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Home » Instant Pot Magic

Instant Pot Ham with Apple Cider and Brown Sugar

By Gary White
This post may contain affiliate links.
Read my full disclosure here.

Published October 22, 2018. Last modified August 1, 2025 By Gary White

Jump to Recipe
Instant Pot Ham with Apple Cider and Brown Sugar | The Foodie Eats

This spiral cut Instant Pot ham is perfectly sweet and savory!

Overhead shot of spiral ham on wooden cutting board with serving fork.

There's something sentimental to me about a spiral cut ham on Christmas day. I don't actually eat ham too often. So when I do, I want it to be amazing! I had an idea of what flavors I wanted to try for an Instant Pot ham. And it's always a great feeling when you try something and it works perfectly on the first try! That's what happened here and I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

The Process

Instant Pot Ham with Apple Cider and Brown Sugar | The Foodie Eats
Add trivet to pot, along with apple cider, Worcestershire sauce, cinnamon stick, and bay leaf.
Instant Pot Ham with Apple Cider and Brown Sugar | The Foodie Eats
Place ham on top of trivet and cover with half of the included glaze packet. If there is no packet, you can skip this step.
Instant Pot Ham with Apple Cider and Brown Sugar | The Foodie Eats
Transfer ham to a cutting board and cover evenly with brown sugar.
Instant Pot Ham with Apple Cider and Brown Sugar | The Foodie Eats
Move ham back to pot, lock lid, and cook at high pressure for 5 minutes.
Instant Pot Ham with Apple Cider and Brown Sugar | The Foodie Eats
Once cook time is complete, allow pressure to release naturally.
Instant Pot Ham with Apple Cider and Brown Sugar | The Foodie Eats
Pour remaining contents of glaze packet over ham. And/or baste ham with juices at the bottom of the pot.

And this is the AMAZING Result…

Instant Pot Ham with Apple Cider and Brown Sugar | The Foodie Eats

More ham, and leftover ham, recipes:

  • Easter Ham in the Instant Pot in Only 30 Miuntes
  • Leftover Ham Recipe- Hawaiian Pizza Grilled Cheese Sandwich
  • Instant Pot Split Pea Soup with Leftover Ham

★ Did you make this Instant Pot Ham? Please give it a star rating below! ★

📖 Recipe

Instant Pot Ham with Apple Cider and Brown Sugar | The Foodie Eats

Instant Pot Ham with Apple Cider and Brown Sugar

It's the most wonderful time of the year! And our dinner table will be featuring this Instant Pot ham. Probably on Thanksgiving too - lol!
5 from 3 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes minutes
Servings: 24
Calories: 223kcal
Author: Gary White

Ingredients 

  • 4 lb. boneless spiral-cut ham with glaze packet
  • 1 cup apple cider
  • 1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 cup brown sugar

Instructions

  • Add trivet to pot, along with apple cider, Worcestershire sauce, cinnamon stick, and bay leaf. Place ham on top of trivet and cover with half of the included glaze packet. If there is no packet, you can skip this step.
  • Transfer ham to a cutting board and cover evenly with brown sugar. Move ham back to pot, lock lid, and cook at high pressure for 5 minutes.
  • Once cook time is complete, allow pressure to release naturally. 
  • Pour remaining contents of glaze packet over ham. And/or baste ham with juices at the bottom of the pot.

Nutrition

Calories: 223kcal | Carbohydrates: 10g | Protein: 16g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 46mg | Sodium: 906mg | Potassium: 243mg | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin C: 0.2mg | Calcium: 16mg | Iron: 0.8mg
Tried this Recipe? Tag us Today!Mention @thefoodieeats or tag #TheFoodieEats!

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Holly

    November 15, 2017 at 4:22 pm

    Does this actually heat the ham well enough in only 1 minute??

    Reply
    • Chef Gary

      November 15, 2017 at 11:08 pm

      Definitely. The ham is already fully cooked. It will take about 20 minutes for the pressure to come up, then another 20 minutes for the pressure to release. So that's almost 40 minutes of actual cook time. Works perfectly.

      Reply
  2. Erin

    December 16, 2017 at 6:50 pm

    How many does this serve? And if I got a larger one how much would I need to change the time?

    Reply
    • Chef Gary

      December 20, 2017 at 3:00 pm

      That would really depend on what size ham you end up with. I'm not great at estimating serving sizes. An no, you would not need to change the cook time - regardless of size of ham.

      Reply
  3. Becky

    January 30, 2018 at 9:32 pm

    5 stars
    I love how this came out! So good and so fast! And I finally had my oven free to finish the side dishes and rolls!

    Reply
  4. Katie Scott

    November 20, 2018 at 3:54 pm

    Would you need to double or increase the amount the other ingredients for a larger ham? Thank you!

    Reply
    • Gary

      November 20, 2018 at 9:06 pm

      No, I don’t think so. There should be plenty.

      Reply
  5. Mark

    December 19, 2018 at 8:14 pm

    I missed something somewhere. How long do you cook the ham when you put it on the trivit the first time before you transfer to the cutting board?

    Reply
    • Gary

      December 19, 2018 at 9:46 pm

      You don't cook it at all during that step. Placing it in the pot helps retain any glaze that drips off so you don't lose any of that flavor.

      Reply
  6. Betty

    December 24, 2018 at 2:39 pm

    I don't want to use brown sugar on the ham. Can I use a stock for the cider? And just use the glaze?

    Reply
    • Gary

      December 26, 2018 at 8:29 am

      You can replace the liquid with whatever you want, but I can't say what the flavor will be when it's finished as we have not tested this.

      Reply
  7. bookluvr4u

    October 17, 2019 at 9:38 pm

    5 stars
    This is amazing! I did this with a 9 lb. Ham. Added a little extra juice and Worcestershire sauce and one extra bay leaf in my 8qt IP and 7 mins instead of 5. Soooooo much better than the oven! Hot all the way through and super tender! Family devoured it! This is a keeper! Thank you!

    Reply
  8. Dolores Konopa

    September 13, 2020 at 1:41 pm

    Can this be used in a 6 quart?

    Reply
    • Gary White

      September 14, 2020 at 3:03 pm

      Yes! We write all our recipes to work with a 6-quart cooker.

      Reply
  9. Annie

    September 29, 2020 at 9:40 am

    Can this be done with a bone-in ham?

    Reply
    • Gary White

      October 01, 2020 at 7:39 am

      In the several times I've cooked ham in the IP, I found that with a bone-in ham, I needed to cut it off the bone in order to reheat it. When i didn't cut it off, the outside dried out and the meat near the bone was not hot enough. Also, I even had difficulty finding a bone-in ham small enough to fit in the pot.

      Reply
5 from 3 votes (1 rating without comment)

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Meet Gary

I'm Gary... husband, dad, recipe developer, and comfort food nerd. I believe in real food for real life. This blog? It’s where I share the recipes my family actually eats. Simple, soulful, and full of flavor. My goal is simple: help you cook food worth making again. More about me...

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