Do you ever find yourself in need of an easy meal but forgot to thaw something? What about when unexpected guests show up? If you have an Instant Pot and make a point of keeping a small ham in the freezer, you’re in business. That’s right. You can cook a frozen ham in the Instant Pot!
How to cook a frozen ham in the Instant Pot
I’ve told the story of my Aunt Hazel’s hospitality here before:
What Would Aunt Hazel Do? ~ Southern Hospitality
No matter how many people showed up at her house, she was always able to feed them. It was probably not going to be anything fancy but no one left her house hungry. One of her secrets was that she always seemed to have a small ham in her refrigerator. She would heat up the ham, open a can or two of baked beans and mix up some coleslaw. Along with a pitcher of sweet tea, dinner was served!
I don’t have anything like the amount of drop-in company that she did but I still like to be prepared. And of course, there are always those nights when you need an easy meal with minimal prep time.
That’s one reason I love my Instant Pot. I can pull a frozen ham from the freezer, put it in the Instant Pot with just three ingredients and with almost no effort, have dinner on the table.
Ingredients
- 1 small frozen ham
- 1 can of crushed pineapple (16 ounces)
- 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
Instructions
- Place frozen ham on trivet in Instant Pot.
- Pour crushed pineapple over ham.
- Sprinkle with brown sugar.
- Drizzle with maple syrup.
- Secure lid on Instant Pot with vent closed.
- Cook for 35 minutes (Manual button) and allow pressure to release on its own.
- To thicken juices remove ham and trivet.
- Set Instant Pot on sauté setting.
- Mix 1 tablespoon of cornstarch in a couple of tablespoons of cold water until smooth.
- Stir into liquid in pot.
- Bring to a boil and stir until thickened.
- Pour over ham slices on plate or over rice.
I can usually pick up a small, sliced ham at Aldi inexpensively. I try to always keep at least one in my freezer. I also usually keep a can or two of crushed pineapple in the pantry but you could certainly skip that and just add some type of liquid (chicken or vegetable broth would work well).
I love the pre-sliced hams because it makes this meal even easier. No need to dirty a cutting board in order to slice it up.
Ham goes really well with baked beans and coleslaw like my Aunt Hazel so often served, but you could certainly serve it with different side dishes. Some possibilities include applesauce, macaroni and cheese, steamed frozen peas, tossed green salad, homemade cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes or rice.
The night I took these photos I happened to have fresh corn on the cob and a baguette on hand. Yum!
You’re likely to have a lot of the pineapple liquid/sauce leftover. You can refrigerate it then use it to make homemade sweet and sour sauce a night or two later. One of these days I’ll share a more exact “recipe” but basically you add more brown sugar, a splash of vinegar, a little soy sauce, some ground ginger and a bit of garlic powder. Bring to a boil. Mix a tablespoon or so of cornstarch in a little cold water until smooth then add to the boiling mixture. Cook until thickened. This is really good over fried rice or with homemade egg rolls.
Do you have a go-to meal for unexpected guests or an easy meal for busy nights? I’m always on the lookout for more ideas so leave me a comment with your favorite.
You may also enjoy these Instant Pot recipes…
Easy Jambalaya in the Instant Pot
Easy Hawaiian Pork Chops ~ An Instant Pot Recipe
How to Cook a Frozen Turkey Breast in an Instant Pot
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This post is linked up at Miz Helen’s “Full Plate Thursday”. Check it out!
I love my Instant Pot and use it many time during the week. Thank you for this new recipe. My Aldi is renovating and won’t be open again until the middle of next month. So I’ll be looking forward to trying this later in Oct.
I’d love to hear your favorite things to cook in the Instant Pot.
My favorites are many of the traditional things like beef pot roast, my homemade soups and oatmeal. I also do my “boiled” eggs and have made Caramel Dulce de Leche. I use it a lot for frozen Trader Joe’s veggies – cup of water, veggies (we love their Brussel sprouts), some herbs and 5 minutes pressure. I recently got rid of my 20 year old Calaphon stock pot after some concerns of it losing it’s coating. Thought I was going to have to buy a new pot, but I used the saute setting with my water for pasta and it got to a gentle boil. Pasta cooked perfectly and never threatened to boil over. So my IM replaced a couple of old pots and I have more cabinet room. Sorry for the long answer.
I’m such a creature of habit that I have to intentionally try things in my IP that I’ve done in other ways. I haven’t tried it for pasta yet – good idea! One of my favorite things about the IP is that it’s stainless steel – no worries about those coatings. Thanks for your reply. Have a beautiful day!
Hi Denna,
What a great recipe for the Instant Pot. I am just going to have to get me one of those pots, I see so many wonderful recipes like this one. Thanks so much for sharing with us at Full Plate Thursday. Hope you have a great week and come back to see us real soon!
Miz Helen
What setting did you use, the meat setting or the pressure setting? Also does the ham have to be covered in liquid or just enough to cover the bottom and create the steam?
I used the manual setting (thanks for pointing out that that might not have been obvious – I edited it.). I just poured a can of crushed pineapple over it as mentioned in the directions. No additional liquid necessary. If you use something other than pineapple just substitute an approximately equal measure – about 2 cups.
I found this in a random search for “How to cook a Frozen Ham In the Pressure CCooker”. I made it and it turned out SO good!!! Thank you for taking the time to post this!
God bless you,
Susie
Oh, I’m so glad you liked it. I find it really handy to be able to cook a frozen ham in a pinch.
Would you use low normal or high for the pressure cook setting? I’m so new to this and have basically no idea what I’m doing ?♀️
I use the manual setting and adjust the time. The default setting for the manual button is high pressure. I found this which might be helpful: https://dontmesswithmama.com/how-to-use-the-buttons-on-the-instant-pot/
I also searched for a recipe for a frozen ham in instant pot and came up with this. I will try it tonight. I have a large (8qt) instant pot, which requires a minimum of 2cups to reach pressure safely, so I think I will do a Pot-in-Pot method.
I’d love to hear how it turns out. I did a frozen ham Tuesday night. Instead of crushed pineapple I made more of a savory gravy which I then poured over rice. It was so good! Tonight I’ve got beans cooking in the Instant Pot along with leftover diced ham.
How many pounds is your “small” ham.? I have 3 lbs of frozen ham and I am a beginner with the instant pot. Any tips?
I would estimate mine was about 1-2 pounds. I would start with the suggested time. You can always add a bit more if needed.
How long do you need to cook a 10 lb. frozen ham for in the instant pot ???
A 10 pound ham will just barely fit an 8 qt. Instant Pot from what I could find. Mine is 6 qt. so I don’t have personal experience cooking one that large. If your ham does fit I would try 40-45 minutes and then check the internal temperature. Pre-cooked (fully cooked) hams need to be heated to 140 degrees, uncooked hams to 145 degrees. The cooking time in an Instant Pot likely won’t be significantly different for a larger ham but it will take longer to come up to pressure. I hope that helps.
Also, I don’t have pineapple. Can I just do brown sugar and maple syrup?
Absolutely! You’ll need some liquid, though. Chicken broth or water will do. Perhaps a cup?
Thanks so much for the recipe it looks delicious cannot wait to try it this evening for my daughter’s birthday thanks again
Happy birthday to your daughter!
I want to use this recipe with a ham that isn’t frozen. Wondering what the cooking time would be?
Thanks!
I would think that a small, sliced ham would cook in about 8-10 minutes but that’s just a guess.