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Celebrate Easter with these simple and festive Easter dinner recipes so you can spend more time enjoying the day with family and friends.
Simple and Festive Easter Dinner Ideas: Gathering friends and family around a spring table filled with fresh, seasonal dishes is one of the joys of Easter. Whether you're hosting brunch after church or a relaxed Sunday dinner later in the day, these recipes make it easy to create a beautiful holiday meal.
If you're planning a full Easter menu, start with a main dish, add two or three seasonal Easter side dishes, serve a simple appetizer while guests gather, and finish with a festive spring dessert.
Below you'll find Easter menu ideas organized by main dishes, side dishes, appetizers, breads, and desserts. For more sweet ideas, see our Easter Desserts recipe collection.
Whether your family tradition centers around honey-glazed ham, a succulent leg of lamb, or a modern spring roast, the main course is the heart of the Easter table. These simple Easter dinner recipes focus on effortless preparation so you can spend less time in the kitchen and more time with your guests.
1
Ham with Lemon Honey Glaze
Studded with cloves, this whole ham makes a beautiful centerpiece for a large Easter gathering. Since ham is quite rich, an accompanying glaze that offers bracing acidity-such as this one containing lemon juice, honey and shallots-makes a great counterpoint.
Greek Roasted Chicken with Lemon Orzo is a bright Mediterranean-style roasted chicken recipe made with lemon, garlic, oregano, and olive oil. A whole chicken roasts until golden while orzo cooks in the flavorful pan juices for an easy one-pan dinner.
Trust me, this easy Slow Cooker Holiday Ham recipe with a spiced maple glaze will change the way you cook ham for the holidays! The slow cooker makes it so easy to cook the ham perfectly every time, and the Crockpot also frees up space in your oven and on the stove for other recipes!
Pizza Rustica is a traditional Italian Easter pie made with a flaky double crust and a rich, egg-based filling of cheeses, cured meats, and spinach. This hearty, make-ahead dish is perfect for Easter brunch or holiday gatherings and can be served warm or at room temperature.
Easter dinner isn't complete without the vibrant flavors of spring. From creamy scalloped potatoes and buttery roasted carrots to crisp asparagus and fresh salads, these Easter side dishes perfectly complement the main course. Many can even be prepped ahead to keep your holiday stress-free.
9
Roasted Asparagus with Dill Yogurt Sauce
Roasted Asparagus with Dill Yogurt Sauce is a 5 minute side dish that's crisp, tender, and amazingly delicious with an equally quick and easy sauce that makes this side dish pretty enough to serve for holidays and guests.
A quick (15-minute) and elegant side dish: Green Beans Almondine blends crisp beans, buttery almonds, garlic, nutmeg, and bright lemon for a fresh, elegant holiday or weeknight side.
Roasted Carrots with Parsley and Thyme -- an easy side dish that's incredibly delicious, any season of the year. Tender, naturally sweet, and roasted to perfection. And if you'd like to sweeten it up a bit more, drizzle with honey butter.
This decadent creamed spinach recipe with toasted panko is an easy and elegant side dish that's ready in minutes. Made with fresh spinach, butter, garlic, and cheese.
Creamy, fluffy, and full of cozy garlic flavor, these mashed potatoes are a favorite for weeknight dinners and holiday gatherings. Made with simple ingredients and easy to scale, plus make-ahead and reheating instructions for oven, stovetop, and slow cooker.
Try this delicious Sweet Potatoes Anna recipe for a French-inspired side dish. The flavors of sweet potatoes, butter, garlic, and thyme create a truly irresistible dish.
A quick and creamy crème fraiche pasta recipe made with smoky bacon, sweet peas, lemon zest, and Parmesan cheese. An easy 30-minute weeknight pasta dinner.
This Fruited Rice Pilaf is a fragrant, lightly sweet side dish made with warm spices, raisins, fresh apple, and toasted almonds. Perfect for Easter, spring gatherings, or holiday meals, this rice pilaf can be made on the stovetop or in the Instant Pot.
This Braised Spring Peas with Lettuce and Mint is the essence of the season. Its fresh flavors complement just about any other dish you serve with it. Beautiful and vibrant.
Creamy Carrot Soup with leeks and ginger is a velvety soup that is incredibly healthy, perfect in every season, but most especially for spring feasts. Smokey, slightly sweet with a zip of fresh lemon flavor, this soup cooks in 10 minutes in an Instant Pot or in 15 minutes on the stovetop.
