Let us show you the best side dishes to serve with your ham this Easter from spring vegetables to potatoes and salad but don't forget the dessert. We mark the most easy recipes in each section to help you choose what will be the less hassle to make. If you are making Easter brunch or lunch instead we share some tips for those as well.
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Easter is fast approaching. Or slow approaching! I guess it depends on when it is each year. When it's later in April, I feel like I anticipate it more. When it's in March, I almost forget it's coming up.
No matter when Easter is, I typically have ham (cooked in the Instant Pot). A lot of people do. I wanted to share some side dishes, breads, and desserts to serve with your ham.
Most of these recipes suggestions are easy. All of them are tasty. We make note which ones are the easiest to make.
💐 Spring Vegetables
The timing of Easter can have an impact of what seasonal vegetable are at their peak. Easter can be as early as March 22nd and late as April 25. But I still think there are some things you can count.
Fresh Asparagus is the vegetable of the season. This is the time of year where asparagus is best. So if you can include in your Easter meal, your guest will love you. Here are some ways we like to use asparagus, put any of these on your menu.
- Roasted Asparagus
- Air Fryer Asparagus *Easiest*
- Toasted Couscous with Asparagus Pesto
- Asparagus Ends Soup
Spinach is another classic spring veggie. It tastes best in the spring. Sometimes you can find local farms selling spinach that was overwintered. It's super sweet. I had a patch of spinach last through the winter before and when spring came it exploded. I never had so much tasty spinach to harvest. Make a salad with spinach. Super easy.
Radishes are best in spring. You might be able to find Easter Egg Radishes which come in different colors and make a great presentation. I have seen them many times at Whole Foods Market. Did you know you can cook them? Most people think just serve then raw, but try cooking them by:
- Cut the radishes in half
- Add to a pan with some butter over low to medium heat.
- Cook until browed and soft. Should be around 10 minutes or so.
When Easter is later in April, you might be able to find source wild ramps for your Easter meal. They are kind of like a mix between garlic and onion and can be used in any recipe that calls for them. Super fun if you can track them down.
Brussels sprouts aren't a spring veggie, they are best in fall. Yet they are still available year round and will go good with ham. I will say the same for green beans as well.
🥕 Carrots
I personally believe that carrots belong with ham. The sweetness of carrot balances out the saltiness of the ham. Try any of these carrot recipes:
💡 Make Ahead Tip - If you are worried about time, you can pre-cook the carrots. Boil them until they are just soft enough to bite through but with some give. Cool them and place the in the fridge. Then you can throw them into a hot oven to heat them up and brown them. Or if you have an air fryer even easier.
🥔 Potatoes
What kind of potatoes do you serve along with a ham? While mashed potatoes would work, they are usually better with turkey on Thanksgiving day. If you do want mashed potatoes, you should try my beautiful swirled mashed potatoes. I think for this holiday people are looking for potatoes that are creamy and/or cheesy. Au gratin or scalloped ae both popular choices.
When deciding on what potatoes to use you should pick a waxy potato. These are the best potatoes:
- (Yukon) gold
- red potatoes
- fingerling potatoes
Need a recipe, try this one - Scalloped Potatoes with Cheese
Sweet potatoes are cheap and easy to prepare any time of year. If you have a sous vide machine, give our Sous Vide Sweet Potato recipe a try.
🍞 Bread
I never need an excuse to have bread with a meal, but Easter is certainly a great one. Here are some suggestions:
- Blue Cornbread Honey Muffins *Easiest*
- Dinner Rolls - Butterflake Rolls or Parkerhouse Rolls
- Potato Dill Bread
Of course the traditionally thing to bake is Hot Cross Buns. Good Friday is the day to serve those but I don't see why you can't have them all weekend long.
💡 Make Ahead Tip - Bread freezes really well. So if you don't have time to make it from scratch on Easter, the you can make it ahead of time, freeze it, and just warm up in the oven when meal time comes.
🥗 Salad
As mentioned above, spinach is great for a salad for Easter. Even better with homemade salad dressings. Here are some other salad ideas from some of my fellow bloggers.
🍍 Pineapple
A lot of recipes call for cooking ham with pineapple. Maybe you would rather serve the pineapple on it's own. We often use seasonal fruit as a side dish for a meal.
Easter is the time of year when fresh pineapple is at it's cheapest, so it's great to bring to the table on Easter just for eating alongside the food. It's like bringing watermelon to a summer cookout.
If you don't want to deal with slicing up a whole pineapple and would rather go with canned, might I suggestion you look for "Del Monte Gold". It's the most flavorful, sweet canned pineapple I have tried. If you go with canned, it doesn't get an easier for a side dish!
If you want to go with something special and don't mind spending the money for it, check out the Pinkglow Pineapple.
🥧 Dessert
For me the ultimate dessert to wrap up a perfect Easter feast is Lemon Meringue Pie. I used Alton Brown's Reloaded recipe one Easter. Oh my goodness. It doesn't get any better. It does take some work I wouldn't categorize it as easy.
If that isn't your thing, here are some other ideas:
- Chocolate Covered Graham Cracker Easter Eggs *Easiest*
- Easter Shortbread Cutout Cookies
- Italian Easter Cookies
🥚 Brunch
Our family normally has our Easter dinner around a normal dinner time, sometimes a little early. But what if you are a brunch bunch? What are some good options for serving alongside a ham for brunch.
My favorite has to go to be French toast. But don't make the mistake of making it with sliced bread. Buy some bread that was made in the grocery store. Or did what we did last year and pick up a day one loaf from a local bakery. We just sliced it up, let it dry out some more so it could soak in all that cinnamon filled egg mixture! French toast was created to use up old bread, so it's what does the job best.
Even with egg prices on the rise recently, I have seen a reduction in prices headed into Easter. Which might make it great time to make the French Toast or a quiche. You could put the ham in the quiche and forgo having to cut up a ham.
🥪 Lunch
Maybe you eat brunch a little later in the day and call it lunch! Maybe you don't want to spend that morning cooking a ham. You are looking for a more chilled, laid back Easter. You can totally cook the ham ahead of time and then make sandwiches instead on the day of Easter. Or choose ham steaks that you just need to brown for a few minutes in a pan. This is especially good if you got a small crowd.
Just plain old white bread from the grocery store is fine and all. But come on, it's a holiday. You got to take it to the next level. Here are some sandwich bread options for your ham.
- Homemade biscuits - don't forget the jam or honey
- Bagels (I love Everything Bagels for this!)
- Seeded bread
- Brioche
- French bread
- Semolina bread with sesame seeds
Why not make a sandwich out of mini waffles? They have been all the craze with the colorful mini waffle makers that the company Dash has been making. You might even be able to find one that makes Easter egg shaped waffles. How fun would that be!
Need help cooking your ham? Check out these popular posts - How to Keep a Spiral Ham from Drying Out and How to Cook a Ham in the Instant Pot.
Ashley @ Big Flavors
Thanks for including my potato salad recipe, Eric! Looks like a great assortment of recipes for an Easter feast!