Dutch Oven Ham Recipe

Best dutch oven ham that needs to go on your dinner table this year! With a honey glaze it is perfect for Christmas or Easter dinner and larger than Ham Steak in Oven to feed a crowd.

Cooking Ham in a Dutch Oven

We have made this two different ways. One with it not sliced as you see below, and the second is above in slices. Overall it came out better when sliced. Whether you buy a spiral sliced ham in the store or slice it yourself (what I did) it cooks more evenly if it isn’t in 1 big chunk.

If smoking a cooked ham has been your go to year after year, this is going to surprise you as to how delicious it is. So hands off you can set it and go on with prepping all your favorite side dishes for later.

Ingredients

1. Ham – I used a pre smoked, refrigerated, quartered ham that was about 4 lbs.
2. Onions – because I add onions to everything, your choice
3. 3 ingredient ham glaze together.
   • Brown sugar to sweeten it
   • Pineapple juice – about 3 ounces, you can use orange juice if you’d rather
   • Honey, we prefer organic

Equipment

A dutch oven – this is the one I have, it’s 7 qt. which is a nice size to fit a quarter as you see here. If you wanted to make a half you would need a bit more cook time and a larger pot. They come in quite a few sizes.

Substitutions

If you did not want to use pineapple juice for whatever reason that is up to you, any liquid will do. Water is fine but not as sweet, beer even adds a bunch of flavor. Sugar-free brown sugar is another variation if need be for lower calories.

Keep the size of your dutch oven in mind when choosing a ham to bake. My 7 qt. comfortably fit a quartered ham If you don’t find the size you want ask your butcher. They may have more in the back or be able to cut a half in half.

How to Cook Ham in Dutch Oven

• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
• Place ham in pot your boneless, sliced, quartered, pre cooked/smoked ham cut side down into your dutch oven.
• Slice your onion and sprinkle into pot. Push whole cloves into your ham if you want to add these for flavor.
• Whisk together glaze with your brown sugar, pineapple juice, and honey well and pour on top.
• Lay fresh sprigs of thyme on top and around ham.
• Put lid on and put into oven.
• Bake a smoked ham for 15 minutes per pound approximately or until internal temp. taken in the middle of your ham reaches 145 degrees. (refer to cook time chart in post, time depends on type of ham you have). Baste half way through if you’re able.
• Take ham out and put on to a cutting board, allow to rest while you are making ham glaze.
• Take out and discard sprigs of thyme. Take onions out and put into a bowl to serve on the side.
• Put dutch oven on your stovetop on medium heat (or pour liquid into a small pot if you’d rather). In a small bowl combine 1/4 c. cold water and 3 tbsp of cornstarch. Whisk together.
• Once liquid bubbles consistently, pour your cornstarch mixture into the pot and stir.
• Continue to stir to thicken glaze on stove (won’t take much longer than a minute or so to reach a thick consistency once it’s continually bubbling). Remove from heat and pour into a gravy boat to serve on the table and pour on top of ham slices.

How long do you cook a ham in the oven?

Follow the guidelines from the USDA in the printable below when it comes to accurate cook times. If you do purchase an raw ham you definitely need to be very careful when it comes to the internal temperature. This method is most similar to our Crockpot ham recipe as far as texture and tenderness. Making an Instant Pot ham would be much faster at closer to 30 minutes total.

Proper ham internal temperature

It is always very important to know the temp it should reach before eating whether you use this method or make Ninja Foodi ham. Cook time will depend on what cut you’re using. Previously smoked, or pre cooked hams also have a bit different timings. The last slight variation is whether you’re cooking a boneless ham or bone in ham.

Typically 18 to 20 minutes of cooking per pound is accurate and works well for us in the oven. Deep fried ham would be faster. Ham is fully cooked when it is 145 degrees in the middle. Take this after removing from the oven to get an accurate read. 

What to make with leftovers

Looking for the best leftover ham recipes, here are a few; I will start with our most popular Black eyed peas and ham dish where it makes a whole new meal with side dish and all cooked together in one pot. Similar to our Pressure cooker ham and beans but with other legumes, under high pressure it is done in no time flat.

If you prefer low and slow cooked all day I would dice what is left and put into our Crockpot split pea soup. Nutritious and all you need is really broth and the peas themselves to make this together. All of these Leftover ham recipe ideas we love so there is NO waste.

When you’re done enjoying your dutch oven ham, you should try our dutch oven whole chicken recipe. Remember that cast iron skillet care to clean your dutch oven is different, you don’t want to scrub it clean. Now go ahead and preheat your oven to 350 degrees and get going!