61 Easy Holiday Recipes That Require Minimal Effort

The holiday season is possibly the best time of the year when it comes to eating. As the first flakes of snow fall and Christmas decorations go up, roast dinners, warm drinks, and sweet desserts are on everyone's minds — turkeys roasted till golden brown, pies baked from scratch, potatoes so creamy that they melt in your mouth, and homemade eggnogs spiked with a splash of rum.

As much as the holidays are a season of enjoying hearty feasts, putting them together is an entirely different story. A survey conducted in 2021 found that the most stressful part about cooking during the holiday season is the cleaning up that it leads to, closely followed by how tricky it can be to time the cooking of holiday meals (via Cinch Home Services). Take the classic roast turkey, for instance, which can be a tedious affair considering the many steps that go into roasting a turkey correctly. Not to mention the array of side dishes that tend to go with it! All-in-all, you could be spending more time slaving away in the kitchen than actually enjoying the scrumptious holiday meal at the end.

Worry not, however, not all holiday recipes require hours of chopping, prepping, and stirring. With the help of these incredibly easy holiday recipes (and handy kitchen gadgets like crockpots, slow cookers, and an oven), holiday cooking this year will be easier than ever.

During a time when roasted meats and pies reign, it can be hard to find a side dish that won't sit neglected in a corner. Recipe developer Susan Olayinka's recipe gives the everyday chicken salad a festive spin with cranberries, pecans, apples, and a balsamic vinegar dressing. While the salad works as a wonderful side dish to accompany heavier mains, it can also double up as a delicious light lunch. Considering it only takes 10 minutes to come together, this holiday chicken salad deserves a seat on everyone's dining tables.

Recipe: Holiday Chicken Salad

Few things make for a better sharing appetizer than shrimp cocktail, partly because it tastes so good and partly because it's incredibly easy to make — all you need is some shrimp and a cocktail sauce! This recipe makes the already easy appetizer even easier by whipping a cocktail sauce out of four simple ingredients. You only need ketchup, horseradish, Worcestershire sauce, and lemon juice for this two-minute cocktail sauce but if you happen to have a few more ingredients to spare, consider throwing in a few herbs or spices for some oomph.

Recipe: Cocktail Sauce

When you're cooking for a big group of people or prepping meals for the rest of the week in advance, a dish that takes minimal time and effort but yields several servings is a savior. This spinach quiche requires only 10 minutes of hands-on time and leaves the rest of the hour-long cook time to the oven to do its work. While the recipe is enough for eight slices, it can easily be doubled to make two quiches for a bigger crowd.

Recipe: Easy Crustless Spinach Quiche

When you think of a mashed vegetable, it's almost always a potato. You may even consider sweet potato on rare occasions but seldom is cauliflower a vegetable that you'd associate with a creamy mash. But for those looking for low-carb substitutes to the root vegetable, cauliflower makes for an excellent mash with heaps to offer in terms of flavor. While this recipe relies on garlic, butter, sour cream, and pepper, the secret ingredient here is nutmeg. Recipe developer Jennine Rye explains that "the warmth and nuttiness of the nutmeg complements and brings out the sweet, nutty flavors in the cauliflower, helping to make it shine."

Recipe: Creamy Mashed Cauliflower

Worthy of being a showstopper in itself, this roasted pork tenderloin looks like an impressively complex meal to put together. In reality, however, all this recipe asks is 10 minutes of undivided attention to pack the pork with heaps of flavor. Once the pork is seasoned, a generous lashing of garlic and parsley butter goes on, and the pork tenderloin is left to roast in the oven for about an hour till the crust is golden.

Recipe: Roasted Pork Tenderloin

Recipe developer Miriam Hahn's reindeer food is a festive version of puppy chow that's likely going to be just as big a hit amongst humans as it will among reindeers. While you may need to do a grocery run to grab the many snacks in the ingredient list, the recipe only requires you to toss the munchies together and coat them in a sweet chocolate chip and peanut butter sauce — a task that takes no more than 15 minutes.

