Glazed Slow Cooker Ham (2024)

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Yes, you can cook a delicious ham in the slow cooker. This recipe has a sweet but easy no-cook glaze making for a really short prep time, and then the rest is all hands-off in the crockpot!

If you’re wanting to make a delicious ham for Thanksgiving or Easter dinner (or really any occasion), this easy slow cooker ham recipe is ready to make life easier. A sweet glaze comes together in minutes and then it’s hands-off cooking in the crockpot. This ham recipe gives you plenty of time (and oven space!) to get the side dishes put together with ease.

Scroll down to read more about how it all comes together or click here to jump straight down to the recipe.

Jump To:

  1. Should You Cook Ham In The Slow Cooker?
  2. Which Hams Are Best In The Slow Cooker?
  3. What Size Slow Cooker To Use?
  4. What Size Ham To Get?
  5. Should You Score The Ham?
  6. Do You Cook The Ham On Low Or High in the Slow Cooker?
  7. How Long To Slow Cook The Ham?
  8. The Glaze Ingredients and Substitutions
  9. Serving The Ham
  10. More Ham and Pork Recipes
  11. Glazed Slow Cooker Ham Recipe
Glazed Slow Cooker Ham (1)

Should You Cook Ham In The Slow Cooker?

My honest answer is “it depends.” The ham willtastedelicious for sure. However, some hams don’t end uplookingsuper-nice after slow-cooking. So, if you are hoping to have a lovely ham in the middle of the table, or as part of a buffet, then I would advise against cooking it this way. If, on the other hand, you’re going to slice the ham in the kitchen, put it on a serving platter, and serve it from the platter, then the slow cooker is perfect.

The other issue with slow cooker ham is that the glaze doesn’t brown and caramelize onto the meat in the same way as when youbake the ham like this. You still get great flavor from the sweet glaze, but not the glazed appearance. For the recipe below, you score the ham all over and that helps get the glaze in there more for more flavor, but it still won’t glisten.

Having said that, the easy fix is to brush the ham all over with honey when you take it out of the slow cooker. Just a light touch gives it a nice shine.

Which Hams Are Best In The Slow Cooker?

Look for a ham that says “fully-cooked” on it. Then you know for sure that you are starting with the right kind of ham. Beyond that, there are a few choices. I’m listing them in the order of my preference for slow-cooking.

A whole boneless hamthat hasn’t been sliced at all is really the best to do in the slow cooker.(Here’s how to bake a whole boneless ham, and also a picture of what it looks like, for your info).The reason is that the slow, moist cooking in the slow cooker can cause the meat to pull away from bones or slices, making it less attractive. A whole ham has no bones or slices, so you’re basically just heating it through gently and it works well.

Glazed Slow Cooker Ham (2)

If you havea spiral-cut ham, don’t worry. You can still do it in the slow cooker. Simply make sure that the ham iscut-side-downin the slow cooker. Basically, you want the weight of the ham to be holding the slices down and together. If you instead have the slices upwards such that you can see all the cuts form the top, then they’re going to flop and open up during the cooking. Looking at the picture belowyou want that side facing the camera, the flat cut side, to be down.

Glazed Slow Cooker Ham (3)

As to abone-in hamor asemi-boneless ham, this is where they can end up looking less good. You’ll see in the pictures here of the ham in the slow cooker, and in the video, that a semi-boneless ham was used and while it tasted delicious, it’s not the prettiest ham ever. That’s just because the meat pulled away from the bone a lot.

What Size Slow Cooker To Use?

It really depends on the size of your ham. You want the ham to fit in the slow cooker without touching the sides. If your ham fits like that, you’re good to go. Most hams will fit in anoval-shaped 7-8 quart slow cooker.

If your ham doesn’t fit, you’ll need a larger slow cooker, or you can use a roasting pan or rimmed baking sheet andbake the ham like this. Or, you can cut off some of the ham so that it fits.

What Size Ham To Get?

This depends on how many people you’re serving and what you’re serving with the ham. In general, go with 1/3 of a pound of boneless ham per person and 1/2 a pound of bone-in ham per person. That’s just because the bone-in ham is heavier due to the bone.

Keep in mind though that if ham is the only main protein that you’re serving and if you’re not having a lot of sides, then you might want to get more. If you’re serving appetizers and dessert as well as lots of sides and maybe even a turkey or other meat, then you would need less than that.

Should You Score The Ham?

You’ll see in the above picture that I’ve scored the ham by slicing about 1/4 inch into the ham in perpendicular cuts. When baking a ham, this helps to get nice little crispy edges along those cuts, which you can see in the picture below for a glazed ham.

Glazed Slow Cooker Ham (4)

When slow cooking a ham, scoring it first is optional. Those edges won’t get crispy because it’s too damp in the slow cooker. However, making those slits allows the glaze to get more deeply into the ham giving it more flavor. So it’s totally up to you.

Do You Cook The Ham On Low Or High in the Slow Cooker?

I have found that the most luscious ham meat results fromslow cooking the ham on low. I also think that it heats much more evenly.