Roasted Antipasto Salad with Artichoke, Beets, and Asparagus
This roasted Antipasto Salad with baby artichokes and asparagus is a delicious summer platter filled with the season's best vegetables. A delicious array of fresh produce, straight from my garden, is one of my favorite summertime dishes.
This creamy asparagus soup is a light and elegant spring recipe made with fresh asparagus, garlic, and cream. Smooth, comforting, and ready in about 30 minutes.
Start your celebration with light, seasonal bites. This collection includes everything from classic deviled eggs to elegant spring bruschetta - perfect for nibbling on while the main course finishes in the oven.
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Easy Deviled Eggs Recipe
This best Deviled Eggs recipe is an elevated twist on a classic with a few simple ingredients like hard boiled eggs, pickle juice, and mustard.
Simple yet sophisticated, crostini are a perfect appetizer to pass around before sitting down to Easter dinner. Reserve a few fronds from the fennel bulbs to use as a garnish on top of the smoked salmon.
This Spring Crudités Platter is the easiest party food platter or appetizer you'll ever create in 10 minutes or less. Perfect for gatherings, like Mother's Day or showers, or simply when spring vegetables are at their peak. Minutes to make and utterly gorgeous!
Deliciously Easy Asparagus Mini Cheese Tarts Recipe
These Asparagus and Cheese Mini Tarts are an easy, favorite treat for afternoon tea, brunch, or any time asparagus is in season. A simple tart that's minutes in the making.
Bread has a special place on the Easter table, from traditional holiday loaves to soft dinner rolls and quick breads perfect for brunch. These Easter bread recipes bring warmth and tradition to your celebration, whether you're baking a classic sweet loaf or a simple homemade roll.
35
Paska: Ukrainian Easter Bread Recipe
A traditional paska recipe made with rich, lightly sweet yeast dough and baked into a beautiful Ukrainian Easter bread with classic decorative shaping.
Soft, lightly sweet, and filled with warm spices, these traditional hot cross buns are a beautiful Easter classic. Studded with dried fruit and finished with their signature cross, they're perfect for Good Friday, Easter morning, or anytime you're craving a tender, homemade yeast bun.
German Easter Bread (Osterbrot) is a soft, enriched sweet bread made with dried fruit, citrus zest, and almonds. Lightly sweet and beautifully golden, this traditional bread is perfect for Easter celebrations, brunch, or teatime.
Almond Cinnamon Babka Star Bread (Easy Pull-Apart Sweet Bread)
Almond Cinnamon Babka Star Bread is a soft, tender pull-apart sweet bread filled with cinnamon, almonds, and raisins. This beautiful star-shaped bread is easier to make than it looks and is perfect for Easter, Christmas, or any special gathering.
Kulich Easter Bread is a traditional Ukrainian sweet bread, rich with eggs and lightly sweetened, baked in tall molds and finished with a simple glaze-perfect for Easter celebrations and spring gatherings.
These sweet Easter Bunny Bread Rolls are deliciously soft, tender, and buttery with a fool-proof homemade yeast dough. They're also super cute, easy to make, and will delight your Easter dinner guests!
End your meal on a high note with these Easter dessert favorites. From classic carrot cake to bright lemon treats and playful nest cookies, you'll find the perfect sweet finale for your holiday table.
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Carrot Cake Cupcakes
Soft and moist carrot cake cupcakes made with warm spices, brown sugar, and freshly grated carrots, then topped with a rich and tangy cream cheese frosting.
A moist and tender lemon Easter lamb cake inspired by the traditional German Osterlamm, baked in a festive lamb-shaped mold and perfect for Easter brunch or dessert.
This easy Lemon Loaf Cake is soft, moist, and full of bright lemon flavor-just like your favorite coffee shop treat. Simple ingredients and perfect for brunch, dessert, or afternoon tea.
This quick and easy Easter Snack Mix (also known as Easter Crack) is a sweet and salty treat made with cereal, pretzels, white chocolate, and festive Easter candy. It comes together in minutes and is perfect for Easter entertaining, gifting, or filling holiday baskets.
This Easter Kugelhopf is a German Austrian yeast cake that's much like a golden coffee cake with a rich buttery flavor. Baked in a Kugelhopf pan, or a Bundt pan, it's a special holiday or anytime cake you'll love.
Bright, fresh, and irresistibly creamy, this lemon dessert trifle with Chantilly cream is the perfect make-ahead treat for spring and summer gatherings. Easy to serve in individual glasses or a classic trifle dish!
