Forty-Plus Easter Menu Ideas and Recipes for 2022 is a one-stop roundup of the best menu ideas and recipes for your Easter meal. Whether you celebrate with a brunch, lunch, or dinner, I’ve included options for traditional or not-so-traditional entrées or main dishes, salads and side dishes, and bread.
You will also find simple to sophisticated choices for everything from a formal sit-down Easter dinner to casual picnics outside and everything in between.
I have teamed up with my sister Chula at the Pudge Factor Blog to bring you these top-rated recipes, which are the best of the best, to make it easy for you to plan and prepare an unforgettable Easter meal. And, because we know you don’t want to spend all day in the kitchen, most of these dishes can be made ahead so you can enjoy the day with your family!
If you need even more ideas and recipes for Easter, check out these other updated roundup posts: 50+ Easy Easter Dessert Recipes and Treats for 2022 and The Best Easter Side Dish Recipes for 2022.
Best Easter Entrées and Main Dishes:
Baked Ham with Pineapple and Cherries
Nothing says Easter like glazed ham! Lots of it! And, I know you and your family or guests will love my oven-baked, old-fashioned glazed ham with its brown sugar bourbon glaze!
Roasted Rack of Lamb with Garlic and Herbs
Surprisingly easy to make, Roasted Rack of Lamb with Garlic and Herbs is an impressive, crowd-pleasing main dish full of herbaceous deliciousness. Traditionally served at Easter, this lamb recipe has the best of everything.
Elegant Chicken Kiev – Pudge Factor
Chicken Kiev is an elegant dish made with a breaded tender chicken breast wrapped around an oozing core of herbed butter. Done correctly, the crispy Chicken Kiev releases a flowing stream of herbed butter when you cut into it.
Smoked Turkey with Herb and Garlic Butter
Garlic Smoked Turkey with fresh herbs is a delicious choice for any holiday that your oven is space-challenged! And, if you have never smoked a turkey before, you will be surprised at just how easy it is.
Mushroom Stuffed Pork Tenderloin with Madeira Cream Sauce – Pudge Factor
If you’re looking for an elegant entrée for your special Easter dinner, look no further. Mushroom Stuffed Pork Tenderloin with Madeira Cream Sauce is absolutely delicious and is guaranteed to produce the WOW factor!
Cast-Iron Roast Chicken
Cast-Iron Roast Chicken has deliciously crisp skin with flavor-packed, tender, and juicy meat. This main dish, roasted whole chicken, is easy enough for a weeknight dinner, yet also fancy enough for company or a special occasion like Easter dinner!
New York Strip Roast – Oven Roasted
New York Strip Roast is quite possibly the most delicious and tender roast beef you will ever taste, and it’s a perfect entrée for your holiday dinner! And, did I mention that this flavorful roast beef is incredibly easy to prepare?
Crown Roast of Pork – Pudge Factor
Looking for a replacement for the traditional ham for your Easter dinner? Try Crown Roast of Pork. It is an elegant entrée for your special holiday dinner.
Double Smoked Ham with Spicy Peach Glaze
My Double Smoked Ham with Spicy Peach Glaze is outrageously delicious. It features a double-smoked spiral cut ham, topped with a smoked ham rub that infuses it with a flavorful, sweet taste and a two-ingredient, luscious spicy peach glaze transforms it from ordinary to extraordinary.
Beef Tenderloin with Gorgonzola Sauce
Beef Tenderloin with Gorgonzola Sauce is the perfect entrée for your Easter Dinner or a great appetizer for any party. It’s elegant, easy to make, and everyone will love it!
Mushroom Stuffed Pork Tenderloin with Bacon
This Bacon and Mushroom Stuffed Pork Tenderloin is a delicious and elegant entree! It’s the perfect main dish for the holidays, special occasions, dinner parties, or any other type of entertaining.
Best Easter Side Dishes:
Southern-Style Baked Mac and Cheese
Macaroni and Cheese are synonymous with Southern entertaining. You would be hard-pressed to find any holiday or celebration involving food in the South without a macaroni and cheese casserole front and center on the table.
Southern Baked Pineapple Casserole
A quintessential Easter side dish in the South, Southern Baked Pineapple Casserole is the epitome of a quick and easy recipe! You will be saying yes, please, to a serving of this popular pineapple cheese casserole full of sweet pineapple chunks and blanketed with a crisp, buttery Ritz cracker topping.
Southern Style Scalloped Potatoes
Southern Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes are melt-in-your-mouth tender potatoes baked in an ultra decadent and cheesy bechamel sauce. These easy-to-make creamy scalloped potatoes make an incredible side dish for holidays and special occasions, and even your pickiest eaters will love them.
