.
9. Spread half of the glaze over the ham.
10. Place the roasting pan with the ham in the oven and bake for about an hour and a half.
11. Rotate the pan regularly and coat the ham with a new layer of glaze every 15 minutes.
12. After removing from the oven, garnish with rosemary and bay leaves and let the Christmas ham rest for 15 minutes.

Which ham to choose?

Many of us ask ourselves this question. In general, recipes for Christmas baked ham can easily be prepared from bone-in ham or Prague ham on the bone. If you like a more pronounced taste, choose the smoked version. Ham on the bone will look more impressive when served, but the presence or absence of the bone does not affect the taste.

Why remove the skin before baking?

If you buy a ham with the skin, it is advisable to remove it before baking. If you do not do this, the glaze will not penetrate the meat, and the Christmas-baked ham will not be as tasty and crispy. But be careful to remove only the skin, not the fat.

At what temperature should you bake Christmas ham?

Ham is already a heat-processed meat product, so baking it at high temperatures is unnecessary, as it could quickly dry out too much. For this reason, some recipes for Christmas-baked ham recommend wrapping it in foil. The foil can be removed for the last 15-20 minutes to form a crust. Ham is often baked between 320-338°F with a fan.

How to cut the Christmas baked ham?

Generally, there are two most common ways of cutting ham or the fat surrounding it. The first method is rhombuses, in the center of which a clove is usually inserted. The second option is spiral cutting into thin strips.