65 Easter Lunch Ideas That Everyone In The Family Will Love
Forget brunch, a late lunch is where it's at on Easter Sunday.
Hunting for Easter eggs all morning means you’re going to want plenty to feast on come lunch time. Look no further than all of our top Easter lunch recipes, featuring salads, veggie sides, soups, breads, and more. Pair them with one of our impressive ham or lamb recipes or Easter brunch mains, or keep things light in preparation for the main dinner event. The best part? These recipes are a breeze to make, so you're guaranteed to have a no-stress holiday feast (though maybe whip up a few cottontail-tinis for good measure, just in case?).
Speaking of no stress, the last thing you want when you’ve got lots of family or kids around is to be stuck in the kitchen, so we’ve included a number of recipes here that are simple to throw together and are guaranteed to please everyone at your table. Salads are classic, and reminder—they don’t just have to be made out of greens. We do have a few green salads here, like our our spring chicken panzanella salad, our strawberry spinach salad, or our spring Cobb salad, but we’ve also got a number of carb- and protein-based salads to choose from too. Check out our classic egg salad (a MUST for leftover eggs), our Tuscan tortellini salad, our best chicken salad, or our Greek chickpea salad for ideas. Hot tip: nearly all of these are also wonderful tucked between two slices of bread or pita for an on-the-go Easter lunch too. Pack our brie, prosciutto, & asparagus bundles, our spinach-artichoke buns, or our ham & cheese spinach puffs alongside for the perfect Easter picnic.
Looking for some heartier meals to serve for Sunday lunch? Our pizza rustica, our cheesy-bacon asparagus casserole, our burrata, brie, & prosciutto tortellini, or our primavera baked orzo are all super satisfying, and go especially well with springy sides like our garlic-Parmesan roasted carrots, our scalloped potatoes & ham, or our hot cross buns. Mix and match these recipes to fill your lunch spread, keeping a variety of textures and colors in mind.
Then, the only thing you'll be missing are some cute Easter cookies, an Easter cake, or any other Easter desserts you can come up with (SO many adorable ones this time of year). Save us some mini Cadbury Easter egg blondies, please! We also went ahead and tried all the best hams you can have delivered to your door, to save you even more time this holiday. That way, you’ll have even more time to eat ALL the Peeps and chocolate bunnies.
Spring Chicken Panzanella Salad
Spring calls for vibrant, bountiful bowls of greens. Enter this panzanella salad. Asparagus, snap peas, tender greens, and roasted chicken are tossed with crispy croutons in a light vinaigrette for a salad that’s light but infinitely satisfying.
Giant Party Sub
Looking for the most creative and GENIUS way to feed your party guests? Let us introduce this giant party sub. We use a simple hack of baking bread in a bundt pan to turn a classic sandwich into a party centerpiece that will steal the show at your Easter lunch.
Get the Giant Party Sub recipe.
Honey Baked Pulled Ham
Pulled pork is undeniably a game day favorite, but did you know you can level up the classic by making pulled ham? This is one ham recipe that will not only upgrade the basic baked ham at your Easter spread, but is the perfect post- or pre-holiday meal piled high onto sliders.
Get the Honey Baked Pulled Ham recipe.
Chicken & Artichoke Pasta Salad
This bright, savory pasta salad will fill you up without weighing you down. Juicy marinated artichokes, briny Castelvetrano olives, and creamy cannellini beans dance with crisp arugula and crunchy pistachios in a zingy lemon vinaigrette to create the ultimate side. No mayo, no problem!
Pinwheel Sandwiches
These pinwheels are easy to assemble, look great on a platter, and are ideal for an Easter lunch. To make them, you'll layer flour tortillas with ranch-flavored mayonnaise, sliced cheese, deli meats, and lettuce. All that's left to do is roll them up tightly and slice. See, simple!
Get the Pinwheel Sandwiches recipe.
Gnocchi Antipasto Salad
Featuring crispy potato gnocchi, sun-dried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, fresh mozzarella, and salami, this is a medley of everything you love about antipasto layered around pan-seared gnocchi that's crispy on the outside and slightly chewy beneath. 😍
Get the Gnocchi Antipasto Salad recipe.
