How to Cook Costco Kirkland Spiral Ham - Step by Step 2026

Learn whether a spiral ham from Costco is a good choice to buy for Christmas or Easter dinner. Get instructions on how to cook this ham so that it stays juicy and delicious.

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Whether it's Christmas or Easter you are going to find hams. And why not? They are easy to cook/reheat and they serve a lot of people for not a lot of money.

In today's post I am talking about the spiral sliced ham that you can get at your local Costco. I will talk about what kind of ham it is, how much you can expect to pay for it, and whether I think it's worth it or not.

Jump to:

• ❤️ What You'll Love About This Ham
• 🐖 What Kind of Ham?
• 💲 What is the Price?
• ⏲️ How Long Does It Take to Cook?
• ⏲️ Heating Instructions
• 🖌️ Adding the Glaze (Step by Step)
• ❔ When Do You Pull the Ham from the Oven?
• ⭐ How Good Is It?
• 🧊 Can You Freeze Leftovers?
• 🥔 What to Serve with Ham
• Reheated Costco Kirkland Spiral Ham

🐖 What Kind of Ham?

What are some features of this ham?

• Bone-in
• Spiral Sliced
• Hickory or Applewood Smoked
• Ham in natural juices
• Comes with a powdered glaze
• Gluten free

What does a ham in natural juices mean? It means that the protein level is no less than around 18%. Water is added, however it's less than a ham product that says "ham, water added". This is a step up from that.

Most of the time I have found the red foiled wrapped spiral hams that are hickory smoked. But I have seen ones that were wrapped in a gold foil that were applewood smoked. I have never seen both at the same time, so you aren't likely to find a choice, although I totally wish I could have a choice and compare them side by side.

💲 What is the Price?

In 2023, I found them for $2.29 a pound at a Costco in Spanish Fork, Utah. The average weight of the spiral hams is between 8 and 12 pounds, so the price you will pay in total will be around $18.32-$27.48. Most of the ones I saw were around $20 each. That is definitely not bad for meat that will feed a lot. My family of 6 could eat it 3 nights in a row.

When can you buy the ham before Christmas or Easter? Hams will last for a long time. I found the hams in the store had a use by date that was over 2 months into the future. You can buy one early on and store it in your fridge, no reason to freeze.

⏲️ How Long Does It Take to Cook?

I always say when cooking a big hunk of meat you want to cook it to temperature, not time.

There are too many variables to say an exact set time, including size and shape of meat, the condition of your oven, and even elevation can play a factor.

Since this ham is fully cooked, you are not so much cooking the ham, but reheating it. You want to reheat so that is hot and at a safe temperature to eat. That is going to be 140 degrees in the center of the ham.

Now the outer part of the ham will heat up faster then the deepest parts. If you cook the ham at a high temperature than the outer part will be dried out and the inner part will be cold still. The best way is to do a slow heat up at 275 degrees.

How long does it take to reheat? For my 8.6 pound ham it took 4 hours at 275 degrees to reach an internal temperature of 140 degrees in the deepest part of the meat. I also cooked it at over 5,000 feet of elevation.

Before I put my ham in the oven, I insert the probe of my thermometer into the deepest part of the meat without hitting the bone. If you are inserting it and you feel like you hit bone, pull it out a little and that should be a good spot.

Since I have a dual probe thermometer, the Smoke X from ThermoWorks, I was able to monitor two different sections of the ham. There was about a 4 degree difference when the ham was done. You can always use an instant read thermometer like the The Thermapen® ONE. to make sure it's reached 140 in all spots.

⏲️ Heating Instructions

Preheat the oven to 275 degrees.

Get your ham out of the fridge about 30 to 45 minutes before cooking. This will help to start bringing the temperature up.

Place the ham onto a sheet pan or roasting pan. You want the largest part of the ham to be on the bottom, like in the picture above.

Insert your probe of your thermometer into the thickest part of the ham trying not to hit any bone. That would throw off your reading.

Wrap the ham tightly in heavy duty aluminum foil, being careful to not mess up the placement of your probe. The foil will help keep the ham moist.

Place the ham into the oven and set your thermometer to go off at 128 degrees. Wait I thought you said 140 was the target temp. It is, however you will want to apply the glaze before it hits the final temperature.

🖌️ Adding the Glaze (Step by Step)

The glaze that came with the ham is a powder that you add water to and then warm up in a pan.

Here is how and when to apply the glaze:

• When the ham hits 128 degrees. Pull it from the oven and place on the stove top.
• Turn the oven up to 400 degrees.
• Remove the foil, you won't need it anymore. Brush the glaze all over the ham, then return the ham to the oven. The higher heat is needed for the glaze to caramelize on the outer layers of the ham. You aren't keeping it in too long, so you won't overcook it.

❔ When Do You Pull the Ham from the Oven?

Pull the ham from the oven when the temperature reaches 137 degrees. The temperature will keep rising for a bit when you pull it out. This is called carry over and you should easily make it past your 140 degree target temperature.

Give the ham about 15-20 minutes to rest before you start carving up the slices. It's very easy to pull apart slices with a fork.

⭐ How Good Is It?

This is a very tasty ham. I have been wanting to try them for a while. Not sure why I waited so long.

Here are the pros and cons of choosing this ham for Christmas or Easter.

👍 Pros - All hams are salty, that is the name of the game. But this ham was less salty than a lot of others. You could taste more of the meat and the smoke flavor. The price is good as well. A lot of spiral hams cost more than $3 a pound and this one is less than that and better than some of those. The glaze was decent. It had a strong brown sugar flavor and I felt like I tasted a little ginger.

👎 Cons - The glaze could have had more depth of flavor. I like ham with a little stronger smoky flavor.

The only real cons I could come up with are no big deals. I usually make my own ham glazes that add more flavor elements like vinegar or jalapeno, so this was better than other glazes that come with a ham. It still could use some work or enhancing.

I think the smoked flavor was good and what most people would want. I do like a stronger smoke flavor but that is just a personal preference. This ham is a crowd pleaser.

🧊 Can You Freeze Leftovers?

Absolutely. For my family of 6, we had about 3 full meals worth of ham. But it's hard to get everyone excited about eating it for 3 straight nights. You can easily freeze the ham. I prefer to do it in a vacuum sealed bag and portion it out into single servings, so that when you thaw you are only thawing what you will eat that night.

Always date and label whatever you freeze so your future self will know what it's in the bag and how old it is.

For more tips, check out my post - Can You Freezer Leftover Ham? Don't forget to freeze the bone too if you aren't going to make soup with it right away.

🥔 What to Serve with Ham

Here are some side dish ideas from around the blog that would go perfect with this ham.

• Mixed Colored Mashed Potatoes
• Air Fried Green Beans
• Honey Tarragon Carrots
• Parkerhouse Rolls

For more ideas of what to serve with ham, particularly for Easter, check out my blog post on What to Serve with Ham.