Get ready to create the perfect Easter dinner from start to finish! In this step-by-step guide, we’ll show you how to prepare every essential dish for your holiday feast, from a mouth-watering roast ham to delicious sides and two irresistible desserts. Whether you're cooking Easter dinner for the first time or you're a seasoned pro looking for new ideas, this video covers all the bases with easy-to-follow instructions and expert tips. You’ll learn how to make a perfectly cooked roast ham, creamy deviled potatoes, a zesty layer salad, and an Easter dirt cake that will wow your guests. Plus, we’ll walk you through slow cooker mac and cheese, TikTok green beans, and soft, fluffy dinner rolls.
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00:00I'm gonna show you how to make the easiest,
00:02most delicious classic Easter dinner.
00:04I'm keeping budget in mind.
00:05I've got a few tricks up my sleeve.
00:07We're not even gonna break a sweat.
00:08I have done no prep other than buy the groceries.
00:11So I'm gonna show you how easy it can be.
00:13I'm gonna start with the ham
00:14because every Easter table has to have a ham.
00:16This one is going to make for easy cleanup
00:18and incredible flavor with a secret ingredient,
00:21a Dr. Pepper.
00:23I've picked up a bone-in spiral sliced ham.
00:26A bone-in is going to be your most flavorful cut
00:28and I like to get the ones that are already spiral sliced
00:31just to keep things extra easy.
00:32I'm just gonna rub it down
00:33with a little bit of mustard and brown sugar.
00:35We're gonna keep cleanup easy also by using these bags.
00:38The bags help trap in the flavor and the moisture,
00:41so they're gonna keep this ham from drying out.
00:43Pour in our Dr. Pepper.
00:45Now you wanna get as much air out as possible
00:48and then seal it up.
00:50You just place it into the dish.
00:52Even though we kinda just like trapped all that flavor in
00:55by keeping all the flavor close to the ham,
00:57the instructions still say to kinda prick a couple holes.
01:00I'm just gonna kinda do that at the top
01:02just to let the steam escape.
01:04The ham is fully cooked when you get it,
01:06but you need to like infuse those flavors
01:07kinda low and slow in the oven.
01:09In case you missed this viral sensation,
01:12this is a cross between potato salad,
01:14meats, deviled eggs, deviled potatoes.
01:17So on the Easter table,
01:18it's killing two birds with one stone.
01:20These are so addictive, so I'm making double.
01:23So we got a big crowd here
01:24and they were fighting over these last time I made them.
01:26So you wanna get these baby gold potatoes.
01:29It's the perfect egg shape.
01:31I'm just gonna cover them with water,
01:33salt it up and bring them to a boil.
01:35Dish number three, we're just knocking it out.
01:36This dessert has been one of my greatest newfound tricks,
01:40turning a box cake mix into a brownie.
01:43I've done it with strawberry.
01:45Today I'm doing lemon.
01:46Lemon just reminds me of Easter.
01:48One box of cake mix going in,
01:51and you just add two eggs and a third cup of oil.
01:54And then just a dash of vanilla.
01:56And then you mix it up.
01:56The batter's really thick,
01:58so you have to spread it into your baking pan.
01:59I'm gonna do double insurance and spray and line.
02:04Trust the process.
02:05Spray the back of a knife or a spatula.
02:08That'll help spread it out.
02:09This just goes into the oven 350 degrees
02:11for about 16 to 18 minutes.
02:13Doesn't get any easier.
02:15Potatoes are fork tender, which is what you want.
02:19Hit them with a little cold water to stop cooking.
02:23Now we're ready to turn these into deviled eggs.
02:25All right, at this point we're going to halve our potatoes.
02:28Scoop out the center.
02:29It's easiest to use like a measuring spoon or something
02:31that has like a really thin rim around it.
02:34And then just kind of scoop out the filling.
02:37I'm leaving a little border around it just to keep its shape.
02:41And then we're going to put the filling into a bowl
02:43and turn that into potato salad.
02:45Now you want to kind of mash it up a little bit.
02:47I'm going to add in my green onions, some sweet relish.
02:50You could also do dill relish, but we just always do sweet relish.
02:53Just a little.
02:54Woo!
02:55Just a tiny bit of mustard,
02:56but I didn't have control over that.
02:58I don't know where that went.
02:59And some good old mayonnaise.
03:01Salt and pepper.
03:02Simplicity at its finest.
03:08Perfection.
03:09All right, so I'm going to take this filling
03:10and spoon it into a plastic bag.
03:12This makes for like fast, easy piping,
03:14but you can just spoon it in there also.
03:15You put these on a deviled egg platter.
03:17People are going to have to do a double take.
03:19They're going to think they're eggs, but they're not.
03:21So dang cute.
03:24Just go ahead and do a little quality control.
03:29Once you make these, I don't know if you'll go back to deviled eggs.
03:32You can just use some of the extra green onion we have,
03:36or you can go in with some chive.
