This Coffee Rubbed Ham recipe has a deep smoke-cured flavor that penetrates through the meat. It is the perfect way to change up how you serve ham!
Cooking Big Meals For Leftovers
Do you get intimidated by the thought of making a big weekend meal?
Or, do you get excited thinking about a week made easy by delicious leftovers?
Even with just the two of us to cook for, cooking a big meal that leaves delicious leftovers makes busy weeks so much more relaxed. Our favorite is to cook up a big slab of meat so that we can take the leftovers and transform them into many meals throughout the next weeks, even freezing some for down the road when we get a craving, but don’t have the time for extravagant cooking.
Not that cooking these big meats has to be extravagant. Most of the time, after just a little prep, they simply require a lot of hands-off cooking time.
And, to leave for a few hours and come home to the smells like slow-roasted ham wafting through the door, knowing your meal is pretty much table-ready. That makes for a relaxing supper!
Making Coffee Rubbed Ham
We were head over heels for this ham.
The coffee and spices give a deep, almost smoke-cured flavor to the ham. By cutting deep slits in the meat, you allow the flavors to penetrate even to the center meat that normally doesn’t get any seasoning love.
After we attacked the ham for dinner, we chopped it up, thinking about how we would use it for the week:
Thick slices – For another ham dinner. It’s simple. But when the ham tastes this good, that’s all you need.
Thin slices – To go in sandwiches, either for lunch or a quick dinner on-the-go.
Chunks – Those pieces that don’t want to slice nicely aren’t cause for frustration. Our favorite way to use these pieces is with eggs: scrambled eggs and ham, ham and cheese strata, a quick ham and potato hash with a fried egg. And, who doesn’t love breakfast for dinner?
The bone – Don’t worry about getting all the meat off of that bone, and whatever you do DON’T THROW IT AWAY. This bone will become the flavor bomb in your next bean or pea soup. It can be as simple as water, beans, and that bone, slow simmered until the beans are tender, and you have quite a hearty meal. (If you don’t have soup plans in the near future, freeze the bone until you do.)
With so much meat, about half of the ham goes straight into the freezer for us. Otherwise, we’d be so tired of ham way before the pieces went bad. And, getting tired of ham is not a good thing. But, having those bags of pre-cooked that you can just pull out and thaw makes the “what’s for dinner” question a lot easier.
Coffee Rubbed Ham
Ingredients
- 9 - 12 lbs bone in ham, fully cooked
For The Coffee Rub
- 4 Tbsp sugar
- 3 Tbsp ground coffee
- 3 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- 3 Tbsp yellow mustard
- 1 Tbsp molasses
Instructions
- In a small bowl, prepare the rub by mixing together sugar, ground coffee, garlic, red pepper flakes, paprika, and black pepper.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together mustard and molasses.
- Place the ham in a 9x13 baking dish (or roasting pan if it is too large). Score the ham deeply (up to 1”) by making diagonal cuts with a sharp knife. (This will allow the flavors of the rub to penetrate down into the meat.)
- Spread the mustard mixture all over the ham, getting as much into the cuts as possible.
- Rub the seasoning mixture all over the ham, again getting as much into the crevices you have cut as possible.
- Let the ham set overnight or up to 24 hours, refrigerated.
- When you are ready to cook the ham, preheat the oven to 325F. Cover the ham loosely with aluminum foil.
- Bake for 20 minutes per pound of your ham. (Our 9 lb ham baked for 3 hours.) Remove the foil after the first hour of cooking, which will create a nice crisp outer layer.
Notes
Are you ready to cook a big dinner? Check out the recipes below!
- Brined and Roasted Turkey by Growin Up Gabel
- Chicken Cacciatore by Cindy’s Recipes and Writings
- Glazed Ham with Bonus Recipe: Scalloped Potatoes & Ham by The Foodie Army Wife
- Herbed Pork Loin on Spaetzle by The Not So Cheesy Kitchen
- Picadillo-Stuffed Chiles Rellenos by Foxes Love Lemons
- Pork Tinga by Juanita’s Cocina
If you liked this recipe, here are some similar dishes you may enjoy!
Sarah is one of Curious Cuisiniere’s founding duo. Her love for cultural cuisines was instilled early by her French Canadian Grandmother. Her experience in the kitchen and in recipe development comes from years working in professional kitchens. She has traveled extensively and enjoys bringing the flavors of her travels back to create easy-to-make recipes.
Rebecca
Monday 18th of January 2021
Came across this recipe and had been wanting to try a coffee glaze/rub. This recipe was so incredibly amazing! I used a 10 lb ham and cooked it 3.5 hrs and basted it every 30-40 minutes after removing the foil. It is definitely going to be on our table again... and again... and again!
Sarah Ozimek
Tuesday 19th of January 2021
So glad you enjoyed it Rebecca!
Lori @ Foxes Love Lemons
Wednesday 16th of October 2013
I'm definitely in the "excited" camp for cooking a big meal. And this recipe is definitely a keeper!
Karen Hartzell (@InTheKitchenKP)
Tuesday 15th of October 2013
I will def have to try the coffee idea. Love the scoring on your ham too! Looks amazing! :-)
Family Foodie
Monday 14th of October 2013
Your ham looks delicious! I love the rub you used to on the ham and I like the idea of using coffee. It must have smelled delicious when it was baking!
Susan P. (@littleredkitchn)
Monday 14th of October 2013
A delicious sounding rub and it looks great after it's roasted, love that crust!