Ham is a staple at most Australian and European Christmas meals and we wanted to still to be able to enjoy a glazed ham at Christmas. This keto ham was a great option for us. We tested this out on non keto family members and it was a big hit, even if they put it on bread!
Keto Ham – Maple Glazed
Ever since I can remember our family would order a ham for Christmas. It was tradition in our house to have sliced up ham on toast for breakfast for the week leading up to Christmas and any leftovers the week after Christmas. I can remember Dad slicing up some every morning and placing a plate of it on the breakfast table and we would demolish that plate every morning. I loved ham on toast at Christmas, it was one of the favourite things I remember from my childhood Christmas’s.
Our family never did a glazed ham for Christmas, but Erika’s family did. So, I was introduced to glazed ham at my first Burt Christmas in 2007. I can remember wondering, why has my family never done this, it’s so good.
As this was part of Erika’s family tradition we wanted to see if we could come up with a keto version, so both of us could continue to enjoy our favourite Christmas tradition. I still have the ham on toast, I just only have it once and I put it on a low carb bread instead of the traditional white bread.
Erika’s Mum made this keto ham at our last Christmas and it was a big hit with everyone and will become the way ham is done at her family Christmas from now on.
Not only for Christmas
Since posting this recipe in December 2017 we have become aware that glazed ham is extremely popular at Easter in North America. I was interested to discover the tradition behind ham at Easter in North America. Prior to refrigeration, meat would be slaughtered in the fall. Any fresh pork that wasn’t consumed in the winter months was cured and consumed in spring and became a tradition to have at Easter.
Keto Ham Serving Suggestions
- The perfect centrepiece to your Christmas lunch table
- Leftovers! The great thing about having a glazed ham for Christmas is all the leftovers and being able to eat this for the next few days is an added bonus.
- You can always use some to create another awesome keto meal like a Fritatta or egg muffins.
Keto Ham Leftovers
When we cooked our keto ham, we ended up with a lot of ham leftover. We found it was great to eat for lunch a few days later, but after that we didn’t want to have ham any more for a while and we needed to find other ways to use it. We made up some breakfast muffins and a frittata and stored them in the freezer for lunches and breakfasts on the go.
Tag @havebutterwilltravel on Instagram or twitter with your Christmas table photos, we would love to see your celebrations!
Did you make keto ham for Christmas or Easter? We would love to hear how you made your keto ham and what you found worked best for you.
Check out our other meal recipes.
- Teriyaki Chicken Rice Bowl
- Mexican Chicken Salad
- Mexican tuna salad
- Tuna Salad without Mayo
- Panko Chicken
- Cream Cheese Pasta
- Lemon Chicken Marinade
- Mexican chicken marinade
- Smoked Chicken Salad
- Tandoori Chicken Salad
Ingredients
- 100 ml sugar free maple syrup (4 fl oz)
- 2 tbsp tamari or coconut aminos
- 2 tbsp dijon mustard
- 1 tbsp worcestershire sauce
- 1 whole leg of ham, on the bone
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 180C/350F
- Combine all ingredients for the glaze in a bowl and stir until smooth
- Use a small sharp knife to score the skin of the ham around the small hock section. Then slowly peel the skin off by pushing your fingers between the skin and the fat and working your way around. Once the skin is completely removed score the fat with diagonal lines. Just be careful not to score too deep into the meat
- Brush the glaze over all the exposed fat on the ham leg and place in the oven for 20 minutes
- Remove the ham from the oven and baste with glaze and return to the oven for 10 minutes. Repeat glaze again and put in the oven for a further 10 minutes
- Baste for a final time, turn the oven up to 200C/400F and cook for a further 5-10 minutes. Keep an eye on it as it may brown quickly
Video
Notes
Nutrition Per Serve
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Hi, I can’t get the link to the sugar free maple syrup or the tamari or coconut aminos to work. Can you tell me which brands you prefer? Thanks
This recipe was great and it made the ham very tasty.
