42 Easter Dinner Ideas for a Delicious, No-Stress Holiday Feast
From glazed ham and spring pastas to seasonal sides and easy vegetarian mains, these Easter dinner recipes are ready to impress—without the fuss.
Photo by Rocky Luten
Easter dinner is a cherished tradition, bringing together family and friends to celebrate with a festive meal. Whether you're planning a classic spread featuring glazed ham and scalloped potatoes or exploring new dishes like spring vegetable panzanella and lemony roast chicken, we've curated a collection of recipes to inspire your holiday menu. From main courses to sides and desserts, these Easter dinner ideas are sure to delight your guests and make your celebration memorable.
There are many things about Easter that I look forward to, from dip-dyeing hard-boiled eggs to heating up Peeps in the microwave. But one of my favorites is sitting down to dinner with my family, which isn't something we necessarily do every day.
Whether it's alongside roasted green beans, or deviled eggs and a leg of lamb slathered in neon-green mint jelly, there are plenty of traditional Easter favorites that the whole family will love. This list of our 40+ best Easter dinner recipes has it all—including some new dishes you might want to add to your spread, too.
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Our Best Easter Dinner Ideas
Mains
A glazed ham is an Easter dinner classic, and this contest-winning version hits all the right sweet-tangy notes without hitting you over the head with sugar.
Lamb, another Easter favorite, gets a very garlicky upgrade in this recipe—and by garlicky, we mean 30 cloves of garlic (seriously).
You don't need much to pull off this simple roast chicken that's all about the citrus. In fact, pretty much everything you need is in the title (lemon and a whole chicken for roasting, plus butter, salt, and pepper).
Author Grant Melon calls this recipe "peak spring on a plate."
This is basically just glazed ham, with a twist. (Get it? It's spiralized.)
If you're new to cooking lamb chops on the stove, consider this very easy method (complete with a spicy-minty marinade) your go-to.
A regal piece of meat, like a leg of lamb (or even roast chicken or salmon), doesn't need too much fuss—just a simple blend of Meyer lemon zest, dried oregano, garlic, and crushed red pepper.
Buttermilk and za'atar work together to make an incredibly juicy, flavor-packed braised chicken that requires at least an overnight marinating session.
Ground lamb is the base of these succulent patties, flavored with pistachio, arugula, and garlic; Yotam Ottolenghi recommends serving alongside a simple arugula salad.
If you want chicken on your Easter table, look no further than this version from Ina.
Author Grant Melon calls this recipe "peak spring on a plate."
This cozy stew takes a little while to put together (and by a little, we mean over eight hours of hands-off prep time), but Easter is the time to pull out all the stops.
Inspired by axoa—a traditional Basque stew of braised veal and peppers, flavored with piment d’Espelette—these braised lamb shanks are an ode to the recipe developer's great-grandmother.
Make this pie the day before Easter, then keep it in the fridge overnight, so the meats (sausage, prosciutto, ham, and salami) and cheese (so much cheese) have time to set.
This vegetarian-friendly cassoulet, starring cannellini beans and artichokes, can just as easily go vegan simply by substituting the butter for olive oil.
Sides
This lightly herby carrot and potato dish proves that gratins don't need to be reserved just for winter.
We love this panzanella (aka bread salad) for highlighting all the best produce that hits the farmers' markets come April (and all the bread, of course).
This quintessentially spring pasta calls on all the bright, fresh flavors you associate with warming weather, like peas and mint (plus cream, because it never hurts).
If your idea of Easter dinner is actually Easter brunch, whip up this fluffy, vegetable-packed frittata and serve it with some mimosas.
Don't let those carrot tops go to waste! Use them in a nutty pesto for topping the roasted carrots you were going to make anyway.
This bright green celery soup makes a wonderful starter for a larger Easter dinner meal, or a light-yet-satisfying main.
This isn't your average potato salad, starting with the fact that the potatoes here are roasted instead of boiled, which adds a bit of extra texture to what can sometimes be a mushy dish.
Kale gets the Caesar salad treatment in this recipe, and as such, has all the things you hope for: crunchy croutons, a flavor-packed dressing, and bacon.
Get all that ham flavor in this cheesy, fried egg–topped galette.
Over 300 rave reviews can't be wrong—this absurdly addictive asparagus belongs on your dinner table this Easter.
A great meal isn't complete without some dinner rolls to spread copious amounts of butter on. Our recommendation: these lightly sweet, ultra-tender oatmeal-molasses rolls.
These deviled eggs make the perfect start to an Easter dinner, mostly because you can hard-boil and peel the eggs up to a week in advance, and make the filling up to a day ahead.
The crust on this caramelized onion and mushroom tart is partly made from whole-wheat flour, which adds a nuttiness to the dough that complements the veggies nicely.
Recipe developer Rebecca Firkser’s quiche with cheese cracker crust is as delicious as it is versatile—feel free to mix up the crust or filling ingredients (you can choose your own adventure).
Humble cabbage transforms into a caramelized, meaty perfection after some time in the oven and a basting of flavorful miso-lemon butter.
Desserts
Between the tart rhubarb jam and deeply spiced cardamom streusel topping, this spring coffee cake is the perfect balance of flavors.
This zesty citrus pudding is somewhere between a cake and a mousse. As many reviewers have noted, it can easily be adapted for any citrus you have on hand: lime, orange, or grapefruit. It’s light yet gooey, melt-in-your-mouth smooth, and best served warm, fresh from the oven.
Dinner wouldn't be complete without dessert, right? This Meyer lemon cheesecake makes the most of citrus season, while it's still here.
This towering strawberry not-so-short cake from Resident Erin McDowell is certainly the most showstopping way to finish off any Easter dinner.
Carrot cake is an Easter essential, and this recipe from community member, Mary Catherine Tee, is so good it even won a blue ribbon at the North Carolina State Fair.
If you love eating cookie butter all on its own, you'll go wild for these cookie butter blondies, which are perfectly tender and dense.
These cupcakes look as impressive as they taste. The trick toasting coconut flakes in a dry pan and making your own curd (which you can really sub any fruit for).
Drinks
A riff on the classic Bellini, this one gets a boost from raspberries and a splash of honey. Serve it up in coupes for an easy Easter cocktail that looks as good as it tastes.
Packed with fresh herbs and lemon juice, this refreshingly tart nonalcoholic drink is spring in a glass. Bonus: It’s super easy to batch in advance.
Bright, zippy, and a little unexpected—this make-ahead shrub is a low-effort way to impress. Mix it with sparkling water or prosecco, depending on your crowd.
Infuse soda water with cucumber, mint, and basil, for a refreshing NA drink or cocktail mix-in.
The key to pulling off this drink is an easy-to-make, super-aromatic hibiscus syrup. All you'll need are three ingredients (clove, cinnamon, and dried hibiscus flowers).
Editor's note: This piece was updated in April, 2025.
Which recipes would you like to add to your Easter dinner menu? Tell us in the comments below!
Originally Published: April 16, 2025