Christmas Recipes

Hot Honey Christmas Ham

A Hot Honey Christmas Ham that steals the show — a whole bone-in ham scored in diamonds, studded with cloves and baked under a sticky hot honey glaze until it caramelizes and drips. Sweet, smoky and gently spiced, sliced at the table.

New Be the first to rate it 2 hr 15 min total 12 servings Easy difficulty

By admin · Recipe tested in The Daily Plate kitchen

Published Nov 8, 2026 · Updated Nov 9, 2026

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A whole glazed ham, partially sliced to show its pink interior, on a speckled grey plate — glossy dark caramelized hot honey glaze dripping down the sides, rosemary sprigs, pine cones and cinnamon sticks around, warm string lights above.

If you searched for a Hot Honey Christmas Ham, you found the one our readers save more than any other Christmas main — the sticky-sweet ham from the pin with the glossy dark glaze dripping down the sides and the rosemary sprigs on top. This is not a plain baked ham with a jar of honey tipped over it: the glaze is hot honey, brown sugar, mustard and chili, brushed on three times while the ham bakes, so it turns into a dark, crackling caramel coat. The kick is gentle — enough to wake the sweetness up, never enough to overpower it.

The method itself is simple — score, stud, glaze, bake, rest, carve. A smoked bone-in ham is already cooked, so the two hours in the oven are about heating it through and building that glaze, not about wrestling a raw joint. One ham feeds the whole Christmas table, and the leftovers are the best part of Boxing Day.

Why this Hot Honey Christmas Ham works every time

One ham feeds the whole table. A 4.5 kg bone-in ham serves 12 generously — one main, one carving board, no juggling three roasts.
Three glazes beat one. Brushing the hot honey glaze on three times while the ham bakes builds a dark, sticky caramel coat that a single glaze never achieves.
The ham does the hard work. A smoked bone-in ham is already cooked — the oven just heats it through and sets the glaze, so the timing is forgiving and the result is juicy every time.

How big a ham do you need? The 1× recipe below is a 4.5 kg bone-in ham serving 12 — about 375 g per person before carving, which is generous once the bone is out. Feeding a smaller table? Scale to ½× for a 2.25 kg half ham serving 6, and bake about 1 hour 15 minutes. Feeding a crowd? Scale to 2× for two hams — they fit side by side in a large roasting tin, glazed the same way.

Cost & timing at a glance: about $28–36 of groceries at a regular supermarket (the ham is most of it), 15 minutes of hands-on work plus 2 hours in the oven (mostly unattended), then a 15-minute rest. The glaze takes 5 minutes and keeps for two weeks — see the full storage guide after the recipe card.

Choose Your Ham

Make the Hot Honey Christmas Ham Your Way

Tap your occasion, how many you’re feeding and your style — the ham photo, the servings, the quantities in the recipe card below and your shopping list all update to match.

Occasion

Serves

Style

Christmas Day · Serves 12 · Classic

The Classic Hot Honey Christmas Ham

The classic ham: whole bone-in ham, glossy dark hot honey glaze dripping down the sides, rosemary sprigs on top.

The original ham, exactly as pinned: sticky-sweet hot honey glaze with a gentle kick, caramelized dark and sliced at the table. If it’s your first Christmas ham, build this one — the method is forgiving and the glaze does the work.

1 whole bone-in smoked ham, about 4.5 kg
200ml honey
3 tbsp hot sauce
100g dark brown sugar
24 whole cloves
Fresh rosemary sprigs

See the full ingredients & steps ↓

Equipment for your Hot Honey Christmas Ham

Large roasting tin, lined with foil — for baking the ham and catching the glaze
Sharp knife — for scoring the fat in diamonds
Small saucepan — for warming the hot honey glaze
Pastry brush — for brushing the glaze on three times
Meat thermometer (recommended) — the ham is done at 60°C / 140°F in the centre
Carving knife and fork, for slicing at the table
Aluminium foil, for covering the ham for the first part of the bake

Hot Honey Christmas Ham shopping list — by store section

Take this list as-is: quantities are for the 1× ham (serves 12). Tick items off in the ingredient list below as you gather them — the counter at the top tracks you.

Butcher / meat counter

1 whole bone-in smoked ham, about 4.5 kg

Baking aisle

200ml honey · 100g dark brown sugar
1 tsp chili flakes · 1 tsp smoked paprika · ½ tsp ground cinnamon

Condiments

3 tbsp hot sauce (Frank’s or sriracha) · 2 tbsp Dijon mustard · 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

Produce

2 garlic cloves · 24 whole cloves
4 fresh rosemary sprigs · 1 orange, sliced, to garnish

Make It Yours

Hot Honey Christmas Ham Variations

Same whole ham, same method — just change the glaze to fit your table.

