Easy Ham Loaf Recipe | Only Takes 15 Minutes To Prepare

Juicy and meaty with a sweet and savory brown sugar glaze, this ham loaf is an amazing comfort food dinner recipe. Plus, it's easy to prepare, full of flavor, and made with simple ingredients too!

The Best Ham Loaf Recipe

If you're looking for the ultimate comfort meal or something to make for the holidays, you've found it! This brown sugar glazed ham loaf is sure to make you feel warm and cozy.

The juicy and tender ham loaf slices coated in a sweet and tangy brown sugar glaze taste absolutely nostalgic and comforting, like grandma's home cooking.

Gosh, it's just so good, and everyone in your family is guaranteed to love it! 

Now, it takes a little over an hour to make, but don't be intimidated. This easy ham loaf recipe only takes about 15 minutes of prep and hands-on cooking combined. The rest is baking time!

So while it's cooking, you can make some delicious sides to go with it, like these cheesy mashed potatoes, glazed carrots, Ocean Spray cranberry sauce, and pioneer woman stuffing. 

Ingredients

To make this ham loaf, you need only a couple of basic ingredients. It pretty much requires all the same ingredients as traditional meatloaf, with a few special ones that make it so good. 

You'll see these are all ingredients that are simple and easy to find but lead to some incredibly flavorful results.

So, here's everything you need to cook ham loaf:

• 1 tbsp. Butter
• ½ cup Onion, chopped
• 3 cups Ground Ham (we cube ours and then run it through a meat grinder)
• 1 cup Ground Pork
• 1 Egg
• ½ cup Bread Crumbs
• ½ cup Milk
• 1 tsp. Salt
• ½ tsp. Pepper

And for the ham loaf glaze ingredients:

• ¼ cup Brown Sugar
• 1 tbsp. Dijon Mustard
• 2 tbsp. Apple Cider Vinegar
• 2 tbsp. Ketchup

Pretty simple, right?

You can use a lot of these same ingredients to make this Southern meatloaf, so you might want to give that a try next!

Ingredients Suggestions

As always, my very first recommendation is that you get fresh, high-quality ingredients for the perfect ham loaf.

Also, if you can't find ground ham, you can always use a whole ham and then grind it up yourself with a meat grinder or food processor.

By the way, just so you know, smoked ham also works great to make this ham loaf recipe. The loaf will have an almost bacon-like flavor if you do!

As for the glaze, if you're not into sweet glazes, you can just prepare the ham loaf without it. Or, try it with the tangy ketchup glaze from this chicken meatloaf recipe!

How To Make Ham Loaf

This recipe is good for around 6 servings of sliced ham loaf, enough to serve a big family or for a week's worth of meal prep.

And, as you already know, you only need about 15 minutes of hands-on time, and the rest of the 1 ½ hour cooking time is for baking!

Now, let's jump right into this recipe and make ham loaf.

Step 1: Prepare The Onion

The first thing before you start to do anything else is to preheat the oven to 350 °F (180ºC).

Next, grab a non-stick skillet, put it over medium heat, and let it heat up for a minute.

Then, add 1 tbsp of butter, let it melt, and then add the chopped onion. Cook it for about 10 minutes, or until browned.

Once it's done, transfer it to a large bowl.

Step 2: Make The Ham Loaf & Bake

In that same bowl, mix in the rest of the ham loaf ingredients. That would be the ground ham, ground pork, egg, bread crumbs, milk, salt, and pepper.

You can start mixing with a wooden spoon, but you'll eventually have to use your hands to mix all the ingredients and fully incorporate the ground ham, ground pork, egg, and bread crumbs. And it's pretty important for the texture and consistency of this ham loaf, so don't be afraid to get into the meat mixture!

Then, line a loaf pan with some parchment paper and transfer the ham loaf mixture to it, shaping it to make sure it cooks evenly.

Next, put the ham loaf in the oven without the glaze and bake for 1 hour.

Step 3: Prepare the Glaze

While the ham loaf is baking, grab a small bowl and combine the glaze ingredients using a fork or whisk.

With that said, if you want a ham loaf glaze that's not too sweet, you can use a bit less brown sugar for the glaze than I listed above.

Step 4: Glaze & Bake

After 1 hour, remove the ham loaf from the oven and pour glaze on top evenly.

Bake for 20 more minutes or until the glaze caramelizes. Make sure to double-check through the oven window that it doesn't burn.

Step 5: Slice & Serve

Finally, take the ham loaf out of the oven.

Give it a few minutes to cool and settle, and then slice it.

Serve the glazed ham loaf slices with your choice of sides, and enjoy!

How To Store Ham Loaf

If this ham loaf is being served for a family dinner or on the holiday dinner table, you probably won't have any leftovers.

But, if you do, you can store leftover ham loaf slices in an airtight container in the fridge. It will stay good stored like this for up to 5 days.

You can also freeze the leftover ham loaf slices in freezer bags, separating each piece with parchment paper so they don't stick. They'll stay good stored like this for about 3 months.

How To Reheat Ham Loaf

To reheat the leftover ham loaf, just grab the quantity you need and warm it in the microwave in 1-minute intervals until warm.

You could also heat it in a pan on the stove - or in the oven - on low heat until warm.

And if you're starting with frozen leftovers, be sure to thaw them in the fridge overnight for even reheating.

FAQs About This Ham Loaf Recipe

What is ham loaf made of?

Ham loaf is made of ground ham and ground pork, typically with aromatics like garlic or onions and seasoning. Ham loaf is usually made with a glaze as well, whether a brown sugar glaze like in this recipe, a simple ketchup glaze, or a pineapple glaze.

What temperature does ham loaf need to be?

To know the ham loaf is ready, it should have an internal temperature of at least 160°F (72°C) when checked with a meat thermometer. If you bake ham loaf for the time that is required in this recipe, it should reach that temperature.

Where did ham loaf originate?

Ham loaf is originally from the Pennsylvania Dutch, who were German immigrants that settled in Pennslyvania around the 18th-19th century. It's now commonly eaten throughout the midwest and is actually almost as popular as regular meatloaf.

Wrapping It All Up

Well, that's how to make ham loaf from scratch!

This hearty and flavorful loaf is a delicious and comforting meal great for both family dinners and special occasions like Thanksgiving or Christmas. And the results come out amazing every time!

So, it's sure to become a regular part of your dinner rotation, like it is in our house!

Also, what I love about this recipe is that I can always tweak it a little bit to make it just a little different each time. I love trying different kinds of glazes, spices, and seasonings to come up with different ham loaf recipes.

Well, I hope you enjoy this glazed ham loaf recipe as much as I do. Be sure to let me know in the comments below if you've made it and what you think.

More Delicious Recipes

If you liked this savory ham loaf recipe, you should definitely try these other meaty main recipes:

• Deviled ham
  
• Flat iron steak
• Ham and beans soup
• Great Northern beans
• Ham balls

Oh, and don't forget to check out our Instagram, YouTube, or TikTok, for some dessert recipes.

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