Fresh Recipe Ideas for This Year's Easter (2024)

Crepes

This recipe and its filling variations comes from Chef Kate Bryan, owner of Seven Swans Creperie in Kansas City, Missouri, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. You can make the crepes ahead of time and then customize the filling to your Easter meal, with delicious options like Lavender Lemon Curd.

Waffle Board

Take the grazing board idea to your Easter breakfast or brunch table with a waffle smorgasbord. You can make it healthy (as we did), with fresh and dried fruit, cottage cheese nut butter, honey, toasted coconut and cocoa nibs. Or, you know, there's always whipped cream and rainbow sprinkles.

Ours has Midwest-made Lopaus Point Waffles (gluten-, dairy- and soy-free), available online and in stores, but you can make your own, too!

Salsa Verde Deviled Eggs

Salty, savory Italian salsa verde plays beautifully with the richness of mayonnaise in this punchy, rustic deviled eggs recipe.

Yeasted Waffles

An overnight ferment gives these airy waffles a delightful tang. Top with a river of maple syrup and a schmear of compound butter flecked with orange zest.

Bagel Strata with Asparagus and Ham

Easter weekend guests? Create a bagel bar for Saturday's breakfast, then grab a couple of bagels to make this strata for Sunday.

Tropical Mango Mousse

This light, airy treat features the perfect level of mango sweetness. Top with sliced kiwi and toasted coconut, and it's ready for dessert or an Easter brunch buffet.

Fruit Platter with Maple-Mascarpone Dip

This exceptionally smooth and sweet dip contains just three ingredients and comes together in a flash. Simply combine mascarpone cheese, maple syrup and lemon juice, then serve with pre-cut fruit for a light dessert or an early morning brunch.

Zucchini and Feta Frittata with Parsley and Arugula Salad

Although you can eat it warm, this fresh frittata can also be a make-ahead Easter brunch dish. Serving it at room temperature means the salad on top won't wilt (and your cooking work is done before the guests arrive).

Cherry-Glazed Ham with Fresh Basil

A simple homemade glaze of vinegar, cherry jam and basil bakes on this seasonal favorite.

Double-Malted Easter Snack Mix

Malted milk powder and chopped malted Easter egg candies give this festive sweet-and-salty springtime snack mix a double hit of malt-shop flavor.

Tiny Quiche

Prebaked phyllo shells (available at large supermarkets) make this recipe an absolute snap to make—start to finish, you'll be done in 35 minutes.

Sage Corn Muffins with Ham and Spicy Jelly

Slather these quick muffins with softened butter, purchased apple jelly with jalapeño and sage, then top with ham. The result? A satisfying and creative dish that's sure to please your crowd.

Herb-Crusted Lamb Chops

Brushed with mustard and coated with garlicky breadcrumbs, these petite chops are a quick alternative to a classic leg of lamb. The recipe comes from Michigan chef Andy Schudlich.

Spring Veggie Wedges

Made with a tube of crescent roll dough, herby cream cheese and fresh vegetables, this is a fancied-up version of a classic Midwest party app. Cut it into slim wedges for a crowd.

Sweet Pea Green Goddess Dip

Your food processor whirls peas with chives, parsley, tarragon and a bit of tahini for a bright, creamy and healthy dip that tastes like spring.

Hot Cross Buns

Soaking the currants in balsamic vinegar gives them a slightly tangy flavor that contrasts well with the rich dough of this classic Easter bread.

Lemon-Ricotta Hotcakes

The legendary lemon-ricotta hotcakes from Hell's Kitchen, a Minneapolis favorite, will brighten any spring brunch.

Spring Potato Salad

This lightly sweet potato salad can be a side on your Easter table or be served the next day with leftover Easter ham.

Dutch Baby with Chai-Spiced Pears

The combination of spiced, buttery pears; tart creme fraiche; and baked pancake is sublime.

Maple-Glazed Roasted Carrots with Ginger

Whole-roasted carrots are an effortlessly glam side, perfect with ham. But the real genius here is the matchstick-sliced ginger that bakes with them. Candied in the glaze, it's a chewy, intensely gingery topping you'll be pinching right off the pan.

Chocolanutty Banana Cake

Dessert or coffee cake? It's up to you. A hint of orange rounds out the flavors.

Carrot Soup with Tarragon and Cream

Thickened with a little potato and flavored with leeks, shallot, white wine and the faintly anise-y herb tarragon, this sleeper hit of a soup is subtle, springy and unexpectedly special.

Eggs Benedict with Maltaise Sauce

What's Maltaise Sauce, you ask? It's just hollandaise sauce with a bit of orange zest and juice added. But you wouldn't believe how that bit of zing transforms this brunch standard.

Garlic-Roasted Chicken with Lemons and Vegetables

This flavor-packed dish combines garlic-infused chicken with perfectly cooked vegetables. Roasting the lemon in the pan brings out its flavor.

Maple Butter Twists

These celebration-worthy breakfast rolls are a family tradition with Jean Haviland of Carroll, Iowa.

Spring Egg Scramble

Scrambles are a blank slate that you can adapt to every season and celebration, varying the veggies to use whatever you have on hand. This recipe comes from The Birchwood Cafe Cookbook (University of Minnesota Press).

Very Cherry Hazelnut Coffee Cake

This yeasty coffee cake takes time because it's a yeast-leavened dough, but there's no kneading required.

Hint-of-Orange Pancakes with Grapefruit Syrup

This recipe couldn't be simpler! Just simmer grapefruit slices in maple syrup for a delicious, rosy compote to serve over waffles, French toast, crepes—or these subtly orange-flavored pancakes.