Slow Cooker Maple Brown Sugar Ham
Save on oven space and try this holiday ham right in the crockpot. It’s so easy with just 5 min prep, and it’s unbelievably tender and juicy!
When it comes to Thanksgiving, I tend to look forward to the ham more so than the turkey. I mean it is Turkey Day and all but all I can think about is that sweet, juicy ham, coupled with the cornbread stuffing and the sweet potato casserole with extra marshmallows.
The turkey is just there for show anyway, right? Plus, I think Butters prefers the ham too.
Now oven real estate can be quite an issue on the big day but you have nothing to worry about here. This ham is made right in the slow cooker, and the prep time is only 5 minutes. Yes, it’s just that easy! And you can’t go wrong with the combination of maple syrup, brown sugar, pineapple juice and Dijon mustard for that extra kick of flavor.
And depending on the size of your ham, this should be ready in 4-5 hrs. Best of all, you can keep it on the warm function, letting it sit in those amazing juices and keeping it flavorful all day.
No wait. The best part are the leftovers. The ham sandwiches. The breakfast eggs and ham. The ham fried rice. The hambone soup. The possibilities are endless!
Slow Cooker Maple Brown Sugar Ham
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups pineapple juice
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 7-10 pound bone-in, spiral-cut ham*
- ½ cup brown sugar, packed
- 15 whole cloves
Instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk together pineapple juice, maple syrup, Dijon mustard and pepper; set aside.
- Place ham into a slow cooker. Sprinkle with brown sugar, rubbing in thoroughly on all sides. Place whole cloves throughout and pour pineapple mixture over ham.
- Cover and cook on low heat for 4-5 hours, basting every hour.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
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I wanted to stop by to say that I will be using this recipe again for Thanksgiving! It was a total rave last year. I made the switch to your recipe after wanting a change from my grandmother’s signature recipe. Hard to admit that I love yours more! (Sorry Nana!) The only substitution I make is with dried cloves since that’s what I have on-hand.
Happy Holidays!
LOVE this recipe, but I do not need to serve 7-10…only 3. PS-this is one of the reasons that I LOVE your recipes, besides the extraordinary compliments that I receive from my husband and son…your servings are generally for 4. With that said, can I do this with ham steak, and if so, what are your recommended measurements?
Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment regarding substitutions and modifications.
I so wanted for it to work… The ham came out very dry and tough 🙁 Man, I’m so disappointed. I was embarrassed to serve it for Easter dinner and we had company over. It was more like jerky. I’m now afraid to try this method of cooking ham ever again. I’m an advanced cook, so the problem definitely wasn’t the lack of my cooking skills…
I’m sorry that this recipe did not turn out the way you had imagined. I only post recipes that have been successfully tested in my own kitchen, and as you can see from the comments here, many of these readers have had great outcomes in the final dish as well.
So I must ask – did you follow the recipe exactly as written without any substitutions?
Does the sauce make a good gravy for mashed potatoes?
This sauce is really meant for the ham, not for mashed potatoes. But as always, please use your best judgment.
I am planning to try your crockpot ham for Easter dinner in order to free up my oven for roasting the lamb. What a fab recipe. I am sorry I am seeing this a few years after you posted it because that lady could certainly add ground cloves (maybe a 1/4 tsp) to her brown sugar if she doesn’t have the actual whole cloves just to give her ham the taste of cloves. I loved your answer to Mr. know-it-all. I am an experienced cook, but I also wanted an answer to some of those questions. The ignorant ones are the ones who never ask, so they never learn.(Can you tell I am a teacher? (lol)
If I can’t find whole cloves, will ground cloves work? If so, what is the recommended quantity?
If whole cloves are unavailable, I recommend omitting rather than using ground cloves.
I made this for Christmas and my whole family loves it! It was also great to have some leftovers, we made ham sandwiches for a few nights, great and easy recipe! Now one of our favourites!
These recipes sounds so easy, I am anxious to try them.
I would like to try this but I am allergic to mustard. If I do not put the mustard, will it taste as good or can I substitute with another ingredient?. Thank you
You can omit the ingredient as needed to suit your preferences.
Like some of the others, I’ve already bought a large boneless SMOKED ham—-so what (simple) crockpot recipe would you recommend using for this type?
We made this recipe over the weekend, and it was so easy and the ham tasted great. The ham did turn out rather dry, though. We basted several times–pretty much hourly. I’m not sure what we did wrong–did we cook it too long?
Perhaps – it’s just really hard for me to say without being in the kitchen with you. But the beauty of the slow cooker and basting is to prevent dryness!
Preparing a ham for a large crowd this New Years. Would there be any problem in adapting this recipe by slicing the ham off of the bone and layering it in crock pot essentially fitting 2 hams in the same pot? Would it be appropriate to lessen the cooking time and check for 140 degrees in the center of the pot?
Unfortunately, without having tried this myself, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment.
I thick-sliced and layered two 10 lb. shank portion hams in a 7 qt. crock-pot sprinkling cloves(2 tablespoons) & brown sugar between layers. I added a layer of whole pineapple slices on top. Worked GREAT. Followed recipe for all other ingredients and cooking time.
I have no Dijon. Substitute for the glacier? I really love it but don’t want to make a trip to grocery on Christmas Eve. Thinking regular mustard won’t do. Anything else?
Can I use orange juice in place of pineapple juice?
Yes, absolutely.
I used this recipe for Thanksgiving and it turned out beautifully (I substituted homemade spicy brown mustard for the Dijon and that worked well). Love the Corgis, we have 2 also.
What if I only have ground cloves? Can I use that instead? And how much?
If you do not have whole cloves, I recommend omitting them in its entirety.
Do I need to thaw the ham first or should I start it from frozen? Thanks!!
The ham should be thawed prior to using.
I have purchased a regular 10 lb ham. It is not spiral. Will this work with the recipe??
Yes, absolutely, although cooking time may have to be adjusted as needed.
question, need to cook early and serve later,so i cant serve imidiatly is that a problem
Not at all!
Hey there – I saw above that you had a comment about preferable NOT using a smoked ham and going with a pre-glazed one instead. I’ve already bought a spiral, bone-in smoked ham — is there any particular reason this is less than ideal or should I just go and buy a pre-glazed and used the smoked for a different occasion?
The smoked ham may have additional/unwanted flavors that may clash with the flavors here but as always, please use your best judgment.