Southern Potato Salad
A classic Southern Potato Salad, and a must-have Easter side dish, just like Grandma used to make, this easy old-fashioned side dish is creamy, tangy, deliciousness. And it’s full of crunchy dill pickles, yellow mustard, mayonnaise, and must-have hard-boiled eggs!
Easy Make-Ahead Zucchini Gratin – Pudge Factor
A gratin is a dish topped with a golden browned crust of breadcrumbs and/or melted cheese. In France, gratins are generally made with potatoes. This Easy Make-Ahead Zucchini Gratin is an amazing deviation that will have you coming back for more!
Ultimate Blue Cheese Potatoes Au Gratin
Are you looking for a delicious side dish for your Easter dinner? How about something just a little different from traditional mashed potatoes? Well, hold on to your chef’s hat because Blue Cheese Potatoes Au Gratin will rock your world.
Grown-Up Green Bean Casserole – Pudge Factor
Are you tired of the mandatory cream of mushroom soup Green Bean Casserole? If so, you should try this Grown-up Green Bean Casserole. It’s easy to make and absolutely delicious! What’s even better is that this Grown-up Green Bean Casserole is a cinch to make, can be made ahead of time, and reheats beautifully.
Green Bean Bundles Wrapped in Bacon
Delicious Green Bean Bundles Wrapped in Bacon will lend an elegant touch to your Easter dinner table. These divine little packages of tender green beans, wrapped in smoky bacon with a touch of brown sugar, are sure to be a favorite of your family and friends.
Roasted Carrots with Lemon Vinaigrette
Roasted Carrots with Lemon Vinaigrette are delicious roasted, crisp-tender, and sweet carrots topped with a yummy lemon and fresh herb vinaigrette. This elegant side dish would be a stunning and flavorful addition to your Easter dinner table.
Easy Spicy Southern Corn Casserole
Easy Spicy Southern Corn Casserole is a fiesta for the senses with luscious corn deliciousness, spicy chilies, jalapenos, bacon, and decadent cream cheese filling that brings it all together.
Ultimate Broccoli Cheese Casserole
When you see a recipe with the name Ultimate Broccoli Cheese Casserole, you expect it to be, well, something pretty spectacular, and this popular Easter casserole loaded with cheesy goodness lives up to its name!
Sweet and Sour Green Beans
Sweet and Sour Green Beans is definitely one delicious green bean recipe that deserves a place of honor on your Easter table. Can be made ahead and served hot or at room temperature.
Southern Sweet Onion Casserole
Perfect for Easter, this easy Southern Sweet Onion Casserole is the best side dish ever! Caramelized sweet onions, Vidalia, if you can find them, are meltingly tender and paired with buttery, crunchy Ritz crackers, sour cream, and cheese. This decadent onion casserole literally melts in your mouth!
Best Easter Salads:
Spinach Salad with Strawberries and Pecans
If you are looking for a delicious, healthy, and low-calorie salad recipe, you are in the right place! Spinach Salad with Strawberries and Pecans with my homemade poppy seed dressing is a great choice when you are looking for a quick and easy dinner idea.
Cucumber Dill Salad – Pudge Factor
Cucumber Dill Salad or Gurkensalat is an incredible salad that is easy to make. It’s not only tasty but also very refreshing, making it perfect for your holiday get-together.
Spinach Apple and Cranberry Salad
Are you looking for delicious ways to incorporate more fruits and vegetables into your diet? Are you short on time but still want to put a healthy and satisfying meal on your Easter table that your family will enjoy? Today I have for you, easy and healthy, Spinach, Apple, and Cranberry Salad with delicious homemade Poppy Seed Dressing.
Corn, Tomato, and Avocado Salad
This delicious and healthy Corn, Tomato, and Avocado Salad is the very essence of springtime entertaining! Perfect for Easter, it is light, cool, and refreshing to eat.
Make-Ahead Frozen Fruit Salad
Make-Ahead Frozen Fruit Salad is an easy, quick, and delicious fruit salad full of pineapple, cherries, and pecans, and it would be perfect for serving for your Easter or Mother’s Day brunch, lunch or dinner, or anytime for that matter.
Classic Seven Layer Salad – Pudge Factor
When you’re planning the perfect make-ahead dish for your holiday gathering, look no further than Classic Southern Seven-Layer Salad. It’s as versatile as it is delicious and always receives rave reviews!
Easy Southern Broccoli Salad
This fresh, colorful, crunchy, make-ahead, veggie-filled salad is the perfect side or salad for your Easter Dinner. It will pair beautifully with just about any main course you might be serving.
