Air Fryer Ham Steak with Pineapple and Brown Sugar
This easy air fryer ham steak requires just 4 ingredients and is ready in less than 15 minutes. It’s perfect for breakfast, brunch, or paired with sides for a full dinner!
Preheat your air fryer to 380°F (or 375°F, depending on your air fryer’s available settings)
In a small bowl, combine brown sugar and hot sauce to make a paste
2 Tbsp brown sugar, 1 Tsp hot sauce
Pat the ham dry. Then, spread half of the paste on one side of the steak
12 Ounce ham steak
Place ham steak in preheated air fryer basket in a single layer (cut to fit if needed)
Cook for 5 minutes on air fryer setting at 380°F
Remove basket from air fryer. Flip ham steak over. Apply the other half of the sugar paste (I recommend a basting brush or spoon since it will be hot). Place the pineapple slices on top of the sugar
4 Slices pineapple rings
Return basket to air fryer and cook for an additional 5-7 minutes at 380°F, or until ham steaks are desired level of brown and the internal temperature reaches 145°F
Serve with your favorite sides for a complete meal!
Notes
Any kind of ham steaks work. You can use bone in as well as boneless. Typical flavor offerings include smoked, honey cured, and brown sugar (so choose according to tastes and desired seasonings). Smithfield recommends 3 oz per person, but adjust to your tastes
Brown sugar may be swapped for equal amounts of honey or maple syrup, or omitted entirely if preferred
For a savory variation, use Dijon mustard, honey mustard, or barbecue sauce instead of the sugar
If you don’t want any spice (but to be clear this is not a spicy recipe as-is), you can skip the hot sauce. Alternatively, sub ½ tsp black pepper or sriracha instead
The pineapple is completely optional, so feel free to leave it off if you’re not a fan. If you use canned, make sure to get it packed in juice instead of syrup
You can use your air fryer to just heat up plain ham steak as well - don’t feel compelled to add anything else if you don’t want to!
If you’re not using anything sweet, you can cook your ham steaks at 400°F instead, which cuts total cooking time down to around 8 minutes. The higher temp will burn sugars, though, which is why the recipe is lower
Feel free to cut your ham steaks to fit in your air fryer basket. Halves or quarters work great, and even give you extra edges to caramelize!
Ham steaks have a lot of salt already in them, so you shouldn’t need to add any more. However, always give things a taste and adjust if needed!
My Smithfield ham steaks were perfectly browned after 12 minutes in a Ninja Foodi Dual Zone air fryer. However, other air fryers and brands of ham steaks may vary slightly
Exact nutritional values will vary based on brand of ingredients, sauces and substitutions, and quantity consumed, so please consider this a guideline only
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