Festive Cherry-Glazed Christmas Ham! 🎄
This Festive Cherry-Glazed Christmas Ham recipe provides a delicious and healthier option for your holiday meal. With a juicy, spiral-sliced ham and a sweet-savory cherry glaze, it's an easy and impressive dish perfect for any festive feast.
Equipment
- Large plastic oven bag
- Roasting Pan
- Instant-read thermometer
- Small Saucepan
- Whisk
- Carving board
Ingredients
- 8-10 pound spiral-sliced bone-in half ham defrosted (choose a lean cut for a healthier option!)
- 1 large plastic oven bag (for perfectly juicy ham!)
- 0.5 cup pure cherry juice
- 2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
- 1 cup packed light brown sugar (you can reduce this slightly if you prefer less sweetness!)
- 0.5 cup cherry preserves (look for low-sugar preserves if possible)
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 0.125 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 0.125 teaspoon ground cloves
Instructions
- Start by moving your oven rack to the lowest position and preheating your oven to a gentle 250°F (120°C).
- Unwrap your defrosted ham and remove any small plastic disk that might be covering the bone.
- Carefully place the ham, with its cut-side down, into a large oven bag. Then, put the bag and ham into a roasting pan.
- Snip 3 small slits into the top of the oven bag to allow steam to escape while cooking.
- Bake the ham until an instant-read thermometer, inserted into the center (not touching bone), reaches 100°F (38°C). This usually takes about 2 hours 40 minutes to 3 hours 20 minutes.
- While your ham is baking, pour the cherry juice and red wine vinegar into a small saucepan.
- Cook this mixture over medium heat, letting it simmer gently until it reduces down to about 2 tablespoons. This should only take about 4-6 minutes.
- Whisk in the brown sugar, cherry preserves, black pepper, cinnamon, and cloves.
- Continue to cook, whisking often, until the glaze thickens and reduces to about 1 cup. This step typically takes 7-10 minutes. Once thickened, set your amazing glaze aside.
- Once your ham reaches that 100°F internal temperature, carefully remove it from the oven.
- Increase your oven temperature to a warmer 350°F (175°C).
- Roll down the sides of the plastic oven bag and generously brush the ham with about 1/3 cup of your prepared cherry glaze.
- Return the glazed ham to the oven and bake for another 10-15 minutes, or until the glaze looks wonderfully sticky and slightly darker in color. If your glaze seems a bit hard to spread, a quick gentle reheat will loosen it right up!
- Take the beautifully glazed ham out of the oven and transfer it to a carving board, making sure to save the plastic oven bag with its flavorful juices.
- Brush the ham with another 1/3 cup of the cherry glaze.
- Let the ham rest for 10 minutes – this is a super important step for tender, juicy slices!
- While it rests, mix the remaining cherry glaze with 4-6 tablespoons of the warm ham juice from the roasting bag to create a pourable, savory-sweet sauce.
- Carve your ham into delicious slices, arrange them on a platter, and serve with that incredible cherry ham sauce. Enjoy your easy, healthy, and festive holiday meal!
Notes
This festive ham is not only delicious but also a healthier option for your holiday meal!
Nutrition Information per serving (approx. 2 slices):
- Calories: 637 kcal
- Total Carbohydrates: 21g
- Fats: 28g
- Protein: 49g
