35 Inspiring Easter Recipes
Hot Cross Buns [1]
Soaking the currants in balsamic vinegar gives them a slightly tangy flavor that contrasts well with the rich dough of this classic Easter bread.
Hot Cross Buns [2]
Scrambled Eggs in Potato Nests [5]
Make this appealing egg dish in just 20 minutes. Packaged hash browns form the nest, and the filling is a simple scramble of eggs and chives topped with cheese.
Roast Rack of Lamb with Cider Glaze [9]
Roast whole apples to go with your rack of lamb, served with a simple apple cider glaze. The recipe comes from L'Etoile in Madison, Wisconsin, known for its menu that highlights locally grown ingredients.
Easter Egg Potatoes [13]
Turn small baked potatoes into Easter egg shapes by mashing the pulp with sour cream and seasonings, and then standing the potatoes on end. It's an easy side you can prepare the day before Easter.
Easter Egg Potatoes [14]
Zippy Cinnamon Rolls [17]
Create these easy, gooey-good rolls by combining frozen bread dough and pudding mix. They'll taste like you spent all morning baking!
Zippy Cinnamon Rolls [18]
Glazed Easter Ham [21]
Choose from four glazes--lemon, stout, apricot-cherry and peach-pineapple--for your Easter ham this year.
Glazed Easter Ham [22]
Spinach Quiche a la Goldmoor [25]
An easy-to-use frozen spinach souffle makes this quiche's eggy-sausage filling easy to prepare. The recipe is from the Goldmoor Inn near Galena, Illinois.
Easter Egg Cookies [29]
Get creative with your cookie-making for Easter! Try piping your designs with our Easter Egg Cookies recipe, or use a cookie cutter with the recipe for Easter Sugar Cookie Cutouts.
Wheat grass makes a cozy resting spot for spring cookies. Look for it in the produce section of major supermarkets, or check at large health food stores.
Easter Egg Cookies [30]
Blueberry Surprise French Toast Casserole [34]
Cream cheese is the secret ingredient in this casserole, which gets a generous topping of blueberry or maple syrup. You can assemble the casserole the night before your Easter brunch.
Deviled Eggs [38]
Put together a traditional version of this classic Easter dish or try our variations for Italian-Style, Greek-Style, Curry and Crab or Chipotle Deviled Eggs.
Deviled Eggs [39]
Lemon Ricotta Pancakes with Warm Blueberry Compote [42]
Rise and shine with these special-occasion pancakes from chef Mindy Segal of Mindy’s HotChocolate Restaurant and Dessert Bar in Chicago. Ricotta makes them moist and rich; lemon curd gives sweet-tart punch.
Any-Flavor Mini Quiche [46]
Talk about easy! You can prep these delicious little quiches the night before, or make them in the morning while the oven preheats. They're perfect for brunch parties, and you can use whatever meat, cheese and veggies you have on hand.
Healthy Green Bean Casserole [50]
Bread crumbs combine with tender, sweet onion to top this casserole, while low-sodium soup mixes with yogurt for the green bean sauce.
Best Carrot-Pineapple Cake [54]
Cream cheese frosting crowns a rich, moist and nutty carrot cake. Cinnamon and allspice add just the right spiciness.
Sugared Bacon Wrapped Smokies [58]
Bacon, smoked links and brown sugar combine for a sweet-and-salty brunch sausage.
Grilled Lamb Chops with Feta Salad [62]
Feta cheese adds salty punch to a colorful summer salad from Chef Michael Symon. He recommends serving the salad with lamb chops, but it would work great with any grilled meat.
Very Cherry Hazelnut Coffee Cake [66]
David Dahlman of Chatsworth, California, was a finalist in the 2012 Best of the Midwest Recipe Contest. He says this yeasty coffee cake reminds him of the old-fashioned, down-to-earth treats on his grandmother's farm table. It takes time because it's a yeast-leavened dough, but there's no kneading required.
Fingerling Potato Salad with Honey-Thyme Vinaigrette [70]
This potato salad from Chicago chef Myk Banas will bring fresh-from-the-garden taste to your Easter table.
Fresh veggie sensation [74]
Play up fresh this Easter with an easy side dish from Chicago-area chef Joe Morelli. Marinate fresh asparagus, red pepper, yellow zucchini, shaved carrots and cremini mushrooms in extra virgin olive oil with some kosher salt and black pepper. Drain off the marinade and pan-roast the mix in a sizzling-hot saute pan with 1/4 cup canola oil for 2 minutes. Add shaved garlic and minced shallots for the last 30 seconds.
