A classic baked ham recipe is one everybody should have in their repertoire. This one is simple, delicious, always works and will keep everyone happy.
Baked ham is a wonderfully versatile meat. It is great with your usual roast dinner sides. I like it with a leek and potato gratin and some simply griddled tender stem broccoli. Or you can have it with fried egg and chips (if you haven’t tried this combination, it’s a British classic and you must give it a go).
The leftovers are fantastic in sandwiches, omelettes, risottos, pastas…the list is endless.
Many people have ham at Christmas, but it is great all year round. Enjoy this simple recipe next time you fancy roasting a joint of meat!
Ingredients, Substitutions and Variations
- Gammon joint – before ham is cooked, it’s called gammon – so you’ll be looking for a joint of gammon at your butchers. Get a medium one.
- Onion, carrot, celery, bay leaves, rosemary, thyme – these ingredients flavour your cooking liquor. You can omit a few of them, but using all of them will guarantee the most flavour.
- Olive oil– when it’s time to bake your ham, you’ll simply drizzle with olive oil to start with. Use a good olive oil if you can.
- Honey and mustard – these make a simple, delicious glaze for your ham later in the baking process: you can leave them off if you like, but they bring such a beautiful balance to the salty ham.
Top Tips:
- Don’t add salt Ham is salty, so you don’t need to add any extra throughout the cooking process.
- Get ahead Ham is great served cold, so cook ahead and keep in the fridge for up to a week.
- Switch it up Try switching the water in the cooking liquor for ginger beer – it’s seriously delicious!
Classic Baked Ham
An incredible classic baked ham recipe, perfect for any occasion.
Ingredients
- 1 medium unsmoked gammon joint
- 1 onion
- 2 carrots
- 1 celery stick
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 sprig of rosemary
- 1 sprig of thyme
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 tsp English mustard
Instructions
- Peel and halve your onion. Chop the ends off the carrots and celery and cut them in half. Put them in a large pot that can be used on the hob.
- Remove any string from the gammon joint. Place it in the pot on top of the vegetables (note that the rim of the pot should be higher than the top of the meat).
- Place the bay leaves, rosemary and thyme on top and pour in enough water to completely submerge the meat.
- Put a lid on the pot and put on the hob on a low heat. Bring to a simmer then cook gently for 2 hours.
- After the 2 hours is up, turn off the heat and leave the ham in the cooking liquor for 30 minutes to absorb all of the flavour.
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
- Remove the ham from the pot and put on a roasting dish, fat side up. Score the fat with a knife in a criss cross pattern. Drizzle with the olive oil. Put in the oven for 50 minutes.
- 20 minutes before the end of the cooking time, mix together the honey and mustard. Remove the ham from the oven and drizzle the honey mustard glaze over the top. Put back in the oven for the remaining 20 minutes.
- If you have time, rest for 30 minutes before serving.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
Looking for more festive recipes? Why not try?
- Fruity Christmas Cake
- Christmas Cake Porridge
- Christmas Mac and Cheese
- Sausage and Cranberry Spaghetti
- Leftover Ham Pie
- Ginger Mince Pies
- Mulled Wine Roast Duck
- Ginger Beer Baked Ham
- Orange and Brandy Roast Duck
- Turkey Brine Recipe
- Turkey and Ham Lasagne
I love a classic ham and this was the perfect recipe! Thank you so much!
Yum! Just how my mom used to make it 🙂
Such a perfect Christmas Ham recipe—juicy, tender, and packed with flavor! Thank you!
My sister in law and her family are ham lovers so next time I invite them around I shall be trying your lovely recipe.
Oh wow – this baked ham looks so succulent and moist! I’m definitely going to try this out at our dinner party tomorrow night!