Whether you’re entertaining or just looking for an easy dinner with great leftovers, crockpot ham is the answer. Hands off and delicious!
Recipe Overview
Why you’ll love it: Your plain ham will resemble a more expensive spiral-sliced ham with lots of sweet flavor.
How long it takes: 10 minutes to prep, 4 hours to cook
Equipment you’ll need: slow cooker (crockpot)
Servings: 6
You know what kind of meals I love? Five ingredient meals. Bonus points if it’s cooked in a slow cooker. Spend ten minutes at lunch time making this crockpot ham and you’re all set for dinner.
Serve the ham with baked potatoes, another easy and hands off recipe. Mashed potatoes are classic, too! Add an easy salad (try creamy coleslaw or broccoli cauliflower salad), cornbread, and roasted broccoli, and you’re good to go. Dinner is served.
For a special dinner, serve the ham with asparagus casserole, warm homemade Parker House rolls, and a carrot soufflé. We also love pineapple stuffing which is similar to bread pudding.
Why You’ll Love This Crockpot Ham
A slow cooker ham dinner is great for entertaining. It’s totally hands off for four hours, giving you plenty of time to cook side dishes, clean your house, take a nap, make a French 75, or whatever you need to do before company comes over. Looking for an easy Sunday dinner? Put the ham on before you leave for church.
The ham isn’t fussy with time. If you put the ham on before you leave for church and church runs a little long, no problem. If you’re not ready to have dinner yet, another hour won’t make a whole lot of difference. (If it’s going to be a lot longer, simply set your crockpot on Warm.)
Hasselback slices make a pretty presentation. The ham is sliced before you cook it, hasselback style. (Don’t worry, I’ll show you how and it’s easy to do.) This makes for a nice presentation; the ham is evenly sliced, still intact but with the slices fanning out. In addition, the maple Dijon glaze can make contact with every slice as the ham cooks, ensuring maximum flavor in every bite.
Ingredient List
- Boneless Ham: Look for a quarter ham, which is usually around two and a half pounds. It will serve six to eight people, depending on how much ham they eat. If you want to serve a larger ham, that’s fine as long as it fits in your crockpot with the cover on.
- Maple Syrup: Use real maple syrup, not pancake syrup which is really just corn syrup, artificial maple flavor, and a bunch of other (yucky) stuff. Some folks like to make their ham with Coke for the sweet/salty flavor but maple syrup is 100% natural.
- Coarse Ground Dijon Mustard: Most types of mustard will work fine but I would avoid regular yellow mustard. Save that for your hotdogs and hamburgers.
- Brown Sugar: We’re going for the sweet and salty flavor combo here so yes, brown sugar and maple syrup. You could make the ham without brown sugar but it thickens the sauce slightly and helps it adhere.
- Ground Cloves: Just a pinch of ground cloves adds a subtle flavor. Traditional baked hams often are decoratively studded with whole cloves. We’re cheating a little by adding ground cloves. You have to admit, it’s a whole lot easier!
How To Make Crockpot Ham
Slice the ham. First, line up wooden spoons next to the ham and cut it into slices down to the spoons. If you’ve ever made hasselback sweet potatoes or hasselback stuffed chicken it’s similar to the method you use to make those.
Helpful Hint: If you happen to slice all the way through the ham, it’s totally fine. In fact, if you prefer to cook the ham completely sliced, it’s your choice, You’re the cook!
Make the sauce. Next, mix up the four ingredient sauce: maple syrup, Dijon mustard, brown sugar, cloves. Put the ham in the slow cooker and spoon the sauce over the sliced ham. Separate the slices slightly and try to get some of the sauce between each slice.
Slow cook the ham. Cover the crockpot and select the low setting. Cook the ham for four hours or until it’s heated through.
I like to baste the ham a few times if I can, ensuring that every bite of ham will be flavored with sauce.
Serve.Transfer to a platter to serve, if desired.
Most hams are fully cooked when you purchase them. Check the label to verify that they are fully cooked; if so, they are safe to eat right from the package. Most people like to warm the ham up before serving it. A slow cooker is a good way to reheat a ham.
A crockpot is ideal because all of the moisture is trapped inside. Adding a sauce and putting the lid on the crockpot as the ham cooks ensures that the ham will be juicy and flavorful.
Remember that the ham is fully cooked before you heat it. Try not to overcook the ham.
A slow cooker is an ideal way to cook less expensive cuts of meat which can be tough or dry if prepared incorrectly. It’s best to submerge these types of meat so they tenderize. However, not all meat is the same. A ham simply has to be reheated so it does not need to be submerged. The crockpot acts like a mini oven.
