Brown Sugar Glazed Baked Picnic Ham (2024)

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With the festive season on the horizon, you should definitely have a delicious baked ham recipe up your sleeve, and this is it! This brown sugar mustard glazed ham is absolutely bursting with flavor and will be the ultimate juicy addition to your Christmas feast!

If you enjoyed my brown sugar mustard ham glaze recipe I guarantee you will fall in LOVE with this perfectly sticky brown sugar glaze too.

What is Picnic Ham?

It seems to be a theme lately that I am giving you all new recipes thanks to my grocery orders being wrong! I did NOT order this type of ham in my last grocery order, just like I didn’t order alllll the celery that had me making my cream of celery soup lol! But hey, here we go with learning about another cut of pork!

Here’s the thing, picnic ham isn’t really ham. And it’s not just for picnics either (I spent a great many childhood years thinking this was the case!). Picnic “ham” is actually technically pork shoulder because it’s cut from the pig shoulder rather than the leg/hind. It’s a super-economical alternative for real ham (from the hind legs) and the word “picnic” refers to its common use in casual dining. There’s some useful info for your next foodie table quiz!

How to Make Brown Sugar Glazed Baked Picnic Ham

Follow these simple steps to bake this super juicy picnic ham with crispy charred edges and a mouthwatering glaze!

1. Cover the ham in aluminum foil, place in the oven and bake until the temp reaches 145 F.
2. To make the glaze, combine the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a low simmer. Then remove from the heat.
3. Remove the foil (and the rind if you wish) and brush on the glaze (about half).
4. Place the ham back in the oven at 400 F for 15 minutes and then brush the ham with the leftover glaze and bake for another 10-15 minutes.
5. Remove the ham, slice, and serve!

Getting the Glaze Just Right

Some of the key ingredients for the perfect baked ham glaze are brown sugar, maple syrup, or honey. I’ve gone for brown sugar and maple syrup with this recipe and the salty ham combined with the sweet glaze is literally heaven on the taste buds. You can add in some honey too if you like, or swap it in. I also used some yellow mustard, salted butter, garlic, cinnamon, and cloves. I personally find that the mustard gives the ham just enough “tang” without being too overpowering.

You can use whatever spices you like really, but this mix always works best for me! My best tip with this one is to make sure you don’t keep the glaze simmering for too long. Otherwise, it’ll turn into a hard caramel as it cools, which makes it REALLY hard to slather onto the ham when you’re glazing. It’s best to lightly simmer and quickly remove it from the heat.

What Side Dishes Work Best With Baked Ham?

Ham is so versatile there are any number of side dish options to choose from, but a few crowd-pleasers I like to go with are the BEST buttery garlic mashed potatoes and roasted garlic Parmesan Brussels sprouts! You could also opt for a salad and some dinner rolls on the side if you want something a bit lighter.

Leftover Ham is the BEST!

Use your ham leftovers in recipes like my split pea soup using the ham bone, ham and noodle casserole or my ham and mushroom crustless quiche for a great breakfast the next day! I usually chose a larger ham than I need because there is nothing like using the ham bone in soup and the meat from the ham to make one meal last for 3 or 4! Heck if you are super adventuresome, try my ham and kale lasagna!

Happy cooking!

Love,

Karlynn

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