Easter is a cherished holiday that brings together family and friends to celebrate with delicious food. While traditional Easter meals often include rich and decadent dishes, it's possible to create a healthy and memorable feast without sacrificing flavor. This article offers a variety of healthy Easter food ideas, ranging from brunch recipes to dinner centerpieces and delightful desserts, all designed to make your holiday both enjoyable and nourishing.
Brunch Recipes: Start the Day Right
Hash-Brown Egg Cups: A Crispy and Crunchy Delight
These muffin-tin egg bites feature a crispy hash-brown crust, adding a delightful crunch to your brunch spread. Using fresh hash browns, found in the produce section of most grocery stores, ensures a crispier result than you'd get from frozen.
Spinach & Mushroom Quiche: A Veggie-Forward Masterpiece
This healthy vegetarian quiche recipe is as simple as it gets. It's a quiche without the fussy crust! It's filled with sweet wild mushrooms and savory Gruyère cheese. For a lighter twist, try a crustless spinach-and-asparagus quiche featuring plenty of spring vegetables baked with richly flavored Gruyère cheese.
Sweet Potato Eggs Benedict with Hollandaise Sauce
Elevate your Easter brunch with sweet potato eggs Benedict, drizzled with creamy hollandaise sauce. This dish offers a delightful combination of flavors and textures.
Lemon Ricotta Protein Pancakes: A Fluffy and High-Protein Treat
Incorporate a sweeter breakfast option with a stacked plate of these fluffy lemon ricotta protein pancakes. They are a delicious and high-protein way to start your Easter morning.
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Smoked Salmon Frittata
Fill up your frittata with savory smoked salmon for a sophisticated and flavorful brunch option.
Shakshuka
This dish has become a brunch staple over the years! Not only is it so easy to make with minimal ingredients, but it lets tomatoes have a shining moment on the breakfast table.
Appetizers and Finger Foods: Bite-Sized Delights
Deviled Eggs: A Classic with Endless Variations
A platter of deviled eggs is pretty much a necessity for Easter. There are endless variations you can make!
Classic Deviled Eggs
These are the deviled eggs to make for every single holiday, especially Easter. A classic take on deviled eggs calls for just five ingredients (and you probably already have most of them in your pantry). Make the recipe your own by dialing the hot sauce up or down and choosing dill or sweet pickle relish.
Smoked Salmon Deviled Eggs
Smoked salmon is an ingredient to incorporate into your Easter menu, and these deviled eggs are a great way to do it.
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Beet Pickled Deviled Eggs
There’s nothing like vibrant pink eggs for Easter, especially for a fun and delicious appetizer.
Jessica B. Harris' Creole Deviled Eggs
Jessica B. Harris looks to the Creole cooking traditions of the Caribbean Island of Guadeloupe for these deviled eggs, adding crab meat to the filling.
Dill Pickle Deviled Eggs
Using pickles in the filling not only reduces the amount of mayo used in this classic appetizer but really boosts the flavor as well! Of course, you guests will only be thinking about how good they are.
Hummus Crudité Platter: A Fresh and Colorful Start
A hummus crudité platter is one of the best ways to serve fresh-cut spring veggies. For a vibrant twist, try a green goddess hummus to brighten up the colors on your dinner table.
Stuffed Mushrooms
Whenever you need a bite-sized appetizer guaranteed to be a hit (that’s not deviled eggs), these stuffed mushrooms are always on the menu.
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Smoked Salmon Cheeseball
Dipping into a cream cheese ball is delicious.
Healthy Spinach Artichoke Dip
When can you ever go wrong with a bowl of warm and creamy spinach artichoke dip?
Smoked Salmon, Avocado, and Cucumber Bites
Another fresh smoked salmon idea is to top it with avocado on cucumber bites!
Garlic Herb Turkey Cutlets
These Garlic Herb Turkey Cutlets are perfect for the Springtime and BURSTING with flavor, thanks to the herbs and spices. They are that unique blend of simple yet elegant so you can take it easy while still impressing your family at home with a holiday meal.
Chicken, Avocado, and Egg Salad Bites
The chicken, avocado, and egg salad is filled with nutrients and delicious flavors.
Salads: Bright and Refreshing Sides
Berry Spinach Salad: A Springtime Delight
Sweet strawberries, salty feta, and crunchy walnuts jazz up a simple spinach salad. This berry-forward salad is perfect for incorporating more spring fruits on the table!
Nicoise Salad
If there’s one salad to impress with, it’s this Nicoise salad.
Broccoli Salad
This crunchy broccoli salad is a non-negotiable for my family’s Easter spread.
Coleslaw
You can never go wrong with a giant bowl of this creamy coleslaw for a refreshing side dish. The homemade coleslaw dressing is unmatched!