Because a ham is often quite large, it takes awhile for the heat to really penetrate to the center. Having the setting on low allows that heat to gradually get right into them ham while not over-cooking the outside.

How Long To Slow Cook The Ham?

The ham that you’re cooking in the slow cooker is already fully-cooked. That means that it is technically safe to eat it without cooking it at all. So then, all we’re doing is to heat it up while also adding some amazing flavor. The general rule though is to heat the ham to at least 145°F internally.For more information about ham safety, head to the USDA ham info here.

How long it takes for your ham to get to 145°F will depend on the size of your slow cooker, how quickly it tends to heat, and the size of your ham. In general, a 5-7 pound ham will take 5-6 hours on low to reach 145°F.

The Glaze Ingredients and Substitutions

The glaze below is intentionally a no-cook glaze. So, you do not have to simmer anything on the stove before you start making your ham. This makes the prep time to getting your ham into the slow cooker much quicker.

The glaze recipe can be adapted to the ingredients that you have or that you like. Here are some tasty things to try:

The Soda:The recipe calls for 1 cup of soda. This can be literally any kind of soda that you like. And yes, diet soda works too. My preference is for ginger ale or Dr. Pepper because it has some spiciness to it. Instead of the soda though, you can use any kind of fruit juice. It’s great with pineapple juice, orange juice, or even cranberry juice.

The Sweetener:The glaze recipe calls for 1/2 cup of honey. You can instead use maple syrup, agave nectar, molasses, or simple syrup. You can even use brown sugar or white sugar, if you’d like, you just have to mix it all a bit more to get it to dissolve well.

The Mustard:You can use any kind of mustard in this recipe as long as it’s a mustard that you like the taste of. I usually use a spicy brown mustard or Dijon mustard, but I’ve made this with regular yellow mustard and it tasted great too!

The Vinegar:The recipe calls for apple cider vinegar, but any kind of vinegar is just fine. There’s so little of it that the actual flavor profile of the vinegar isn’t going to come through. So go ahead and use anything from Balsamic, red wine vinegar, or even regular white distilled vinegar. Or, you can use lemon or lime juice.

The Cloves:For some people, it’s traditional to stud the ham all over with cloves before cooking it. If you’ve grown up with this, then you will be happy to know that it works well for slow-cooker ham also. If you haven’t had it before, you can try it. But I will warn you that the clove flavor can be a little bit intense, so it’s not for everyone.

Serving The Ham

Once you take the ham out of the slow cooker, I recommend that you brush it with some additional honey to give it a nice shine. I like to add some pineapple on there as well. Fresh, canned, or frozen pineapple that you’ve warmed up slightly is perfect.

Finally, you can use the drippings from your ham to make a traditional ham gravy, which is amazing served on the ham but also on mashed potatoes.

More Ham and Pork Recipes

My website is a trusted resource for ham and pork recipes that people have been turning to for over 15 years! You can find all of my ham recipes over here, and all of my pork recipes over here. Some of my favorites are:

  • Slow Cooker Pulled Pork
  • Garlic Roast Pork Recipe
  • Instant Pot Pork and Sauerkraut
  • How to Cook Ham Steak
  • Ham Gravy Recipe

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Glazed Slow Cooker Ham (5)

Glazed Slow Cooker Ham Recipe

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  • Author: Christine Pittman
  • Prep Time: 5 minutes
  • Cook Time: 5 hours
  • Total Time: 5 hours 5 minutes
  • Yield: 1012 servings 1x
  • Category: Entrée
  • Method: Slow Cooker
  • Cuisine: American
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DESCRIPTION

This recipe has a sweet but easy no-cook glaze making for a really short prep time, and then the rest is all hands-off in the crockpot!

Ingredients

UnitsScale

  • 1 cup soda
  • 3/4 cup honey, divided
  • 1/4 cup mustard
  • 1 tsp. cider vinegar*
  • 1 (5-7 lb.) fully-cooked bone-in or boneless ham
  • 20 whole cloves (optional)

Instructions

  1. Pour the soda into the slow cooker. Put the ham, flat-side-down, in the slow cooker.
  2. In a medium bowl, mix together 1/2 cup of the honey, the mustard, and cider vinegar to make a glaze. Scoop out 1/4 cup and brush it all over the tops and sides of the ham. Put the remaining glaze in the fridge.
  3. Stud the ham evenly all over with the cloves, if using.
  4. Put the lid on the slow cooker and cook on low until ham is heated through to 145°F as read on an instant read thermometer, 5-6 hours.
  5. While the ham is still in the slow cooker, brush it with the remaining glaze. Put the lid back on and leave it for 5 minutes just to heat the glaze through.
  6. Take ham out of slow cooker and brush all over with the remaining 1/4 cup of honey.
  7. Carve immediately.

Love this recipe? I’d appreciate it if you could scroll down and add a *5 star rating* to help others know they’ll love it as well!

Glazed Slow Cooker Ham (6)

Glazed Slow Cooker Ham (2024)
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