Try this recipe for air fryer ham with a honey mustard glaze for your next holiday dinner. It’s a juicy honey-baked ham, with crispy charred edges and a wonderfully sticky glaze!
Why you’ll love this recipe
There is no need to be intimidated by cooking a baked ham for Christmas. Air frying is the perfect fuss-free way to cook a small ham. All you need is an air fryer, an appropriately sized pre-cooked ham, and a few simple ingredients to make a sticky glaze.
Cooking ham perfectly for a holiday feast can be difficult, and it is all too easy to end up with ham that is dried out on the inside and lacking in flavor. Well, not anymore! Take away the guesswork with this recipe for baking a juicy ham with flavorful charred edges and a wonderfully sticky glaze in your air fryer!
For some other holiday mains you can cook in your air fryer, try: air fryer pork roast, air fryer roast beef, air fryer turkey breast, or air fryer roast lamb.
Scroll down for the printable card for this baked ham air fryer recipe, or read on for all the details!
What do you need?
Pre-cooked ham
The key things to look for when choosing a ham for this recipe are: fully precooked, boneless, uncut ham. And, of course, pick one that will fit in your air fryer. I get a quarter-leg boneless ham which is usually around 3 lb/ 1.3kg.
If you already have your ham and it is a spiral-cut ham, then don’t worry, just check my guide to cooking times for air fryer ham below.
If your ham won’t fit in your air fryer, just carve a bit off so that it will fit. You can cook it separately (try making air fryer grilled ham steaks), or save it for sandwiches.
Note
If you have a gammon joint to cook in your air fryer, you can use the same process for cooking it, but the cooking times will be much longer than in the recipe below. This is because gammon needs to fully cook, rather than just heat through as with pre-cooked ham.
Always use a meat thermometer to be sure it is cooked properly!
Glaze ingredients
If your ham comes with a packet of glaze, you can use that if you prefer, but I like to use this recipe to make a honey-baked ham.
- Brown sugar. you can substitute any other type of granulated sugar if you prefer.
- Liquid honey, or maple syrup.
- Dijon mustard. Wholegrain mustard is also good. You can skip this ingredient if you are not a fan of mustard, but I find that the savoriness of mustard offsets the sweetness of the honey for a perfect balance of flavor.
- Pineapple juice. You can substitute apple juice or orange juice if you prefer or if that is what you have to hand.
- Spices. This recipe just uses ground cloves, but you can add ground cinnamon, nutmeg, or any spices of your choosing.
How to bake ham in your air fryer
This recipe is very simple to make, though there are a few key steps to get right:
- Remove the rind. If your ham has a rind, you will want to remove it before baking. Use a sharp knife to cut a zig-zag pattern through the skin, then use your fingers to gently loosen it from the fat. Try to keep the white fat on the ham, and just remove the rind, as this layer of fat keeps the ham moist (and very tasty!)
- Score the fat. Use a sharp knife to score the white fat diagonally at about 1-inch intervals to make a diamond-like pattern.
- Air fry ham in a small dish or roasting pan with a little water. This helps to prevent the ham from drying out. Just make sure there is enough space around the pan for the air to circulate in the basket.
- Glaze, and glaze again. This recipe has three cooking intervals.
- First air fry the ham with a little water
- Then add glaze and air fry ham for the second interval.
- Then add a final layer of glaze, and cook around 15 to 20 minutes until done (see section below for more details on cooking times). The air fried ham should be caramelized and golden when it is done.
- Rest ham. Once ham is cooked, remove from air fryer, cover with foil and set aside to rest for about 10-15 minutes until ready serve. The temperature will continue to rise while the ham is resting, and should reach 140°F/60°C before serving.
- Finally, collect the glaze and juices from the roasting pan, and pour over the ham just before serving.
How long to cook ham in the air fryer
Boneless ham requires approximately 15 minutes per pound/ 450g in the air fryer. However, as always, cooking times are an estimate and will vary according to a few factors, including the size and shape of your ham, the starting temperature, and how powerful your air fryer is.
In this recipe we are aiming for an internal temperature of 140°F/ 60°C, so check it with an instant-read meat thermometer.
Use an instant read thermometer to measure the temperature in the center of the thickest part of the meat for an accurate temperature reading.
How long to cook spiral sliced ham in the air fryer
The cooking time for spiral ham is much shorter than for uncut. Since it is sliced all the way through the center will heat much more quickly than an uncut ham.
Reduce the length of time for each cooking interval from 15 minutes to 10 minutes (total 30 minutes for a 3lb ham), and check the temperature in the center before the final cooking interval to see how long is needed.
Serving ideas
To serve, thinly slice the ham. Some side dishes I like to serve with ham are:
- Instant Pot mashed potatoes
- Microwave steamed green beans
- Air fryer Grilled pineapple slices
- Cheddar cheese sauce
- Microwave steamed carrots
Storage and reheating
Store any leftover ham in an airtight container in the refrigerator, and use within 5 days.
One of my favorite things about having honey baked ham for dinner is having the leftovers in a ham and cheese sandwich the next day (or sometimes later the same day!).
Or serve sliced ham for brunch in crescent rolls with your favorite cheese (try cheddar cheese or Swiss) melted on top.
If you want to reheat the ham in the air fryer, see my air fryer ham steak recipe.
Air Fryer Ham with Easy Honey Mustard Glaze
Ingredients
- 3 pound ham precooked
- ¼ cup water
Glaze ingredients
- 2 tablespoon brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons liquid honey or maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- ¼ cup pineapple juice
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves or nutmeg
Directions
- Remove the rind from the ham by cutting it and then sliding your fingers or a silicone spatula underneath to loosen it. Try to leave as much of the white fat on the ham as possible.
- Use a sharp knife to score the layer of fat diagonally at about 2cm intervals.
- Preheat air fryer to 300°F/ 150°C (approx 3 minutes).
- Place ham in a small pan or baking dish, add water to the base of the dish and bake ham in the air fryer for 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile make the glaze. Whisk brown sugar, honey, mustard and pineapple juice together in a small bowl.
- When the first cooking interval is up, open the air fryer and brush around half of the glaze over the ham.
- Return the ham to the air fryer to bake for another 15 minutes.
- Open the air fryer again, and brush the remaining glaze over the ham.
- Air fry for a final interval 15-20 minutes, until the ham has reached 140°F/ 60°C or higher in the center [Note 1]. The ham should be caramelized and golden.
- Once ham is cooked, remove from air fryer, cover with foil and set aside to rest for at least 10 minutes until ready serve.
- Collect the glaze and juices from the base of the roasting dish and pour over the ham just before serving.
Notes
- This is the temperature recommended by the USDA for reheating ham.
Nutrition
Recommended equipment
Nutrition information is an estimate and provided for informational purposes only.
Welcome to Love Food Not Cooking!
I’m Eliza, busy mom, home cook, and blogger. My goal is to help everyone cook good food. Whether you are short on time, skills, or motivation, there is something here for you! We have dozens of quick and easy recipes for dinner, lunch, side dishes, and more. Our recipes use everyday ingredients, for quick delicious meals your family will love! Read more…