I’m keen to try this for Christmas this year, as I have my diabetic Dad joining us. Just wondering what is the best sugar-free maple syrup available at Coles/Woolies? I’m not a fan of artificial sweetener tastes, personally, so am hoping whatever I use, that the artificial-sweetener flavour is not obvious! (Fingers crossed!)
Lakanto is our preferred from woolies.
Hello. I was wondering how much did the ham weigh that you cooked? I’m new to Keto and am excited to try your recipe!
In this recipe the weight doesn’t matter too much. A smaller ham will use less of the baste and a larger one might need a bit more.
Yummy and to be able to have maple glazed ham at Christmas and stick to Keto eating us amazing
Awesome – thanks Elaine!
We made the “gravy” and put it on a ham roast and sisnitbin the crockpot. ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC 😊😊😊.
Sounds great
This was delicious! A treat for everyone, even my non-Keto friends.
Excellent. So glad you enjoyed it.
How would you adjust this to cook in the Ninja Foodi?
We don’t use an all in one cooker like this, so we wouldn’t be able to advise how to adjust this recipe for that. Thank you for asking. You may need to experiment with it. The ham is cooked, so you really are just basting and cooking the glaze. Temps and timing would be trial and error.
This is so yummy! I went with tamari, yellow mustard and monk fruit maple syrup for a mothers day brunch. Thanks for a great recipe.
Thanks Crissy glad it worked for you!
THE HAMS I’VE CHECKED AT OUR STORE ARE CURED WITH SUGAR, EVEN THE NITRATE/NITRITE FREE HAMS HAVE SUGAR IN THE INGREDIENTS. IS THAT OK FOR A KETO DIET?
Most of them are going to be cured in a small amount of sugar. I would at the nutritional panel and go for the lowest sugar.
All the bacon I eat has sugar in it and we dont get kicked out of ketosis.
Is the ham precooked?
Yes.
You think this could be made in the crockpot? And could I use sugar-free pancake syrup instead? If so, what would the directions to the crockpot be?
I’m not sure it would work the same in the crockpot
What if I don’t have the coconut stuff? How would it taste if I skipped that?
You can replace it with soy sauce or Tamari. I’m not sure how it would be without it as it adds some saltiness.
This glaze recipe literally just transformed the way I will cook any future hams in my kitchen This was fantastic and a huge hit with the entire fami!y. Thanks for sharing!
Glad you found this recipe. It’s a great keto glaze option.
I was interested in cooking your KETO friendly glaze BUT there were too many pictures of a train in one recipe (7 photos to be exact,!) I accept that you have to sell Ads, but 7 in one shirt recipe is TOO MANY.
I will look elsewhere for my recipe!
Thanks for your comment. We appreciate that ads can be annoying. We hope you have a good keto Christmas.
Well for cryin’ out loud. You’d think she paralysed her finger by scrolling.. poor girl.
Myself, I hit the “jump to recipe” option and saved myself from permanent disfigurement and a life of pain..
Your recipe looks delish, I’ll be using it today, Christmas day.
Thanks for sharing!!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Thank you Shari – hope you had a lovely Christmas!
is this recipe using an existing smoked ham? Ours is the Nature’s Rancher Spiral Sliced NO SUGAR Ham. Can we use this ham to make the above recipe? If so, any changes to make? Thanks so much!!!
Hi Jennifer, Ours isn’t smoked, just cured and we use a whole ham not a pre sliced ham. I’m not sure glazing a sliced ham would work. You shouldn’t need to make any changes to the recipe as it’s the glaze you are making really.
Thanks
Dan
If I were adjusting the ingredients for a quarter leg of ham (only need to feed two people) would I need to adjust the cooking time also?
As you aren’t cook the ham as such and just cooking the glaze and warming the ham, I think the cook time will be similar. I would aim to follow the cook time instructions but keep an eye on it.
I just had to let you know everyone at the Christmas table loved your Keto Maple Glazed Ham recipe, it was a great success & I look forward to trying more of your recipes.
Many thanks Girls.
You are both inspiring!
Cheryl
Thank you for the feedback – that is great to hear!