I love how simple and festive this ham recipe is. A no-fuss spiral cut ham gets roasted with a sweet and juicy glaze, and makes the most beautiful presentation for any holiday or special gathering.
This holiday ham recipe boasts an easy glaze for ham with pomegranate juice. It makes an event-worthy, delicious main dish for Easter, Christmas or Thanksgiving.
Quick-click table of contents:
🍽️ Holiday main dish
A holiday ham recipe is such a good main dish for any special dinner. This one makes cooking easy because you buy a cooked, spiral cut ham.
Serve the sliced ham on a platter, and garnish with herbs if desired. The fresh pomegranates add such a fun burst of color.
You can certainly use this glaze and topping on a fresh ham. Just apply the glaze as directed in your recipe.
If ham is your only main dish for the meal, add delicious fresh sides to complete the dinner.
One of my favorite sides for ham is my Potato and Carrot Gratin, so cheesy and good!
🥄 Ham glaze recipe
Here's how to make brown sugar glaze for ham:
Combine pomegranate juice, brown sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan.
Simmer to reduce and thicken.
Add Dijon mustard and ground ginger and simmer to reduce to a glaze.
This pomegranate sauce is drizzled over the ham before cooking, then used to baste the ham as it cooks for about 1 ½ hours.
🥣 Sides
You'll want to click to my Easter Side Dishes post to find over 60 easy recipes.
Other sides that go well with this main dish for Sunday dinner, Thanksgiving or Christmas include:
- Fresh Corn Fritters with Pimentos
- Asparagus Flatbread with Cracked Pepper
- Roasted Parsnips with Sage Butter
- Fluffy Mashed Potatoes
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✔️ Top tips
- Buy your favorite spiral-cut, cooked ham with the bone in.
- Use low-sodium chicken broth so you don't add to the salty ham flavor.
- Cook the ham covered with foil, removing it to baste, then replacing it as the ham cooks.
- Cook the ham uncovered the last 30 minutes to caramelize the glaze.
- Cut ham slices from bone for easy serving.
- Serve garnished with herbs and fresh pomegranate arils for a festive touch.
Glazed ham for Thanksgiving or Christmas
Some folks have a Thanksgiving ham along with their turkey. I stick to just turkey, myself. But, this roast ham is truly versatile, especially in the fall months when fresh pomegranates are plentiful.
At Thanksgiving, serve the ham with the typical sides. No need to change anything else on the menu.
This is truly the best holiday ham for Christmas because of the bright red fruit and herb garnish. Red and green for the win!
Check out my holiday entertaining post to see how to spruce up a Christmas table.
📖 Recipe
Holiday Ham with Pomegranate Brown Sugar Glaze
Ingredients
- 1 7 lb Bone-in, spiral cut smoked ham
- ½ cup low-sodium chicken broth
- 2 cups 100% Pomegranate juice, divided
- ⅔ cup light brown sugar
- 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 2 tbsp Dijon mustard
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- 1 cup pomegranate arils
- Herbs for garnish if desired
Instructions
- Heat oven to 325ºF. Place ham in a large roasting pan and add chicken broth and ½ cup pomegranate juice.
- In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, bring remaining 1½ cups pomegranate juice, brown sugar and lemon juice to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until slightly thickened, about 10 minutes.
- Whisk the mustard and ginger into the sauce and continue to simmer until it is reduced to about 1 cup, about 5 more minutes.
- Drizzle half the glaze over the ham and cover with foil. Roast for 1½ hours, basting occasionally, until thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the ham registers 125ºF.
- Remove the foil and brush the ham with any remaining glaze. Roast for 30 minutes more, until the top is lightly caramelized.
- Transfer ham to a cutting board and remove slices from bone. Arrange on a platter and garnish with herbs. Top with pomegranate arils.
- Pour pan juices into a bowl to serve with the ham if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
Tools and ingredients you'll need for this recipe:
More recipes for Easter:
Spring and Easter Recipes
- Shortcut Potato Cheese Casserole
- Stunning Cheese and Herb Potato Gratin
- The Best Easter Dinner Side Dishes
- Roast Ham with Spiced Honey Glaze
- Easy Easter Bunny and Baby Chick Cupcakes
- Chick and Bunny No-Bake Cookies for Easter
About Tara Teaspoon
I’ve been in the food publishing business for over 20 years, creating recipes & food-styling for magazines, books, television & advertising. Order my new cookbook & stick around for amazing things to eat.
Julie says
Looking forward to trying this recipe. The glaze will be delicious and very easy to make from my pantry supplies.
Mary says
Oh my! This looks delicious! The pomegranate arils make it especially beautiful. Just in time for Easter Dinner. Thank you!