Have You Got Your Easter Ham Recipe Yet? Here Are 21 Delicious Ideas (2024)

FAQs

What is the best ham to serve for Easter? ›

What most American cooks procure for Easter dinner is a wet-cured, lightly smoked, prebaked ham, what neighborhood butchers called a city ham, when there were still neighborhood butchers. There is nothing particularly urban about city ham, the meat expert Bruce Aidells said, but the name took hold as shorthand.

Ham holds symbolic significance for many people during Easter. As a rich, indulgent meat, it can represent the celebration of new life and the end of the Lenten season, during which many Christians abstain from certain luxuries.

Ham was a practical alternative to lamb because it was more affordable and could be purchased in a larger serving size. Not only were hogs cheaper to raise than sheep, but the farmers could slaughter the hogs in the fall and let the meat cure throughout the cold winter months.

The best rule of thumb for ham is to plan about 1/2 pound per person when picking a bone-in ham (it's heavier) and 1/3 pound if boneless. Look, at the end of the day, some people will eat more than expected, some will eat less—it'll even out.

Buy bone-in ham. Yes, the bone is a little more work to cut around, but the meat is more flavorful and the hambone can be used to flavor soups and stews.

Cook it low and slow.

This ensures that the meat doesn't dry out as your ham spends at least a couple hours in the oven. The ideal temperature to cook at is 325°, and for a bone-in half ham it will take 20 to 25 minutes per pound to cook at that low of a temperature.

It is only in Leviticus 11:7 that eating pork is forbidden to God's people for the very first time—“… and the swine, though it divides the hoof, having cloven hooves, yet does not chew the cud, is unclean to you.” This is where and when pork in all its forms (including ham, bacon, sausage, etc.)

Abstaining from meat on Good Friday is a tradition steeped in history serving as a reminder of Jesus' sacrifice and a call for personal reflection. Christians don't just observe the Friday fast at Easter, throughout Lent it is observed.

Although Christianity is also an Abrahamic religion, most of its adherents do not follow these aspects of Mosaic law and do consume its meat. However, Seventh-day Adventists consider pork taboo, along with other foods forbidden by Jewish law.

Are you not supposed to eat ham on Easter? ›

Ham is often served at the Easter table, which may seem odd since Jesus was Jewish and wouldn't have eaten pork. It seems that this holiday food comes more from the timing of Easter rather than a religious meaning.

Ham is also popular at Christmas, and some people even serve a ham as an additional entrée on Thanksgiving. Still, Easter is when this delectable dish really takes center stage. One reason ham became the meat of choice for Easter dinner is because it was available.

For a bone-in spiral-cut ham, you need to account for the large bone accounting for a good bit of weight from the total number printed on the label. Estimate 3/4 to 1 pound per person for a bone-in ham.

A bone-in ham makes for a great visual presentation on the table, and is perfect for carving. And it's not just there for show — a ham bone is an excellent starter for flavorful soups and stocks. Boneless hams are easier to carve, and better suited for sandwiches. There's no real difference in flavor or texture.

The most popular ham is cured ham, which has been brined before cooking. The brine is a liquid of water and salt, and seasonings are sometimes added to the brine. Hams are soaked in brine for a few days or weeks before it is smoked.

The butt end is meatier and less fatty than the shank end but it has odd-shaped bones, making it trickier to free the slices. The shank end is slightly fattier but, with a simpler bone structure, is much easier to carve.

Ham comes from the back legs and rump of a pig. A whole ham is a large piece of meat weighing about 18 to 20 pounds, so most grocery stores sell them in sections. Ham sells both boneless and bone-in.

Ham is the most traditional Easter meat.