Check out thirty-two must-have holiday side dish recipes that are irresistibly delicious, family-friendly, and perfect for your Easter brunch or dinner celebration. Whether you are cooking for two or for a crowd, choose from easy, make-ahead vegetable dishes, casseroles, and salads. This comprehensive roundup also includes healthy, keto, and vegetarian options.
No need to look any further for side dish menu ideas! This roundup includes sides that range from simple to sophisticated and everything in between. Special thanks to my sister, Chula, over at the Pudge Factor blog for letting me include some of her favorites too!
Easter Brunch or Dinner Side Dishes
Easy Southern Potato Salad
Easter or summer picnics wouldn’t be the same without a tasty helping of potato salad, and I think this is the best recipe for classic Southern Potato Salad! Like Grandma used to make, this easy-to-make, old-fashioned potato salad is creamy, tangy delicious, and loaded with crunchy dill pickles, spicy mustard, mayonnaise, and must-have hard-boiled eggs!
Green Bean Bundles Wrapped in Bacon
Easy delicious Green Bean Bundles Wrapped in Bacon will lend an elegant touch to your holiday 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.
Copper Pennies (Marinated Carrots)
Copper Pennies, also known as Marinated Carrots or Sweet and Sour Carrots, consists of carrot medallions marinated in a tangy tomato sauce. It’s the best carrot side dish ever and is perfect for Easter. You might say it’s “Copper Pennies from Heaven”!
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 delicious casserole loaded with cheesy goodness lives up to its name!
Classic Southern Deviled Eggs
Classic Southern Deviled Eggs are devilishly delicious with mayonnaise, mustard, and dill pickles. And, they are a classic for a good reason; everyone loves them!
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 Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes
Southern Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes, an Easter brunch or dinner tradition especially in the South, consists of sliced potatoes covered in a decadent and rich cheesy bechamel sauce and then baked until they are melt-in-your-mouth tender.
Easy Grape Salad with Cream Cheese
Easy, old-fashioned Grape Salad is full of plump, juicy grapes, buttery toasted pecans, and a tangy dressing made with cream cheese, sour cream, and sugar. Is it a salad or a dessert? You decide. Either way, it’s the perfect holiday treat.
Baked Mushroom Casserole
Baked Mushroom Casserole is a delicious and impressive mushroom side dish with a blend of shitake, cremini, and baby portabella mushrooms, baked with butter, parsley, and lemony goodness.
Spinach Gratin – Pudge Factor
Spinach Gratin is full of creamy, cheesy goodness. Frozen spinach is mixed with a classic Mornay sauce accented with caramelized onions. It’s topped with both Gruyère cheese and freshly grated Parmesan cheese to create an unforgettable dish. As bonuses, it can be made ahead of time and produces amazing leftovers.
Cauliflower Cheese Bake
Cauliflower Cheese Bake is the perfect rich and creamy but low-carb side dish for your Easter dinner or any dinner when you want to treat your family or guests to something special! It’s a true crowd pleaser!
Southern Cheesy Corn Pudding
Southern Cheesy Corn Pudding is a beloved traditional holiday and pot-luck dinner side-dish in the South! If you like corn and you like cornbread, you will love this decadent and creamy corn casserole recipe.
Make-Ahead Vegetable Tian – Pudge Factor
Make-Ahead Vegetable Tian is as delicious to eat as it is beautiful to present. Imagine layered overlapping alternating potatoes, zucchini, and tomatoes sitting atop luscious caramelized onions topped with Gruyère cheese. The vegetable tian is the perfect side dish to serve for a special occasion or anytime for that matter. What’s even better is that the leftovers, if any, are just as amazing.
Easy Parmesan Potatoes Au Gratin
This recipe for Easy Parmesan Potatoes Au Gratin is irresistibly delicious and the perfect special occasion side dish. With thinly sliced, tender Russet potatoes nestled in a thick and decadent cream sauce and nutty parmesan cheese, this thoroughly indulgent side dish might edge out your entrée and become the star of the show!
Southern Sweet and Sour Green Beans
Southern Sweet and Sour Green Beans with smokey bacon, crunchy water chestnuts, and sweet onions taste just like its name! It’s also definitely one delicious and easy green bean recipe, which deserves a place of honor in your repertoire of “go-to” recipes for green beans.
