Cynthia L. Herzog 
Easter dinner ideas don’t usually get too crazy. While the menu doesn’t tend to be as set in stone as Thanksgiving, most families certainly have some list of Easter must-haves that, if not made to the table, can result in a some confusion…or even a little uproar. So if your party sticks to the usual ham or lamb plus Grandma Judy’s potato salad, your dad’s famous asparagus and carrot cake that’s been served since at least 1994, you you’re probably ready.
Corn! Maybe you’re the one hosting Easter dinner this year and have decided it’s time to try something (or a lot of things) new. Or maybe you’re attending a potluck Easter meal and would like to surprise everyone with an awesome new recipe. Either way, you’ve come to the right place: this list contains a wide variety of exciting and delicious Easter meal ideas. These recipes are packed with tasty seasonal ingredients and strike a nice balance between tradition and novelty. They are resolutely Easter-inspired, but with a tasty twist. Before we get to the recipes, let’s talk about some of the foods that more traditional Easter dinners often feature.
What is included in a traditional Easter dinner?
Traditional Easter foods vary depending on your culture and where you live. Many foods that are commonly found on the table in a given region have symbolic ties to Christianity, contain seasonal ingredients, or are influenced by the cuisine of the region.
On an Easter Sunday dinner table in the United States, for example, you’ll usually see ham or lamb in the center (more on that in a minute), a potato dish (like potatoes rolls), an egg dish (such as deviled eggs), some kind of roll or cookie (such as hot rolls), seasonal vegetables (such as glazed carrots, spring peas, artichokes, or asparagus) and a dessert (like carrot cake).
Why is ham an Easter tradition?
As with many traditions, this one has practical roots – for a long time, serving ham at Easter dinner made sense. Back then, pigs were usually slaughtered in the fall and left to dry out over winter, so they were ready just in time for a big Easter feast, according to Martha Stewart. Over the years, it has become a centuries-old tradition.
In a traditional Easter dinner, the only meat to rival ham in popularity is lamb, for both religious and practical reasons. The lamb has significance in Christianity – Jesus is referred to as ‘the lamb of God’ and the lamb played an important symbolic role in the early celebrations of Passover, a tradition that Jews who converted to Christianity have continued at Easter, Story Explain. Additionally, lambs would have been one of the first available sources of fresh meat after a long winter.
What do you eat on Easter Sunday?
What you actually eat on Easter Sunday has to do with all of these factors: holiday customs, where you live, your cultural heritage, your religious background and, of course, any Easter food traditions your family holds dear. conventional or not.
Many countries and cultures have their own special Easter recipes, for example. A traditional Greek Easter dinner may include whole roast lamb and/or Magiritsa, a Greek soup made from lamb’s offal, depending on Delight. In Paraguay, Easter often involves chipa, a dense and chewy cheese bread, for Flavor. In the UK, you can enjoy a type of fruitcake called Simnel cake for Easter dinner dessert; in Mexico, you can try capirotada (a bread pudding made with spices and sugar syrup); and in Italy you can enjoy a slice of Almond Easter Bread (Colomba Pasquale) or Italian Easter Bread in the shape of a crown, depending on Delight.
Along with regional, religious, and family traditions, what you cook for Easter dinner also depends on which dishes actually feel celebratory and celebratory to you and your loved ones, and how much you want to mix things up this year (or not). . Fish or chicken instead of ham? Why not! A new take on some classic sides? You got it! Pasta and quinoa? Oh yes!
Whether you’re looking for a fresh dish to jazz up the usual array of favorites or revamp the whole thing from the ground up, there are plenty of inspired recipes that will help make your spring break feast even more special this year. And there is always a little room on the table to try delicious new Easter recipes. Here are 60 Easter dinner menu ideas, from appetizers to desserts.
