Crockpot Spiral Ham
6 Comments Nov 04, 2024
Updated Nov 23, 2025
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Make holiday cooking easy and delicious with this crockpot spiral ham. It simmers slowly in a sweet and savory homemade glaze, making it a perfect centerpiece for any festive gathering.
During the holidays, our slow cookers become essential! With the oven typically occupied by a turkey or multiple side dishes, the slow cooker is my go-to for preparing a ham. When you slow cook a ham, it gently heats, soaks up all the sauce and becomes even more tender.
We also love to make apple and clove ham, or slow cooker ham dinner if we don’t have a spiral ham, all great options!
Key Ingredients
You won’t believe how few ingredients are needed to make ham in the crockpot, most ingredients you probably already have.
- Glaze Ingredients: To make a perfect ham glaze, you only need a few pantry staples! Apple cider, honey, brown sugar, cloves and pepper. I use fresh rosemary, but you can also use dried.
- Spiral Ham: A six pound ham will work best, any larger and you will have to cut an piece off for it to fit in the slow cooker. Plan for about 3/4 lb. per person, you can get away with much less if you are serving turkey as well.
How to make Crockpot Spiral Ham
- Mix the simple brown sugar and honey glaze.
- Coat the spiral ham with glaze. It take around 5 hours to cook a ham in the crockpot. This may seem like too long, but it takes a while to heat through.
- Baste with the juices and serve with your favorite holiday sides.
Sarah’s Tips & Variations
This ham is great as-is, but you can make it your own with these suggestions below.
- Feel free to use any type of ham in this recipe, including a picnic ham for a more rustic option.
- For a unique twist, try substituting maple syrup in place of brown sugar for a warm, rich sweetness.
- Apple juice, pineapple juice, or orange juice each offer a wonderful alternative to apple cider, adding their own subtle layers of flavor.
- Adding a can of drained pineapple can transform the flavor of the ham, infusing it with a delicious tropical note!
Best Side Dishes for Ham
Here are great sides to round out the meal.
- Starches that go great with ham are slow cooker cheesy hashbrown casserole, homemade slow cooker baked beans, or rich slow cooker mashed sweet potatoes.
- Greens that are wonderful with glazed ham are classic slow cooker green bean casserole, or flavorful slow cooker brussel sprouts.
- We also love to make crockpot cornbread bread and crockpot focaccia bread.
Can I use a Frozen Ham in the Slow Cooker?
It’s best to thaw the ham to ensure the cooking time is accurate. You can use a slightly frozen ham with no issues though.
How to Store Leftover Ham
Leftover ham can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
You can also freeze leftover ham. Wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and aluminum foil and place it in the freezer for up to 2 months. Defrost overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.
Crockpot Spiral Ham Recipe
How to Video
Ingredients
- 6 lbs. spiral-cut ham, You want to find the smallest ham you can find that is around 6 pounds, if you get one that is larger, you may have cut off a piece to get it to fit in the slow cooker.
- 1 cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup honey
- 2 Tbsp. dijon mustard
- ½ cup apple cider
- ½ tsp. ground cloves
- ½ tsp. black pepper
- Optional fresh herbs, for garnish: (rosemary, parsley, thyme)
Instructions
- In a small mixing bowl, combine the brown sugar, honey, Dijon mustard, apple cider, ground cloves, and black pepper. Mix well until the ingredients are fully incorporated.
- Unwrap the spiral-cut ham and place it into the slow cooker, flat side down.
- Pour the brown sugar mixture over the ham, making sure to coat it evenly. Use a basting brush to spread the glaze into the crevices of the spiral cuts.
- Cover the slow cooker and cook the ham on low for 5 hours. Baste the ham with the cooking juices every hour to keep it moist and flavorful.
- Once the ham is fully cooked and heated through, remove it from the slow cooker and place it on a serving platter. Garnish it with fresh herbs if desired. Allow the ham to rest for a few minutes before slicing and serving.
- Serve the slow cooker spiral ham with your favorite side dishes and its cooking juices. Enjoy!
Sarah’s Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition info is auto-generated. This information is an estimate; if you are on a special diet, please use your own calculations.
Leftover ham recipes:
You can use your slow cooker to make wonderful soups with the leftovers!
- Enjoy a hearty bowl of Slow Cooker 15 Bean Soup with Ham, perfect for a cozy meal. My Black Eyed Peas Recipe is a festive New Year’s Day treat!
- Slow Cooker Pinto Beans and Ham make a simple, satisfying dish packed with flavor.
- Warm up with comforting Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup with Ham, slow simmered to perfection. Or try my vintage Ham and Potato Casserole which is a one pot meal.
Seems to taste really tasty!!!
i followed the recipe exactly, hope that the sweet potatoes are cooked at the end of 6 hrs.
I love your recipe’s cause i can make them and go about my business.
I used this recipe with a few variations for Thanksgiving
My family said it was the best one ever!!!
SO great to hear!
I can’t stand “sweetened” ham. I like smoked hams much better, ditto for bacon. You can still serve it with all that other stuff (cabbage or fried onions, etc) but I would never cook them all together. I know one lady who cooks her ham every year with a bottle of coke poured over it. Oh yuk! What a waste of a good ham, if you are SURE you are buying an AMERICAN HAM, not a chinese ham. I buy only Cure 81 Ham, smoked. Make sure you aren’t getting the honey ham. I don’t like pre-sliced ham because sometimes it gets awfully dried out if you don’t cover it really well with foil and wrap it for about 1/2 hour after baking. I also like to make my gravy with the ham drippings in the bottom of the pan.