As a home cook, this is my favorite time of year: the time leading up to Thanksgiving and Christmas. But this year, I want to focus on low-effort, high-impact dishes. Something that can serve a crowd but is not too hard to make. And these spicy candied ham bites are just the ticket.
This appetizer takes inspiration from the idea of barbecue burnt ends and applies it to these little bite-size skewers that are an incredible people pleaser. The best part is that you can put this together quickly and let it do its magic in the oven while you spend more time with your family and guests.
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Make the Glaze
Add some barbecue sauce, dark brown sugar dark, honey, pineapple juice, and bacon fat to a bowl and stir well. If you’re not dairy-free, butter would be a great substitute for bacon fat, but coconut oil and olive oil would work well too.
Assemble the Dish
First we’ll add cubed ham pieces—large bite-sized pieces—into a casserole dish. Then I toss in some chopped jalapenos. Now 1, maybe 2 jalapenos is probably right for a crowd. I like things hot so I went in with 4 jalapenos, and make no mistake, the kids will not be snacking on these out from under me. Which is sometimes nice, since they’re drawn to appetizers like a moth to a flame. Then some slices of purple onion are tossed in and the glaze goes right overtop.
Oval Platter | Baking Dish | Dish Towel (similar) | Ramekin | Cocktail Skewers
Cook the Ham Bites
The ham is already cooked, but we want it to caramelize. You’ll cook this on a convection setting at 300-325 degrees for 2-3 hours to develop color and flavor, but not too hot so that it burns the sugars. It’s a great thing to have warming in the background. I set a timer for 30-minute increments and give it a little stir every now and then. Once the glaze is nice and thick and all of the onions and jalapenos have broken down into the sauce, they’re ready to take out.
Serve the Candied Ham Bites
You can serve these straight out of the dish, but I really want it to be more of an experience. So I’m skewering a few of these on some picks and plating them with some chopped green onion on top.
This is an incredibly delicious appetizer for Thanksgiving, Christmas, or any holiday gathering. It’s a beautiful dish, so easy, and tasty—plus it’s great for gluten-free and grain-free folks too. I can’t wait to hear what you think in the comments!
Candied Ham Skewers
Ingredients:
- 3-4 lbs ham, cut into 1-1 1/2in cubes
For the Glaze
- 1 cup bbq sauce
- 1/3 cup dark brown sugar
- 1/4 cup honey
- 2 tbsp bacon grease or butter
- 2-3 tbsp pineapple juice
Other Ingredients
- 1-4 medium jalapenos, sliced
- 1 medium red onion, sliced
To finish
- 1/4 cup green onion, thinly sliced
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 325. Whisk together all the glaze ingredients and pour over the cubed ham in a casserole baking dish. Add the jalapenos and red onion and mix together evenly.
- Place in the oven and bake for 2 1/2-3 hours, stirring every 30 minutes or so until the ham gets crispy edges and the glaze thickens and becomes sticky.
- Skewer 3 pieces of ham together on each toothpick. Top with green onion and serve!
Served these as an app for Christmas dinner and they were a HUGE hit. Guests even ate their full dinner and then continued snacking on these in between dinner and dessert! They will definitely be a tradition every year.
can you serve these cold? like take them somewhere that cant be heated up?
Sure, they’d be great cold or room temperature.
I made these as an appetizer and they were a big hit. I’m going to try again, but this time with smaller pieces, and no barbecue sauce, and toss them in with roasted brussels sprouts and a balsamic glaze for Thanksgiving! Can’t wait to see how it turns out
Looks awesome!
If don’t need a large portion, would you suggest we use the same amount of glaze but less ham? Or cut the glaze amount also.
Thanks
Great recipe! I made 2lbs as a Super Bowl app. They tasted great but were pretty dry. I wanted them very caramelized and crispy, but I definitely cooked them too long, so just posting to note that if making less, it’s worth testing cooled pieces as you go. I’d make again and just broil to crisp.
You can cut the glaze also!
Hey Chris,
This sounds fantastic. My wife would love this. Ham is her favorite holiday food for sure. Do you think this would translate well to the crockpot? If so, high/low and how long? Thanks!
You need the evaporation of the oven so I’m not sure a crockpot would work for the same effect. Crockpot is a moist heat cooking method, and the oven is dry heat. That’s not to say it wouldn’t still turn out good, but it may just be less candied and more just bbq ham squares.