26 Easter Dinner Ideas and Recipes

Roast Leg of Lamb on a platter — The Spruce Eats / Cara Cormack

Easter is filled with traditions, and that extends to the dinner table. When you're looking for ideas to build your Easter dinner menu, look no further than this recipe collection. From traditional Easter bread to ham and lamb entrées, tasty side dishes, tempting desserts, and holiday-centric drinks, our favorite Easter recipes celebrate the best foods of spring, and will cover you for every course.

01 of 26

Basil Lemonade

The Spruce Eats / Bahareh Niati

Bright, invigorating, and perfect for spring, this basil lemonade is ideal for Easter dinner. It's as easy as any other lemonade recipe, but with a basil-lemon simple syrup. Add extra flavor with citrus like limes, oranges, or grapefruit, or whole fruits like berries. You can even make it boozy with a splash of bourbon, vodka, or gin.
02 of 26

Easter Bunny Cocktail

The Spruce Eats / Julia Hartbeck

It's customary to indulge in all sorts of treats for Easter, and drinks are not an exception. For the adults, mix up a fun and sweet Easter bunny cocktail. This chocolate-kissed vodka cocktail is simple and you'll love the hint of cherry brandy.
03 of 26

Elderflower Cocktail With Champagne

The Spruce / Julia Hartbeck

This simple drink is also called the St. Germain cocktail, because of the elderflower liqueur that is often mixed into it. If you prefer, you can skip using the St. Germain and make your own elderflower cordial, which is a fun springtime project when the tiny white flowers come into bloom.
04 of 26

Feta With Olive Oil and Herbs

The Spruce / Stephanie Goldfinger

No cooking is required for this quick and easy feta appetizer. The preparation, which is actually more an assembly of the ingredients, takes less than 10 minutes. However, that does not mean that you have to eat it right away, the feta is also very suitable to make ahead. If you let it sit for a little while longer, the herbs will impart even more flavor to the cheese.

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05 of 26

Easy Vegan Spinach Dip

The Spruce / Stephanie Goldfinger

We love just about any way to eat more greens, and we love the convenience of using frozen chopped spinach in just about any way, including this recipe. In this simple and easy vegan spinach dip, you use a vegan packaged soup mix, frozen spinach, and a non-dairy sour cream and just mix it all up together. It really couldn't possibly be easier or more foolproof.
06 of 26

Easter Deviled Eggs

The Spruce / Cara Cormack

Pastel-hued deviled eggs are the cute and colorful Easter appetizer you didn't even know you were missing. Delightfully cute, they are a snap to prepare, especially if you boil the eggs in advance, and stash them in the fridge. The gussied-up eggs are sure to disappear quickly at your party.
07 of 26

Super Easy Pea and Mint Soup

The Spruce / Nyssa Tanner

Sweet, velvety, and bright, our pea and mint soup is a refreshing starter for your holiday meal. Peas are in season in April, but you can use frozen peas for this rustic soup that comes together easily on the stove-top, and finishes in the blender. Garnish with freshly cracked black pepper and Parmesan cheese for a fantastic first course. The soup can be made and chilled up to 3 days ahead, and leftovers taste great warmed up or eaten cold.
08 of 26

Green Pea Salad With Easy Creamy Dressing

The Spruce / Ana-Maria Stanciu

This green pea salad is as pretty as it is flavorful, with bright green peas, shredded carrots, red bell pepper, red onion, and celery. Use a combination of red, yellow, and orange bell pepper for even more color.

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09 of 26

Bistro Salad With Warm Goat Cheese Croutes

The Spruce / Abbey Littlejohn

Bring the taste of a French restaurant to your Easter table with a bistro salad featuring warm goat cheese. You can bake the panko-crusted goat cheese croutes or cook them on the stovetop. They're then laid over a bed of fresh lettuce and herbs with homemade mustard vinaigrette. This recipe works well for brunch as well.
10 of 26

Traditional Italian Easter Bread

The Spruce Eats / Julia Estrada

Set a loaf of braided bread on the table and you'll impress anyone. This Italian-American Easter bread is great for beginning bakers. The slow-rising dough that's easy to work with, and has a fantastic anise-lemon flavor. Serve it with butter or turn it into a sweet-meets-savory dessert bread with lemon icing.
11 of 26

Classic Easter Hot Cross Buns

The Spruce / Cara Cormack

Hot cross buns have a long history as sweet breads made for offerings to ancient deities. This basic hot cross bun recipe makes a sweet dough that is shaped into 12 rolls. Each roll is topped with a deliciously sweet icing, making it a special treat for anyone with a sweet tooth.
12 of 26

Zucchini and Stuffing Casserole

The Spruce / Diana Chistruga

Are you ready for the most scrumptious casserole that would fill even the Easter bunny with envy? Sliced zucchini and shredded carrots team up to make this tasty zucchini stuffing casserole recipe. Some of the stuffing cubes add flavor and body to the filling, while some make up the buttery topping.

