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    Home » Christmas » Shopping for Christmas Dinner » Costco Ham Prices 2024

    Costco Ham Prices 2024

    Published: Mar 29, 2023 · Modified: Jan 11, 2024 by Eric Samuelson

    Shopping for ham for Christmas or Easter? Below you will find our guide to what Costco has to offer in 2023. Find out how much does a ham cost.

    Kirkland Foil Packaged Applewood Smoked Spiral Sliced Ham with nature juices

    This post includes affiliate links. This means that, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. These are products and services I recommend because I use or trust them. Cookies will be used to track the affiliate links you click.

    Costco offers 3 types of ham - a spiral ham, the boneless Master Carve ham, and Smithfield ham steaks. Prices range from $2.29/lb up to $4.79/lb. More details below.

    Twice a year I see a lot of activity on our ham posts on this blog - Christmas and Easter (and Thanksgiving to a lesser extent). A big hunk of ham is often our choice for big meals. It feeds a lot and it so easy to cook since it comes already cooked.

    Is Costco's ham good? I believe so. We have gotten plenty of hams at Costco over the years, so we have a good idea of what you can expect. This guide will help you pick out your ham and hopefully answer all of your ham questions.

    Jump to:
    • 💲 What is the Price of Ham
    • 🏆 What is the Best Ham to Buy
    • 🙋 What Does "In Nature Juices" Mean?
    • 🧰 My Favorite Tool
    • 📧 Sign Up for Emails
    • 🐖 More Ham Posts
    • 🥩 More Costco Guide
    Hams in boxes in the refrigerated section of a Costco store.
    These were the prices I found for Easter in 2022. They have changed for 2023.

    💲 What is the Price of Ham

    Here are the prices of ham at Costco. I recorded these prices while a Costco store in Spanish Fork, UT on December 6, 2023. Costco consistently offers their spiral ham and Master Carve ham. Below I list how much a pound for each ham and how much they weigh on average. Prices may vary by store so take this as a general guide. I saw a price drop on the spiral ham from Easter to Christmas this year.

    Ham TypePer Pound PriceSizeFinal Cost
    Kirkland Master Carve Half Ham $2.99/lb3-4.5 lb avg$8.97-$13.46
    Kirkland Spiral Sliced Ham $2.29/lb8-12 lb avg$18.32-$27.48
    Smithfield Ham Steaks$4.79/lb3.5 lb avg$15.72 ($3.50 off each package at checkout til 12/24/23)

    Costco use to offer a Master Carve ham in a full size until they went to the half size a several years ago. It's easier to still get a full ham, buy two halves!!!! Also there use to be a currant glaze that came with the ham.

    🍽️ Many people have complained about the glaze for the Master Carve ham being gone, so I came up with a new glaze recipe that I like more than the one that use to come with the ham.

    A cooked and glazed Kirkland Spiral Ham on a sheet pan with carrots and brussels sprouts

    I don't always find the same spiral ham exactly. I have seen one that come in a gold foil that was Applewood Smoked and I have more often see the red foil one that is Hickory Smoked.

    You can buy your ham a couple weeks before the holiday as they last in the fridge for a long time. No reason to grab a ham last minute unless you are tight on fridge space. The spiral hams I found in early December had a use by date that was in mid-February.

    Close up of a package of Kirkland Brand Applewood Smoked Master Carve half Boneless Ham with Nature Juices.

    🏆 What is the Best Ham to Buy

    Which ham do I choose?

    For a while I was going for the Master Carve Ham. The reason being is that I like that the Master Carve is a boneless ham that hasn't been shaped into a log. The ham has a more natural look. Reason why it's called a Master Cave is that it is so easy to carve since the bone is gone and you don't have any weird fatty areas.

    I think the Master Carve ham is a better value as you get 100% useable meat, although it has gone up in price so it's not as much of a better value as before. I can understand that desire to bring to the table a delicious looking spiral ham. It wins for appearance. And it's also nice to have the leftover bone for soup.

    If you are serving a very small crowd it might be tempting to just go with the ham steaks from Smithfield, but I don't think it's worth paying the higher cost per pound. My Costco was offering $3.50 off per package if you buy before Christmas, which does bring the price down some

    You can find the smallest Master Carve Ham (around 3 lbs) and just freeze whatever you don't finish. I have cut the Master Carve Ham into steaks before, they just look more irregular.

    One of the biggest problems I have had with eating spiral hams cooked is that they dry out easily. So we came up with some tips on How to Keep a Spiral Ham From Drying Out.

    Kirkland Signature Spiral Slice Ham with Natural Juices in red foil on a table.

    🙋 What Does "In Nature Juices" Mean?

    Both the Master Carve and Spiral are "hams in natural juices". What does that mean? The protein level is no less than around 18%. Water is added but less than "Ham, water added or ham and water product" both of which are going to have a lot of water weight and thus a watered down taste. If a ham just says "ham" then zero water is added.

    A ham in natural juices is a stepdown from just "ham", which you don't find a lot of in stores, for more of us it's going to be our best option.

    🍖 Read our post on different types of ham.

    🧰 My Favorite Tool

    As a final word of advice, I always recommend that whenever you are cooking a ham, that you use a probe thermometer. The one I use is DOT® Simple Alarm Thermometer. These take the guess work out of to when your meat is perfectly done the way you want it.

    A thermometer has saved me so much stress and heartache over the years. I am always telling people to get one, for good reasons!

    📧 Sign Up for Emails

    Are you a fan of buying meat at Costco? Then you must sign up for our email updates below.

    🐖 More Ham Posts

    Here are some helpful ham posts you will want to read

    • How to Freeze Leftover Ham
    • What's in Ham
    • Can You Cook a Ham in the Instant Pot
    • How to Keep Spiral Ham from Drying Out
    • Easy Sides to Serve with Ham

    🎧 Listen to Episode 034 of our podcast on - How to Manage Buying Bulk Costco Meat

    🥩 More Costco Guide

    Here are guides to different meats at Costco

    • Beef
    • Pork
    • Chicken
    • Fish
    • Shrimp
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    Nice to Meet You,

    Hi! I'm Eric : Father of 4, living just south of Ann Arbor, MI. I'm a reformed picky eater finding a new way to not conform. Eating what's in season is my jam (I also make it!)

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