03:38And you know every deviled egg has to have a little paprika.
03:41I know.
03:42You don't have to tell me.
03:43They're the cutest things ever.
03:45These are going to fly off the table.
03:46I'm warning you.
03:47You may want to double the recipe.
03:49For the glaze, just super simple.
03:51I'm going to do powdered sugar.
03:52I'm going to do lemon zest and lemon juice.
03:55Stir it up.
03:58Okay.
03:59I'm going to go in with a little bit of salt.
04:01Okay.
04:02So my brownies have been cooling.
04:03They're pretty much room temperature.
04:04It's okay if they're slightly warmer, but you don't want them to be hot.
04:07And then you want to pour on the glaze and then spread it from edge to edge.
04:13Okay.
04:14Now what you have to do is let them sit until they are completely cooled.
04:18You want that glaze to almost like harden.
04:20It kind of creates like a little bit of a shell.
04:22Let's get those brownies plated up.
04:25Y'all these are going to be so good.
04:27Just going to go ahead and get a cheap taste test.
04:29Just make sure they're okay for everybody.
04:34This is another one.
04:35You just might want to double or cut into smaller pieces.
04:37I'm just going to garnish the top with a thinly sliced lemon.
04:41Springtime on a platter.
04:42Happy Easter.
04:43Dessert one is done.
04:45Call me old fashioned, but one of my favorite things on the Easter table is a layer salad.
04:49Seven layer salad is classic.
04:51I'm going to eliminate an ingredient, take a little shortcut and make this a little cheaper.
04:56Iceberg lettuce is the lettuce to use.
04:59You can't use any other lettuce.
05:00Give it a smack.
05:02Pull that core out and give it a little wash and a chop.
05:05What's great about this salad is that it's really good made in advance.
05:09This is one you can make the day before.
05:11Desserts you can make the day before.
05:13Although remember, I'm doing all this the day of in real time.
05:17This is your big layer, your main layer.
05:19After this layer, some onion.
05:21You can make this even a less layer salad if you don't want the onion, but I think the onion is essential.
05:26Red onion.
05:27There's a lot of richness going on.
05:29It's nice to have this little bite.
05:31Next essential ingredient.
05:33Frozen peas.
05:35It's good if they're still like partially thawed or a little bit frozen.
05:38Because when you see the dressing, the dressing is like super thick.
05:42So a little moisture from these vegetables thins it out and it makes it like a traditional ranch or something.
05:47Okay.
05:48And then cheese.
05:49So cheddar cheese is common.
05:51You can grab pre shredded.
05:52All right.
05:53Now for the dressing.
05:54The dressing is only three ingredients.
05:55And I'm telling you it's a weird combination, but it just works.
05:59Mayonnaise.
06:00A lot of it.
06:02Couple tablespoons of sugar.
06:04You trust me by now, don't you?
06:06A little black pepper.
06:08This is a layer, so it's really like six layers.
06:10And then I'll save the bacon for the top layer.
06:12And that's it.
06:13We are just on a roll.
06:15You see how fast these are?
06:16And easy.
06:17And affordable.
06:18I'm giving you two desserts because I'm just so generous like that.
06:21This next one's for the kids, but if you're an adult like me that loves this kind of thing,
06:24it's for you too.
06:25A dirt cake, but we're making an Easter version.
06:27You've seen these for like Halloween.
06:29They've got worms and stuff coming out of it.
06:31But the main thing about this is that it's easy.
06:33Easy because it's a no-bake dessert, and those are my favorite kind.
06:36So you just want to start by making the dirt, which are just ground up Oreos or store-brand sandwich cookies.
06:42We're going to save some for the topping, and then we're going to add melted butter to the rest to form our crust.
06:46Okay, just kind of moisten all of those cookies with butter, and then I'm going to press it onto the bottom of a casserole dish.
06:53I'm just going to pop this in the fridge while we do the rest.
06:58For the filling, I'm just going to whip together some softened cream cheese with some softened butter.
07:02Once your butter cream cheese mixture is all whipped and smooth, then you gradually add in powdered sugar.
07:08Okay, now I'm going to whip up the pudding mix just using like jello pudding with less milk than it calls for so it's nice and thick.
07:15So you whip this together, and then you let it stand for a second.
07:18Add in a little vanilla to make it taste homemade.
07:21Now it's already thick, so now we're going to add this pudding mixture into our cream cheese mixture.
07:27Dip on.
07:29And now we fold in some Cool Whip.
07:32Okay, this goes over our first layer of dirt.
07:35Mm-hmm, that's pretty perfect.
07:38So now we're going to take that dirt that we saved, and we're going to put some on the top, and now you get to decorate.
07:44So if you don't want to buy anything for this dessert and you're making it Easter morning, what I would do is just take some candy out of my kids' baskets.
07:52So you can get like edible Easter grass, or you can do what we did, which is take some coconut and just kind of dye it green.