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13 of 26

Carrot Casserole With Cheddar Cheese Sauce

The Spruce / Qi Ai

A simple cheddar cheese sauce makes these sliced cooked carrots extra special. Fresh breadcrumbs give this casserole a nice look and crunch, but french fried onion rings would make a nice topping as well.
14 of 26

Roasted Asparagus

The Spruce Eats / Tara Omidvar

Asparagus is one of the first vegetables of spring, which is why roasted asparagus is such a popular side for Easter dinner. Drizzling olive oil over the spears and sprinkling them with sea salt and a hint of lemon is an easy way to elevate the flavor.
15 of 26

Twice-Baked Potatoes With Cream Cheese and Chives

The Spruce / Diana Chistruga

These twice-baked potatoes are a wonderful change of pace from everyday baked potatoes or the "same-old" mashed potatoes. The potato skins are filled with the savory, creamy mashed potato mixture and then baked again until the topping is golden brown. If you're short on time or looking for even more flavor, try our loaded smashed potatoes casserole.
16 of 26

Baked Macaroni and Cheese

The Spruce / Julia Hartbeck

Baked macaroni and cheese with a rich and cheesy sauce is a thing of beauty, with or without the optional browned breadcrumb topping. Our must-know 30-minute recipe makes it easy to add this quintessential comfort food to your Easter meal. It is a popular side dish for Easter ham, and freezes beautifully for making ahead of the holidays.

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17 of 26

Honey Butter Ham

The Spruce / Maxwell Cozzi

This is a delicious and simple way to turn a plain cooked ham into something special for Easter. Because it all starts with a fully cooked ham from the store, all you need to do is stir together the glaze and roast until caramelized to perfection.
18 of 26

Roast Leg of Lamb

The Spruce Eats / Cara Cormack

Roast leg of lamb is one of the easiest "special occasion" recipes there is, especially for Easter dinner. The simple herb, lemon, and garlic marinade is all this great cut of lamb needs before it’s roasted to pink perfection.
19 of 26

Easy Baked Ham With Pineapple

The Spruce / Eric Kleinberg

Canned ham is a versatile and convenient ingredient to use when in need of an easy meal that can feed many. Our classic combination of savory and smokey ham with sweet pineapple rings makes a beautiful center dish that is delicious, budget-friendly, and easy to make.
20 of 26

Savory Easter Pie

The Spruce Eats / Leah Maroney

This is no ordinary pie! Our savory Easter pie loads the buttery crust with savory Italian ingredients, including prosciutto, salami, sausage, and mozzarella cheese. It's perfect for brunch and a brilliant way to show off your culinary prowess.

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21 of 26

Ham Pot Pie

The Spruce / Diana Chistruga

Whether you're looking for an all-encompassing main or simply want to find a way to use up leftovers, this ham pot pie can do it all. Using ready-made frozen pastry—and even frozen vegetables if you're short of time—you can have a crowd-pleasing family dinner on the table in an hour.
22 of 26

Lamb-Shaped Pound Cake

The Spruce Eats / Julia Hartbeck

Get ready for cheers of surprise and awe. Beyond simple, and made with a boxed pound cake mix, you'll need a special cake mold for this sweet Easter lamb cake. The cute lamb is finished with cream cheese frosting, and lays in a bed of coconut "grass."
23 of 26

Best Carrot Cake

The Spruce Eats / Julia Hartbeck

Our best-ever carrot cake is just what the Easter bunny ordered. Super-moist, and spiced to perfection, with three layers of colorful, carrotty crumb, and topped with a luscious, tangy cream cheese frosting, it's the kind of cake of which dreams (and bake sale profits) are made. We bet you'll want to bake it all-year round
24 of 26

Ukrainian Easter Babka

The Spruce / Diana Chistruga

Ukrainian babka and paska are two sweet yeast breads served at Easter. Unlike fluted Polish babka, Ukrainian babka is tall and cylindrical like Italian panettone. You can ice or serve plain with butter or jam.

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25 of 26

Bunny Butt Cake

The Spruce Eats / Leah Maroney

Absolutely adorable, this bunny butt cake will charm anyone. You start by mixing up a coconut-flavored batter, for baking into a cake and extra cupcakes. These are then assembled into a bunny shape, and covered in frosting, and shredded coconut. Crushed chocolate cookies become the dirt, green-tinted coconut flakes are used for grass, and pink jelly beans are the pads on the bunny's feet.
26 of 26

Easter Cupcakes

The Spruce / Leah Maroney

These little bird nest cupcakes are perfectly cute for an Easter gathering. They’re so easy to make, but look like they came from a professional bakery. All you need is your favorite cupcake (we included a recipe for a delicious lemon-vanilla cake), some cream cheese frosting, toasted coconut, and Easter egg candy. You can make these as homemade or as semi-homemade as you wish using cake mix, store-bought cupcakes, and/or canned frosting.