A humble store-bought spiral gets a delicious upgrade with this air fryer glazed spiral ham, coated in a delicious peach, mustard glaze. The glaze comes together quickly, with simple ingredients that you probably already have in your pantry! Served with a side of cranberry sauce, and a classic holiday turkey, homemade creamy mashed potatoes and sweet and savory cornbread, you've got the perfect holiday ham, and the perfect holiday meal, too!
Jump to:
👩🏽🍳Why This Recipe Works
Delicious, sweet and savory glaze: This simple glaze has many different layers of flavor, from sweet peach preserves, to tangy mustard, with a hint of ginger ale. You get the best of both worlds with this glaze! You'll never need to use the pre-made glaze packet again when making your own glaze is this easy! For another delicious glazed ham idea, check out this Brown Sugar & Coke Glazed Ham or 3 ingredient Ham Glaze.
Quick cooking: Most spiral hams that you buy from the grocery store are precooked. That means that all that you need to do at home is season and heat the ham through. This is much faster than cooking a whole turkey, or even a prime rib roast, which is always a good thing when prepping for the holiday season and Christmas dinner. You won't need to reserve this ham for special occasions because of how quick and easy it is to prepare.
Air fryer recipe: No need to turn on the whole oven for this ham - the air fryer works just as well. This is perfect for smaller gatherings, when you aren't buying a large-sized ham. This is a life-saver for keeping valuable oven space free during the holidays, too!
🥘Ingredient Notes
- Cooked spiral-cut ham: These are generally easier to find around the holidays, and is typically a fully-cooked ham. Spiral-cut simply means that there is a neat continuous cut around the ham, but not all the way through, keeping the ham intact. You can opt for a bone-in ham or boneless ham. I prefer bone-in as it adds some extra flavor, and keeps the ham moist. I also have found that using a bone-in cut results in the most tender ham.
- Dijon & grainy mustard: You absolutely want to use both dijon and grainy mustard for this glaze. Dijon mustard adds a rounded out tangy flavor, while whole grain mustard tends to have a slightly punchier element to the glaze.
- Peach preserves: Peach preserves is a fancy word for peach jelly. It will generally have bits of peaches in it, which is perfectly fine.
A full list of ingredients with measurements is located on the recipe card, below.
📖Substitutions
- Spiral cut ham: This glaze works well with a larger pork picnic roast as well. A mentioned above, a boneless spiral ham is completely fine for this recipe.
- Peach preserves: Orange marmalade or apricot preserves are delicious substitutes for peach preserves. If using orange marmalade, you can skip the fresh orange juice in the glaze.
- Fresh orange juice: If you are in a pinch, you can use a splash of orange juice, or a spoon of frozen orange juice concentrate.
- Fresh garlic: Garlic powder will work if you do not have fresh garlic on hand.
- Dijon mustard: Consider any of these great substitutes for dijon mustard, if you need to swap it out.
🔪Variations
- Homemade brown sugar glaze: Omit the peach preserves and make this a mustard brown sugar ham instead using light brown sugar or dark brown sugar for a beautifully caramelized ham.
- Retro pineapple ham: Top with rings of canned pineapple for a retro twist. You can even add a splash of pineapple juice to the glaze to tie all the flavors together.
- Maple glaze: Opt for a maple syrup and mustard glaze instead of this peach-flavored one, for more a classic holiday ham.
⏲️ Step-by-Step Instructions
Prep Work Before Cooking
Collecting all your ingredients - This will make cooking so much easier. Gather all the spices you will need, and keep them nearby.
Add the glaze ingredients to a medium saucepan. Bring to a slow simmer over medium-low heat, whisking often. Remove the glaze from the heat once it has thickened slightly, and all of the ingredients have melded together [photo 1]
Place the spiral ham cut-side down in the air fryer basket.
Brush the top of the ham with half of the glaze, while pulling back some of the slices to let the glaze seep in. [photo 2]
Air fry the ham for 10-15 minutes per pound of ham at 350°F. The ham I used was approximately 7lbs, so it was cooked for just over one hour, but the exact cook time will depend on the size of your ham.