Recipe: Reindeer Food

Some days are all about minimal effort and maximum taste and for those days, recipe developer Ting Dalton's glazed slow cooker ham is a handy recipe to have on hand. Don't be fooled by the five-hour cook time of the though as pretty much all of it goes into the slow cooker doing its thing with the ham. Because you only really need 10 minutes of prep here, Dalton says that the recipe is "perfect for special occasions including Thanksgiving or Christmas." Slice into the glazed ham at the dinner table and be ready to dazzle your guests!

Recipe: Glazed Slow Cooker Ham

There's no situation inappropriate for a pie of pizza. Late-night hunger pangs? Pizza. Office parties? Pizza. Sunday morning breakfast? Pizza! With recipe developer Jennine Rye's festive spin on the beloved dish, pizza can now be a part of holiday menus too. Instead of a round pie, the Christmas pizza is shaped like a wreath and topped with red pepperoni and green basil leaves. The pizza wreath even comes with a bow made from sliced red peppers!

Recipe: Christmas Pizza

Now that gingerbread waffles are on the table, here's an easy-peasy five-minute gingerbread latte to go with it. With more or less the same ingredients — ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, molasses, and vanilla extract — you can only need a few more things to get the gingerbread latte going. Once the spices are mixed with the milk, the recipe calls for either one or two shots of espresso per latte depending on the strength of the flavor of coffee that you prefer. There's also the option of dolling the drink up with whipped cream and little gingerbread men cookies for festive flair.

Recipe: Gingerbread Latte

Why wait till the big Thanksgiving or Christmas Day to bring out the turkey when you can easily serve it up anytime during the week? While the turkey legs do require an hour and a half to roast in the oven, the recipe only really has three steps: marinate, roast, and serve. Because the turkey legs are stabbed with a fork before being rubbed in oil and the spice mix, there will be heaps of flavor in this easy-to-make cajun-spiced turkey leg.

Recipe: Cajun-Spiced Turkey Leg

Whether you're bringing out that trusty cake recipe for the holidays or are relying on a box of store-bought cupcakes for the last course, this eggnog frosting is a handy trick to give plain ol' desserts a festive edge. The recipe takes a classic American buttercream, removes the egg, and uses nutmeg, cinnamon, and vanilla extract to add the spice-filled flavor of eggnog. The fluffy frosting can then be used on cakes and cupcakes of course, but also on muffins, quick breads, and inside stuffed donuts.

Recipe: Eggnog Frosting

Nothing sounds more Christmas-like than an alcoholic fruit punch that's called jingle juice. So if there's a holiday party in the works that calls for a huge bowl of punch, here's what you're going to need: five minutes, two types of juice, two kinds of fruits, and a whole lot of booze. A bottle of sparkling rosé and sparkling cider aside, the recipe calls for a cup of vodka and half a cup of Cointreau to make enough for 12 servings. All in all, don't be fooled by the innocently fun name of the cocktail because this potent juice will have everyone jingling their way back home from your party!

Recipe: Jingle Juice

As easy as pies are to eat, making them from scratch is an entirely different story. The pie crust can turn out too soft or too soggy, the filling too thick or runny, and the filling-to-pie ratio can be disappointing at best. But this fail-safe sweet potato pie relies on just six ingredients and 10 minutes of prep to produce a sweet and creamy homemade pie that's incredibly hard to mess up. The secret? Pre-made pie crust — no one said the pie had to be made from scratch.

Recipe: Sweet Potato Pie

"What pairs better with whisky than a giant hunk of meat?" asked television star and comedian Joel McHale to Mashed before going on to spill the answer himself: "A giant hunk of meat glazed in whisky." And so, here's a whiskey-glazed pork shoulder recipe from McHale himself which, though, takes a good amount of time to come together and may look intimidating at first, requires only a few steps to make. Once you've got your pork shoulder brining and the whiskey glaze going, all you need to do is cover the meat in the glaze and let the oven do its thing for six hours.