Make a big batch of crockpot ham and freeze it in portions that work for your family. Dice it before freezing it if that’s the way you want to use it. It will thaw quickly. Use it to make one of the meals listed below.
Refrigerate/Freeze: Store leftover ham in a covered container in the refrigerator. It will keep three to four days. Ham can be frozen in a freezer-safe container for up to two months.
Reheat: Individual portions can be microwaved until heated through. Don’t overheat ham; it will become tough and dry. Larger portions can be wrapped in foil and baked in a low oven (275°F) until heated. Sliced ham can also be fried in a skillet if you prefer.
Free Meal Plan
Interested in a weekly meal plan that includes this recipe? Take a look at my Meal Plan #12 or Meal Plan #62. You’ll find a wholesome recipe for each weekday plus a categorized grocery list. Let me do the planning for you this week! We add a new meal plan weekly.
Ways To Use Leftover Ham
- Add to your favorite pizza. We love this grilled pizza with arugula pesto, corn, and ham. Maybe you’re a fan of a ham and pineapple pizza!
- Make sandwiches. Thinly slice ham for baked ham and cheese sliders or add sliced ham to grilled cheese sandwiches. Try air fryer grilled cheese sandwiches – they get super crispy.
- Add flavor and protein to soup. Ham is a really great addition to soup. Add it to your favorite bean soup or this white bean soup with kale and pancetta (substitute ham for the pancetta).
- Add diced ham to your favorite mac and cheese. Try this easy Instant Pot mac and cheese or crockpot mac and cheese.
- It’s perfect for breakfast. Ham is right at home in a breakfast casserole or quiche. Add it to cheesy potatoes or loaded mashed potato casserole (instead of bacon).
- Make a hash or a skillet. Who doesn’t love a meal in a pan with fried potatoes, ham, onions and your choice of veggies?
More Slow Cooker Recipes
Crockpot Ham with Maple Dijon Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 boneless quarter ham, approx. 2.5 lbs (see note)
- ¼ cup pure maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons coarse ground Dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
Instructions
- Lay ham on cutting board. Place two wooden spoons on either side of it and cut ham in ¼ to ½ inch thick slices, cutting just to spoons but not cutting all the way through (hasselback).
- Place ham, sliced side up, in slow cooker.
- Mix together maple syrup, Dijon mustard, brown sugar and cloves in a small bowl. Pour this mixture over ham, trying to get as much sauce between the slices as you can.
- Cook on low for 4 hours or until heated through, basting with sauce (spoon it over the top) every hour or so.
Notes
- Cover and refrigerate ham promptly. It will keep three to four days. Ham can be frozen in a freezer-safe container for up to two months.
- You can cook a larger ham if it fits into your crockpot.
- If you prefer, slice the ham completely (not hasselback). Put the slices into the crockpot, retaining the original shape of the ham as much as possible.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Did You Make This?Share a comment and rating below! I love hearing what you think!
Hi Rachel! This looks and sounds delicious. Does the glaze stay sticky on the ham in the slow cooker? Should you remove the lid near the end for the glaze to “stick” or does it do that with the lid on the entire time? Sorry if this seems like a silly question, but I’m picturing the glaze not sticking as slow cookers often “steam cook”.
It does run down a little, which is why we recommend basting every hour. It might dry out a little if you don’t add it in the beginning – we haven’t tested it that way though. It also adds flavor to the ham as it cooks which is another reason to add it right from the start. I hope that helps!
Thank you! I’m going to try it and baste as recommended. Near the end of the cooking time I will see what it’s like and perhaps try the lid off. I will let you know how it turns out. Thanks again for the speedy reply
Absolutely! Let me know how you like it!
Was wondering as I dont have cloves, could I use ginger or cinnamon instead?
I think those would both be tasty options!
The ham looks delicious, but I can’t believe the nutritional analysis. A 4oz slice of ham has only one gram of fat, and none of it is saturated? Can this be? And only 2 grams of protein? Surely this requires explanation.
You’re right! Thanks for catching that. We use a nutrition calculator and it’s not always completely accurate, which is why those numbers should serve as an estimate only. Usually we catch things when they’re WAY off like this one (it was calculating for only 1/2 pound of ham due to the way the recipe is written). It’s all fixed now, thanks again for letting me know.
Can you use a pre sliced ham?
Absolutely! Less work for you – I say go for it! :)
This looks amazing! I don’t have a slow cooker, though — is there a way to modify to prepare this in the oven?
You could cook it over really low heat in the oven (300 or so) just until it is warmed through.