Baked Ham in a Dutch Oven with Marsala Glaze
Making a Baked Ham in a Dutch Oven is so incredibly easy! It’s a popular entrée on holidays like Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas, as well as graduations and other family get-togethers, for good reason. It’s a crowd-pleaser with robust flavor that feeds many with minimum effort. An easy, hands-off recipe that is perfect for beginner cooks!
Servings: 14 servings
Equipment
- 1 Dutch oven (6-7 quarts or larger, based on ham size)
- 1 Baster (optional)
Ingredients
- 1 (7-10 pound) precooked, bone-in spiral ham (See NOTES.)
- Avocado or pure olive oil or any cooking oil
- 1 large yellow onion, peeled and thinly sliced
- 4 Tbsp orange juice (can use water or Marsala wine)
- 1 recipe Marsala Glaze (See blow.)
For the Marsala Glaze: (makes about 2¼ cups)
- 1 cup Marsala wine (can be dry or sweet)
- 1 cup orange juice
- 5 Tbsp butter
- 3 Tbsp soy sauce or tamari (low sodium if possible)
- 2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1⅓ cups brown sugar, packed
- 2 Tbsp water
- 1 Tbsp cornstarch
Instructions
- Prep and gather all ingredients according to specifications above. Arrange a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 325℉. Remove and discard all packaging and any other non-edible materials (such as a plastic button/disc on the bottom) from the ham.(Please see the section above in the blog post for Step-By-Step instructions with photos.)1 (7-10 pound) precooked, bone-in spiral ham
- Rub the bottom of the Dutch oven with oil, then scatter the sliced onions over the oil.Avocado or pure olive oil, 1 large yellow onion,
- Place the ham flat/cut side down over the onions, then pour in the orange juice (or other liquid).4 Tbsp orange juice
- Place the cover on the Dutch oven. Or, cover tightly with aluminum foil if the ham is too tall to use the cover.
- Bake about 12-18 minutes per pound. The exact length of cooking time will vary based on the size of the ham and your oven, but it is roughly 12 to 18 minutes per pound. I suggest taking the internal temperature of the ham after 90 minutes with a stem thermometer to monitor the progress. As the spiral ham is fully cooked, it is just being baked to reheat slowly and be glazed properly. The ham should reach an internal temperature of 140℉.
- While the ham is baking, make the Marsala Glaze. Use a large saucepot to prevent it boiling over. Add the marsala wine, orange juice, butter, soy sauce or tamari and Dijon mustard to a sauce pan and place it over medium heat. Whisk all the ingredients together and, once the butter has melted, add the sugar and continue whisking.1 cup Marsala wine, 1 cup orange juice, 5 Tbsp butter, 3 Tbsp soy sauce or tamari , 2 Tbsp Dijon, 1⅓ cups brown sugar,
- Adjust the heat so that the mixture is at a light simmer. Simmer for about 20 minutes and let it reduce. Whisk regularly and do not walk too far away from the stove during this process. Sometimes, sugar mixtures boil up very high, so you need to keep an eye on this. Make sure you use a large enough sauce pot to avoid this from happening and do not boil the mixture. Rather, keep it at a light simmer.
- After about 20 minutes, mix the water and cornstarch together to make a slurry, then drizzle it into the glaze while whisking continuously for 1 to 2 minutes. The glaze should thicken and lightly coat the back of a spoon. (See photo above.) Then, turn off the heat and let the glaze sit warm at room temperature on or near the stove until ready to use. If the glaze does not thicken enough, add additional slurry a little at a time (2 tsp water/1 tsp slurry).2 Tbsp water, 1 Tbsp cornstarch
- After about 2 hours, uncover the ham and remove most of the braising liquid by either carefully tilting the pan over in the sink or using a baster to plunge it up. (You can also save this flavorful liquid to use in Split Pea and Ham Soup!) Leave a little bit of the liquid behind. Then, increase the oven temperature to 375℉.
- Brush some glaze generously all over the surface of the ham, allowing it to seap into the layers. Return the ham to the oven, uncovered. Continue basting with/brushing glaze on the ham every 20 minutes until the 140℉ internal temperature has been reached. The glaze will caramelize and seep into some of the layers of the ham.1 recipe Marsala Glaze
- Remove the ham from the oven and let it rest for about 10 minutes. Serve any remaining glaze o the side. Buon Appetito!
Notes
- This recipe was written for a 7-10 pound pre-cooked and pre-sliced spiral ham. The cooking time will vary based on the size of the ham and your oven. My 9.77 pound spiral ham took a total of 3 hours in my electric oven to reach the required 140°F internal temperature. I baked it for two hours covered at 325°F and one hour uncovered at 375°F, while brushing it with glaze every 20 minutes for the last hour.
- A 7-quart Dutch oven should be large enough to hold up to a 10 pound ham. You may need to use aluminum foil to cover it as it will likely be too tall for its cover. (Use heavy-duty aluminum foil if possible as it holds up better than thinner aluminum foil, keeps the ham moister and can even decrease the cooking time.)
- Since spiral hams are pre-sliced, they have a tendency to dry out quickly. Cooking it covered at a relatively low temperature with some braising liquid helps to prevent this. I used orange juice for the braising liquid (since it is an ingredient already in the marsala glaze) along with the residual liquid form the onions. You can also use vegetable broth, chicken broth, marsala wine or water.
- The marsala glaze recipe makes about 2¼ cups glaze, which will likely leave some extra for serving alongside the ham.
- The glaze can be made in advance and held in an airtight container in the refrigerator for a few days prior to using. Bring it to room temperature or warm it lightly on the stove prior to glazing ham.
- See my Top Tips for freezing and handling ham leftovers here.
