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It’s Easter week, and let’s be honest. Many of us are still trying to figure out how Easter showed up in the week after spring break and the last week of March. It crept up on me, too!
I was in panic mode last week, trying to look in my attic for empty plastic eggs to stuff for our egg hunt after church and finding a plastic basket for the said hunt before I purchased another one. I found the eggs but opted to buy a sand bucket that we can use this summer for outdoor adventures at waterfalls and creeks and maybe even a beach trip if I can pull that off!
But Easter is here, and it holds many traditions that often include gathering with family or friends to celebrate spring and the resurrection of Jesus. So, with a few days left to get your details together, let’s walk through a few lists to help tackle Easter brunch.
Essential Menu Items for an Easter Dinner
If you are hosting an Easter brunch, here are some essential menu items to ensure you have covered. We are away from family this year, so I’m hosting a group of friends for lunch on Sunday after church. One tip I’m using from other parties I’ve hosted is to create a signup genius for people to bring items to share. I’ve been the woman who tried to do it all and have people just show up, but I’ve learned that people love to bring something because our Southern grandmothers taught us to!
Assign guests an item to bring to your dinner party; it gives them ownership of the experience, and they are less likely to back out. Just think about who will show up late and don’t assign them the appetizer!” – Abby Turner Kuykendall, A Table Top Affair
My friend Abby encourages me to say “yes” when someone asks if they can bring something to a gathering I’m hosting. If you are the host, list the items you must make versus the menu items others could bring. I don’t automatically assign something to a guest unless they ask, but I’m always ready with items they could bring, and that usually leaves me making the main dish and anything that needs to go from oven to table.
- Appetizers – I like to have these out while guests arrive, giving you more time to finish a main dish or have munchies ready for children and early arrivers.
- Deviled eggs
- Mini quiches
- Charcuterie or cheese plate
- Honey Ham Tortilla Roll-ups
- Cheese ball or pimento cheese and crackers
- Relish tray with a variety of pickles
- Fruit Tray and Fruit Dip
- Kid-friendly snacks like cheese crackers, carrots, Uncrustables, animal crackers, yogurt bites and freeze-dried fruit
- Easter Meal
- Meat – Baked ham or pork loin, some prefer roasted lamb or chicken
- Starches – mashed potatoes or hashbrown casserole, mac and cheese, sweet potato casserole, pineapple casserole, corn casserole, potato salad, confetti corn
- Vegetables/Sides – roasted carrots or root vegetables, green beans, collard greens, black-eyed peas, asparagus, potluck baked beans,
- Bread – dinner rolls, garlic cheddar biscuits or cornbread
- Salad – green salad, Caesar salad, cold spring salads, grape salad, chopped vegetable salad
- Extras – gravy, fruit chutney or glaze for meats
- Dessert
- Carrot Cake or Hummingbird Cake
- Bunny Cake
- Strawberry Shortcake
- Cobbler – peach or blackberry are favorites
- Coconut Creme Pie
- Lemon Pudding Pound Cake
- Cinnamon Honeybun Cake
- Strawberry Pie
- Coconut Creme Caramel Truffles
- Cadbury Egg Cake
Menu Ideas for an Easter Brunch
- Meats – sausage balls, bacon, ham steaks, sausage
- Egg dish – quiche, breakfast casserole, frittatas or breakfast burritos, savory biscuit ring
- Something Sweet – French toast casserole, cinnamon rolls, monkey bread, breakfast bread/muffins, lemon cake, coffeecake
- Fruit – fruit tray or a mixed fruit salad
- Cold spring Salads – chicken pasta salad, cucumber salad, lemon salad squares, macaroni salad, Greek pasta salad, grape salad
- Dips or Spreads – spinach artichoke dip, pimento cheese, jams or sauces over cream cheese
- Extras – broccoli salad, benedicts, Tortilla Roll-ups, chicken salad, hashbrown casserole, chicken pasta salad
Tips for Elevating Your Easter Gathering
While none of these are required or expected, here are a few fun elements that can elevate your Easter celebrations.
- Make bunny cinnamon rolls for breakfast.
- Take traditional menu items and serve them in Easter shapes like an egg, carrot, flower or bunny.
- Set a table with vintage dishes, glass cups and seasonal colored napkins.
- Serve an Easter punch, hibiscus tea, or drink syrups like lavender or blackberry to add to a drink station.
- Dye Easter eggs with new techniques and use them in your tablescape.
- Serve “decorate your own” sugar cookie kits for dessert or as a party favor to send home with guests.
- Ask everyone to come dressed in bright colors and have a photo spot ready for guests.
- Host a “glow” Easter egg hunt at an accessible evening venue.
Where Can You Get Easter Takeout?
Let’s be honest. It is a busy time of year, and we are all stretched thin trying to recoup from a week away for spring break and intruding spring sports schedules. This may be the year to ditch the menu plan and get takeout. Local diners, meat markets, and smokehouses often offer a family Easter menu to go that you can pick up the day before or the morning of.
Take advantage of these opportunities. Think about who locally offers Thanksgiving dinners or Christmas meals. They may even cover Easter planning!
- 11 Easter Dining Spots in Arkansas
- Restaurants open for Thanksgiving
- Where to get a Turkey in Arkansas
- Petit Jean Meats
- Whole Hog Cafe
- Honey Baked Ham
- Cracker Barrel Easter Meals
So, what now?
- Make a quick plan and decide what you will do – Take out or Host?
- If hosting, plan your menu and make a digital signup so others can help.
- Send invites to your guests. When they reply yes, send them a link to the menu and let them know what you’ll prepare as the main dish.
- You can decorate your home with spring things or only set up your dining table and kitchen island to host your guests. Card and portable tables are easy to use among existing furniture as chairs.
- Don’t overwhelm yourself with perfection. Make a safe place where others feel comfortable, and that’s enough!
Be open to new traditions that others may bring from their family. Set the space for guests to be comfortable. I love nothing more than hosting a group of people who arrive as strangers and leave as friends. Last year, at my Easter brunch table, I watched two single moms reconnect from college days and set playdates for their children throughout spring and summer. If you create space, people will come and make new memories.
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