This Instant Pot ham starts with a fully cooked bone-in ham, cut into large chunks and warmed in chicken stock, apple juice, Worcestershire sauce, and spices. The five-minute pressure stage is followed by a full natural release.
What kind of ham is this recipe for?
Use a 6–8-pound fully cooked bone-in ham, then cut the meat from the bone before it goes into the cooker. Save the bone for beans or soup. This is the broth-seasoned, chunked-ham recipe. My boneless spiral ham with a brown-sugar crust is a separate recipe with a broiler finish.
Does it really take only five minutes?
Five minutes is the High Pressure setting. Allow additional time to cut and load the ham, bring the pot to pressure, let the pressure release naturally, and slice the meat. It is not a five-minute ready-to-serve meal, and the amount of liquid means startup and release are part of the plan.
Ingredients
- 6–8 lb. fully cooked bone-in ham: the purchase weight before cutting the meat into large chunks.
- 4 cups chicken stock and 2 cups apple juice: the cooking liquid and the broth served with the sliced ham.
- ¼ cup Worcestershire sauce: check its label if gluten-free suitability matters.
- 2 bay leaves, 1 cinnamon stick, and 1 tablespoon black peppercorns: the whole aromatics used in this recipe.
How to Make Instant Pot Ham
1. Cut the ham from the bone
Cut the meat off the bone into large chunks. Keep the bone for another recipe, such as beans or soup. Use the standard 6-quart Instant Pot, keeping the food and liquid below its marked pressure-cooking fill line.
2. Add the liquid and pressure cook
Place the ham chunks, chicken stock, apple juice, Worcestershire sauce, bay leaves, cinnamon stick, and peppercorns in the pot. Secure the lid and cook for 5 minutes at High Pressure. The timer starts after the cooker reaches pressure.
3. Let the pressure release naturally
Allow a full natural release. Wait until the cooker has completely depressurized before opening it; the pressure setting ending does not mean the lid is ready to open. For the fully cooked ham packaged in a USDA-inspected plant used here, check that the center of the thickest chunk reaches 140°F.
4. Slice and return to the broth
Lift out the ham and cut it into thick slices. Return the slices to the broth so there is flavorful liquid to spoon over them when serving.
If holding the ham before serving, keep it hot at 140°F or above. Otherwise, refrigerate within two hours rather than leaving it in lukewarm broth.
Make-Ahead and Leftovers
Store the ham with its broth in shallow, covered containers in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. You can make it ahead within that window. Reheat the portions you need gently in the broth until they reach 165°F; this leftover-reheating target is separate from warming the original packaged ham.
Use extra meat in my leftover ham recipe. If you are planning Thanksgiving, my Thanksgiving Dinner Game Plan uses the separate spiral-ham recipe; choose the style you want before assigning the cooker and oven time.
📖 Recipe
Instant Pot Ham
Equipment
- 1 6-quart Instant Pot
- 1 Meat thermometer
Ingredients
- 6-8 lb. bone-in ham fully cooked; purchase weight before cutting meat from the bone into large chunks
- 4 cups chicken stock
- 2 cups apple juice
- ¼ cup Worcestershire sauce
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 Tbsp. black peppercorns
Instructions
- Cut the fully cooked ham from the bone into large chunks. Save the bone for beans or soup.
- Place the ham chunks and remaining ingredients in the 6-quart Instant Pot, keeping the food and liquid below its marked pressure-cooking fill line. Secure the lid and cook at High Pressure for 5 minutes; the timer starts after the cooker reaches pressure.
- When the cycle ends, allow a full natural release. Wait until the cooker is completely depressurized before opening. For the fully cooked ham packaged in a USDA-inspected plant used here, check that the center of the thickest chunk reaches 140°F.
- Remove the ham and cut it into thick slices.
- Return the sliced ham to the broth for serving. If holding it before serving, keep it at 140°F or above. Otherwise, refrigerate within 2 hours.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Made this recipe? Leave a star rating and tell me how it turned out.
Lyn Kazan
Could you use a spiral ham?
Gary White
We have not tested this with a spiral ham, but you may be interested in checking out our IP Spiral Ham recipe here: https://thefoodieeats.com/instant-pot-ham/
rebecca
I love how easy this is. Easter is just too hot here to have the oven on too much. So happy I found this recipe!
Matt Nelson
Great recipe! I made it for a work pot luck and everyone loved it!
Sylvain
Question : Easter ham recipe. There is 3 different cooking time on your recipe. Title says... Easter ham in IP in only 30 minutes. Instructions says Set Manual time for 10 minutes at high pressure... then Prep time 5 minutes, cook time 40 min total time 45 minutes So it s 30, 10 or 40 minutes at High Pressure ???
Chef Gary
10 minutes at high pressure. The cook time takes into account coming up to pressure and natural pressure release.