Appleton Farms Hickory Smoked Boneless Spiral Sliced Ham
EDITOR’S NOTE: We most recently bought this ham and updated this review in November of 2025. Aldi is selling this ham again in March of 2026 for the same price of $3.95 per pound.
If you want to serve a ham for a special occasion such as Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas, or the New Year, Aldi is a great place to find a good deal on your main course. The discount grocer has sold a variety of hams over the years, and we’ve written about several of them here, including a hardwood smoked butt portion bone-in ham, an applewood smoked uncured spiral ham, and a spiral sliced hickory smoked honey ham.
Back in 2022, I found a boneless spiral ham that I didn’t recall seeing in Aldi stores before. I bought it and put it to a taste test with my family. I’ve seen it most years at Aldi since then, and in 2025 I bought one again to see if it was still as good as before.
Appleton Farms Hickory Smoked Boneless Spiral Sliced Ham cost $3.95 per pound in 2025. I purchased a 3.66-pound ham for $14.46. Aldi sold this ham again in 2026 for the same price.
The price is slightly down from $3.99 per pound in 2022, when I purchased a 4.13-pound ham for $16.48.
This is a Seasonal Item, which means Aldi will stock it for a few weeks up to a couple of months, but it’s not something you’ll find at Aldi all year. I originally bought this ham in late February 2022 when Aldi began stocking hams prior to the Easter season. Aldi also sells these hams in November and December for Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, and in 2025 I bought the ham in early November.
As of 2025, the ham is cured with water, dextrose, vinegar and 2% or less of salt, sodium phosphate, sodium erythorbate, and sodium nitrite. (The ham did not contain vinegar back in 2022, and it had a few more preservatives.)
As of 2025, the glaze includes water, brown sugar, high fructose corn syrup, honey, corn syrup, modified corn starch, soybean oil, cellulose gum, spices, and xanthan gum. Honey was not in the glaze back in 2022, and back then the glaze also contained some preservatives.
One 3-ounce serving of this ham with glaze has 120 calories, 5 grams of total fat (6% DV), 1.5 grams of saturated fat (8% DV), 680 mg of sodium (30% DV), 7 grams of total carbohydrates (3% DV), 6 grams of total sugars, 6 grams of added sugars (12% DV), and 12 grams of protein. If you eat the ham without the glaze, it only has 2 grams of added sugars (4% DV).
This ham used to have 830 mg of sodium and 8 grams of added sugars per serving when I first bought it in 2022, so those are some positive changes.
The ham is fully cooked, so all it requires is some simple heating if you want to eat it warm, although you can also eat it cold straight from the refrigerator.
How to Cook the Aldi Boneless Spiral Ham:
As of 2025, it comes with absolutely no heating instructions. I took apart the entire package, looked on the backs of labels, and checked everywhere, but there are no directions.
Back in 2022, there were no general heating instructions, but the package at least had instructions for applying the glaze that comes with it. Even those directions are now missing from the ham I bought in 2025. (I’m including a photo of the instructions on the glaze packet from 2022 farther down for reference.)
So, I had to wing it to heat the ham both times. Here’s how I recommend making it. Heat your oven to 350 degrees. Wrap the ham in foil to keep it from drying out. Place the wrapped ham in a roasting pan, or I used a Corningware baking dish. I baked my 3.66-pound ham in 2025 for 70 minutes, which comes out to about 19 minutes per pound. After 35 minutes of baking, I started checking the ham at roughly 15-minute internals, until the center was fully heated. There were a lot of juices pooled inside the bottom of the foil, so I drained them a little before adding the glaze.
You should also be able to heat this in a slow cooker. I haven’t yet tried that, though.
To use the glaze, the directions from the old 2022 label say to remove the ham from the oven and remove foil, then turn the ham on its side. (Be careful; the ham will be hot, and you might want to use utensils to move the ham.) Place the refrigerated glaze packet under warm water for 1 minte or until the glaze is softened. Cut off a corner of the packet and apply glaze evenly over the ham surface. Allow to sit 5-10 minutes while the glaze melts into the ham.