Hash Brown Casserole [77]
Here's a somewhat lightened version of a popular potato casserole recipe that's great for Easter brunch or dinner. To lower sodium, use reduced-sodium soup.
Hash Brown Casserole [78]
Easy Banana Nut Bread [81]
Make a couple of these easy nut-filled banana bread loaves--they'll keep up to a month in your freezer. Overwrap loaf in plastic wrap and place in a freezerproof bag. Thaw at room temp.
Lazy Morning Sausage Pie [85]
Lyndy Ireland cooks breakfast favorites for her guests at Triangle Ranch in western South Dakota. She tops this Sausage Pie with refreshing salsa.
Creamy Scalloped Potatoes [89]
This rich side dish earns compliments at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Dearborn, Michigan - just as it will from your Easter guests. Because potatoes can darken once sliced, prepare this dish right before you plan to bake it.
Chai-Spiced Compote [93]
Inexpensive chai tea bags infuse Chai-Spiced Compote with the tongue-tingling flavors of ginger, cloves and cardamom. Because the recipe calls for frozen peaches and cherries, you can make this colorful fruit dessert year-round. If you're watching fat or calories, leave off the pecans and coconut and just enjoy the flavorful fruit.
Chai-Spiced Compote [94]
Asparagus Scramble Biscuits [97]
This recipe starts with square bacon-flecked cornmeal biscuits you can make ahead. On Easter morning, scramble the egg-veggie mixture, fill the biscuits, and bake to heat and melt the cheese.
Lemon Bars [101]
Anyone who loves lemon chess pie will enjoy these sweet and tart bars, perfect for Easter dinner. The recipe comes from Palmer's Deli and Market in Urbandale, Iowa. Top the moist bars with powdered sugar.
Lemon Bars [102]
Herbed Egg-Potato Bake [105]
You can assemble the cheesy Herbed Egg-Potato Bake up to two days ahead and refrigerate it.
Very Cherry-Stuffed French Toast [109]
Take French toast to another level for Easter. Tuck cherry pie filling and cream cheese between cinnamon-flavored bread slices for this breakfast sensation from a Dale, Wisconsin, restaurant.
Patsy's Egg Casserole [113]
Midwest Living® Creative Director Geri Boesen credits her mother-in-law, Patsy, for creating this easy sausage-and-cheese brunch recipe, a popular food at family holiday gatherings. "It's nice because you can make it the day ahead and put it in the fridge overnight," Geri says.
Patsy's Egg Casserole [114]
Fresh Fruit with Orange-Honey Yogurt Sauce [117]
Add a dash of color to your Easter table by borrowing from the spa menu at Four Seasons Hotel in Chicago, where guests are pampered with a rainbow of fruit with yogurt sauce on the side.
Maple Butter Twists [121]
These breakfast rolls are a family tradition with Jean Haviland of Carroll, Iowa. "My mom made these rolls with a maple-cream filling -- and still does!" she says. "Mom always makes extra and freezes them for later. They're great for breakfast or any time of day!"
Maple Butter Twists [122]
Peach Cordial Mini Bundt Cakes [125]
The memory of a childhood orchard trip inspired Melinsa Murphey of Olathe, Kansas, to create this recipe, which was a finalist in our 2012 Best of the Midwest® Recipe Contest. The cakes are moist and sweet and quite generously proportioned, so you may want to serve a half-cake to each person (or bake them in muffin cups instead).
Chocolate Pavlova [129]
Pavlova, a meringue dessert named for Russian ballet dancer Anna Pavlova, gets a chocolate makeover in this recipe from Chicago pastry chef Gale Gand. Top the pavlova with whipped cream and sliced fresh fruit.
Chocolate Pavlova [130]
Tinted Angel Cake [133]
The many colors of Kool-Aid, a Nebraska invention, provide an array of choices for this angel food cake that starts with a mix. Pink lemonade Kool-Aid adds a spring pastel prettiness and a delicate flavor to Tinted Angel Cake. The Tropical Punch version gives the cake flavor that's as intense as its color.
Tinted Angel Cake [134]
Breakfast Monkey-Bread Rolls [137]
Frozen or refrigerated cinnamon roll dough simplifies our recipe for Breakfast Monkey-Bread Rolls. Get family members to help shape the rolls. Baking them in muffin cups cleverly corrals the syrupy topping.