This is a super easy Orange Glaze for ham, with orange juice concentrate, orange zest, brown sugar, and a little seasoning to make it extra delicious!
Orange juice ham glaze is a simple mixture made to drizzle over baked ham, it's on the sweet side and it tastes divine served with Old Fashioned Yeast Rolls and Honey Butter Spread.
Store bought glaze packets are fine, but why use ready made with preservatives when you can make a ham glaze with fresh orange juice? Delicious! We love to use orange ham glaze for Easter and Christmas especially.
Some of our favorite vegetables to serve with ham with orange juice glaze are Brown Sugar and Honey Glazed Carrots or Red Skin Mashed Potatoes, which both are made on the stovetop in 15-20 minutes and don't take up valuable oven space!
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What To Expect
- Taste: Bright and zesty orange flavor, with a hint of cinnamon.
- Ease: It's only a few ingredients, and easy to mix up towards the end of a ham baking. Beginner level glaze.
- Time: Takes less than 5 minutes to whip up the glaze! And a couple of hours to roast a ham depending on it's size.
🛒 Key Ingredients
- Oranges - orange juice concentrate gives the most flavor, along with the orange juice and orange zest.
- Cinnamon - adds a little festive spin to the glaze, makes it perfect for Easter or Christmas!
- Brown Sugar - used for flavor, is easy to swap out with other sweeteners.
- Herbs - fresh rosemary, thyme, or sage are lovely as garnish on the sides, but completely optional.
- Spiral cut ham - we usually use a precooked spiral cut ham that only needs warming in the oven or slow cooker. Bone-in ham may need more time to cook, especially if it's a larger ham.
See the recipe card below for full information on ingredients and quantities.
✏️ Substitutions & Variations
- You can switch out brown sugar with honey, coconut sugar, or pure maple syrup as the sweetener for a slightly different flavor. Maple orange glazed ham is delicious, we've done that version a few times!
- Cinnamon and cloves have been our favorite combination, but ginger, nutmeg, or allspice is also nice in place of the cloves.
🧑🍳 Instructions
Make sure to preheat your oven to 350℉ and prepare a roasting pan big enough for the ham.
- Step 1. Cook ham according to directions, usually 2-3 hours at 350℉ to reach an internal temperature of 160℉ with ½ cup of water in the bottom of the roasting pan if needed.
Generally, a good guideline to follow is 10 minutes per pound of meat at 350 ℉ (as long as it is completely thawed) which is listed on reheating instructions listed on the ham packaging for precooked ham.
- Step 2. During the last 30-40 minutes of the ham cooking, make the glaze.In a small saucepan, combine all ingredients for the glaze and whisk together. Bring to a boil over mediuim heat and cook for about 1 minute, whisking constantly until thickened. Remove from heat.
- Step 3. During the last 30-40 minutes of cooking, drizzle or brush glaze generously over ham using a pastry brush or meat injector.
- Step 4. Let ham cook for remaining 30 minutes to let the glaze caramelize a little. You can use any remaininng glaze to brush over ham right before slicing and serving. Enjoy!
📌 Top Tips & Hacks
- Orange glaze can be used on any size or type of ham. If you have glaze leftover, you can store it covered in the fridge, for up to a week or freeze it for up to 3 months.
- A 3 pound spiral cut ham will use about half of the glaze.
- Careful not to overheat the ham, it dries out pretty easily. Follow cooking instructions that come on the package, and make sure it's completely defrosted if it has been frozen so the cooking times are accurate.
❓Frequently Asked Questions
Towards the end of baking is best, so the sugars in the glaze don't burn. During the last 30 or so minutes of cooking, brush the glaze over the ham for maximum flavor!
This glaze has a little bit of cornstarch mixed in, but you can always add a bit more before glazing the ham or simmer the glaze on the stovetop for 10-15 minutes to reduce it and thicken it naturally.
Easy! You can switch out the brown sugar in this recipe for honey.
Yes, You want the glaze to caramelize a little bit and it does that best uncovered in the oven or roaster oven.
Yes! You can cook it on low for 4-6 hours or high for 3-4 hours depending on the size of the ham. It needs to reach an internal temperature of 160℉ to be safe to eat.
🎉 More Easy Holiday Recipes
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📝 Printable Recipe
Orange Glaze for Ham
Equipment
- or Pastry Brush
Ingredients
- 1 spiral cut ham (3 pounds will use about half of glaze)
For the glaze:
- 1 Tablespoon orange zest (from 1-2 oranges)
- 1 cup orange juice
- 2 Tablespoons orange juice concentrate
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 Tablespoon cornstarch
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- optional: orange slices, fresh rosemary, or thyme for garnish
Instructions
- Cook ham according to directions, 1-3 hours at 350℉ with ½ cup of water in the bottom of the roasting pan.
- During the last 30 minutes of the ham cooking, make the glaze. In a small saucepan, combine all ingredients for the glaze and whisk together.
- Bring to a boil over mediuim heat and cook for about 1 minute, whisking constantly until thickened. Remove from heat.
- Use pastry brush or meat injector to distribute glaze over surface of ham and inside ham if using the injector.
- Let ham cook for remaining 30 minutes to let the glaze caramelize a little.
- You can use any remainig glaze to brush over ham right before slicing and serving with garnish around the ham. Enjoy!
Notes
- Orange glaze can be used on any size or type of ham. If you have glaze leftover, you can store it covered in the fridge, for up to a week or freeze it for up to 3 months.
- A 3 pound spiral cut ham will use about half of the glaze.
- Slow Cooker: You can cook it on low for 4-6 hours or high for 3-4 hours depending on the size of the ham. It needs to reach an internal temperature of 160℉ to be safe to eat.
Nutrition
Hi, I'm Sara!
Registered Nurse by day, food blogger by weekend. Perfect dip tester & snack quester. I love short walks on the beach and long naps. Sharing my love for food, one bite at a time.
Ray says
I really like the orange in the glaze I could add even more orange juice but it was delicious as is it’s easy to add more or less.