The glaze is different from other ham glazes I’ve used because it’s ready to apply to the ham. Most other hams I’ve had include a powdered mix of spices in a packet, and you’re supposed to add water to the mix and heat it on the stove top. Important: do not add water to this glaze. The glaze with this boneless spiral ham is more convenient because all I had to do was cut it open and drizzle it over the ham.
I feel like the consistency of the glaze is thicker now than what it used to be. It better coats the ham now, as opposed to running off and pooling in the bottom of the serving dish.
Something else that’s now different about this ham is that the spiral slicing doesn’t go as deep. Before, there was only a small portion of the ham toward the bottom center that was not cut all the way through, and that kept the whole ham from falling apart entirely. The ham was tender enough that it was was easy to pull off servings with a fork.
Now, though, the spiral slicing doesn’t go more than a couple of inches in. This is a newer issue we’ve noticed with some of the bone-in spiral hams Aldi has sold recently as well. You’ll need a kitchen knife to completely slice this boneless ham. It’s not that difficult to do, though.
There is one other notable difference between the current boneless spiral ham at Aldi and the one I bought several years ago. The former boneless ham had more of a processed texture not all that different from sliced deli ham, with no fatty portions. As of 2025, the texture is more like a traditional ham. It also has a noticeable amount of fat, mostly near the rind or skin, but there’s also a little fat scattered in other places. Bone-in hams can be fatty, too, so that’s not a deal breaker in my opinion.
Of course, there is no bone to make soup or ham and beans with later. However, this ham is a good choice if convenience is high on your priority list. It takes less time to heat compared to a bone-in ham, and the glaze is ready to serve. Even with some of its flaws — not being fully spiral sliced, being a bit fatty, not coming with heating instructions — it’s still a ham I’d buy again.
The Verdict:
Appleton Farms Hickory Smoked Boneless Spiral Sliced Ham is fully cooked and can be heated in the oven or served cold. It comes with a glaze that is ready to open and drizzle over the ham. This isn’t spiral sliced very well, and it is a bit fatty, but not more so than a bone-in ham. It doesn’t come with some of the perks of a bone-in ham (hello, ham bone bean soup), but it’s one of the more convenient hams we’ve seen Aldi sell. Our only real critique of this ham is that it comes with no instructions for heating the ham or applying the glaze.
I bought the bone-in spiral sliced and put it in my freezer. I have now cooked it and want to know if I can freeze the leftovers.
You certainly can freeze leftovers. I portion them into Ziploc freezer bags and save them for casseroles, soup, sandwiches, etc.
When do you glaze? Do you glaze and return to oven like old recipe?Used to say remove from oven during last 12 minutes or so, add glaze and return to oven.
The glazing directions are different for this boneless ham. They say to simply add the glaze after it’s completely done heating and give it a few minutes to “melt” in. Aldi sells several different kinds of hams, and the directions may vary, so be sure to read the directions that came with yours.
Thank you. Without general instructions with the product your review really helped!
Thank you for this article….I needed instructions as to oven temperature and timing…Thanks!!!
Thanks so much. I have no idea why they would leave the directions off the packaging. I appreciate your help in this.
I agree! Thanks for the information!
when will aldi have the hams for Thanksgiving?
Do you have a due date that the hams will be in the Aldis stores before 11-19-2022 ?? as this is the day, we celebrate Thanksgiving with our families. I usually shop in Marshalltown, Iowa but I go to church in Waterloo / Cedar Falls area so could stop there if needed.
A lot of hams are already in our local Aldi stores.
Just bought a spiral ham that is fully cooked and labeled “keep refrigerated”. Unfortunately I left it out overnight. Can I still cook it?
