Baked Ham with Pineapple

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Baked Ham with Pineapple is an iconic way to serve ham. It’s the perfect meal to serve for Easter and other holidays and celebrations.

April 17th is National Baked Ham with Pineapple Day, which happens to be Easter Sunday. I wanted to share this recipe early since you need to plan ahead for your Easter dinner! If you’ve never tried ham with pineapple, it’s time to make it that way this year. The combination of sweet and spicy roasted pineapple pairs perfectly with salty ham.

If you make this recipe, share on social media using the hashtag #nationalbakedhamwithpineappleday, #hamwithpineappleday and #recipesforholidays. Be sure to follow my April Food Holidays page so you never miss a food holiday in the month of April.

“Country ham is baked whole, usually with a glaze, sometimes studded with cloves, and served as the centerpiece of Christmas and Easter feasts.”

-Kate Christensen

The History of Baked Ham with Pineapple:

Serving ham for the holidays dates back centuries. Wild boar was a popular choice for pagan feasts.

The discovery of pineapple dates back to Christopher Columbus. But it took a couple hundred years after that for pineapple to become more mainstream. Until that time, pineapple only grew in tropical climates, and it was a treat for wealthy people.

In the 1800’s emerged the invention of canning, and pineapple began being sold in the can.

Hawaiian tourism started becoming popular in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. Luaus often featured roasted pig with pineapple. Thus the pairing of pineapple and ham was put in place.

To promote canned pineapple and make it more of a mainstream item for shoppers to add to their baskets, companies started printing recipe booklets for cooking with pineapple. In 1925, the first recipe for baked ham with pineapple appeared in one of those recipe booklets, “99 Tempting Pineapple Treats.”

Home cooks took off with the idea of cooking a baked ham with canned pineapple slices, and this became a popular way to make ham for the holidays.

Ingredients needed:

• canned, sliced pineapple with juice
• brown sugar
• ground cloves
• semi-boneless smoked ham

How to make Baked Ham with Pineapple:

The full, printable recipe is at the end of this post.

Preheat the oven to 325° F. 

Drain the pineapple slices, reserving the juice. Set the pineapple slices aside for now. 

Add the pineapple juice, brown sugar, and cloves to a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, whisking to combine. Remove from the heat. 

Place the ham on a large cutting board. Score lines in the ham about ¼-inch deep to make a diamond pattern. 

Put the ham into a roasting pan or 9×13-inch baking dish. Drizzle the glaze on top. 

Use toothpicks to secure the pineapple slices to the outside of the ham. 

Cover with foil, and bake until the ham reaches an internal temperature of 140°F. This takes about 15 to 20 minutes per 1 pound of meat. 

Once the ham reaches an internal temperature of 140°F, remove the foil and baste the ham. 

To brown the top, broil a few minutes.

Let the ham rest for a few minutes before carving and serving. 

Glaze from the pan can be poured on top. Be sure to eat slices of ham with roasted pineapple. Enjoy!

Fun Facts About Ham:

• Ham is the pork that comes from the thigh of the pig. The word ham is derived from Old English “hom,” meaning bend-of-knee or leg of animal.
• Ham is one of the most consumed pork products in the world.
• Prosciutto is Italian dry-cured ham.
• Jamon is dry-cured ham with Spanish roots.
• The ham sandwich is the 2nd most popular sandwich in the United States (after turkey).
• Hormel started selling canned ham in 1926. They followed with Spam in 1937.
• On the Apollo 13 mission, the crewmen created a CO2 filter made out of duct tape and glazed ham.