Traditional Easter Dinner

In charge of hosting family and friends for Easter? Find a traditional Easter dinner menu of ham, potatoes, vegetables, bread…and of course a dessert. You’ll have the best looking dinner table for your Easter celebration.

Easter is a time for celebration, and what better way to celebrate than by sharing delicious food with your loved ones? Whether you’re planning an Easter brunch, a traditional dinner on Good Friday, or simply looking for some homemade candy for Easter baskets, you can find our best Easter recipes on Tastes of Lizzy T.

Whether you have been hosting an Easter feast for years or this is your first time, you just can’t go wrong with old fashioned, traditional Easter recipes. We’ve been making similar Easter menu for years and you can count on our tried and true recipes.

What is the traditional Easter dinner?

Easter table is typically made up of Easter ham, a potato dish, vegetable side dishes such as corn, deviled eggs, green beans or asparagus, and dinner rolls. Sometimes families serve roast lamb or roasted chicken instead of ham. Or scalloped potatoes instead of mashed potatoes. Maybe empty tomb rolls or hot cross buns instead of yeast rolls.

Why is ham traditional Easter dinner? It’s simple, really. Ham was traditionally an economical choice. Hogs were slaughtered in the fall and cured over the winter, ready to be eaten in the spring. And they serve a lot! (Source: Martha Stewart)

Easter Main Dish Recipes

Traditional ham is an easy choice for an Easter main course. I buy a spiral sliced ham that is already cooked. My favorite place to get them is actually Aldi…but I throw out the spice packet and make the glaze at home. 

Here’s our popular ham recipes, plus a few other main dishes if you don’t like ham:

• Glazed Ham
• Honey-Baked Ham
• Slow Cooker Ham Recipe
• Slow Cooker Pork Tenderloin
• Smoked Turkey
• Roast Beef
• Roasted Whole Chicken
• Baked Chicken Breasts

Easter Potato Recipes

After you’ve chosen your meat of choice, think about side dishes such as creamy potatoes or au gratin potatoes. Here are a few delicious recipes made with potatoes:

• Slow cooker garlic mashed potatoes
• Scalloped potatoes
• Cheesy potato casserole
• Mashed sweet potatoes
• Baked potatoes
• Cheesy potatoes
• And my top choice…grandma’s creamy mashed potatoes

If the oven is busy with the ham, make baked potatoes in the instant pot.

Easter Side Dishes

Potatoes are a solid option, but vegetables and casseroles are important Easter sides. Our family devours either corn casserole or slow cooker cream corn, and we always have a plate of colored Easter eggs that we make into deviled eggs.

• Pineapple casserole
• Fresh green beans
• Green bean casserole
• Fresh asparagus
• Roasted baby carrots

Dinner Rolls

Homemade dinner rolls may just be my favorite part of Easter dinner, whether they are hot cross buns or sourdough rolls. I’m basically a 2-year old, I know! If you need to plan ahead, free up your Easter weekend by making brown & serve dinner rolls. All you have to do is bake them quickly on Easter Sunday.

Kinslee loves when I make sour cream cornbread for special occasions.

Easter Desserts

Finish off the perfect Easter dinner with a sweet Easter dessert! Although there are cute Easter desserts such as Easter bunny bait, Easter popcorn and bunny cupcakes, fruit pies and cakes are part of our family traditions.

• Carrot Cake
• Carrot Cake Trifle
• Carrot Cake Bars
• Carrot Cake Cinnamon Rolls with cream cheese frosting
• Raspberry Pie
• Buttermilk Pie
• Lemon Pound Cake

Or use fresh fruits for a salad which makes for a healthy dessert. 

Don’t forget a drink! Try our sparkling strawberry punch or ginger lime soda.