Easy Baked Southern Candied Sweet Potato Casserole
Easy Baked Southern Candied Sweet Potato Casserole features thinly sliced sweet potatoes, covered with brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ground cloves, and then topped with sweet, creamy butter and candied pecans. This easy classic Easter casserole recipe comes together quickly and is both decadent and delicious!
Green Bean Pie with a Ritz Cracker Crust
Move over traditional Green Bean Casserole, and make room for a new show-stopping, side-dish for your Easter table, savory Green Bean Pie with a Ritz Cracker Crust. The best green bean casserole from scratch, Green Bean Pie with a Ritz Cracker Crust, is full of fresh, tender green beans and earthy mushrooms, enveloped in a creamy, decadent, cheesy sauce, and topped with the traditional French fried onions.
Easy Southern Corn Salad
Easy Southern Corn Salad is a delicious staple in the South, especially in the spring and summer when fresh corn is readily available at the farmer’s markets. Easy Southern Corn Salad only takes minutes to make and, because it’s made without mayonnaise, it’s fresh, light, and healthy.
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.
Potato Broccoli Salad
Potato Broccoli Salad with Vinaigrette is a lighter, delicious, and healthy change from classic or traditional potato salad. The addition of broccoli and cherry tomatoes ramps up the nutrition value, and the use of a tasty vinaigrette instead of mayonnaise and eggs reduces the calorie count.
Southern Style Baked Mac and Cheese Casserole
Macaroni and Cheese is synonymous with Southern entertaining, and 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 Sweet Onion Casserole
Just in time 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!
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, which will have you coming back for more!
Traditional Southern Cornbread Dressing
In the South, cornbread dressing recipes have been passed down through generations, and there are almost as many variations as Easter eggs. But the one constant in most of the cornbread dressing recipes is butter! This recipe calls for, hold on to your hat, two full sticks of butter! And butter is what makes this cornbread dressing so moist and flavorful! I know what you’re thinking, but Easter is only once a year, right?
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 a decadent cream cheese filling that brings it all together.
Southern Green Beans and New Potatoes
Southern Green Beans and New Potatoes is an old-fashioned side dish that has been around the proverbial block many times. This delicious, tried, and true Southern-style recipe features fresh, crisp green beans and tender new potatoes cooked with a little bacon, garlic, and onion.
Easy Cheesy Potato And Onion Au Gratin – Pudge Factor
Easy Cheesy Potato and Onion Au Gratin is deliciously creamy and a real show stopper. It’s a simple side dish that takes minutes to put together but is packed with cheesy goodness. What’s even better is that it can be made ahead of time, and leftovers, if any, are just as good the next day. Who could ask for more?
Southern White Acre Pea Succotash
Southern White Acre Pea Succotash, with white acre peas and fresh summer corn, is healthy and full of garden-fresh delicious flavors and summery goodness.
Ultimate Make-Ahead Frozen Fruit Salad
Ultimate Make-Ahead Frozen Fruit Salad is an easy, quick and delicious fruit salad. It’s full of pineapple, cherries, and pecans, and it would be perfect for serving for an Easter or Mother’s Day brunch, lunch or dinner, or anytime for that matter.
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.
Ultimate Blue Cheese Potatoes Au Gratin
Are you looking for a delicious side dish for a special dinner or your Easter table? 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.
Pommes Anna (A.K.A. Potatoes Anna) – Pudge Factor
Pommes Anna, also known as Potatoes Anna, is a simple yet impressive side dish that is sure to be a showstopper at your next dinner party. It’s buttery crispy on the golden brown outside and melt in your mouth tender on the inside.
Easy Stove Top Roasted Potatoes – Pudge Factor
Who doesn’t love roasted potatoes that are crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside? Well, now you can make them. They’re super easy and made on the stove-top for a winning combination!
Related recipes:
You know I couldn’t let you leave without offering even more menu ideas for your Easter celebration. Check out these Easter roundups for even more easy recipes:
From my family to yours, I wish you sunshine, good times, and a very happy Easter! 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 post was originally published in April 2019. It was republished on March 30, 2021, with new photos and several new and updated recipes.
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