This old fashioned pineapple ham is so simple to make and offers a stunning presentation. Pineapple basted with a brown sugar glaze. A vintage baked ham recipe you will want to make this holiday.
Table of contents
Then you top the ham with pineapple rings and maraschino cherries. This ham with pineapple is such a treat!
This is the perfect holiday ham. It can feed a crown, 7 ingredients is all it takes, and it’s delicious. Whether you do an Easter Ham or Christmas ham, this recipe is perfect.
Why This Recipe Works So Well
- Easy prep
- 7 ingredients
- Stunning presentation
- Can feed a crowd
- Affordable to make
- Sweet and savory flavor
- Leftovers are freezer friendly
Main Ingredients Used
Ham | Reach for a ham that will fit okay in your toaster. I went with an 8-10 pound ham.
Brown Sugar | For the ham glaze you use brown sugar, honey, apple cider vinegar, This will become your brown sugar ham glaze.
Honey | Honey is used to help give your ham that incredible glaze and also sweetness.
Pineapple | Pineapple and Maraschino cherries help to complete the ham!
How to Make
Preheat your oven, and place toothpicks in water and let them soak as you prep your ham.
Use a sharp knife and score your ham about 1/4-1/2 inch thick in a grid-like pattern. This will help the glaze soak into the ham.
Place the ham in a roasting pan or baking tray.
In a saucepan, you want to add in your honey, brown sugar, apple cider, and dijon mustard, and cloves. Cook on medium heat.
You want to cook until the brown sugar is no longer gritty in tenxture.
Pour half of the brown sugar glaze over the ham, and use a basting brush to get into the nooks and crannies.
Take your soaked toothpicks and start to secure the pineapple rings all over your ham.
Add in 1/2 cup of water into the pan with the ham, and cover with tinfoil. Cook for 1 hour in the oven.
Now you will work on cooking your brown sugar glaze and work to reduce the mixture by half, stirring occassionally on low.
Remove your ham and take the remaining brown sugar glaze and baste your ham. Then return to the oven uncovered and continue to cook.
Every 15 minutes baste the ham with the glaze and mixture that is in the bottom of the pan.
You want to make sure the internal temperature of the ham reaches 145 degrees F.
Baste or brush the ham with the syrup every 15 minutes, continuing to bake for 1 more hour, until ham reaches an internal temperature of 145F.
Before serving, remove the toothpicks and insert a maraschino cherry into the center of each pineapple ring. For a gorgeous presentation.
Best Ham To Buy
Buying a bone-in ham is going to give you the most flavor. Just like any meat with a bone it helps lock in so much more flavor.
Now if you don’t want a bone that is okay. I do recommend skipping a dinner ham. Dinner hams are compressed ham which is going to be like lunch meat in terms of texture and flavor.
A spiral ham can work it is just more apt to dry out as it bakes.
How to Score A Ham
Scoring a ham refers to when you take a sharp knife and cut into your ham in a pattern. You might be thinking why do you score a ham?
Scoring a ham is a wonderful way to get the flavor soaked down into the meat. As well as allowing your fat to render down as it bakes in the oven.
- Cut slits through the skin of the ham.
- Aim for ¼ -½ inch thick.
- Cut each row about an inch apart.
- Try to crest a diamond pattern as you score the ham.
How Long to Bake
Bone-in Ham | Aim for 15-18 minutes per pound of ham, at 325 degrees.
Boneless Ham | 10-15 minutes per pound of ham, at 325 degrees.
The ham should read 145 degrees internal temperature once the ham is fully warmed and ready to serve.
Even if you are cooking a pre-cooked bone-in ham this is still the suggested temperature to aim for before slicing and serving.
Allow your ham to rest 5-10 minutes before carving.
Expert Tips
- Consider using a carving fork to help stabilize the ham as you slice it.
- Put ham into the juice as you slice to help keep ham moist and preventing the ham from drying out.
- Serve up the pineapple slices with the ham if you want added sweetness.
- As a guide aim for ½-¾ pound for each adult guest. This is a good guide to know how much ham you need per person.
- To help prevent your ham from drying out, you can place a lid on pan or carefully wrap in foil. Watch the toothpicks.
- You can just place the pineapple on the ham and not use toothpicks. The pineapple will fall if you go this method.
Recipe FAQs
Set your oven to 325 degrees. Prep your ham and then bake ham in the oven for 10-15 minutes per pound. Use a meat thermometer to read the internal temperature of 145 degrees.
Since you are going to use toothpicks to secure pineapple rings and cherries on ham, you need to soak toothpicks. The toothpicks will retain water and stay moist as it bakes, instead of drying out and turning black, and burning.
Ham is a versatile protein and essentially any side dish recipes will work great. Creamed corn, sweet potato casserole, creamed spinach, mashed potatoes and gravy, etc.
I recommend adding at least ½ cup to a whole cup of water when I bake ham. This will help to prevent the ham from drying out. Also covering with aluminum foil or lid is a must as well. Then at the end remove the lid to help caramelize the glaze.
Craving More Recipes
Pineapple Ham Recipe
Ingredients
- 8-10 lb ham
- 1 3/4 cups brown sugar
- 1 cup honey
- 1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 Tablespoon dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon cloves
- 1 can pineapple rings 20 oz
- 1 cup maraschino cherries drained
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Then take your toothpicks and soak them in warm water.
- Now you will take a sharp knife and score your ham, in a grid-like pattern. Cut 1/4-1/2 in deep to help the glaze soak into the ham.
- Place ham in the roasting pan or baking dish.
- In a pan on the stove you will add your brown sugar, honey, apple cider vinegar, dijon mustard, cloves and cook on medium heat. You want to mix until the brown sugar is no longer gritty in texture.
- Pour half the mixture onto your ham, then stick the toothpicks on the pineapple and pin all over the ham.
- Add 1/2 cup of water into the roasting pan, and cover tightly with foil.
- Bake for 1 hours. While the ham is baking you will want to cook down your brown sugar glaze until the glaze thickens and reduces by half.
- At the hour mark remove the ham and pour the remaining glaze over the ham and use a basting brush all over the ham.
- Return to the oven uncovered and bake and baste every 15 minutes with sauce in the pan. Cook until the ham reaches 145 degrees internal temperature.
- Once your ham is done, remove and allow to rest for 10 minutes. Then take the maraschino cherries and use toothpicks to stick them into place. You can remove the toothpicks that were holding the pineapple in.
Notes
Nutrition
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