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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)
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: 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.
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. 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.
We as everyone else had the t radio nap ham. We definitely had potatoes we had potatoes every nie. Of course we had several vegetables like green beans, broccoli, and corn. The dessert had to be pie for my dad, but the real star was the bunny cake. My mom had a mold for the bunny and it was all decked out in white icing and covered in coconut. The best part of dinner was having all of us together. My four brothers and one sister, my grandmother/( who I miss every day for the past53 years), and sometimes Sister Christina my cousin and Monsigner? Herman Brieght. Now we each have our own traditions but I do miss the family get togethers. Hope your Easter holiday holds A lot of good memories.
I love banana pudding and I adore the King Chessmen cookies. I lived in Greece for many years and it would not be Easter without sweet cheese pies, lamb, goat, and a sweet braided bread with a red egg in the middle as a decoration. Easter is the best time of the year in Greece and I don’t think there is a Greek food I don’t like. I try, since moving back to the states, to always have a few Greek dishes at Easter such as an egg lemon soup and fried sweet cheese pies.
I want to try all your recipes! Each looks like a winner 100%. Being disabled, I will pick at least 2 to add to my husband’s menu.
Growing up, our Great Aunt had at least 7 or more families over after church. Mother’s always contributed, but what a feast she had! A huge table and non stop food passing of everything. I was a big girl when I got to sit at the big table.
I have 2 crock pots. So I’m going to try the slow cooker ham with glaze and the potatoes au gratin. Winners for sure.
Wishing all a Blessed Easter.
My favorite Easter dinner is leg of lamb with scalloped potatoes and asparagus. Then maybe chocolate pots de creme for dessert 🙂
My traditional Easter meal is ham. I like corn casserole, yams, grandpas party potatoes, and some good macaroni and cheese. I like this banana pudding recipe. I’ll try it. I am not much on desserts. But my family enjoys them!
My usual Easter Dinner consists of Ham, Mashed Potatoes, Green Bean Casserole, Corn Casserole, Salad, Rolls and 2 or 3 Desserts.
This looks absolutely delicious and easy yo prepare.
BAKED HAM, MASHED POTATOES, TORTILLA PINWHEELS WITH CREAM CHEESE AND SWEET PEPPERS, GREEN BEAN CASSEROLE, CINDY’S 4 BEAN CASSEROLE, FRESH ROLLS, DEVILED EGGS, FRESH FRUIT SALAD, CARROT CAKE, CHOCOLATE LAYERED PUDDING DESSERT– WE USED TO GATHER WITH LOTS OF FAMILY MEMBERS AND HAD EVEN MORE CHOICES. SOMEONE ALWAYS BROUGHT A NEW RECIPE THEY WERE TRYING OUT. SO FUN.
We usually have a spiral ham with deviled eggs glazed carrots mashed potatoes and fresh hot rolls. Then we have hot apple pie Al a mode. We use the ham bone to make ham and beans for another meal.
I love Ham, Potato Salad, Baked Beans , corn pudding, Rolls, Coconut cream pie and a coconut cake. Usually have peas, deviled eggs, pickled beets, and a few other sides .
My traditional Easter meal is a ham, mashed potatoes with corn on the cob and fresh green oh and homeaid biscuits n gravey. Mmmmmmyummy for my tummy good stuff.
I have ham, potato salad macaroni and cheese, string beans and deviled eggs. I color the eggs with food coloring. I have brown sugar pie for dessert
This year I will make yeast rolls from the recipe you had
They are easy and delicious 😋 Happy Resurrection Day❤️✝️
Ham, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole and dinner rolls just that simple..
I love all these recipes. I especially love the banana pudding recipe and plan to make it for our Easter dessert
I don’t have many traditional Easter memories regarding food, but my grandmother used to always make deviled eggs. Oreo delight is also an amazing thing down here in the south, it’s always gone too quick!
I’ve never heard of 4 layer banana pudding but sounds delicious, I must try it!
My family Easter celebrations have been hit and miss throughout my life so I can really say I have am absolute favorite, but I do like spiral ham and I must be pretty original because I’ve only thought of wrapping it with tin foil and heating it in the over, lol.
My favorite is the Honey Baked Ham in the Crock pot, the 4 layer banana pudding is the BEST as is all your reciepes. I love the homemade bread and of course the kids and babies enjoy making the cookies and Easter treats. Thank you for sharing all your homemade receipes for me to share with my children and as they grow up, they will share them with their children. Happy Easter & May God Bless You All.
I love a glazed ham with some lovely veggie sides like root vegetables, green beans and Brussels sprouts! Also, some fresh, warm rolls. Dessert can be anything from lemon squares to cheesecake or pavlova!