Crock pot honey glazed ham recipe is one of the easiest recipes you will ever make—a great holiday main dish for a smaller household or as a second meat at the large feast.
Introduction
A great-tasting moist honey glazed ham from your crock pot, and you don't need to eat ham for a week. This two-pound boneless ham is just the right size for the smaller household.
We all want a great honey glazed ham, but this is a big issue in the smaller household. Most hams are in the 8+ pound range. That is 16 servings and a ham bone soup (see my Crock Pot Ham Bone Soup). But what to do if you don't need that much ham?
It is hard to name an inspiration piece for this recipe since I read so many recipes and combined, but probably the most informative was Slow Cooker Brown Sugar Ham ~ Holiday Dinner from the Crock Pot! At Five Heart Home.
I started with a quarter of a boneless ham. You have seen them in the meat department. Not very appetizing looking, is it? I have usually used them for salad toppings diced up.
A quarter boneless ham runs about 2 to 2 ¼ pounds, which makes 4 good size servings. Just right for the smaller household.
This is an easy recipe to double to the approximately 4 pound half ham size. If it fits in your crock pot, it will work.
My Rating
A nice solid 4. Much better than just heating it up, lots more moisture and taste.
🐖Boneless Ham
Boneless ham comes in two varieties. The first is pieces of ham pressed together. That is a canned or deli ham. Not necessarily bad, but this is not what we are discussing.
The second type of boneless ham will come shaped like an oval and come sealed in plastic. You can buy a whole, half, or quarter ham. So great for smaller households that don’t want to eat ham for a week.
They really are an actual ham with the bone cut out. They are already fully cooked and ready to eat. They are brined and salted like bone-in hams, which makes them hard to get wrong.
What size of ham to buy?
For a holiday meal, plan about ½ pound of boneless ham per person. For a bone-in ham, you should plan for ¾ to 1 pound of ham per person.
Since this is "cooking for two," I went for the 2.2-pound quarter boneless ham, so some leftovers but as small as it comes. The half boneless ham will be 4 to 4 ½ pounds generally.
Just in case you need it; What to Do With Leftover Ham.
♨️Cooking
It is perfectly safe just to cut the ham and eat it. But you want more, especially for a holiday meal. So we are adding big-time taste and moisture — worth the little trouble.
The crock pot I used was 3.5 quart. I believe this would be fine in a bigger pot. Basically, if the ham fits, it should work.
Ham Size: If you want to go for the 4 pounds half ham, I would keep pineapple the same and up the other ingredients by about 50%. That should take about 4 hours.
⏰🌡️Timing and Temperature
Cook until an internal temperature of 140°-150°. The quarter ham should take about 2+ hours on low. A half ham will be about 4+ hours on low.
Time will vary by the crock pot and the size/thickness of the ham.
📖Holiday Recipes
Old Fashion Cheesy Potato Casserole
This recipe is listed in these categories. See them for more similar recipes.
🖼️Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
Prep a small crock pot with a good coat of PAM. Place 8 oz can of crushed pineapple in the bottom of the crock pot.
Brush the ham with a generous amount of honey, about 1-2 tablespoons.
Mix ½ cup brown sugar with ¼ teaspoon of ground cloves, cinnamon, and dry mustard. Pack the brown sugar mixture on the ham.
Move the ham cut side down to the crock pot on top of the pineapple. Pile any remaining brown sugar on top of the ham. Cook for approximately 3 hours on low.
At about 1 ½ to 2 hours into cooking, spoon some of the pineapple solution on top of the ham and check the temperature. Cook to an internal temp of 140°-150°. Your time may vary some due to the difference in crock pots and size/thickness of the ham.
Remove from crock pot and allow to sit for 5 minutes before slicing. Garnish with some of the pineapple solution.
📝Full Recipe
Smaller Crock Pot Honey Glazed Ham
Ingredients
- 2 pound boneless ham - about
- 1-2 tablespoons honey
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ¼ teaspoon dry mustard
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- 8 oz crushed pineapple
Instructions
- Prep a small crock pot with a good coat of PAM.
- Place 8 oz can of crushed pineapple in the bottom the crock pot.
- Brush the ham with a generous amount of honey, about 1-2 tablespoons.
- Mix ½ cup brown sugar with ¼ teaspoon of ground cloves, cinnamon, and dry mustard.
- Pack the brown sugar mixture on the ham.
- Move the ham cut side down to the crock pot on top of the pineapple. Pile any remaining brown sugar on top of the ham.
- Cook for approximately 3 hours on low. At about 1 ½ to 2 hours into cooking, spoon some of the pineapple solution on top of the ham and check the temperature. Cook to an internal temp of 140°-150°. Your time may vary some due to the difference in crock pots and the size/thickness of the ham.
- Remove from crock pot and allow to sit for 5 minutes before slicing. Garnish with some of the pineapple solution.
My Private Notes
Recipe Notes
Pro Tips:
- Plan about ½ pound of boneless ham per person.
- Since this is "cooking for two" I went for the 2.2-pound quarter boneless ham. If you want to go for the 4 pounds half ham, I would keep pineapple the same and up the other ingredients by about 50%. That should take about 4 hours.
- The crock pot I used was 3.5 quart. This would be fine in a bigger pot. As long as the ham fits, you are fine.
- You can cut the pineapple in half but what are you going to do with it. It makes a great topping a the end.
- Good refrigerated for 3-4 days. Should also freeze well for 2-3 months.
To adjust the recipe size:
You may adjust the number of servings in this recipe card under servings. This does the math for the ingredients for you. BUT it does NOT adjust the text of the instructions. So you need to do that yourself.
Nutrition Estimate
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Editor's Note: Originally Published March 19, 2016. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.
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Abby
Could I substitute maple syrup for honey?
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan
Hi Abby,
Welcome to the blog. And that is a definite yes.
Dan
Rita
I have a 3oz ham I want to cook in a crockpot but don’t know how long to cook it
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan
Hi Rita,
Welcome to the blog.
I'm assuming you mean 3 pounds not ounces. For 3 pounds, it will be about 2 1/2 to 3 hours to get to an internal temperature of 140°-150°. It will vary some by your crock pot, the shape of the ham and starting temperature of the ham.
Dan
Suzanne
Hi! I don’t understand when you say “cut side”. The small boneless hams I buy all have a rind all around them, even on the flat bottom. Do you cut the rind off the bottom before putting on the honey or just smear it over the flat bottom, rind and all?
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan
Hi Suzanne,
I'm not sure what you have—there are lots of variations. A whole boneless ham is about 8-10 pounds and is an oblong round tube. A half boneless ham is just cut in half with so just a shorter tube with one flat side. This recipe uses a 1/4 boneless ham so the half is cut the longer way so there is two flat sides with a cross-section being a half circle. See the images in the post.
Now... what to do, not much get through a rind. So you want some ham without rind so some flavor penetrates. So If it is a smaller ham but rind all around, I would suggest removing some of it.
Hope that helps.
Dan
Krissy
Is it okay for me to place this in the crockpot in the morning 8 am, cook it for the about of time listed, and leave it on warm in my crockpot until dinner time?
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan
Hi Krissy,
Welcome to the blog.
That will not give good results. You can usually "keep warm" for an hour or two but longer will start to effect the texture and the meat will become dry as the fluid in the cells come out. Think if it as eating at a buffet where the meat has be setting for 5-6 hours.
Dan