Recipe: Joel McHale's Cranberry-Orange Whisky-Glazed Pork Shoulder

Cookies in all sizes, shapes, and flavors are welcome treats during the holidays but some cookies simply hit the festive spot better than others. These green-colored sugar cookies with little red heart sprinkles inspired by Grinch for one are adorable enough to probably woo Mr. Grinch himself. The Grinch cookies are also an excellent recipe for kids to get involved in and as a reward for all the effort, there will be a plate of warm sugar cookies waiting at the end!

Recipe: Grinch Cookies

The holiday season is also the season of leftovers and when it comes to leftovers, turkey almost always takes the cake. Luckily, however, there are several easy ways to put leftover turkey trimmings to good use. Take three cups of cooked turkey and throw in a few carrots, celery sticks, and an onion in an instant pot. Several cups of broth and egg noodles later, you'll have yourself a pot full of Turkey Soup perfect for sipping on a chilly winter evening.

Recipe: Instant Pot Turkey Soup

Trifle is a popular dessert in the U.K. and although it's a sweet dish enjoyed all year round, trifle becomes something of a showstopper during Christmas dinners, and considering what's in the dessert, it's easy to see why. Recipe developer Susan Olayinka says that trifle is a "layered dessert mainly with sponge, jelly, berries, and cream." But you won't be needing any fresh cake here because the reason trifle is so popular around the holidays is that it's typically made with leftover cake. Plus, while this recipe is non-alcoholic, it's entirely acceptable to throw in some leftover boozy eggnog over the cake too.

Recipe: Holiday Trifle

Pillowy soft bread still warm from the oven, strings of melted cheese, green pesto, and sun-dried tomatoes...what's not to love? If you need an appetizer that is guaranteed to be a winner, this pull-apart bread may be exactly what you're looking for. With frozen yeast roll dough and two types of cheese — mozzarella pearls and parmesan — this five-ingredient pull-apart bread will take no more than 10 minutes of your time. The most arduous part about the recipe is placing the dough balls in the shape of a Christmas tree on the baking tray and that's saying something.

Recipe: Pull-Apart Christmas Tree Bread

The ingredient list of this martini certainly has a few items that you don't see every day but once you see just how festive the cocktail looks, you'll be rushing to your nearest store for a quick shop. The chocolate peppermint martini uses three types of alcohol: creme de cacao, vanilla vodka, and peppermint schnapps. While that makes up most of the drink inside, you'll also need whipped cream, chocolate syrup, grated chocolate, and crushed peppermint candy to doll the drink up. With sweet flavors of peppermint and chocolate, this potent holiday martini will go down dangerously easy!

Recipe: Chocolate Peppermint Martini

Mashed potatoes are one of the easiest sides to prepare and serve alongside roasted meat but this recipe makes it even easier. With five minutes of prep and another nine for the potatoes to soften up in an instant pot, it's a handy method to prepare mashed potatoes on days when there are other pressing mains and desserts that require more hands-on time and attention. The trick to saving precious minutes here is to leave the potatoes unpeeled, which is why it's best to use organic potatoes and give them a good scrub.

Recipe: Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes

There are three things that guarantee the success of this 20-minute stovetop stuffing: vegetables cooked al dente so that they still have a bit of tooth, the right ratio of liquid to solids, and whole grain bread for the best texture. Additionally, the recipe is flexible in both the combination of vegetables as well as the type of broth that is used and though not necessary, the stuffing works even better when the bread is dry and stale.

Recipe: 20-Minute Stovetop Stuffing

When you think of gravies, it's almost always the salty and savory kind that you can pour over meats, vegetables, and mashed potatoes. But recipe developer Catherine Brookes has a decadent little gravy that will take your desserts up a notch this season. The luxuriously smooth and sweet gravy has the flavor of cocoa which only gets deeper with the use of a secret ingredient. Brookes says that adding a spoonful of instant coffee to the chocolate gravy "really helps to enhance the chocolate flavor without giving an overpowering taste of coffee."