No, it needs to be tossed. Perishable food should not be left unrefrigerated for more than two hours. I’ve had food poisoning before and wouldn’t wish it on anyone. https://www.fsis.usda.gov/food-safety/safe-food-handling-and-preparation/food-safety-basics/steps-keep-food-safe
I have the boneless spiral ham in gold foil. Do I cook it in that foil.
No.
Can this be served without the glaze? Which way is best… with or without the glaze? Is it just a matter of preference?
It can be served with or without the glaze. It depends on whether you want the added sweetness.
Can I soak this ham I. Water to remove some of the salt content?
Had a “Never Any” boneless spiral cut ham for Easter. I added slices of fresh pineapple and heated it in the oven for about 1/2 hour. It looked beautiful but fell apart and was “mushy” in your mouth. It was not pleasant. It had the taste of ham that had been ground and pressed back together with some unknown gelital ingredient. Today, leftovers can be mashed with a fork, no actual
firmness to it. There is no way of serving slices.
Sounds like the fresh pineapple was the problem. Fresh pineapple has an enzyme that breaks down the meat. Canned pineapple is better for cooking with ham. https://www.everydayfamilycooking.com/pineapple-sauce-for-ham
I bought a 4.16lb boneless ham from Aldi and I ended up baking it at 325° in the oven and added 1/4 water to the shallow baking pan. I baked covered with foil for an 1.5 hrs. It was perfect. Happy Easter. 🌷
I bought this ham for Thanksgiving. TERRIBLE! The spiral went in only about 2 inches. My husband had to cut each piece by the time it was cut it was cold. Meat was tough and had no flavor. Worst ham I have ever served. Not buying this again!
We also think the spiral cut was a farce bearly cut. I think the spiraler is slacking on the job
Is the glaze for the hickory smoked spiral sliced ham gluten free?
I’m not sure. Aldi might be able to answer that question: https://www.aldireviewer.com/contact-aldi/
I was digging through my freezer and found an Appleton spiral cut half ham dated five years ago.
I cautiously thawed and heated it and thanks to the excellent vacuum packing it had no freezer burn at all.
I made sure the bone temp was at least 145°F and have had a few meals from this with no ill effects.
Color me amazed. I know consuming meat this old is risky but I was quite impressed with how well it kept.
That’s great! There are no health risks to eating old meat if it’s been frozen all that time. It just might not have the greatest texture or flavor anymore. Glad that doesn’t appear to have been an issue for you.
Ham is beautiful. I am very happy the web and internet give video and print cooking directions. Directions with packaging were faded and torn after unwrapping
Thank you so much for all the helpful tips, and instructions. My fiance just came home with this ham for tomorrow and we turned it inside and out and was like WHAT to having no instructions, lol. This is extremely helpful and to cut back on those really yucky ingredients in the glaze he always makes his own but the temps. you provided are so helpful. So thank you! Have a great Thanksgiving 😊
Glad to be of help! Happy Thanksgiving!
Thank you so much! I was going nuts when I couldn’t find the instructions.
You’re welcome! Happy to help!
I went crazy too looking for heating and glaze instructions! Thank you for all your information, the ham turned out excellent!
I cooked the boneless spiral for Easter. I didnt see instructions so I found your web site to help. As I was unwrapping the ham I took the sticky label from the goldfish foil packaging and instructions were on the back of the label. Thank you for your help. The ham was delicious!
Glad you found instructions. Maybe they’ve added instructions since we wrote this review, because we took the packaging apart entirely and found nothing.
I just picked up one of these from my local aldi because I couldn’t believe the price – it was heavily discounted from around $4~ a lb to 50 cents a lb… I thought it might be a mistake, but my receipt showed a $13~ dollar discount at the bottom. My math isn’t the best but $2~ for a ham of this size seems like a steal. I’m planning to go back and buy them out (there were around 3 left when I was there, hopefully there are still one or two)! What a bargain.