Croissant Hot Dogs
Forget what you think you know about hot dogs, and instead elevate them with this simple ingredient swap. We love the richness of a charred hot dog inside of a flakey and buttery croissant. Top it with mustard, and they tastes just like pig-in-a-blanket—it’s your favorite finger food turned life-size!
Get the Croissant Hot Dogs recipe.
Egg Salad
While we love our variations, (lookin’ at you, Cobb egg salad), it’s always a good idea to have a tried-and-true recipe up your sleeve. Our standard centers around just 6 core ingredients; use it as a base for creative mix-ins and variations, or enjoy as is for a truly classic recipe.
Get the Egg Salad recipe.
Italian Meatloaf
We laughed at the idea of an Italian meatloaf initially, but after developing this recipe, the joke is on us because it’s ridiculously good. It’s tender, cheesy, garlic-forward, and rich with tomato umami. In short, it tastes like a giant meatball, and we are so here for it.
Get the Italian Meatloaf recipe.
Blackberry Chicken Salad
This salad has ALL of the important components: a well-seasoned protein, creamy feta, a little crunch from toasted walnuts, and a burst of sweetness from juicy blackberries. It comes together quickly—the majority of your prep can be done while the chicken is marinating.
Get the Blackberry Chicken Salad recipe.
Pizza Rustica
Pizza Rustica is an Italian Easter pie and, despite its name, it doesn't resemble pizza. It's more similar to a quiche in nature, but extra stuffed with meats and cheeses.
Get the Pizza Rustica recipe.
One-Pot Greek Chicken Chili
Featuring tender pieces of dark meat chicken, creamy white beans, and tender veggies, this cozy Greek-inspired chili is the perfect filling-but-not-too-heavy lunch for an annoyingly chilly Easter day.Flavored with a bouquet of hearty herbs, this stew is easy to throw together in one pot for minimal mess and maximum flavor.
Get the One-Pot Greek Chicken Chili recipe.
Paska Bread
If you're unfamiliar, Ukrainian paska bread is similar to brioche, which means it's heavy and delightful, the exact thing you want to wake up to on Easter morning and smear butter all over.
Get the Paska Bread recipe.
Asparagus Quiche
Finding ways to use asparagus when it's in season becomes top priority. Using it in a quiche is one of our favorite ways; just take a look at this perfect-for-spring recipe!
Get the Asparagus Quiche recipe.
Fried Chicken Caesar Sandwich
Did someone say fried chicken AND Caesar in the same sentence? Yes—you heard correctly. We’ve decided to combine two much-loved recipes to make this lip-smackingly delicious sandwich. Biting through the buttery, sweet brioche to meet the salty Caesar dressing dripping over crispy chicken is nothing more than a masterpiece of a mouthful.
Get the Fried Chicken Caesar Sandwich recipe.
Cheesy Bacon-Asparagus Casserole
You can think of asparagus casserole as the spring version of green bean casserole. Asparagus gets topped with a bacon cream sauce, plenty of cheese, and the best part of all—Ritz crackers, which add the perfect crunch.
Slow-Cooker Brisket
Brisket can be a labor-intensive cut of beef to prepare, but using a slow cooker makes it incredibly easy. The low-and-slow heat is perfect for brisket, resulting in an extremely tender cut of meat in just a few hours. Not to brag, but no fork and knife are required here—you can literally eat this with a spoon.
Get the Slow-Cooker Brisket recipe.
Lemon Ricotta & Asparagus Pasta Salad
Already beloved in hot pasta dishes like our lemon-ricotta pasta, ricotta is a natural for pasta salads too. The fresh dairy flavor feels a little unexpected and totally elegant all at once, making this salad a perfect side dish to your spring and summer gatherings.
Pasta Primavera
Few dishes mean “spring” like pasta primavera. Primavera in the name alone brings to mind fresh veggies, like zucchini, English peas, leeks, and peppers, all of the things beginning to bloom for a vibrant season of produce ahead. Feel free to swap in whatever you can find at the farmer's market.
Get the Pasta Primavera recipe.
Easter Bread
A Greek and Italian tradition, this is a sweetened, yeasted dough with colored eggs baked right into the bread (that you don't eat). Serve it as the perfect festive centerpiece to your Easter brunch, or as a colorful addition to your Easter dessert spread!
Get the Easter Bread recipe.