Extra-Spicy

For heat lovers, turned all the way up:

Double the hot sauce and chili flakes in the glaze
Lay a sliced fresh red chili over the top for the last 15 minutes
The glaze goes deeper, darker and redder
The sweetness is still there — the heat just arrives first

Brown Sugar & Mustard

A richer, more traditional crust:

Pack dark brown sugar and wholegrain mustard over the scored fat
Use half the honey so the crust turns thick and golden
Less heat, more toffee — the most classic of the three
Everything else — score, stud, bake, rest — stays exactly the same

Orange & Clove

The classic Christmas pairing:

Orange juice and zest in the glaze, cloves in every diamond
Orange slices arranged around the plate to serve
Bright and fragrant against the smoky ham
Best with a glass of red wine and roast potatoes

Serving & Pairings

How to Serve Your Hot Honey Christmas Ham

The same ham, ready to serve: the whole glazed ham on its speckled grey plate, partially sliced to show the pink interior, rosemary sprigs and pine cones around — set it in the centre of the table and carve it there.

Serving ideas: Rest the ham 15 minutes, then carve it at the table in thin slices and spoon the hot pan glaze over each serving — the glaze is the sauce, so don’t leave it in the tin. Set the ham out with roast potatoes, Brussels sprouts and braised red cabbage, and put a small bowl of extra glaze on the table for anyone who wants more.

Drink pairings: A robust red wine is the classic partner for glazed ham; a spiced winter cider works just as well, and a Gingerbread Latte makes a fine festive drink for anyone skipping the wine.

What to serve with it: This ham is the main event — set it out with Christmas Cheese Trees and Christmas Cranberry Pinwheels as the party starters, and finish with a slice of Christmas Cake.

Plan Ahead

Hot Honey Christmas Ham Storage & Make-Ahead Guide

Make-ahead timeline

Up to 2 weeks ahead: Make the hot honey glaze, let it cool and keep it in a sealed jar in the fridge — warm it gently before brushing.
Christmas morning: Score the fat, stud with cloves and get the ham into the oven — the glaze goes on in the last 45 minutes.
15 minutes before serving: Tent the ham loosely with foil and rest it so the juices settle and the glaze sets.

Storing leftovers

Fridge: Wrap leftover ham tightly in foil or keep it in an airtight container — it keeps for 3–4 days.
Freezing: Slice leftover ham and freeze it in portions for up to 2 months. Defrost overnight in the fridge.
Food safety: Don’t leave the carved ham at room temperature for more than 2 hours; get leftovers into the fridge while they are still fresh.
Use it up: Leftover ham is wonderful in sandwiches with mustard and pickles, fried with eggs for breakfast, or simmered into a pea soup with the bone.

Per Serving

Hot Honey Christmas Ham Nutrition

Estimate for 1 of 12 servings, about 150 g carved ham with glaze. Actual values vary with the ham and the glaze.

Calories	380 kcal
Total fat	18 g
Saturated fat	6 g
Cholesterol	95 mg
Sodium	1,100 mg
Total carbohydrates	18 g
Dietary fibre	0 g
Sugars	16 g
Protein	34 g
Iron	10% DV

Questions

Hot Honey Christmas Ham FAQs

Is the ham already cooked? Why bake it for 2 hours?

Yes — a smoked bone-in ham is already cooked and safe to eat. The 2 hours in the oven heat it all the way through and build the caramelized glaze; you are warming and glazing, not cooking from raw. The ham is ready when the centre reaches 60°C / 140°F.

How spicy is it really?

Gently spiced, not hot. Three tablespoons of hot sauce spread across a 4.5 kg ham gives a warm kick behind the sweetness — most people taste honey first, heat second. For a milder ham, use 1 tablespoon of hot sauce; for a fiery one, see the Extra-Spicy variation above.

Can I use a boneless or smaller ham?

Yes. Scale the glaze by the ham’s weight and reduce the bake time — a 2.25 kg half ham needs about 1 hour 15 minutes, glazed the same way in the last 30 minutes. Use the ½× scaler in the recipe card below and the quantities adjust for you.

Can I make the glaze ahead?

Yes. Make the glaze up to 2 weeks ahead and keep it in a sealed jar in the fridge. Warm it gently in a small pan before brushing — cold glaze slides off the ham instead of sticking.

