Every family that celebrates Easter has its own traditions. While some years we may do a fresh take on the holiday and start something brand new, it is comfortable and familiar to keep traditions like Easter baskets, church services and egg hunts. And, like with most major holidays, food is a big part of the celebration. There are a lot of differences in traditional holiday meals between my family and my husband’s family. I grew up in a central Minnesotan family of German ancestry where both of my grandparents were farmers. My husband’s parents were both from Puerto Rico, but they moved to the Bronx, where he was born, and then he grew up in New Jersey.
While there are a lot of differences in our families’ traditional Easter menus, one common thread is pork. Even though there are also lots of other things on the menu, we have always had ham to celebrate Easter. In my husband’s family the pork of choice is pernil – roasted pork shoulder. As it is one of hubby’s favorite foods I have gotten darn good at making it. I do take a sneaky approach, however, and use the crockpot, which is so much easier!
So, to make a blend of traditions from both our families, I decided to create an Easter dish that combined Easter ham AND pernil AND for a kicker decided to add in a third pork – the all-american favorite bacon – to make this 3 Little Piggies Easter dish. To pack the dish with flavor, I headed to Walmart to pick up Kraft Fresh Take. To go along with the theme, I chose the Cheddar Jack with Bacon. Let’s go on to the recipe!
3 Little Piggies Recipe
For Pernil:
3 pound pork loin roast (pork shoulder is more traditional, but this works!)
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1/4 cup orange juice
2 Tbsp lime juice (or juice of one fresh lime)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 tsp Adobo seasoning
2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp dried oregano
Cut deep slits into the pork and stuff with crushed garlic. Mix all remaining ingredients in slow cooker. Add pork and turn to coat. Cook on low approximately 7 hours until pork is cooked through and easy to shred.
For 3 Little Piggies:
Kraft Fresh Take Cheddar Jack with Bacon
1 ham steak
2 cups cooked pernil
3 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
2 Tbsp chopped green onions
Heat oven to 375 degrees. Reserve 1/4 cup of Kraft Fresh Take. Cut ham steak into 6 pieces. Coat each piece with Kraft Fresh Take, pressing on bottom and sides to make stick. Place on baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle a little extra Kraft Fresh Take on top. Bake 15 minutes. To serve, top each ham slice with a mound of pernil, then sprinkle top with a bit of the reserve Kraft Fresh Take, bacon and green onions.
And voila – the finished recipe!! It’s great served with asparagus or green peas and we like to have it with white rice on the side – or if we want to get more Puero Rican, then served with arroz con gandules (rice with pigeon peas). I’m thinking it would also make a great party appetizer, perhaps with the ham steak cut into smaller pieces.
Since the recipe for pernil makes a lot more meat than you’ll need for the 3 Little Piggies, I figured I would throw in a third culture (Mexican) and share an easy way to eat some of the pernil in tacos – perfect for lunch or a quick dinner. For this dish I used the Kraft Fresh Take Southwest Three Cheese Recipe.
This dish doesn’t even quite need a formal recipe! All you need to do is warm some corn tortillas, add in re-heated pernil, sprinkle on a good dose of Kraft Fresh Take Southwest Three Cheese Recipe, and top with diced tomatoes. I love the bit of crunch provided by the breadcrumbs in the Kraft Fresh Take – so good!
Coupon: Are you ready to start cooking these or your own recipes with Kraft Fresh Take? Thanks to #CollectiveBias and Kraft #FreshTake we have a coupon to share! Fire up the printer and print a coupon to save $1 on the purchase of any ONE (1) KRAFT FRESH TAKE Cheese & Breadcrumb Mix (6oz.) & Fresh Chicken at Walmart.
What are YOUR family’s Easter traditions?
Robin (Masshole Mommy) says
That sounds ah-mazing and it would totally fly of the plate and be devoured instantly in my house 🙂
aimee fauci says
These Kraft packets are absolutely the BEST! I love them so much. I actually bought a variety pack from Costco!
