The Best Store-Bought Spiral Ham, Hands Down

A nice hunk of ham is always a welcome guest to a holiday dinner, whether it's your Christmas feast centerpiece or alongside a Thanksgiving turkey (or even, dare we say, replacing it). In the United States, there are plenty of options for the prospective purveyor of pork, but out of all cuts and preparations of ham, the simplest to use is spiral cut. These beauties come precooked and prepared in a certain way so that one simple cut will have perfect, even slices falling right off the bone. If you're already grabbing your keys to run to the nearest grocery store and pick up some spiral cut ham, your best bet is picking one up from Aldi. 

We analyzed the most-loved legs of hams across all major supermarkets and found a lot of top contenders. The Appleton Farms Spiral Sliced Ham, a seasonal favorite at Aldi, stands out above the rest for its reasonable price. It clocks in at less than $4 per pound, compared to $6.50 at Trader Joe's, all while not compromising on quality or flavor. In fact, some say the recipe has even improved in price and texture over the past few years, making an already great bargain a no-brainer.

The Boneless Spiral Sliced Ham from Appleton Farms comes fully cooked and hickory smoked, allowing for great flavor and extreme simplicity: Just chuck it in the oven and let the alluring aromas of smoked ham waft through your house. Since the Boneless ham doesn't have a bone — surprise, surprise — you do lose the benefit of making some delicious soup stock, but the ham comes with a glaze packet that gives you the option of either using the pre-made stuff or making your own gorgeous glaze. Even if you enjoy the convenience of the packet, a custom honey glaze will really bring out the flavor for a ham-azing experience (sorry).

There's plenty of appreciation for the Aldi ham. One Reddit user compared it to Honey Baked Ham, the gold (pink?) standard of ham, but for "half the price." Someone on Facebook went further to say it's even better than Honey Baked Ham, which comes out to over twenty bucks per pound. If you're venturing out to your local Aldi, make sure to pick up some ingredients that will help elevate your roast to the pinnacle of pork. We only wish this ham was available year round.