Recipe: Indulgent Chocolate Gravy

The holiday season oftentimes does not take kindly to dietary restrictions but if you have gluten intolerance or are cooking for someone who does, this oatmeal meatloaf is a gluten-free version of the classic. By using oats that act as the binding agent in place of eggs and breadcrumbs, the meatloaf cuts out the gluten without compromising on any flavor or texture. In fact, the oatmeal meatloaf comes together so quickly that you'll even have a few minutes to spare for a side dish.

Recipe: Gluten-Free Oatmeal Meatloaf

Eggnog is always a good idea, whether it's in coffee, hot chocolate, or simply served plain. But it's even better when drunk in the form of a martini! Recipe developer Jaime Bachtell-Shelbert uses eggnog with vanilla vodka, and Frangelico liqueur and adds sugar, maple syrup, and cinnamon for extra flavor. Topped with a cinnamon sugar rim and a swirl of whipped cream, the eggnog martini looks festive and tastes "rich, creamy, and decadent [with] hints of vanilla, eggnog, hazelnut, and cinnamon," says Bachtell-Shelbert.

Recipe: Eggnog Martini

Fudge is always an easy last-minute treat to whip up when you've somehow forgotten about the dessert course in all the holiday flurry or need to figure out a quick gift for someone else. With a bowl of red, white, and green Christmas-themed sprinkles, a cup of pecans, and some orange zest, however, you can a bit of holiday flair to the good ol' tray of fudge. Set aside 20 minutes to stir the toffee-flavored fudge together and four hours for it to set in the refrigerator for an easy peasy holiday-themed treat.

Recipe: Christmas Fudge

While this recipe sticks to the traditional version of candied yams by roasting them in butter, maple syrup, and spices, there are several ways in which the recipe can be switched up. Orange zest can be added for a pop of citrusy freshness, vanilla extract for a hint of sweetness, and allspice and star anise can add a touch of warm winter flavors. There's also the option of sprinkling in chopped pecans for crunch or a splash of bourbon for a boozy touch to the classic.

Recipe: Candied Yams

You've got to love a recipe that can transform into several different courses, depending on the need of the day. Think of the brie apple honey crostini as a side dish to a main, a fancy finger food to accompany cocktails, an appetizer on the dinner table, or even a simple snack to go around on a night of holiday movie reruns. Considering the recipe only requires apple, honey, brie, French bread, prosciutto, and butter, plus a little bit of stirring and baking, recipe developer Erin Johnson proudly declares "if you can slice, you can make this!"

Recipe: Brie Apple Honey Crostini

Traditional pot pies usually feature chicken but considering the fact that it's the holiday season, it's only fair that the chicken is switched up with shredded turkey. With the change in poultry, the turkey pot pie also uses two fresh herbs to make the flavor of the meat and vegetable filling stand out: sage and rosemary. Additionally, chicken bone broth deepens the flavor of the pot pie while the collagen of the bone broth adds an extra layer of nutrition.

Recipe: Turkey Pot Pie

It's easy to find ways to mope up leftover roast turkeys but what do you do with the rest — the small bowl of stuffing or the spoonful of cranberry sauce that's leftover? Well, you can turn them into crisp egg rolls! While this recipe makes use of turkey, cranberry sauce, and stuffing along with mozzarella cheese and egg roll wrappers, you can even use up any extra gravy by serving it as a dipping sauce alongside the rolls. Who knows, you may even want to make extras on purpose just so that there's enough to make a big batch of leftover egg rolls after.

Recipe: Thanksgiving Leftover Egg Rolls

The only thing better than maple-glazed carrots are maple-glazed carrots that come wrapped in crisp strips of bacon. After all, there's nothing that a little bit of bacon can't make better. In these three-ingredient maple-glazed carrots, bacon brings a layer of saltiness to the otherwise sweet carrots making a simple side dish incredibly complex. There's also the option of adding basil or parsley on top for a pop of color and flavor though the bacon-wrapped maple-glazed carrots are scrummy as they are.

Recipe: Bacon-Wrapped Maple-Glazed Carrots