How do I store leftovers?

Wrap leftover ham tightly in foil or keep it in an airtight container in the fridge for 3–4 days. Slice and freeze portions for up to 2 months, defrosting overnight in the fridge. Keep the bone — it makes a wonderful pea soup.

What if the glaze starts to burn?

The sugar in the glaze browns fast in the last 15 minutes. If it darkens too quickly, tent the ham loosely with foil and lower the oven to 150°C — the glaze will finish setting without burning. A dark glaze is right; a black, bitter one is not.

More Recipes You’ll Love

The Daily Plate · Recipe Card

Hot Honey Christmas Ham

A whole bone-in ham scored in diamonds, studded with cloves and baked under a sticky hot honey glaze until it caramelizes and drips.

Prep Time

15 min

Cook Time

2 hr

Total Time

2 hr 15 min

Servings

Calories

380

Scale ham:

Makes 12 servings · 1 whole bone-in ham (about 4.5 kg) · metric weights
0 of 13 gathered

Hot Honey Christmas Ham Ingredients

For the ham

For the glaze

How to Make a Hot Honey Christmas Ham — Step by Step

Work in this exact order: score first, glaze second, bake third, rest last. Total hands-on time is about 15 minutes, plus 2 hours in the oven.

Heat the oven and prepare the ham (5 minutes). Heat the oven to 160°C / 140°C fan / 325°F. Take the ham out of its packaging, pat it dry with kitchen paper and set it fat-side up in a foil-lined roasting tin. If the skin is still on, peel it away, leaving a thin, even layer of fat.
Score the fat in diamonds. Using a sharp knife, score the fat in a diamond pattern, lines about 2 cm apart, cutting just through the fat but not into the meat. The diamonds open up in the oven and catch the glaze.
Stud with cloves and cover. Push a whole clove into the centre of each diamond. Cover the ham loosely with foil — this keeps it juicy for the first part of the bake.
Make the hot honey glaze. Whisk the honey, hot sauce, brown sugar, Dijon mustard, vinegar, garlic, chili flakes, paprika and cinnamon in a small saucepan. Warm gently over low heat for 2–3 minutes, stirring, until the sugar has dissolved — don’t boil it.
Bake covered for 1 hour 15 minutes. Put the covered ham in the oven and bake for 1 hour 15 minutes. The ham is already cooked — this stage heats it all the way through.
First glaze. Take the ham out, remove the foil and brush it generously with a third of the glaze, getting it into the scored diamonds. Put it back in the oven, uncovered.
Glaze twice more. Brush with more glaze every 15 minutes for the next 45 minutes, until the ham is deeply caramelized and the glaze is bubbling and sticky. The centre should reach 60°C / 140°F on a meat thermometer.
Rest for 15 minutes. Tent the ham loosely with foil and rest it for 15 minutes before carving — this lets the juices settle and the glaze set into its crackling coat.
Carve and serve at the table. Slice the ham thinly at the table, spoon the hot pan glaze over each slice, and garnish with the rosemary sprigs and orange slices. Serve at once, while the glaze is still glossy.

Notes, tips & make-ahead

Make ahead: Make the glaze up to 2 weeks ahead and keep it in a sealed jar in the fridge; warm it gently before brushing.
Don’t cut into the meat when scoring: Score only the fat — cutting into the meat lets the juices escape and dries the ham out.
Three glazes, not one: Brushing three times builds the dark caramel coat; one thick coat slides off and burns.
Watch the last 15 minutes: The sugar browns fast at the end — if the glaze darkens too quickly, tent loosely with foil and lower the oven to 150°C.
Swaps: Swap the hot sauce for extra chili flakes in the Extra-Spicy version; swap half the honey for brown sugar and wholegrain mustard; swap in orange juice and zest for the Orange & Clove version.
Food safety: Don’t leave carved ham at room temperature for more than 2 hours; get leftovers into the fridge while they are still fresh.

Scale: ½× = ½ ham (about 2.25 kg, bake 1 hr 15 min) · 1× = 1 whole ham (4.5 kg) · 2× = 2 hams. Servings scale 6 / 12 / 24.

Nutrition (per serving, estimate):
Calories 380Protein 34gCarbs 18gFat 18gFibre 0gSodium 1,100mg

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Hot Honey Christmas Ham

Why this Hot Honey Christmas Ham works every time

Make the Hot Honey Christmas Ham Your Way

Equipment for your Hot Honey Christmas Ham