Chocolate Easter Brownie Bites are tiny bites of dense, fudgy, rich chocolate brownies. Topped with a layer of decadent chocolate buttercream shaped into nests, they are filled with Easter egg candies. Cute and easy, and perfect for Easter.
For a quick and easy Easter treat that's fun and whimsical and spring-like, try these Easter Egg Nest Cupcakes with our Simple Vanilla Cupcakes recipe posted here.
Soft and chewy Easter M&M Cookies filled with pastel chocolate candies and made with a simple vanilla cookie dough. An easy, festive treat perfect for Easter baskets, spring gatherings, and holiday dessert platters.
A silken, old fashioned Zesty Lemon Icebox Pie is a quintessential spring and summer dessert. Evoking memories of grandma's kitchen, it reminds me of endless spring and summer days where the warm sun seems captured in every bite of this pie!
Easter signals the welcome arrival of spring-a season we've all been anticipating through the long winter months. The days are growing longer, the air feels lighter, and there's a renewed sense of warmth and possibility.
Easter dinner is more than just a meal. It's a celebration of the changing seasons, a time to gather with family and friends, and an opportunity to share delicious food around a beautiful table.
Of course, hosting any holiday gathering can bring a little stress. But with a bit of planning and a few simple hostess strategies, you can create a relaxed and memorable Easter celebration. Here are a few of my favorite tips to help make the day feel effortless.
How Much Ham Per Person for Easter Dinner
When planning your Easter dinner, a good rule of thumb is to allow about ½ pound of bone-in ham per person. If you're serving a boneless ham, which tends to be more compact, plan for about ⅓ pound per person.
It can be tricky to estimate exactly how much guests will eat, but having a little leftover ham is never a bad thing. Leftovers are perfect for everything from sandwiches and quiches to pasta dishes and soups.
When in doubt, I always recommend erring on the generous side-extra ham means delicious meals for days to come.
4 Easy Tips for Hosting Easter Dinner
A little planning can make Easter dinner feel relaxed and joyful instead of rushed. These simple entertaining tips help you stay organized and enjoy the day with your guests.
1. Address the Stress Holiday entertaining can feel overwhelming, but a little reflection goes a long way. Think back to past gatherings and note what worked well-and what didn't. Did you run short on side dishes? Forget a dietary restriction? Jotting down a few notes now can make planning this year's Easter dinner much easier.
2. Potlucks Are Perfect Don't hesitate to ask family and friends to contribute a dish. Many guests love bringing a favorite recipe to share. Plan your menu ahead of time so you can suggest what's needed and avoid ending up with three green bean casseroles!
3. Set the Table Ahead Setting the table the day before is one of the simplest ways to reduce holiday stress. Lay out your tablecloth, dishes, and serving pieces in advance so everything is ready when guests arrive. A helpful trick: place sticky notes on serving bowls to remind yourself which dish goes where.
4. Plan for the Kids Children add so much joy to Easter celebrations. Consider setting aside a few kid-friendly snacks, like this 5-minuteEaster Snack Mix, or creating a small table with playful decorations, such as Easter eggs or chicks. A little planning helps keep younger guests happy while the meal comes together.
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Join the Sunday Morning Tradition
If you enjoyed this post, you'll love The Sunday Edit No. 12: The Spring Pantry. It’s my weekly "magazine-style" digest designed to help you reset, refine, and find beauty in the everyday. From intentional kitchen resets to curated seasonal menus.
Stephanie Wilson is the founder of 31Daily.com, where she shares seasonal recipes, weekly meal plans, and teatime favorites to help readers gather around the table with joy. A certified private chef, cookbook author, and longtime event planner, she brings over 20 years of experience in catering, food writing, and media production—including network television work as a producer, director, and writer. Her work has been featured by Today.com, The Kitchn, Parade, and more.
Aren't they gorgeous!! They're made by Williams Sonoma, but unfortunately, they don't seem to carry them anymore. Occasionally I've found them on eBay. The closest pattern they have this year is Floral Meadow but they're a bit more muted.
Where is that gorgeous bunny & hummingbird plate set from?? I LOVE!! =)
Aren't they gorgeous!! They're made by Williams Sonoma, but unfortunately, they don't seem to carry them anymore. Occasionally I've found them on eBay. The closest pattern they have this year is Floral Meadow but they're a bit more muted.
Why no recipes for rabbit? Perfect for Easter Bunny Day.