Creamy Southern Cole Slaw – Pudge Factor
Creamy southern coleslaw is full of creamy goodness, with the perfect blend of sweet and sour. It’s consistently amazing and goes well with so many dishes. What’s even better is that the food processor does most of the work.
Best Easter Breads:
Traditional Southern Style Cornbread
Traditional Southern Style Cornbread is a staple in my kitchen and would make a wonderful addition to your Easter table.
Crusty French Bread – Pudge Factor
The awesome aroma of freshly baked bread by itself will inspire you to make this Crusty French Bread time and time again. However, once you taste it, you’ll definitely be hooked. It only has five ingredients, and the bread machine does most of the work!
Hoecakes AKA Cornmeal Pancakes
No matter what you call it, this staple of early America is basically a type of cornmeal pancake that is quick and easy to make and would make a great addition to your Easter table.
French Bread Rolls – Pudge Factor
Ever since I got my little bread machine, I’ve been experimenting and trying to perfect different breads. One success story is my french bread rolls! I make these incredible rolls at least once a week. The basis for the recipe that I use came from the King Arthur Flour site.
Buttery Dinner Rolls – Pudge Factor
These soft and fluffy dinner rolls are full of buttery goodness. They take less than 3 hours to make from start to finish, with the bread machine doing most of the work. In addition, the dough is a dream to work with. These dinner rolls are incredible on their own with a pat of butter and amazing wrapped around a piece of leftover ham!
Broccoli Cheddar Cornbread Muffins
This is such a simple recipe; you will wonder why you haven’t tried it before. Broccoli Cheddar Cornbread Muffins combine three of my favorite foods: cheese, cornbread, and broccoli into one flavor-packed parcel.
Amish Potato Rolls – Pudge Factor
Amish Potato Rolls are the quintessential soft dinner roll. Because they stay fresh-tasting for several days, they’re the perfect make-ahead roll for your special holiday feast. Even better, they make the ultimate slider buns to wrap around your leftover turkey or ham.
Southern Cheddar Biscuits
Southern Cheddar Biscuits are light, flaky, tender, Southern-style cream biscuits with sharp gooey cheddar cheese with just three ingredients. Eaten hot right out of the oven with a pat of butter. These delicious cheddar biscuits fairly melt in your mouth.
Bonus: 50+ Easter Desserts and Treat Recipes for 2022:
Whether you are looking for a delicious and decadent classic dessert for Easter or a new twist on an old favorite, we have you covered. Check out these crowd-pleasing Easter desserts, which include gluten-free, vegetarian, and vegan options. Your only problem will be deciding which of these scrumptious desserts to prepare and serve! Of course, who says you can’t make several? After all, it’s Easter!
Frequently Asked Questions:
This varies and depends on what part of the country you live in and where you grew up. At our house, our traditional Easter meal is fairly casual, and usually includes Baked Ham with Pineapple and Cherries, Southern Potato Salad or Southern Scalloped Potatoes, Sweet and Sour Green Beans, or Broccoli Cheese Casserole, and Deviled Eggs.
For dessert, it’s either Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Icing, Strawberry Pie, or Pineapple Upside Down Cake.
Rack of Lamb is a very popular traditional main dish. Beef Tenderloin, Smoked Turkey, Crown Roast of Pork, or Prime Rib are other nice options.
Baked Ham with Pineapple and Cherries is always a popular choice, as is Southern Potato Salad or Southern Scalloped Potatoes, Sweet and Sour Green Beans or Broccoli Cheese Casserole, and Deviled Eggs. All of these dishes can be scaled up or down and most can be made ahead.
Leftover ham can be utilized in so many ways. Ham sandwiches or sliders immediately come to mind. But, my favorite is Easy Au Gratin Potatoes and Ham. This popular recipe is a hearty, stick-to-your-ribs main dish, which also makes terrific leftovers.
And, of course, there is also my Devilishly Delicious Deviled Ham which is also a family favorite. Oh, and don’t forget to save your ham bone for soup, and ham scraps for seasoning Southern peas, and greens.
A Grilled Ham Steak, Rustic Mashed Potatoes for Two, and Brussels Sprout Salad with Citrus Vinegarette would make a lovely Easter meal for two.
You can find all of my Easter recipes at this link.
★ If you make any of these recipes, please leave a comment and let me know how you liked them.
Thanks so much for visiting Grits and Pinecones!
*This roundup post was originally published on April 18, 2019. It was republished on April 2, 2022, with the addition of a FAQ section and several new photos.
How wonderful! Just a treasure trove of deliciousness. I will not need another website or cookbook ever. Just trying to figure out how to save this as a permanent reference. I appreciate all the work you put into creating this resource for your readers.
Thank you so much for your sweet comment! You made my day!
Sharon