Name: Easter Dinner Menu
Prep time: 35 min
Cook time: 180 min
Total time: 215 min
Ingredients: 8 pound spiral- cut ham ((cooked)); 1 cup brown sugar; 2/3 cup maple syrup; 1 cup canned pineapple juice ((do not use fresh)); 2 pounds hash browns (shredded or cubed); 3 teaspoons salt; pepper (to taste); 1/2 cup butter (melted); 10 ounces condensed cream of chicken soup; 2 cups sour cream; 1/2 cup milk; 2 cups corn flakes (optional topping 1); 2 tablespoons butter (optional topping 1); 1 1/2 cups shredded cheese (optional topping 2); 2-3 pounds asparagus; 6 tablespoons butter; 4 tablespoons sugar; 2 bags Pepperidge Farms Chessman Cookies; 6 bananas (sliced); 2 cups milk; 5 ounces instant vanilla pudding; 8 ounces cream cheese; 14 ounces sweetened condensed milk; 12 ounces frozen whipped topping (thawed)

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These traditional Easter dinner ideas are sure to make your family Easter dinner a big success. You can’t go wrong with any of these tried-and-true recipes.

A traditional Easter dinner includes ham, side dishes, salads, and, of course, desserts. As an added bonus, we will also share with you a sample Easter dinner including recipes.

Easter Dinner Food Collage — From top to bottom: Honey Baked Ham, Homemade Dinner Rolls, Crock Pot Au Gratin Potatoes, Blueberry Jello Salad, Coconut Cream Pie, and Roasted Asparagus.

Our Traditional Easter Dinner

Every year our family gathers together on Easter Sunday to enjoy a traditional ham dinner. On the side, we serve a potato dish, a salad, and hot homemade rolls. According to marthastewart.com, ham became the meat of choice for Easter dinner because it was more readily available than lamb. However, if ham isn’t your main dish of choice, lamb, pork, or a roast beef can also be served.

Easter Main Dish Recipes

Ham slices being pulled apart with a fork — Honey Baked Ham

Sliced roast beef on a platter with gravy being spooned over the top — Honey Baked Ham

As mentioned above, our go-to Easter main-dish is ham. However, we have enjoyed other main dishes as well. Check out all of our favorite Easter main dish ideas:

Easter Potatoes

Cheesy Potato Casserole in a glass baking dish — Cheesy Potato Casserole

Creamy Potatoes and Peas on a white plate. — Cheesy Potato Casserole

You can’t serve a ham dinner without a good potato side dish. Typically Easter potatoes are served “casserole-style” in a casserole dish with some kind of sauce and cheese. Some examples of this are funeral potatoes or potatoes au gratin. Our readers have commented saying that they have loved serving our creamy potatoes with peas or our parmesan potato halves with their ham dinners as well. Check them all out and decide for yourself what suits your family best! Any of these Easter dinner ideas will be a winner!

Funeral Potatoes (aka “Cheesy Potato Casserole)
Parmesan Baked Potato Halves
Creamy Potatoes and Peas
Potatoes Au Gratin
Crock Pot Potatoes Au Gratin
Perfect Mashed Potatoes

Easter Side Dish Ideas

buttery golden brown dinner rolls in a basket close up — Homemade Dinner Rolls

Blueberry Jello Salad topped with fresh blueberries in a glass baking dish — Homemade Dinner Rolls

The possibilities are endless when it comes to Easter side dishes. You can’t go wrong with just about any kind of salad. It was very tough narrowing down these side dishes to the few that we thought would complement a traditional Easter dinner the most. These are the ones we find ourselves using time and time again for our own Easter dinner:

Easter Desserts

A slice of key lime pie with a graham cracker crust and a bite on a fork — Key Lime Pie

A round coconut cream cake on a cake platter — Key Lime Pie

When it comes to Easter Desserts and Treats, we don’t mess around. In fact, we love Easter desserts and treats so much, we created an entire, separate post dedicated to them (click HERE). These tasty treats can be served along with Easter dinner or even as surprises in Easter baskets. They are as fun to make as they are to eat! Here are a few more of our favorites:

Bonus: Leftover Ham Recipes

I don’t know about you, but we ALWAYS seem to have leftovers from Easter dinner. Here are some ideas to help you use up that delicious leftover ham:

Easy Easter Dinner Menu with Recipes

Here is a sample menu plan for a delicious and easy Easter dinner. It features Slow Cooker Ham, Cheesy Potato Casserole, Sautéed Sweet Asparagus, and a Four Layer Banana Pudding for dessert. See the Recipe Notes for timing it all out perfectly. We are taking all of the stress out of it just for you! Please enjoy your beautiful, well-planned Easter Dinner!

