Traditional Easter Dinner Ideas (with Menu Plan)

Erica Walker

5 from 350 votes
369 Comments

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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 classics. A traditional Easter dinner includes ham, side dishes, salads, and, of course, desserts.

As an added bonus, check out our sample Easter menu plan below (including recipes).

Side view of an Easter Dinner Ideas with cheesy potato casserole, asparagus, eggs and ham. Bowl of rolls on the side.
Traditional Easter Dinner Plate: Crockpot Ham with Homemade Glaze, Cheesy Potato Casserole, Sweet Sautéed Asparagus, Deviled Eggs, and Homemade Dinner Rolls.
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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 hot vegetable, and hot homemade rolls. We have our traditional menu plan below, or you can mix and match the recipes below to create your own special Easter dinner.

Easter Appetizers

As family and friends start to gather, we like to set out an appetizer or two. We’ve handpicked four fantastic recipes to elevate your Easter gathering.

Easter Main Dish Recipes

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, a roast lamb, pork roast, or a roast beef can also be served for your Easter feast.

As mentioned above, our go-to Easter main-dish is ham. However, we have enjoyed other main dishes as well. If you are looking for a less traditional Easter meal, try one of these recipes using chicken, fish, beef, or pork.

Easter Side Dishes

Hot Potato Side Dishes

You can’t serve a ham dinner without a good hot 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 crusted 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!

Hot Vegetable Side Dishes

A hot vegetable side dish adds variety, color, and nutrition to an Easter dinner spread. Choose a hot vegetable that will complement the other side dishes on your Easter menu.

Easter Salads

The possibilities are endless when it comes to Easter salads. It’s fun to incorporate hard boiled eggs and spring flavors, like strawberry and lemon. We find ourselves using the following salads time and time again.

Easter Breads

Nothing quite compares to the aroma and taste of freshly baked bread. Homemade rolls are always a good idea. Make extra so you can have ham sandwiches for leftovers! Our classic Easter bread also looks beautiful on the table.

Easter Desserts

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. 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! We featured our Chessmen Banana Pudding with our menu plan below. Here are a few more of our favorites.

Cakes

Pies

Bars and Cookies

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 traditional Easter dinner. It features Slow Cooker Ham, Cheesy Potato Casserole, Sautéed Sweet Asparagus, and a Chessman Banana Pudding for dessert. See the recipe notes for tips on 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!

How to Make a Traditional Easter Dinner

Easter Dinner Ideas with Homemade Rolls, crockpot ham, cheesy funeral potato casserole, and asparagus. Side of deviled eggs.

Traditional Easter Dinner Menu

5 from 350 votes
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.  
Print Pin Rate
Prep Time 35 minutes
Cook Time 3 hours
Total Time 3 hours 35 minutes
Course Dinner, Main Course
Cuisine American
Servings 12 servings

Video

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)
  • 2 tablespoons butter (optional)
  • 1 1/2 cups shredded cheese (optional)

Sweet Asparagus

Four Layer Banana Pudding

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).  
    Slow Cooker with a whole Spiral Ham.
  • Generously rub brown sugar all over the ham.
    Slow Cooker with brown sugar on top of a Spiral Ham.
  • Pour maple syrup and pineapple juice over the ham.
    Maple syrup pouring on a Spiral Ham in the Slow Cooker.
  • Place lid on slow cooker and cook for 2-3 hours on low heat.  
    Lid covering a Crockpot with Spiral Ham inside.
  • 30 minutes prior to serving, remove lid and spoon the juices over the ham.  Cover and cook for 30 more minutes.
    Spoon with juices of Spiral Ham in the Crockpot.
  • Remove ham from slow cooker and serve.
    Plated Slow Cooker Spiral Ham with layers cascading forward.

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.  
    Bowl of Cheesy Potato Casserole mixture with a wooden spoon.
  • Optional toppings: 
    Corn flake crumb topping:  BEFORE baking Sprinkle corn flake crumbs over casserole.  Drizzle 2 tablespoons of melted better over the corn flake crumbs.  Bake.
    Melted cheese topping:  Prepare casserole and bake for 50 minutes.  Remove casserole from oven and evenly disperse 1 ½ cups of shredded cheese over the casserole.  Return the casserole to the oven and bake for 10 more minutes.
    Cheesy Potato Casserole in a baking dish with a wooden spoon for scooping.

Sautéed Sweet Asparagus

  • Rinse asparagus.  Snap off the bottoms of each stalk and discard the bottoms.  
    Cutting off the ends of asparagus with a knife on a cutting board.
  • Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add asparagus to the skillet and sprinkle sugar over the stalks.  
    Tongs holding Sweet Sautéed Asparagus over a skillet.
  • Sauté asparagus over medium-high for 5-7 minutes or to your preferred doneness.  Serve immediately.
    Platter of Sweet Sautéed Asparagus with butter.

Four Layer Banana Pudding

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

Notes

Suggested timing for Easter Dinner preparation:
  1. 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.
  2. Prepare the Slow Cooker Ham and take a break for an hour.  Set the table, clean the kitchen, or watch a show on Netflix. 🙂
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. Sauté the asparagus.  
  6. 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.
  7. When you are ready, cut the Four Layer Banana Pudding into slices and serve.
 
 

Nutrition Information

Calories: 1584kcalCarbohydrates: 113gProtein: 80gFat: 91gSaturated Fat: 42gCholesterol: 302mgSodium: 4869mgPotassium: 1858mgFiber: 5gSugar: 80gVitamin A: 2020IUVitamin C: 19.1mgCalcium: 408mgIron: 7.2mg

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About the author

Erica Walker

Erica lives in Boise, Idaho with her husband, Jared, an attorney, and her three beautiful girls. Beyond the world of recipes, she loves adventuring with everything from kayaking, to cruising, to snowboarding and taking the family along for the thrill ride.

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Comments

  3. 5 stars
    Thank you for all the delicious Easter Dinner ideas! Now I just have to decide which ones I will be making this year!

    Reply

  5. 5 stars
    Thank you so much for sharing this amazing recipe! Will surely have this again! It’s really easy to make and it tasted so delicious! Highly recommended!

    Reply

  6. 5 stars
    Easter dinner is really the only holiday where tables are filled with colorful, succulent dishes and rich, indulgent desserts. It’s an amazing feast for all the senses and the delight of the eyes and taste buds. One of the best traditional dishes that fits this roomba e6 description perfectly is ham glazed with a sweet and tangy sauce. This mouth-watering dish is then baked to perfection and coupled with a variety of delectable sides and fresh fruit salad. Vegetables and side dishes like roasted asparagus and sautéed spinach can also go on the table, as well as your favorite rolls and assorted dessert.

    Reply

    1. The pudding is mixed with the whipped cream mixture and added in the middle layer.

      Reply

      1. Absolutely – Crock Pot is a brand of slow cooker, so they are basically the same thing. Thanks for asking!

        Reply

  14. 5 stars
    These are really delicious recipes and thank you for these wonderful ideas too! Happy Easter!

    Reply

  15. 5 stars
    My Mom always made leg of lamb for Easter dinner, served with mint jelly. Then all the traditional sides.

    Reply

  17. 5 stars
    If you already have thick slices of ham, would it work to put the ham slices in the crockpot or will the ham “curdle?”
    And would you still cook it on low?
    Thank you! 🙂

    Reply

  18. Nice recipes, but nothing new or different than the usual dinner & sides ideas. Doesn’t anyone ever make a delicious “Leg Of Lamb” for Easter?

    Reply

  19. 5 stars
    So many great recipes in this roundup, won’t be hard to find a great combo for our Easter dinner! Thank you 🙂

    Reply