07:58And your chicken can sit in the grass.
08:00So cute.
08:01Maybe I'm going to add some sprinkles around the edge.
08:04That is cute.
08:05Admit it.
08:06Can't wait to dig into this one.
08:08Oh my gosh, this looks beautiful.
08:11Who knew all it took was Dr. Pepper and a bag.
08:14I left it in there a little extra time so that it would get extra caramelized, which I like those outer pieces, but the inside is still like pink and juicy.
08:23See?
08:24Juicy.
08:25And look how tender melts in your mouth.
08:29Mmm.
08:30Okay, Dr. Pepper.
08:31I see.
08:32Next, I've got mac and cheese because that's a crowd favorite.
08:35I'm making this one in the crock pot so you don't have to babysit it at all.
08:38I created this recipe years ago based on a recipe my mother-in-law had given me.
08:42I almost prefer this mac and cheese versus one like baked in the oven.
08:45It is so rich and creamy.
08:47Once you kind of get it all prepped and in the crock pot, you don't have to babysit it.
08:50So you can cook it in there and then just keep it on warm until it's time to eat.
08:53You do need to boil your noodles.
08:56The thing is you're only going to boil them for just like about four minutes.
08:59That doesn't take long.
09:00Okay, now this just goes straight into the crock pot and we dump everything else in.
09:03This recipe gets a can of evaporated milk and also regular milk.
09:07Then you're going to take a little cream cheese and just cube it up and stir it in.
09:11We're also going to cube up a stick of butter and add that in.
09:14Some black pepper.
09:15I'm just adding in one egg and one egg yolk.
09:18It just kind of helps pull it together and also has a little richness with that yolk.
09:22For the cheese, I'm just choosing one kind.
09:24You can mix it up, do whatever you want.
09:25You need about a pound.
09:26So save about three quarters of a cup to a cup for the topping and put the rest in there.
09:31I promised you easy and easy is what we have.
09:34Here's the deal.
09:35This one only takes about an hour on low.
09:37So you can get it to this point, crank it on later, or you can go ahead and cook it
09:40and then just turn your crock pot down to warm just to keep it warm.
09:43Green beans go in next.
09:44I like to call these TikTok green beans because I saw them all over my feed a year or two ago.
09:49They went viral, but I couldn't understand why.
09:52They are the easiest things I've ever seen.
09:54And they start from frozen green beans.
09:56And this is the key.
09:57So you can do one or two bags.
09:59You just dump them in slowly.
10:01Talk about no prep.
10:02This is the perfect kind of recipe.
10:03Drizzle with olive oil.
10:05Salt, pepper, and garlic powder is all that you do for stage one.
10:09Toss it around a little bit.
10:11This goes into the oven 400 degrees for just about 35 minutes.
10:14That gives you time to get everything else together and wait on your guests to come.
10:19Mac and cheese after about an hour.
10:22Another little final stir and then top it with the rest of the cheese.
10:26And now you're just going to cover it.
10:27I like to even crank it up to high.
10:29If you're watching it for just like 10 more minutes, then it'll kind of get a little crusty around the edge.
10:34You didn't think I forgot about the rolls, did you?
10:36The old brown and serves because they're cheap and easy, just like this whole dinner.
10:41But we're going to make them taste homemade.
10:43This is what you'll pop in the last 10 minutes of your green beans because they go in at the same temperature as the green beans.
10:48We're going to make a honey garlic butter to go on after they come out.
10:52As the butter melts in the microwave, it will infuse with the garlic.
10:56Okay, rolls and green beans are done.
10:59And I'll show you how to finish them both off.
11:02They do look perfectly cooked, I must say.
11:05You could just serve them just like this.
11:07She adds a little Parmesan cheese at the end.
11:09I'm adding what we have on hand.
11:11Some Asiago.
11:12Yes.
11:13Please.
11:14To go straight from the freezer to the oven.
11:18Those look good.
11:19Okay, and for the rolls, got our garlic honey butter.
11:22Paint it over the top and sprinkle it with a little flaky salt.
11:26Not that I really need to, but may as well do a taste test.
11:34Something so small could take something plain and make it just so special.
11:38And it's like you went above and beyond even when it came to the rules.
11:42Let's serve it up.
11:45Happy Easter.
11:46This is the perfect Easter dinner for when you want to save time and money.
11:50That does not look like it came together in one day.
11:52That is the perfect Easter plate.
11:56Mmm, that's perfect.
11:57Y'all, it really doesn't need to be any fussier than this anyway.
12:00So when it comes to a classic Easter dinner that saves you time and money,
12:04this is the one.
12:05I hope you try everything and let me know what you think.
12:08Happy Easter.
12:09Hoppy Easter.
12:10It's so good, y'all.
12:14It's so good.
12:16It's so good.
12:17It's so good.
12:18It's so good.
12:20Thank you so much, so much.