Janel C. says
I have used Kraft Fresh Take products a few times now and I have to say I really love them! I will have to try your recipes – especially the pork tacos. Thanks for sharing!
Krissy says
I absoutely LOVE LOVE Fresh Takes. We use them quite often, and the kids love the bacon and cheese flavor. I throw it on some chicken breast and in the oven and presto, dinner is ready!
Keikilani says
These recipes look so yummy! I am hungry right now! LOL. Can’t believe how fast Easter is coming.
Louida says
I wish I could make this dish but it has pork in it. I may be able to add a different meat. Recipe looks really good. Pinning!
Tracey Tabone says
Those Kraft packets are so handy! The tacos look so good!
Christie says
We love our ham on Easter…and Easter brunch
Jaime says
I don’t know if our local stores carry the Kraft Fresh Takes yet. They look really great (and we’re just in a market that gets everything SO late.)
Lindsey @ Redhead Baby Mama says
I love the look of those tacos. Using shortcuts like this can be a dinnertime saver!
Amy @ Marvelous Mommy says
I haven’t tried the cheddar jack and bacon yet! Your recipe looks amazing! Love the name too!
Jenni E. {Sweet Pennies from Heaven} says
Ohhh, that looks delicious! We’ve tried a few of the Kraft Fresh Takes kits before and I love them but I don’t think we’ve ever tried the Cheddar Jack and Bacon. It sounds DELISH!!!!!
Karen says
Those look really good! Anything with cheese and bacon is delicious in my book. Pinning this!
Jennifer B. says
I’ve heard great things about the Fresh Take packages. I can’t wait to try for myself. Excellent looking recipes!
Veronica says
that’s a great looking dish. I bet it tastes great. For Easter in my culture (Jamaican) we eat roasted fish on Good Friday and Easter, and we eat lots of bun and cheese. Bun is like a sweet loaf with raisins in it.
brett says
i use Kraft Fresh Take a LOT for taco nights.
I’ve never thought about pork tacos.
hmm.
Dawn Lopez says
Oh yummy, what an awesome recipe idea! Looks like the ultimate comfort food 😉
valmg @ From Val's Kitchen says
What an interesting sounding recipe! I bet my brother would absolutely love to visit and have this!
Jenn @ The Rebel Chick says
That looks and sounds delicious! Love that it’s so easy to make!
Jenna Wood says
I can’t think of a better way to celebrate Easter than with 3 types of pig on my plate- yum! #Client
Debra says
I’ve never heard of these Fresh Takes before. I’ll have to look for them the next time I go shopping. They look like they could be used for a lot of dishes. We always had ham for Easter growing up too!
Jessica says
Your photos look good enough to eat! I have come to learn that anything that Kraft makes ends up tasting delicious. Fresh Takes are my new obsession!
Virginia @thatbaldchick says
Oh my yum! I wouldn’t have thought to use a ham steak like that. I think my kids would love it.
teresa mccluskey says
This looks really good! I would love to try them! Never heard of the brand though
Amanda says
Those look really good! We love Kraft Fresh Takes!
Dina says
those pork tacos look amazing. I’m going to have to pick up the kraft pack and make that!
Rosey says
I have used the Fresh Takes before and they’ve been a hit. I like that they’re easy. Husband likes all that cheese. 😉
Krystal says
I love the pork idea! I did a DIY Taco Bar with my SW Fresh Take. It’s so versatile!
Christina S says
That’s definitely interesting on the ham steak. We use them in burgers!
Melissa says
The 3 little piggies looks soooo good! It’s definitely going on my menu plan.
Desiree M. says
I’ve never seen a ham steak cooked that way. Definitely interesting! 🙂
Erica says
Kraft Fresh Take is awesome! These are really creative recipes!
Cassie @ Southeast by Midwest says
I’ve seen the Fresh Takes at the store for a while now but I haven’t used them yet. I need to buy some to try 🙂
nicole dz says
these would be awesome with some potato salad, nice little snack! Kraft has some really good selection of cheeses.
shelly peterson says
Yum, looks so delicious. I have not tried using the Kraft Fresh Take kits yet.