This delicious Glazed Ham recipe is perfect for Easter (and other special occasions) and only uses 5 ingredients! Easy to make, with a great glaze that is rich and tangy, perfectly complementing the ham – a match made in heaven!
Why This Glazed Ham Recipe Is So Good
- A 5-Ingredient, foolproof Easter Ham Recipe with Cola-Pineapple Glaze.
- A Simple 2-Step cooking process.
- A great dish for big family dinners on a small budget.
- A delicious glaze, with a wonderful depth of sweet and salty flavor.
Glazed Ham Ingredients
- Bone-in Ham
- Grape juice
- Coca Cola (or any other preferred dark cola soft drink such as Dr. Pepper) *We don’t recommend Diet Coke or any of the diet colas because the sugar is the secret ingredient!
- Can of sliced pineapple
- Brown Sugar (dark brown sugar will give you a deeper, stronger flavor than light brown sugar, so cook’s preference!)
How To Buy Ham
Ham usually comes in a couple different sizes, a whole ham (like this one here) half-ham or ham steaks. Spiral ham even comes from the grocery store pre-cut. What they do have in common is that it’s all pre-cooked ham. What you are really doing is just warming up a fully cooked ham, and the best way to do this is low and slow in the oven, then brush on a glaze and returning it back to the oven at high heat to caramelize.
If you’re looking to buy the best ham, look for “Ham with Natural Juices” or just plain ‘ol “Ham.” There are several grades of ham, including city ham (the most common kind) and country ham (which is more popular in the South than anywhere else), and it all has to do with how much water is injected (which keeps it moist). Ham labeled “with water added” or “ham and water product” is lower in quality, and that’s something I don’t recommend. If too much water is added to the ham, it becomes tasteless and its texture spongy. Spongy ham is not good eats, especially for celebrating Easter. Here’s a good article about the ham grades.
Certain main types of ham also come from various areas on the pig. For example, most generically labeled “ham” is butt-end ham, which is tender and fattier than other cuts. Shank ham is from right below that, the “thigh” of the pig, which is leaner, boasts the classic “ham” shape most associated with baked ham, and has only one bone, which makes for easy carving. Ham hocks sit right below at the lower leg, just before the foot.
Surprisingly, ham is incredibly cheap when you purchase it whole or half. This 11 pound ham was only $31.00 and it will feed 20 people.
Of course, if you aren’t feeding an army, buy a smaller type of ham, like the semi-boneless half ham and follow the recipe, and adjust the cooking time (15 minutes per pound of ham).
How To Make This Glazed Ham Recipe – Step By Step
The first step is to remove the plastic surrounding the ham. I’m not just talking about the plastic bag either, look carefully and sometimes you’ll see a very thin membrane-ish layer that can be easy to miss on top of the ham.
Then use a sharp knife to score the surface of the ham all the way around in diagonal lines, about 2-inches apart.
The next step is to score the other way, opposite direction. Basically, you’re making diamond-shaped scores to a) make it look pretty once it’s cooked, b) help release some of its fat, and c) allow the glaze to stick to the ham.
Place ham in a large roasting pan. Make sure that the roasting pan isn’t too big.
Pour 1 1/2 cups of cola and 1 1/2 cups of grape juice in the bottom of the pan. See how the pan isn’t too much bigger than the ham itself? That ensures the cola and juice mixture is able to go up about 1-inch in the pan. This is important. If the pan is too big and shallow, all of the cola/juice will evaporate off.
Cover with aluminum foil. Place it into an oven at 275F, 15 minutes per pound.
While the ham is baking, let’s make the ham glaze. Put 2 cups of brown sugar in a sauce pan:
Add in 1 cup cola and 1 cup grape juice.
Add in juice from the can of the sliced pineapple. We actually will be only using the sweet pineapple JUICE from the can. Use the pineapple fruit in another dish. Or, uh, you could just buy pineapple juice.
Simmer until you get a nice thick, sweet glaze, about 20 minutes.
It should look like this and coat a spoon nicely.
When the ham is done, uncover it and you’ll see the pretty diamond pattern we made.
Brush the cola glaze all over and crank the oven to super hot 425F.
Pop it back in the oven for 15 minutes which will allow all the sugar to caramelize. Oh baby, look at that ham!
A very pretty, very Easter-worthy centerpiece.
Rest the ham for 15 minutes or so. In the meantime, you can return the glaze to the stove to warm up.
Slice the ham. Beautiful.
Perfect pink. Low ‘n slow will guarantee you a moist, tender perfect Easter ham and some seriously delicious flavor.
So, with 5 ingredients and about $40, you can feed 22 people. Or just feed 4 people and have a ton of leftovers for the rest of the year 😉
A Super Easy Glazed Ham Recipe!
When it comes to big lunches, such as Easter, you want to keep life as simple as possible. Well this glazed ham recipe is as simple as it gets! Pop the ham in the oven, make the glaze, and put the glaze on the ham – done! Plus this recipe only needs 5 ingredients!
What To Serve With This Glazed Ham Recipe
This glazed ham recipe can pair up to a variety of sides. Try some Miso Mashed Potatoes, perhaps some Roasted Carrots with Sesame Ponzu Vinaigrette, or how about a lovely big bowl of Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Cranberry Pistachio Pesto?
Top Tips For This Glazed Ham Recipe
- Make sure you let the ham stand at room temperature before cooking.
- Use a preheated oven.
- Score the ham in a criss cross pattern.
