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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).
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
Traditional Easter Dinner Menu
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)
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:Â Corn flake crumb topping: Â BEFORE baking Sprinkle corn flake crumbs over casserole. Â Drizzle 2 tablespoons of melted better over the corn flake crumbs. Â Bake.Melted cheese topping: Â Prepare casserole and bake for 50 minutes. Â Remove casserole from oven and evenly disperse 1 ½ cups of shredded cheese over the casserole. Â 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
- Prepare the Four Layer Banana Pudding. Â This can be made the morning of, or the day ahead. Â 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. Â Once it’s in the oven, you can take another 45 minute break. Â 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. Â
- Dinner is ready to go! Â 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.
I love the flavors and the appearance of these recipes!
I woke up stressed out that I haven’t pulled together a plan for Easter dinner. You have saved me!!!
These recipes are just what I needed!!!
Happy Easter to you and your family 😊
I love all the recipes posted but if I had to pick one it would be the glazed ham and cheese potatoes. Ham always seemed traditional at Easter at my moms house and it brings back warm memories with the family around the table. I really like the Easter Bread. It adds colour and it is special for the little ones.
I love all the recipes that you have on here.
The cheesy potato casserole! So good!!! Didn’t change anything and wouldn’t change anything. My daughter makes a version with fresh diced potatoes and I like this recipe better, by far! The cubed potatoes give too much potato. This recipe is a much better blend.
Love the strawberry pretzel salad and definitely want to try the sweet asparagus!
Just wanted to let you know I tried the Coconut Cream Pie recipe from last week. It took time to make but everyone raved and I don’t think I’ve had better.
Thank you so much. Enjoy your recipes/
Cheesy potato casserole is a family favorite and me make ours the same as you do yours! Love it! 🙂 Happy Easter everyone!
These recipes for the Easter dinner menu are the best for the perfect Easter dinner. It brings back memories from the past of the family Easter festivities when my parents were still alive, and everyone gathered for this annual meal. It’s a tradition worth continuing. The spiral ham and cheesy potato casserole are my favorites.
The slow cooker ham with brown sugar and maple….the cheesy potato casserole are my pick. At 84 years of age, quick and easy are the only way to go. Thanks so much for the recipes.
A blessed Easter to all.
All of the recipes look wonderful. I think the potato casserole and the four layer banana pudding are my favorite.
It’s hard for me to choose between the Easy Key Like Pie or the Strawberry Pretzel Salad. Both are 5 stars! Happy Easter everyone! He is Risen!
This is my favorite meal. Love asparagus and those potatoes are great. And who would not have the ham. Yum, yum, yum Then for desert Coconut Cream Pie. Your recipes are the best ever.
Our family loves these Easter recipes, especially the Strawberry Pretzel Salad! An added bonus in this post is the idea list for leftover ham, which we tend to have. One favorite of ours is the Ham Fried Rice. It’s quick and easy, filling, flavorful, and pairs perfectly with Asian-themed meals. It also feeds an army. Win win!
I have to say the spiral ham would be my favorite. Although I think you have some, actually, the most, of the best recipes around! Just saying!! Maybe with some half baked potatoes and asparagus then coconut crème pie for desert and the bunny cake for the kids! Happy Easter
I think you have the best recipes. Happy Easter!
I love the crock pot ham recipe & cheesy potatoes.
Thank you so much for all of these delicious recipes.
Nancy
I picked the Instant pot Pot Roast & Gravy recipe. It’s a family favorite & the leftovers are wonderful too! I love the quicker cooking method with instant pots!
Family loves, ham, cheesy potatoes and asparagus. I usually make a carrot cake, but, your lemon bundt cake looks so good I think I will make that this year., wish me luck breaking tradition.
Thank you for showing so many wonderful recipes that helped me plan my Easter dinner.
I will be making the Slow Cooker Ham with Maple and Brown Sugar. When I made this before it was a hit and left my oven free for other things. One thing that I will add that is not on your list is my sister’s recipe for a wonderful mustard sauce that is to die for and that will be served on the side. To that I will add the Perfect Mashed Potatoes, the Sweet Sauteed Asparagus, and Homemade Dinner Rolls. For dessert, it will be everyone’s favourite, Coconut Cream Pie. Yum