Sous Vide Ham With Honey Chipotle Glaze

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Sous Vide Ham with Honey Chipotle Glaze is made with just six ingredients and turns out tender and juicy with minimal effort. It’s perfect for Christmas, Easter or any day of the week!

This sous vide ham recipe will simplify your holiday baked ham this year! 

If you’re anything like us, ham usually makes an appearance on your holiday table. This honey baked ham has been a favorite of ours for years.

It’s coated in a delicious orange chipotle glaze and makes enough to ensure we get to enjoy all of the leftover ham recipes like this instant pot bean soup!

While we will always love a traditional oven baked ham, this sous vide version I'm sharing today just makes life so much easier! 

The ham cooks in a water bath for 4-6 hours, so it’s pretty hands off! The controlled temperature of the water bath also ensures the ham doesn’t dry out and turns out juicy every time. 

And, if the caramelized glaze is your favorite part, no worries. You just brush it on at the end and give the ham a quick bake in the oven!

If you try this sous vide ham, I suggest serving it with honey roasted parsnips, easy scalloped potatoes, air fryer carrots, instant pot carrots and roasted parmesan cauliflower. It’s all so good together!

Check out the sous vide ham story!

Why this recipe works

1. Hams should be cooked low and slow and that’s precisely what the sous vide does! As hams usually come precooked, they don’t need a long cooking time, but they need to be cooked at a low enough temperature so they heat through without drying out. A sous vide water bath ensures your ham is heated through and turns out perfectly juicy!
2. It’s also the perfect recipe if you’re low on oven space. For the holidays, there are always so many side dishes to prepare. By cooking the ham using the sous vide method, you free up your oven for other recipes. You just need a few minutes in the oven at the end to bake the glaze on the ham!
3. Speaking of glaze, the honey chipotle glaze is caramelized goodness! It’s sticky, sweet and spicy. All of the things that are essential for a delicious glaze and complements the salty ham perfectly!

What is Sous Vide?

Sous vide is basically a method of cooking using what is called an immersion circulator. This immersion circulator circulates water in a temperature controlled water bath at a certain temperature to perfectly cook your food every time.

Because the temperature doesn't change, and it keeps your meat (or dessert, veggies, etc.) at the same temperature, your risk of overcooking becomes very minimal.

To learn even more about sous vide cooking, head over and read "what is sous vide cooking."

What is the Water Displacement Method?

The displacement method is where you slowly submerge a ziplock bag in water pushing the air out of the top of the bag (the bag should be slightly open at the top to allow air to escape).

Use a clip (I use binder clips) to clip the bag to the side to keep it from floating and getting air and/or water inside.

Tools Used

• Anova Precision Sous Vide Cooker
• 12 quart container
• Vacuum sealer
• Vacuum seal bags

Other sous vide recipes

• Sous Vide Carrots
• Sous Vide Brisket
• Sous Vide Broccoli
• Sous Vide Potatoes

Ingredients

You’ll need a 3-4 pound boneless ham for this recipe. Make sure you’re using a precooked smoked ham as opposed to a cook-before-eating or fresh ham, which require different cooking times and temperatures. 

A 3-4 pound ham will feed about 6-8 people. You can go a little bigger, as long as it fits in your water bath, and you can also use bone-in if that’s your ham preference.  

For the honey chipotle glaze, you need just five ingredients!

For the spicy kick, you’ll need 1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce. (One is plenty, so don’t go overboard here!)

To tame the spiciness and help create a sticky, caramelized glaze, I like to use 2 tablespoons of honey and 2 tablespoons of brown sugar. You can substitute maple syrup if that’s your preference, and granulated sugar will work in a pinch if you don’t have brown sugar.

You can also use this hot honey for a nice tang!

To add a depth of flavor and complement the sweetness of the glaze, you’ll also want to add 2 tablespoons of champagne vinegar and a ¼ cup of brandy to the glaze.

If you don’t have champagne vinegar, white wine vinegar will work too. And if you don’t have brandy, you can substitute rum, whisky or wine, or for a non-alcoholic replacement, try 100% pure apple juice or white grape juice.

Step by step instructions

Heat a sous vide water bath to 140F degrees.

Place the ham in a vacuum sealable bag (or ziplock freezer bag if using the water displacement method).

Vacuum seal the bag and cook in the water bath for 4 hours. **Cook for 6 hours if using a larger, bone-in ham.

When done cooking, remove the bag from the water, remove the ham from the bag and place on a foil lined baking sheet.

Heat the oven to 500F degrees.

Brush the ham with the glaze (below) and place in the oven for 20 minutes, removing to baste with more glaze every 7 minutes.

Remove from the oven and let cool for 5-10 minutes. Slice and serve.

How to make honey chipotle glaze

Place all the glaze ingredients in a small saucepan.

Heat over medium heat until simmering, stirring constantly to ensure it doesn't burn.

Remove the chipotle pepper after about 3 minutes (unless you like a very spicy glaze).

Turn the heat down and let it simmer, stirring regularly, for about 3-5 minutes, until thickened and glossy.

Expert tips

1. Make sure you’re using a precooked smoked ham and not a cook-before-eating or fresh ham, as they require different cooking times and temperatures.
2. It’s important that you remove the air from the sealable bag as this keeps bacteria out of the bag.
3. The ham should be fully submerged in the water bath in order to cook safely and properly. If it starts floating from air getting in the bag, just open the bag, let the air out and reseal it.
4. To prevent the bag from floating, you can also use a sous vide sinker weight.
5. Be sure to baste the ham a few times with the glaze while it browns in the oven. This will ensure it doesn’t dry out and creates maximum caramelization!
6. Keep an eye on the ham in the oven. We're browning it at 500F degrees so it may start to burn quickly.
7. You can use a larger, bone-in ham for this recipe. Just make sure you increase the cooking time in the water bath from 4 to 6 hours.

Common questions

Make it a meal

Here are a few of our favorite recipes to serve with ham:

• Truffle Mashed Potatoes
• Sous Vide Green Beans
• Cheesy Cauliflower Bake
• Instant Pot Cornbread
• Spicy Mac and Cheese

Did you make this recipe? Leave a comment below and let me know how it turned out!