- Let the glaze stand at room temperature until ready to use (as the glaze cools, it will thicken up, making it easier to brush on the ham).
Check Out These Other Delicious Ham Recipes
- Mango-Ginger Glazed Ham
- Blackberry Rum Glazed Ham Recipe
- Ham with Grilled Peaches
- Collard Greens with Ham and Smoked Hock
Cola & Pineapple Glazed Ham Recipe
Ingredients
- 11-12 pound bone-in ham with natural juices
- 2 1/2 cups grape juice divided
- 2 1/2 cups cola divided
- 20- ounce can of sliced pineapple you'll need both the juice and the pineapple
- 2 cups brown sugar
Instructions
- Let the ham stand at room temperature for 90 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 275 degrees F. Set the rack at the lowest position. Rinse and pat dry the ham. Using a sharp knife, score the skin of the ham in a criss-cross pattern. Place ham in a roasting pan. Pour just 1 1/2 cups of the cola and 1 1/2 cups of grape juice into the pan and add additional water if necessary to bring the liquid level to 1/2 inch. Cover the pan tightly with tin foil.
- Roast in oven for 2 3/4 to 3 hours (about 15 minutes per pound) or until the internal temperature of the ham reaches 100 degrees F.
- While the ham is cooking, prepare the glaze. Combine the remaining 1 cup grape juice, 1 cup cola, the juice from the pineapple (reserve the pineapple slices for later) and the brown sugar in a small sauce pot and simmer on low for 20 minutes, until it becomes thick and glossy.
- Let stand at room temperature until ready to use (as the glaze cools, it will thicken up, making it easier to brush on the ham).
- Take the ham out of the oven when it reaches the first internal temperature of 100 degrees F. Turn the oven to 425
- degrees F. Brush the ham with about 1/4 of the glaze all over. Use toothpicks to stud the ham with the sliced pineapple, if desired. Once the oven comes to temperature, return the ham, uncovered to oven.
- Bake for 15 minutes until the liquid is bubbly and the ham has turned to a nice, deep golden brown. The internal temperature of the ham should be 140 degrees F.
- Remove ham to a cutting board and let rest for 15 minutes.
- Return the remaining glaze to the stove on medium-low heat to warm the glaze up for serving. Carve and slice the ham, drizzle a bit of the cola glaze on each plate.
Notes
Use a preheated oven.
Score the ham in a criss cross pattern.
Let the glaze stand at room temperature until ready to use (as the glaze cools, it will thicken up, making it easier to brush on the ham).
Did you try this recipe? Please leave a star rating in the recipe card below and leave a review in the comment section! I always appreciate your feedback and I know other readers do, too!
Stay in touch with me in our 
This looks SO good! Might have to try it with our New Year’s ham.
The grape juice scares me. Does it overpower?
not at all!
Turned out nice. I bought a 18 pounder, and while I allowed enough to cook to 100 degrees, I forgot to make the glaze prior to it being done. So I had it sit while I made the glaze which didn’t firm up because we already had the side dishes cooking. So we just basted it with what we had, and it still came out nice. I also ran out of time to let it go to 140, but it was cooked enough, and just cut the edges, and put it back in the oven while we ate to finish it off.
And you’re right, the grape juice didn’t overpower, but I was worried because all I smelled was grape juice when it was cooking 🙂
Thanks for the recipe!
Thanks so much Ken!
Can this be done with a spiral cut ham?
Yes!!!
Hmm it looks like your website ate my first comment (it was super long) so I guess I’ll just sum it up what I submitted and say, I’m
thoroughly enjoying your blog. I as well am an aspiring blog writer but I’m still new to everything. Do you have any tips for beginner blog writers? I’d certainly appreciate it.
Love this recipe! If you’re looking for an AMAZING ham source, our family gets all of our meat from Pasture Prime Family Farm. They ship nationwide I believe. Humanely raised, heritage breeds, and fed all-natural feed. It truly makes a difference in the flavor, and of course, it’s much healthier for you
[…]below you’ll find the link to some sites that we think you should visit[…]…
I’ve put brown sugar and cola over ham before, but I’ve never even thought of fruit juice or pineapple. My family has loved “Coke and ham”, but I have to try this version. Going to put these ingredients on the grocery list this week!
I just had supper and my mouth is already watering 🙂
Erika K
Cuisinart 12 cup food processor
Tried this yesterday. It was a major hit. When I told them it had Cola and Pineapple juice in it, they didn’t believe it. Had to pull up your site and prove it to them. Delish!
excellent-everyone loved the ham-i had nothing left-i would definatley recommend this-my son was a little wary of this recipe especially with the cola ,before the hanm was served he had a sample piece and loved it.
im in the process of using this recipe today for easter . i have 20 people coming to dinner so ill let you know how it goes
I really like the ham recipe using the cola grape juice and pineapple. Sounds very good!!!!
I’m no fan of cola, but I’ll bet this puts it to good use. Looks delicious, thank you for the inspiration!
Looks delicious! Thanks for the excellent directions!
This is a really neat idea! I’m going to send this to my Nanny (Grandma). I think she’s LOVE it!
I love the different options you have offered here. Of course they all look so good it will be hard to chose one!
Oh darn. I knew I should have stayed away from your site. I’m so weak. There goes my bikini diet. Oh, after this easter ham. For sure. I will get back on track. Or maybe not since I’m going to eat the whole thing! Ugh. Mental break down. Ham = more pounds to lose. But darn. You make such good food.
we do basically the same thing, though we use Dr. Pepper for a different flavor.