Braised Ham with Glaze or cooked in its natural juices is a simple, flavorful recipe for any occasion. Braised Ham is a versatile and delicious dish that can be enjoyed year round, though it’s particularly popular during the holidays. While traditional methods involve cooking a whole Ham roast and glazing it at the final stages, or coating it in glaze and baking it wrapped in foil, this Braised Ham recipe offers a simpler approach using precooked, thinly sliced Ham.

Check out our How-to article for the Holiday Ham Feast. Which breaks down a whole Ham to make this recipe for the main course, and further chops the Ham down to make a bunch of other recipes using Ham and the Ham Bone for various Ham Soups or Ham Gravy.

What is Braised Ham

In this Braised Ham method, we start with fully cooked Ham, cut it into serving-sized pieces, and braise it in a flavorful glaze. The Ham’s natural juices help flavor the sauce, creating a deliciously rich dish without the need for precise cook times or constant temperature checks.

The best part? You don’t need to worry about whether the Ham is done since it’s already cooked. We simply combine it with the glaze, allow the flavors to meld, and cook it until it’s heated through and coated in sauce.

You can also just braise the Ham in its natural juices. No Sauces, Glaze, or Seasoning. Then uncover to cook until a darker pink color is achieved for flavor and reducing the natural juices to get nicely pink colored salty pieces of Ham.

Types of HAM

Ham refers to the hind leg of a pig that has been cured through salting, drying, and often smoking. While the term “Ham” generally refers to this cut, it can also apply to other pork cuts, such as:

• Peameal bacon (which comes from the loin)
• Cottage roll (from the shoulder)

A whole Ham can weigh up to 15 pounds and is typically sold in two halves:

• Shank End: The shank end tends to have a higher fat content and is easier to carve.
• Butt End: The butt-end is leaner, but features a bone that can make carving more difficult.

For this recipe, we are using a precooked ham shank (pictured below).

Bone in or Boneless Ham

Many people argue that bone-in Ham has more flavor, while boneless Ham is easier to carve. For this recipe, you want bone in so that it can be used to make Ham Bone Broth.

Recipes using Ham

You can chop off some Ham to use for other dishes while the rest of it gets braised. I go into length with the how-to article on a Holiday Ham Feast. This article takes you through on how to break down an entire Ham to make this recipe (Braised Ham), as well as all the Ham derived recipes for a Ham themed Feast over the Holidays.

Reserve some meat for Ham Sandwiches or other sandwiches, chopped up for salads, as in the Ham and Cheese Pasta Salad, Stews, Soups like Hodge Podge with Ham, Scalloped Potatoes, and other recipes. Additionally, use some Ham for Ham and Cheese Biscuits, Eggs, Pizza topping, or Macaroni & Cheese.

How much Ham

When purchasing Ham, pick up a large Ham, about 10 lbs or more, and use about 1/4 lb to 1/2 lb per serving. It’s always a good idea to pick up extra Ham. Leftover Ham can be used in a bunch of other Ham derived recipes. While the majority of it will be used for this recipe as the main course.

Ham Cooking Times

Cook times vary on whole Hams, depending on the size and whether Boneless or Bone-in. In all cases, the Internal temperature should be 145 F — 160 F. For Cook’s Ham, they recommend heating through at 325 F for 15–20 minutes per 1 lb (ca. 454 g). This is for the entire whole Ham.

In this recipe, we slice the whole Ham down into serving size and combine with a glaze/sauce and cook at 325 F for 1 hour. Tossing it around once in a while. This shortens the cooking time, preparation, and serving as they are already sliced and ready to go as well as getting coated more thoroughly in the sauce. The Ham slices can also be braised just in their natural juices, no sauce, glaze, or seasoning.

Ham Glazes

The Ham can be cooked just as is with nothing else and turns out very good Ham that can be served with a variety of sauces on the side for dipping or to drizzle over. Additionally, the Ham Slices can be braised with a certain Glaze. This method is much better than glazing an entire Ham. Since the Ham is sliced thin and cooked in the glazing sauce, allowing much more of the ham to come into contact with the glaze and soaking up the flavors.

Old Fashioned Glaze

Combine the following and mix well.

• 2 Cups brown sugar
• 3 Tbl white wine vinegar
• 2 Tbl flour & 2 Tbl corn syrup
• 2 tsp dry mustard

Canadian Maple Glaze

Combine and mix well the following.

• 1/4 Cup Dijon mustard & 1/4 Cup maple syrup
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme

Maple-Ginger Glaze

Combine the following and mix well.

• 1/4 Cup maple syrup
• 2 Tbl flour
• 1 Tbl Dijon mustard & lemon juice, each
• Dash of ground ginger

Sliced Braised Ham

For me, the carving is not all that important. The Ham is going to be broken down into serving size anyway. So the most important thing is to get that sauce slathered on to each piece. This also removes the guesswork of taking the temperature of the meat. Furthermore, you extract the natural juices that accumulate at the bottom that gets mixed in with the Sauce ingredients and thickened with the added flour to create an excellent sauce.

For fully cooked ham, break it down and cook at 325 F. for about 1 hour with the Glaze. Tossing every so often to move the meat around and evenly distribute the sauce.

Optionally, you can braise the Ham slices in their natural juices, no sauce/glaze or seasoning. Cook for the same amount of time. But then cook uncovered until the desired level of pinkness is achieved in the meat.  This creates salty pieces of ham flavored by the natural juices and pairs well with Mashed Sweet Potatoes for a Salty Sweet pairing. 

Either way you decide to make it, the Braised Ham is a wonderful main course for your Holiday Ham Feast. Picking up a large Ham will ensure you have plenty of ham that can be used for other recipes using Ham and creating a Ham themed Holiday Feast.