This is the best ham steak recipe! Glazed with a simple brown sugar reduction, this easy recipe is just like mama used to make it. Sweet, quick, and on the table in minutes!

Southern Cola Ham Steak | Kita Roberts GirlCarnivore.com

This glazed ham steak recipe was inspired by something my mom used to make when I was a kid as a quick weeknight meal. A dinner that we used to come running to the table for and had us all begging for seconds.

This recipe takes 20 minutes to put together, requires just five ingredients, one pan, and results in tender and flavorful ham and a buttery brown sugar cola sweet glaze. I’ll be honest… After you try this, you might just be wishing you did have the entire ham.

Southern Cola Ham Steak Recipe | GIrlCarnviore.com

What is a ham steak?

Ham steak is a single slice of ham usually cut from the center of a whole ham roast. It’s pre-cooked and sold in individual packages of single slices in the meat department (usually near the bacon).

Since ham steaks are thin and already cured, they are quick to cook and perfect for when you’re serving just a couple of people. You get the delicious flavor of roast ham without having to buy a whole ham!

This recipe was one of those easy dinners my mom used to make on busy weeknights that the whole family loved.

There are many ways to cook a ham steak, like grilled ham steaks, oven-baked, or just dicing them up and tossing them into eggs for a hearty breakfast like this diner-style ham and cheese ham and cheese omelet. But this brown sugar ham steak recipe will always be my favorite.

Ingredients for southern cola ham steak

What you need to make this recipe

  • Butter – make sure its unsalted
  • Ham Steak – they can be found next to the whole roast hams at your local grocery store. Ensure that the package says “fully cooked”, “cured”, or “hickory smoked”. For this recipe, we skip the bone-in pound ham slice and go for the smaller cured slices just like you would slice off a spiral sliced ham.
  • Cola, Worcestershire Sauce, and Brown Sugar – combined with the butter to make up a sweet and savory glaze for the ham.
Southern Cola Ham Steak | Kita Roberts GirlCarnivore.com

How to cook brown sugar glazed ham steak

I’m convinced a great pan sear is the best way to best way to cook a ham steak! It results in edge-to-edge golden brown crisping while still keeping everything moist in just a few minutes of prep!

This great recipe forgoes a ham steak marinade, instead cooking the meat in a sweet brown sugar sauce that reduces to the glaze.

Since the meat is already cooked, all you need to do is apply some heat. Here’s how to prep these simple ham steaks:

Heat one tablespoon of butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat, then add in the pork.

Brown the steaks on both sides for 5-7 minutes.

In a bowl, stir together the cola, Worcestershire sauce, and brown sugar. 

Pour the cola mixture over the ham, then simmer until slightly thickened (about 3-5 minutes.) Remove from the heat and set aside.

Add one more tablespoon of butter to the same skillet, stir until smooth, then serve the brown sugar glaze over the finished ham steaks.

Recipe FAQs

Is ham steak already cooked?

It depends. In this case, you do want to buy ham steak that is already cooked so that all you’re really doing is warming it. When you’re looking for one at the grocery store, look for packages that read “fully cooked”, “cured”, or “hickory smoked”. 

Why is my ham steak tough?

If your steak is tough then it’s probably overcooked. You’ll brown on each side for 5-7 minutes but not much more than that. If it cooks too long you miss out on that perfect tender texture.

Southern Cola Ham Steak | Kita Roberts GirlCarnivore.com

What goes with Glazed Ham Slices?

I love to make my brown sugar ham steak into a complete meal by serving it with my favorite sides; a pile of mashed potatoes, green beans, steamed broccoli, and buttery biscuits.

You can also chop up leftover ham steaks and use it in pretty much any ham recipe you want! That means breakfast casseroles, breakfast hash, mac and cheese, salads, stir-fries, frittatas, you name it.

How to store

Leftover cooked ham steak will last in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-5 days or in the freezer for 1-2 months. To enjoy again, thaw first in the fridge if frozen, then warm on the stove until heated through.

More easy ham steak recipes

If you’ve tried my Southern Cola Ham Steak recipe, or any other recipe on GirlCarnivore.com please don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know where you found it in the comments below. I get inspired by your feedback and comments! You can also FOLLOW ME on Instagram @girlcarnivore as well as on  Twitter and Facebook.