While the ham is cooking, brush the second half of the glaze over the ham occasionally until most of the glaze has been used up.
💭 Expert Tips
To prevent burning: Cover the ham with aluminum foil while cooking, if you find that the exterior is getting too caramelized. There is a good amount of sugar in the glaze, so be sure to keep an eye on the ham.
To serve: Cut around the bone of the ham using a sharp knife, to loosen some of the meat. Then, cut downwards to cut the meat into sections. The ham slices should come off relatively easily.
Oven cooking: If you are using a bigger ham or simply do not have/want to use an air fryer, bake the ham in a roasting pan for the same, 12-15 minutes at 375°F. You will find that the exterior of the ham will caramelize slightly slower in the oven, than it would in the air fryer.
Save the ham bone: The ham bone will add extra flavor to soups or homemade broths. Keep the ham bone in the freezer for future use.
🍽 Make Ahead & Storage
- The glaze for the ham can be prepared 3-4 days in advance. Store in an airtight container in the fridge once the glaze has cooled to room temperature. The glaze may thicken slightly once cooled. To loosen, heat slightly in a sauce pan with a little water.
- Leftover ham keeps well in the fridge for 2-3 days, in an airtight container.
- You can also freeze leftovers for up to 6 months, as long as it is stored in an airtight, freezer-safe container or plastic bag.
- Reheat in the air fryer or in the oven, covered in foil.
⭐ Recipe FAQs
The key difference between spiral ham and regular ham, is the way it is cut. Spiral ham refers to the way the ham is pre-sliced, but not all the way through to keep the roast intact.
Yes, spiral hams come pre-cooked. This means that you are generally just heating up the ham, and allowing the glaze to caramelize.
The spiral hame will be fully cooked once it reaches an internal temperature of 140°F.
📝More Holiday Recipes
Looking for more meal inspiration? Subscribe to our newsletter for weekly recipe roundups, straight to your inbox! Follow us on our socials, on Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook! If you try one of our recipes, let us know how it was by rating and commenting!
Air fryer Glazed Spiral Ham
Ingredients
- 7 lb Spiral ham - cooked, bone-in
- ½ cup Peach preserves
- ¼ cup Ginger ale
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon Grainy mustard
- 2 teaspoon Sea salt
- 3 cloves Garlic - minced
- 1 Navel orange - juiced
Instructions
- Add the glaze ingredients to a medium-sized sauce pan. Bring to a slow simmer over medium-low heat, whisking often. Remove the glaze from the heat once it has thickened slightly, and all of the ingredients have melded together½ cup Peach preserves, ¼ cup Ginger ale, 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard, 1 tablespoon Grainy mustard, 2 teaspoon Sea salt, 3 cloves Garlic, 1 Navel orange
- Place the spiral ham cut-side down in the air fryer basket.7 lb Spiral ham
- Brush the top of the ham with half of the glaze, while pulling back some of the slices to let the glaze seep in.
- Air fry the ham for 12-15 minutes per pound of ham at 350°F. A 7 lb ham will take just over one hour to cook through.
- While the ham is cooking, brush the remaining glaze over the ham occasionally until most of the glaze has been used up.
✱Recipe Notes
- To prevent burning: Cover the ham with aluminum foil while cooking, if you find that the exterior is getting too caramelized. There is a good amount of sugar in the glaze, so be sure to keep an eye on the ham.
- To serve: Cut around the bone of the ham using a sharp knife, to loosen some of the meat. Then, cut downwards to cut the meat into sections. The ham slices should come off relatively easily.
- Oven cooking: If you are using a bigger ham or simply do not have/want to use an air fryer, bake the ham in a roasting pan for the same, 12-15 minutes at 375°F. You will find that the exterior of the ham will caramelize slightly slower in the oven, than it would in the air fryer.
- Save the ham bone: The ham bone will add extra flavor to soups or homemade broths. Keep the ham bone in the freezer for future use.
Comments
No Comments