If you’re wondering how to cook a spiral ham, here’s everything you need to know! Cooking a spiral ham, like copycat honey baked ham, is so easy that it practically cooks itself.
Spiral hams are popular at Easter and Christmas dinner alongside mashed potatoes or Scalloped Potatoes and turkey, but you can buy them year-round! Spiral ham comes fully cooked, all you have to do is heat and serve!
How Long to Cook a Spiral Ham
Spiral cut hams are typically between 8 and 11 pounds and already come fully cooked (make sure your package says pre-cooked). This means when you’re cooking a ham, you just want to heat it through. The best way to do this is to cook it on a low temperature so the outside doesn’t dry out before the inside is heated.
To cook a spiral ham without it drying out make sure you use a meat thermometer to reach 140°F and do not overcook it. I usually remove it around 135°F and keep an eye on the thermometer to ensure it reaches 140°F.
How long to cook a Spiral Ham will depend on the size but allot for 12-15 minutes per pound at 325°F. I have cooked this ham both with and without covering it with foil. Uncovered will give a slightly crisper exterior and need closer to the longer cooking time. Covered will need closer to the shorter cooking time.
If cooking covered with foil, remove the foil once the glaze is added for the last 20 minutes.
If your ham is done early, remove it from the oven and let it cool a little bit so it doesn’t keep cooking. Once slightly cooled, cover with foil and don’t cut until ready to serve.
The shape of your ham can affect cooking time, a larger rounder ham may need extra cooking time compared to a flatter shaped ham.
Glazing Spiral Ham
If you’re glazing your ham like when you’re making a copycat homemade honey baked ham the glaze should be added at the end so it doesn’t burn. I always toss out the glaze that comes with my ham and opt for an easy homemade glaze!
Simply brush it on during the last 20 minutes. I sometimes turn the oven up or give it a broil for a couple of minutes to make the glaze good and sticky.
Our Favorite Glaze Recipes:
- Brown Sugar Glaze for Ham
- Rosemary Balsamic Glazed Ham
- Apple Glazed Ham
- Simple Glaze:
- 2/3 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup juice (orange or pineapple are great)
- 2 tablespoons dijon mustard
How to Cook a Spiral Ham in the Crock Pot
Slow and steady wins this race! For a perfectly tender spiral ham recipe, you can also make Crock Pot Ham, brush with the glaze of your choice, add a little water or apple juice and cook on the lowest setting.
Remember, your spiral ham is already cooked, you are just reheating the meat and infusing it with the seasonings or the glaze.
How to Cut a Spiral Ham
Spiral hams are made by one continuous cut from one end to the other and come apart very easily whether they are served cold or warm. A typical serving is about 6 ounces per person, so an 8 lb ham will yield about 20 servings. But who can eat just one slice?
More Recipes You’ll Love
- Copycat Honey Baked Ham – so juicy
- Ham and Corn Chowder – perfect use for leftover ham
- Ham Bone Soup (Slow Cooker)– another great option for leftovers
- Baked Ham with Brown Sugar Glaze – classic holiday ham recipe
- Scalloped Potatoes and Ham – my favorite leftover dish
Why not pick up a spiral ham and pan fry slices for breakfast? Or put a slice (or two!) into a sandwich with a little mustard for lunch? A spiral cut ham is so easy to prepare and versatile to serve, you’ll wonder why you don’t serve them year-round!
How To Cook A Spiral Ham
Ingredients
- 1 spiral ham 8-10 pounds
- glaze of your choice optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F.
- Remove packaging and if your ham has a small plastic disk on the underside of the bone, remove and discard the disk.
- Place the ham in a shallow roasting pan, cut side down. Cover with foil*.
- Bake the covered ham for 12-15 minutes per pound or until the ham reaches 140°F*.
- If adding ham glaze, add it during the last 20 minutes of cooking. Brush the glaze on the ham and leave it uncovered to finish cooking.
- Remove the ham from the oven and rest for at least 15 minutes before cutting. Spoon juices over the ham before serving if desired.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Main Course
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I wish I saw some of the other reviews, as I have a similar experience. I followed this recipe for 250 degrees, 15 min per pound for a 4.5 lb spiral ham and after 1 hr and 10 min, it was only at 80 degrees! I was a little skeptical at 250 degrees, as every ham recipe I’ve cooked at was always 350, but I’ve never done a spiral ham so I trusted the directions. I have now upped the temperature to 350 degrees and am basically cooking it for another hour. I was pretty disappointed as I timed this for a Christmas lunch and now it’s not ready in time and it’s been in far longer than I ever thought it should.
