10 Make-Ahead Easter Recipes You’ll love!

My number 1 tip to hosting a stress-free Easter is to make as much as you can ahead! Below you’ll find 10 make-ahead recipes perfect for your Easter table!

Easter is one of my favorite holidays to host!

Spring is here, kids are all excited to hunt for eggs, and at least here in the Chicago suburbs it means that people are coming out of the cold winter slump. 

It’s also the next holiday after Christmas and New Year’s that family comes all together (unless you corporately celebrate Valentine’s Day and St. Patrick’s Day).

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This is my second year hosting Easter Sunday early dinner. Although Easter brunch is a very popular option, we usually ask our family to come over around 2 or 3 pm – so it gives us time to go to church ourselves, come back, and finish preparing the meal.

The absolute KEY to a less stressful Easter (if you are hosting) is to prepare the most you can ahead of time. That way all you have to do is hide the eggs day of, warm the food up, and add the final touches of the party.

Here are some recipes I have served in the past, will serve, or just think they go perfect for Easter:

Appetizers:

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I love making a crudité platter as an appetizer – alongside all the veggies and crackers, I also add potato chips too! I love pairing my platters with this skyr dip from No Crumbs Left. I make this dip the day before, and wash and cut all vegetables the day before as well!

Costco has a big box of frozen puff pastry appetizers that I used for my last cocktail party that I will reorder again – they can be baked in the oven or air fryer as well!

Main Dish:

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While I’m not 100% certain on what I’ll make this year- last year I made this delicious spinach and bacon lasagna and I also completely assembled this the day before and put it in the oven to bake on Easter day.

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I also made Ina Garten’s weeknight Bolognese with gluten-free pasta for some of my gluten-free family members! Most people selected from both main dishes!

Side Dishes:

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I always like to roast two big trays of assorted vegetables – I add broccoli, cauliflower, red onion, zucchini, sweet potatoes, peppers – literally anything I have! Here’s a good tutorial from Well Plated.

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I’ve made this maple-roasted carrot salad from Ina Garten at least 10 times. You can prepare so much of it ahead – the recipe as it is written makes a lot of salad dressing so I either half it or don’t use all of it.

Dessert

Since by this point I’ve already been cooking A LOT – I tend to ask my guests to bring a dessert or just buy a carrot cake from the store!

If I have the energy and time and do want to make something – these are my favorite make ahead desserts:

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Brunch

Are you hosting Easter brunch or bringing a dish over somewhere?

A strata is the perfect dish to serve because you can assemble it all the day before and just bake the day off – here are my two favorites:

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I made Smitten Kitchen spinach strata for Christmas morning and loved it – it is perfect for any holiday brunch!

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I’ve also been making Cotter Crunch’s ham breakfast strata for ages and it’s always a classic for any brunch table. 

What’s a dish you like to make for Easter? Comment below and let me know!