Brown Sugar Glazed Ham Steak

4.45 from 25 votes
Prep: 5 minutes
Cook: 15 minutes
Total: 20 minutes
Servings: 4
Southern Cola Ham Steak | Kita Roberts GirlCarnivore.com
One of my favorite childhood dinners were sweet ham steaks over creamy mashed potatoes. The sweet brown sugar glaze was gravy over entire meal and the ham steaks were a luxury. No one would guess it was an easy 20 minute one pan recipe!

Ingredients  

Ham Steaks

  • 2 tbs butter divided
  • 2 ham steaks

Brown Sugar Glaze

  • 1/2 cup cola
  • 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 tsp brown sugar

Instructions 

Heat the Ham Steaks

  • Heat 1 tbs butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
    2 tbs butter divided
  • Add the ham steaks and brown on both sides, 5 – 7 minutes.
    2 ham steaks

Make the Sweet Brown Sugar Glaze

  • Stir the cola, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar together in a bowl and pour over the ham steaks. 
    1/2 cup cola, 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce, 1 tsp brown sugar
  • Simmer until slightly thickened, 3 to 5 minutes.
  • Remove from heat and set the ham steaks aside. 
  • Add the remaining tablespoon butter to the brown sugar glaze and stir until smooth. 
    2 tbs butter divided

Serve

  • Serve the sauce over the ham steaks and other fixings as gravy.

Video

Notes

Pair this recipe with creamy mashed potatoes and green beans or broccoli. It also works great with cayenne roasted Brussels sprouts & squash
This dinner goes quick and rarely has leftovers, but if you have leftover ham steak, store it in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Reheat as needed or dice and toss into scrambled eggs or fried rice for another quick meal. 
Dr. Pepper works just as well as regular cola for this recipe. We do not recommend diet sodas for this recipe. 
Want things a little more sweet? Add 1 tablespoon of honey to the sauce. 
 

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 203kcal | Carbohydrates: 4g | Protein: 22g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 66mg | Sodium: 1500mg | Potassium: 379mg | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 175IU | Vitamin C: 37mg | Calcium: 5mg | Iron: 1mg
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
Author: Kita Roberts

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Well, Hey, Y’all.

Kita is a multi-talented individual, boasting numerous accomplishments such as being an award-winning recipe developer, world-traveled professional photographer, and journalist. As the lead creative force behind Girl Carnivore®, she is widely recognized as an authority on all things meat.

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Comments

  1. I know you said that this recipe is for pre-cooked ham steaks. I’m wondering how it can be adjusted to uncooked ham steaks without totally drying them out? Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

    1. This is a great question, Shelia. Thanks for asking. One, I always check to make sure the package doesn’t say ‘smoked’ ‘cured’ or ‘cooked’ if cooking from raw. Then to keep it from drying out (and OMG this happens SO often!) I pull a trick from my mama. I double the sauce recipe and bake the ham steak in the oven preheated to 350F in a baking dish covered with foil until its cooked to 140 degrees internal. I try to get thin ham steaks so that it doesn’t take too long. Check after 20-25 minutes depending on the thickness.
      Hope this helps!

  2. I’m still confused about the serving size. I need to know the actual serving size for the calories because I am on a 1200 calorie diet. The serving size can’t be 1 g as indicated. Also, can you tell me how much butter should be used in this recipe. Thanks

    1. Hi Anne, I’m not sure what’s up with that 1G either, the nutrition facts are automatically calculated by the recipe plug-in. However, when I do ham steaks, I get 2 servings per steak and have this recipe as 4 servings if that helps. I believe that is where most of the information on nutrition is being pulled from.
      Hope this helps!

    1. Hey Bill, thanks for the catch. The nutrition is calculated by the recipe app so I am guessing there’s a hitch in this one >< I'll see what. I can do to update it.

  3. 5 stars
    Yum! I rarely post comments but this was too good.
    Simple, quick, and tasty weeknight dish that everyone raved over. Served alongside Sous Vide carrots, green beans, and mashed potatoes. Perfectly balanced sweetness and flavor profile prepared exactly as written. No changes needed. This has been saved to Paprika so I can find, prepare, and share.
    Thanks for this one!

  4. Today was my second time following this delicious recipe. The only thing u added was a tablespoon of honey. The ham steak turned out amazing! Thanks for the Great recipe

    1. Ah! Thanks for the catch! I am so sorry about that. yes, you will use all of the butter in the dish. Editing the recipe now.

  5. 5 stars
    This is the first cola meat recipe I have tried, a little skeptical at first, but wow! Great recipe.

  6. Would you believe my family and I were just talking about this over the weekend?! Cola meat was a big thing in the Midwest!