Hawaiian Bone in Smoked Ham Crock Pot Recipe

If you’re looking for an easy weeknight meal for the Crock Pot, this is one option! Using a pre-cooked Smoked Ham and a couple canned ingredients like Pineapple will have this Ham falling off the bone by the time dinner rolls around.

So I have a bit of a confession – I don’t typically care for Ham or Pineapple, and especially don’t care for both of them together. However, this Crock Pot recipe for Hawaiian Ham using Smoked Ham instead of a honey based Ham may just be a new monthly favorite. Even better is the ability to use this one meal for three meals! Starting off with a Smoked Ham you can make this recipe one night, the leftover Ham pieces for my Hawaiian Ham Pizza, and then use the bone and bits to make Split Pea Soup. Whether you’re a Mom like me needing to feed a bunch of hungry boys, or you are on a tight budget and cannot fathom wasting a bit of food – this is a perfect meat to invest in. You can seriously make so many meals with just one Ham.

What is Smoked Ham?

It’s common to hear the meat of pork referred to three different ways: sausage or ground pork, pork chops, and ham. However, “Ham” can refer to a few different areas of the pig and comes in a variety of cuts. Some of the most common cuts of Ham refer to the Pork Butt and Ham itself. Pork Butt is actually the shoulder of the pig and can have the bone in or removed. The Ham is the leg and refers to the area of which it comes: the Hamstring. A legitimate Ham can also come with the bone in or removed.

A Smoked Ham or Smoked Shoulder (Pork Butt, etc.) is created through the process of hot smoking where the meat is cooked in smoke until it reaches an internal temperature of 158 degrees F. Most Hams you purchase from the store come pre-cooked. The process (however you decide) of “cooking” it at home, is really just warming it up. Smoked Ham like this one that we got from Mighty Oaks Farm when we purchased our half-pig, was hot smoked at the butcher’s and therefore cooked by that process. It’s a low and slow process of essentially cooking the Ham in an outdoor oven with the use of desired wood (like Applewood that you see on bacon packages at the store). The heat from the “oven” cooks the Ham while permeating it with the smoke from the wood burning. Doing so in a low and slow manner will allow for a flavor that penetrates the meat, not just the skin.

If you want to smoke your own pre-cooked Ham from the store, check out this video.

How to Cook a Smoked Ham in a Slow Cooker

Cooking a Smoked Ham in the slow cooker is super easy. As mentioned before, it’s really just heating the piece through. This is the perfect cut of meat to put in a crock pot with a bit of liquid before leaving for the day. The longer it cooks, the more tender it becomes and will fall off the bone in an easier manner. For this recipe I placed a small bag of frozen pineapple, and one whole yellow onion cut in the bottom of the Crock Pot, and placed the frozen, Smoked Ham on top. Then I took a can of Sloppy Joe sauce and poured it on top. Put the cover on, turn on low, and leave it for the day to come home to a smokey, easy dinner. Cook up some Minute Rice and any other veggies you may like to go with it, and serve in a big bowl. You could also use canned pineapple. In this case, keep the juice. The liquid from the canned pineapple and the Sloppy Joe sauce will be enough liquid to keep the Smoked Ham from burning to the bottom.

What to serve Smoked Ham with

Just like here you can serve this Hawaiian Smoked Ham with rice and it’s a great compliment. There is already so much going on with the Ham and the sauce that you don’t want any sides competing with the flavor. Other sides such as mashed potatoes and polenta would be equally satisfying. For our dinner, I sauteed zucchini in olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder and added it to the bowl. Super simple, a bit “bland” but great vehicles for all that flavor from the sauce. This acorn squash side dish cooked on the grill would be great too with it’s subtly smokey flavor.