Oh no, I’m so sorry to hear that Leslie. The shape of your ham can affect cooking time, a larger rounder ham may need extra cooking time compared to a flatter shaped ham for example. Holly did retest this recipe on December 25th and made some notes to update the instructions for more consistent results. Thank you for letting us know.
Great instructions and info. Merry Christmas!
Very helpful. Thank you!
Very helpful and informative. I especially liked the guidance about soaking the ham in water ahead of cooking to remove some of the salt, which is generally not good for any of us in large quantities. Great advice.
Thanks so much for the information on how to cook a spiral ham. I will be trying more of your recipes..
Excellent simple recipe for this spiral.
Perfect and easy. Once my candy coated spiral ham was cooked according to these instructions, all I had to do was cut around the bone and move the slices to a platter. Thank you!
Glad you enjoyed it, Len!
Using a fairly new oven. We followed these directions and with a 9.5 lb ham we baked at 250 and 2 hours 15 min later internal temp was still at only at 90… I’m sure it will still be great but definitely was not ready in time for dinner.
Hi Seth, did you use a spiral ham?
I agree with Seth. I have this ham, and yes, it’s been in the oven at 250 for 2 hours. It is barely registering on the thermometer and it pulls out cold. So I pulled it out and put the glaze on it and turned up the heat to 350 in hopes of heating it through. Yes, my oven is fine, the ham was thawed and all that. It just did not get hot inside.
Hi-I’m wondering if the ham is already fully cooked, does it need to reach the 140 degree temperature? Thanks!
To cook a spiral ham without it drying out make sure you use a meat thermometer to reach 140°F and do not overcook it. I usually remove it around 135°F and keep an eye on the thermometer to ensure it reaches 140°F. (An uncooked ham will need to reach a higher temperature.)
Great recipe
Spiral Ham recipe Looks Good so I am going to follow this recipe for a New Years Day
Dinner. I have never made one but this is the easiest one I’ve found .Thank you. Great recipes.
Enjoy Linda, let us know how it goes for you!
Helpful and down-to-earth!
Delicious!
Thanks Lisa! Glad you enjoyed it.
Excellent recipe. I used a 9.2 lb. Schwanns spiral cut bone-in ham.
I had on hand a large can of crushed pineapple, which I used to strain out some juice for the brown sugar glaze. After the cooked ham(2 hrs, and 20 minutes on 315*) was on the platter, I added the hot juices from the roasting pan to the remaining glaze and 1/2 of the canned crushed pineapple. Then I made a roux of cornstarch and cold water, added it in, and then cooked it all on medium heat, on the stovetop in a large saucepan, until thickened to a gravy/sauce. They ate it over mashed potatoes with a side of mac n cheese. They LOVED it. I haven’t eaten meat in decades and had forgotten a few things. This was perfect!
That sounds so delicious Jill! Especially served with Mac and Cheese and mashed potatoes…Yum!!
hi,im making this recipe today and i was wondering since you used the juice from the ham to make the gravy,was it sweet,meaning after you made your gravy,which gave me an idea,was the gravy sweet and if so,was it still good on ttop of potatoes? thank you
happy easter
It is a glaze, so it is a little sweet. You could use broth if you prefer less sweet. I do enjoy it on the potatoes too. The mustard adds a great flavor.
Thanks for a simple recipe that turned out great!! It is nice to see a nice simple glaze listed as well. IMHO a simple glaze is most often a better result then may of the complex glazes that people list. Not to mention most people have the three items already.
I do have to be “that guy” that asks about the time.
Prep time : 5 minutes
Cook time: 1 hour 59 minutes
=: 2 hours 4 minutes
Total time : 1 hour 49 minutes???
Only way I can follow this recipe exactly is to have Mr. Peabody fire up the Way Back Machine!! :)
Thanks for a easy recipe with GREAT results!!
So glad you enjoyed it FiL! Sorry for the confusion, the correct time should be 2hrs 4 minutes, not 1 hr 49min. We’ve updated the recipe.