Ham, potatoes, and salad on a plate for Easter Dinner

Easter Dinner Menu

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Recipes for a delicious Easter Dinner along with help for timing the preparation (see Recipe Notes). These recipes will serve a dinner party of up to 12.

Prep Time: 35 minutes

Cook Time: 3 hours

Total: 3 hours 35 minutes

Serves: servings

Ingredients

Slow Cooker Spiral Ham

8 pound spiral- cut ham (cooked)
1 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup maple syrup
1 cup canned pineapple juice (do not use fresh)

Cheesy Potato Casserole

2 pounds hash browns shredded or cubed
3 teaspoons salt
pepper to taste
1/2 cup butter melted
10 ounces condensed cream of chicken soup
2 cups sour cream
1/2 cup milk
2 cups corn flakes optional topping 1
2 tablespoons butter optional topping 1
1 1/2 cups shredded cheese optional topping 2

Sweet Asparagus

2-3 pounds asparagus
6 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons sugar

Four Layer Banana Pudding

2 bags Pepperidge Farms Chessman Cookies
6 bananas sliced
2 cups milk
5 ounces instant vanilla pudding
8 ounces cream cheese
14 ounces sweetened condensed milk
12 ounces frozen whipped topping thawed

Instructions

Slow Cooker Spiral Ham

Remove the ham from packaging and place ham, flat-side down, in a large slow cooker (7 quarts or larger).
Generously rub brown sugar all over the ham.
Pour maple syrup and pineapple juice over the ham.
Place lid on slow cooker and cook for 2-3 hours on low heat.
30 minutes prior to serving, remove lid and spoon the juices over the ham. Cover and cook for 30 more minutes.
Remove ham from slow cooker and serve.

Cheesy Potato Casserole

Mix all ingredients, except optional toppings, in a large bowl. Spread mixture evenly into a 9×13 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.
Optional toppings:
1. Corn flake crumb topping: BEFORE baking Sprinkle corn flake crumbs over casserole. Drizzle 2 tablespoons of melted better over the corn flake crumbs. Bake.
2. Melted cheese topping: Prepare casserole and bake for 50 minutes. Remove casserole from oven and evenly disperse 1 1/2 cups of shredded cheese over the casserole. Return the casserole to the oven and bake for 10 more minutes.

Sautéed Sweet Asparagus

Rinse asparagus. Snap off the bottoms of each stalk and discard the bottoms.
Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add asparagus to the skillet and sprinkle sugar over the stalks.
Sauté asparagus over medium-high for 5-7 minutes or to your preferred doneness. Serve immediately.

Four Layer Banana Pudding

Line the bottom of a 9×13 pan with one layer of Chessmen cookies.
Place sliced bananas on top of the cookie layer.
In a large bowl, combine milk and pudding mix. Stir until smooth. Set aside.
In a separate bowl, combine cream cheese and sweetened condensed milk. Stir until smooth. Fold in whipped topping.
Add the two mixtures together and stir until well combined. Pour mixture over the banana layer.
Top with another layer of Chessmen cookies (the picture side up) and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Notes

Suggested timing for Easter Dinner preparation:

Prepare the Four Layer Banana Pudding. This can be made the morning of, or the day ahead. It can also be made just after starting the Slow Cooker Ham and still have time to refrigerate so it can be served nice and cold.
Prepare the Slow Cooker Ham and take a break for an hour. Set the table, clean the kitchen, or watch a show on Netflix. 🙂
After the ham has been cooking for about an hour, prepare the Cheesy Potato Casserole. Once it’s in the oven, you can take another 45 minute break. If you are making a green salad or other sides, now is a good time to do it.
At this point the ham has been cooking for about 2 hours. Take it out of the slow cooker and cut it into slices. Place the slices back in the juices in the slow cooker to keep them warm while you sauté the asparagus.
Sauté the asparagus.
Dinner is ready to go! Place the asparagus in a pretty serving dish with a spoon or tongs, place the sliced ham on a nice platter with a serving fork, remove the potatoes from the oven and set on the table with a serving spoon.
When you are ready, cut the Four Layer Banana Pudding into slices and serve.

Nutrition

Course: Main Course, Dinner

Cuisine: American

Easter Dinner

Recipe by: Erica Walker

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