This Brown Sugar and Pineapple Ham requires 3 ingredients – it’s the best way to serve up your holiday ham for family and friends and comes together in the oven or in the slow cooker!
When it comes to Thanksgiving and the Holiday Season, more times than not, a big ol’turkey is the main focus.
And of course, turkey is amazing — but lets not discount a really good spiral sliced ham. Yum! I am a huge advocate of serving up ham at the holidays – but I haven’t always been a huge ham-lover.
I was a turkey lover until a few years ago, when I made this brown sugar pineapple ham on a whim. You see… it was not intentional. I planned and shopped [late, I admit…] and when the store was out of turkeys I was stuck with the only thing remaining:
A spiral-sliced ham.
Looking back, I’m so glad I picked it up because I have been a ham-lover ever since. And this easy recipe made me look like an absolute superstar in the kitchen.
My kids thought I was the best cook “EVER” and I felt like I was Gordon Ramsey, for a day.
(That might be an over-exaggeration but…. isn’t it great to feel like you won in the kitchen? 😆☺️ I know, I agree.)
You can make this brown sugar and pineapple ham in the slow cooker or, in your regular convection oven. If you are making this at the holidays, and you are looking for ways to free up your oven for all of your other Thanksgiving dishes, then I have included an adaptation to help you create this recipe in your slow cooker.
Brown Sugar and Pineapple Ham
This ham starts with a basic spiral-sliced ham. The size of the ham you pick up will ultimately determine how many servings [aka: people] you will feed.
This ham requires just three basic ingredients:
- one can of sliced pineapple – juice included
- 1/4 C. brown sugar — more or less depending on taste
- 1 spiral sliced ham
Cook in the Oven:
-
- Start by preheating the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Remove the packaging from the pre-cooked ham and place it in a oven safe casserole dish.
- Open the can of pineapple slices and place the slices between the slices of ham. Then pour the juice from the can over it.
- Rub the brown sugar evenly over the pineapple slices and ham. You can adjust the amount of brown sugar based on your sweetness preference.
- Cover the ham with aluminum foil and let it cook for 1.5 hours in the oven. The cooking time may vary depending on the size of the ham. You want the ham to heat through and the flavors to meld.
- Check the ham periodically. You can baste it with the juices that collect in the dish to ensure it stays moist and flavorful. If your ham came with a glaze package, you could mix this with a few tablespoons of the pineapple juice, mix it and glaze the ham with it.
- If your ham came with a glaze package, you could mix this with a few tablespoons of the pineapple juice, mix it and glaze the ham with it.
Cook in the Slow Cooker:
-
- Place the ham in your slow cooker and continue with step 2. Cook on low for 2-3 hours or high for 1-1.5 hours.
- Cooking times may vary based on the specifics of your oven/slow cooker and the ham’s size, so adjust accordingly.
Note: Since the ham is already cooked, the goal is to heat it through and infuse it with the flavors of pineapple and brown sugar. Adapt the brown sugar to suit your tastes – if you prefer a sweeter ham, use slightly more brown sugar.
More Holiday Recipes:
- Feta Cheese Biscuits
- Homemade Eggnog
- Pineapple Pumpkin Bread
- Simple Slow Cooker Hot Apple Cider
- Over 30 Thanksgiving Instant Pot Recipes
- Thanksgiving Martini Recipe
Brown Sugar and Pineapple Ham
Ingredients
- 1 ea spiral sliced ham, bone-in
- 1 can pineapple slices with juice
- 1/4 C brown sugar light or dark
Instructions
- Start by preheating the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Remove the packaging from the pre-cooked ham and place it in a oven safe casserole dish.
- Open the can of pineapple slices and place the slices between the slices of ham. Then pour the juice from the can over it.
- Rub the brown sugar evenly over the pineapple slices and ham. You can adjust the amount of brown sugar based on your sweetness preference.
- Cover the ham with aluminum foil and let it cook for 1.5 hours in the oven. The cooking time may vary depending on the size of the ham. You want the ham to heat through and the flavors to meld.
- Check the ham periodically. You can baste it with the juices that collect in the dish to ensure it stays moist and flavorful.
- If your ham came with a glaze package, you could mix this with a few tablespoons of the pineapple juice, mix it and glaze the ham with it.
- Slice the ham and serve it with the pineapple slices.
Notes
For a Slow Cooker:
Place the ham in your slow cooker and continue with step 2. Cook on low for 2-3 hours or high for 1-1.5 hours. Cooking times may vary based on the specifics of your oven/slow cooker and the ham's size, so adjust accordingly.Did you try this recipe? If you did, please take a second to rate the recipe and leave a comment as I’d love to know how it turned out.
I’d ask you to tag me on social media but I gave up social media several years ago. It was the best thing I ever did. I still love to read comments and hear from you though – so don’t be afraid to leave comments on this post as I do take the time to read and respond when I can.