Every Christmas we have ham for dinner. It’s been a tradition for as long as I can remember along with lasagna (is that a thing?). Then we went about 364 days without it again. That changed when I learned how to make ham steaks in the air fryer.
I never knew they sold just ham slices until about a year or two ago. It honestly changes the game when it comes to ham. You get the taste of a big sliced ham in less work.
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I love serving it with a side of air fryer green beans. You can make this delicious Asian-inspired air fryer green beans recipe or just follow the cooking directions and cook with olive oil and a little salt and pepper.
It only takes 20 minutes to make both the air fryer ham steaks and green beans, even if you make them at separate times!
You can make this recipe with plain, honey, or brown sugar ham steaks.
If using brown sugar ham steaks, you can reduce the brown sugar in this recipe by 25% (to 1 ½ tablespoon) and add in the optional honey.
I love topping my ham steaks with pineapple sauce or gravies like my ham gravy or mushroom gravy.
I personally made this recipe inside the Cosori Air Fryer. I love that the square basket gives extra room, so if you want to cook the ham and green beans all at once in layers with the rack included in the accessory kit, you can.
It’s the perfect size for my family of four and we can constantly cook our meals in just one batch.
Read more about my full review of the Cosori Air Fryer here.
How to Make Ham Steaks in the Air Fryer
Preheat your air fryer to 380 degrees.
Combine the melted butter and brown sugar in a bowl and mix well to combine. It may look like a decent amount of mixture to add to the ham, but it’s the perfect amount. I promise.
Place the ham steak in the preheated air fryer and baste on half of the brown sugar and butter mixture.
Cook the ham slice for about 5-6 minutes then flip it over.
Baste the remaining butter and brown sugar mixture on top and add the honey, if using.
Continue to cook for another 5-6 minutes.
Remove ham steaks from the air fryer and enjoy!
What Happens If My Air Fryer Starts Smoking?
If your ham is a little on the fatty side, you may notice a little smoke coming from your air fryer.
This occurs when fat drips off the food and goes down in the drawer.
Since air fryers work with 360-degree air circulation, the air brings the fat from the basket up and it hits the coils near the fan on top.
If this happens, stop your air fryer immediately and do one of two things. Either add a piece of bread under the basket or add a tiny bit of water under the basket.
I like to cook with a piece of bread under the basket any time I cook something that can be considered fatty.
We always have extra bread, so it doesn’t put any extra bread to waste.
How Do I Reheat Ham in an Air Fryer?
Preheat the air fryer to 320 degrees.
It’s important to keep the heat much lower than the original cook time to avoid the ham from burning on the outside before cooking on the inside.
Place the ham slices in the air fryer and cook for 2-3 minutes until heated thoroughly. You can layer the ham slightly if needed.
Remove the ham from the air fryer and enjoy immediately.
Other Air Fryer Recipes You’ll Enjoy:
- Air Fryer Ham
- Air Fryer Spam
- Air Fryer Honey Cinnamon Butternut Squash
- Air Fryer Baked Sweet Potato Recipe
- Insanely Easy Air Fried Oreos
- Air Fryer Hot Dogs
Air Fryer Ham Steaks
Ingredients
- 1 ham steak
- 2 tablespoons butter melted
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar packed
- 1 teaspoon honey* optional
Instructions
- Preheat your air fryer to 380 degrees.
- Remove the ham steak from its packaging.
- Mix the brown sugar and melted butter together in a bowl.
- Place ham steak in the air fryer and baste half of the mixture on top of the ham slice.
- Cook for 10-12 minutes, flipping and basting the ham steak again halfway through.
- Remove from the air fryer and drizzle optional honey on top.
Notes
Nutrition
This nutrition information is based on the exact products I used in this recipe. Brands and sizes of products could alter exact nutrition and should always be calculated independently.
For the ham slices when you say put in air fryer do you mean set it on air fryer or bake the slice. I gave up on ham slices after the first time that I tried one but am anxious to get one and try it your way.
Hi Jaclyn, I am a little confused by what you mean when you say “or bake the slice.” Do you have an air fryer that has a bake option or did you mean something else?
Yes
Okay, that makes sense. All my recipes will use the air fry function. The bake function works more like an oven whereas the air fryer function will turn on the fan inside for the 360 air frying effect.
Would a bone in ham steak work?
Yes! It might heat up a bit faster, so just keep an eye on it and pull it once it’s warm enough!
I don’t want to use brown sugar or butter is the time still the same ? My husband has diabetes and high cholesterol this is the reason for not using the top two ingredients
Hi Linda, yes! Time and temperature will stay the same!
This was a.Really
Thank you Samantha for this really quick and easy to follow recipe. Brilliant! My smoked gammon turned out really tasty.
I’d overbought meat for Christmas and had a joint nearing the use by date. struggling for ideas I found your lovely recipe so cut two thick steaks from the joint. To add a bit of zing I added garlic granules, a little Worcester sauce and a few drops of light soy sauce.
I used a ninja at a lower temp setting to avoid over-browning. I was still left with a 6″ thick joint and put that into the aluminium fish with the juices and marinade from the previous steaks and reduced the heat to 160C and again it turned out great.
aluminium fish?
think she meant dish ,just hit the wrong button !
I have a 4 lb. boneless ham I want to cook in the air fryer for dinner and lunchmeat. No marinade. but I can’t find any cooking instructions for a ham of this kind. Time and temp would sure help.
Hi Yvette, if it’s 4lbs, I would cook it like this air fryer ham recipe I am linking and increase the cooking time by 10 minutes each time and go from there. https://www.everydayfamilycooking.com/air-fryer-ham/
This is an excellent recipe, plus simple & quick. It’s just my husband & me, and I get tired of messing with bone-in or spiral hams. I bought the ham steaks and then went in search of best way to prepare in the air fryer…THIS was the winner! Prepared twice now—delicious!
Hi Carol, I absolutely agree! These ham steaks are a great way to have it without committing to a big spiral ham. So glad to hear you enjoyed it.
Perfect timing
I have a ham steak in the fridge.And now I know what i’m gonna do with it. I always pan-fried it with the butter and brown sugar, this way sounds healthier.
Hi MJ, I think you’re gonna love this recipe! Enjoy!