Instant pot ham is the juiciest ham you will ever taste! It comes out perfectly moist and sweet with an easy pineapple brown sugar glaze made right inside your instant pot!
I am never making ham in my oven again. Making ham in my pressure cooker was a complete game changer. Not only was it super quick, but the ham came out super moist!
It is also incredible easy to make ham in the instant pot. You only need a handful of ingredients and about 10 minutes of prep to get your ham warming up in your instant pot in a lovely glaze of brown sugar, maple syrup, and pineapple juice.
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How do you heat a fully cooked ham in a pressure cooker?
- Start by making small slits across your entire ham, about 1 inch apart. They should not be deep – less than 1/4 inch. Next, turn your knife and make slits at a diagonal across the original slits. This is called scoring and allows the juices to penetrate the meat.
- Cover your ham with pineapple and whole cloves. Use toothpicks to attach the pineapple.
- Create a foil boat for your ham using two layers of foil. Make sure the foil is large enough to fold over the top of the ham.
- Lower your ham into the instant pot on top of a trivet.
- Mix together pineapple juice, brown sugar, and maple syrup. Pour it over the ham.
- Fold the foil over the ham and squish the pieces together so the foil completely covers the ham.
- Cook on high pressure until warmed (see below for details on calculating cook time).
- Natural pressure release.
- Remove the ham from the instant pot. Pour out the water from the bottom of the pot.
- Carefully open the top of the foil and pour the juices from the ham into the instant pot.
- Mix together a cornstarch slurry and whisk it into the juices.
- Bring the glaze to a boil using the sauté button.
- Let boil until thickened, about 5 minutes.
- Pour glaze over ham and serve.
- Make sure to remove the cloves and pineapple prior to cutting the ham. The pineapple can be served alongside the ham.
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How long to cook instant pot ham?
Here is how to calculate your cook time for ham in the instant pot. Start with a base time of 10 minutes.
If cooking boneless ham, add 2 minutes for every pound. If cooking bone-in ham, add 3 minutes for every pound. Keep in mind that ham is always fully cooked. So you are just warming it.
How big of a ham can I cook in my instant pot?
There is no magic number for ham size in the instant pot. All that matters is if it will fit in your pot.
We cooked a 4 pound boneless half ham in our instant pot. It just barely fit in the 8 quart. If it was a whole ham and still at 4 pounds, it likely would have fit in my 6 quart because it would not have been so wide.
You aren’t likely to bring your whole instant pot to the store with you to make sure your ham is going to fit, so here is what I suggest. Bring a tape measure, or eye ball it if you are good at estimating lengths.
A 6 quart instant pot has a diameter of 8.5 inches and an 8 quart instant pot has a diameter of 9.25 inches. Use those measurements as your guide. The ham will need to fit inside your instant pot, so it will need to be no bigger than 8 inches (6 quart) or 9 inches (8 quart).
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What kind of ham goes in an instant pot?
We cooked a boneless half ham in our instant pot. Boneless, bone-in, or spiral hams will all be cooked in your instant pot.
It is recommended to serve spiral hams at room temperature as they tend to dry out when warmed. However, the instant pot is great at locking in moisture, so they are less likely to get dried out if heated in a pressure cooker.
What to serve with instant pot ham?
Pressure cooker ham goes well with so many things. Here are a few ideas.
- Roasted Broccoli with Garlic
- Instant pot garlic mashed potatoes
- Roasted root vegetables
- Roasted cauliflower
- Instant Pot Carrots with brown sugar glaze
- Cauliflower mashed potatoes
- Creamy fruit salad
- Parker house rolls
Instant Pot Ham Recipe
Instant pot ham is the juiciest ham you will ever taste! It comes out perfectly moist and sweet with an easy pineapple brown sugar glaze made right inside your instant pot!
Ingredients
- 2 cups water
- 4 pound boneless half ham
- 2 tablespoons whole cloves
- 1 (20-ounce) can pineapple slices, 1/2 cup juice reserved
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1/4 cup cold water
- 1 teaspoon corn starch
Instructions
- Place water and trivet inside pressure cooker.
- Score ham by making small cuts in the skin of the ham, 1-inch apart.
- Attach pineapples to outside of ham with toothpicks and press cloves on outside of ham.
- Create boat with a double layer of foil and place ham inside of foil boat.
- Lower ham into instant pot.
- Mix together pineapple juice, brown sugar, and maple syrup. Pour over ham.
- Crimp edges of foil to seal.
- Close lid and set pressure release valve to sealing.
- Press manual or pressure cook button and set to 18 minutes.
- Natural pressure release.
- Carefully remove ham (still wrapped in foil) from instant pot.
- Remove trivet and pour out water.
- Pour the juices from inside the foil boat to instant pot.
- Set ham aside to rest.
- Whisk together 1/4 cup cold water and 1 teaspoon corn starch.
- Mix cornstarch slurry into juices in instant pot.
- Press sautte button and bring glaze to a boil. Let boil, 5 minutes, until thickened.
- Remove pineapple and cloves from ham.
- Pour glaze over ham and serve with pineapple slices.
Notes
- This recipe was made in an 8 quart instant pot duo.
- For boneless hams, cook for 10 minutes plus 2 minutes for each pound. For bone-in hams, cook for 10 minutes plus 3 minutes for each pound.
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Nutrition Information
Yield
8Serving Size
2 slicesAmount Per Serving Calories 70Total Fat 1gSaturated Fat 0gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 0gCholesterol 5mgSodium 106mgCarbohydrates 15gNet Carbohydrates 0gFiber 1gSugar 12gSugar Alcohols 0gProtein 2g
Nutrition information is an estimate.
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