French Carrot Salad
This vibrant salad is another delicious way to get carrots on the table! Carrots are a good source of several vitamins and minerals, especially biotin, potassium, and vitamins A and B6. So this recipe is not only beautiful and delicious but also filled with nutrients, making it a great side dish to your primary course!
Greek Salad
Fresh Mediterranean flavors always deserve a spot on your spring table.
Classic Potato Salad
This is a signature potato salad recipe that always gets rave reviews for any holiday, but especially Easter. This recipe skips out on the mayo while keeping that creamy SUPER fresh flavor.
Egg Salad
If you’re not making deviled eggs, a batch of this egg salad is the next best thing! You can serve it for brunch, as a side dish, or even with lettuce wraps for a fun dinner alternative.
Arugula and Three-Pea Salad
This salad is a testament to spring's vibrant produce, combining peppery arugula with the sweetness of fresh peas.
Super Market Slaw
Chock full of bright and fresh ingredients (that are probably already in your fridge), this supermarket slaw is a great last-minute Easter side dish. The slaw features broccoli, edamame, corn, chicken, pancetta, and coleslaw tossed in a homemade pesto dressing.
Green Goddess Salad
Layers upon layers of flavorful greens feel so refreshingly spring, don't they? You can also make this a few days in advance and it'll stay crunchy. And a from-scratch herby dressing makes it extra special.
Radish Salad
In less than 15 minutes, you can pull together this side dish that's packed with crispy, flavorful salad. Thinly sliced radishes and cucumbers get a boost with tons of fresh herbs.
Spring Salad with Radishes
Spotlight seasonal veggies with this spring salad! Featuring peppery radishes, crunchy lettuce, and red onions, this salad is a healthy way to round out your Sunday meal.
Cucumber Sandwich
This creamy, crunchy cucumber sandwich recipe strikes a lovely balance between decadent and light.
Little Gem Wedge Salad
Little Gem lettuce is like a cross between romaine and butterhead. It's perfect for making an updated take on the wedge salad in this healthy recipe. If you can't find Little Gem, use half a romaine heart for each serving.
Main Courses: Centerpieces of the Easter Feast
Rosemary Grilled Lamb Chops: A New Zealand Tradition
Being a New Zealander, grilled lamb chops have always been an essential part of our Easter spread. Plus, they’re incredibly easy to make in just 35 minutes. Save room in the oven for other dishes and put your Easter lamb on the grill instead! They are marinated in garlic and herbs and take less than ten minutes to cook.
Honey-Baked Ham: A Classic for a Crowd
If you’re celebrating with a large group, it is always recommended to make a honey-baked ham. It’s much easier than you think and tastes as good as the store-bought version!
Easy Roast Chicken: A Foolproof Option
This classic roast chicken comes out perfectly golden and juicy, every single time. And if you have a slow cooker, this slow cooker whole chicken works just as well. The recipe calls for one lemon, but we like to serve it with a few extra wedges of fresh lemon.
Garlic Herb Prime Rib: An Elegant Choice
This beautiful hunk of meat is one of the favorite holiday dinners, especially for Easter.
Slow-Roasted Salmon with Fennel and Orange: A Show Stopper
For a larger filet of salmon, this is quite the show stopper. Not only is it slow-roasted for the most tender salmon.
Garlic Herb Baked Cod: A Lemony Delight
Besides salmon, cod is a second favorite fish for dinner parties. And this lemony garlic herb version is the perfect way to serve it for spring. This super-easy lemon baked cod is buttery and flaky, with the bright flavors of lemon and garlic bringing it all together.
Orange Glazed Salmon
Since we’re in the thick of citrus season, this orange glazed salmon is another great way to incorporate salmon and oranges!
Mediterranean Cod en Papillote
This is a fun way to serve up individual cod filets with veggies for each of your guests!
Easy Baked Halibut
Here’s a reminder not to forget about halibut!
Scallops With Citrus Ginger Sauce
Last but not least, these pan-seared scallops are a favorite way to make scallops for dinner!
Garlic-Herb Beef Strip Filet Roast
A roast is a fine choice for Easter, opting for a leaner cut with this one. Plus, you don't really need a ton of salt on this. The garlic and herbs take care of the flavor.
Honey Orange Salmon
This recipe isn't just healthy and beautiful, but it's also a great choice for anyone who doesn't want to fuss with dinner. All you really need for this is a sheet pan.
Chicken Spanakopita Casserole
Put a Greek twist on your main course with this crispy, flakey, ooey-gooey casserole.
Shrimp Lemon and Pea Cauliflower "Risotto"
All the spring things, this quick-fix dish uses cauliflower rice to mimic risotto.
Mediterranean-Crusted Halibut
Flakey and flavorful, this sheet pan halibut is just what you were looking for-if easy, healthy, and holiday-worthy is what you're after.
Bruschetta Steak
Not crazy about the idea of cooking an individual steak for everyone? Cook two or three larger cuts instead.