Traditional Southern Easter Dinner Menu Recipes

What is a traditional southern easter dinner? It’s Easter Ham and all the sides that go with it. It’s a holiday dinner menu you can use for any special occasion!

Easter Sunday is coming, and you need some delicious recipes that are a Southern dinner staple!

You’ve come to the right place, friend!

Traditional Southern Easter Dinner Menu Recipes

You’ll find many options if you’re planning a southern easter menu or need some really good holiday meal recipes.

First, let’s talk about the main dishes you can serve.

A southern staple is this Baked Brown Sugar Ham recipe! It’s three ingredients and comes out perfect every single time. Mustard, brown sugar, and orange juice create a deliciously simple glaze that will remind you of Heavenly Bake Ham without the big sticker price tag! This is the delicious ham recipe you’re searching for, used and loved by thousands of people!

You could make this Southern Coca-Cola Glazed Ham! You boil down a can of dark cola (almost any flavor is great!) and add a few other ingredients while your ham bakes through. Glaze your ham until gorgeously delicious, then serve with all the Southern fixings.

If you’re not into ham, give this Tomahawk Steak a try! It’s a showstopper whenever you serve it! Your holiday table will never forget when you put this delicious choice in the center of the table.

You could also serve Prime Rib, a Crown Roast or Pork Roast, and Roast beef. Pork tenderloin is a great idea when you can find them on sale and serve a crowd.

Many people serve lamb on Easter, but your meat of choice makes your menu! You choose whatever makes your heart happiest!

Southern Easter Side Dishes

Next, we need to choose a few side dish recipes that will help complement your meal.

These traditional southern easter menu recipes are what make the holiday meal, THE holiday meal!

Old-Fashioned Macaroni and Cheese is an absolute must-have recipe! This delicious side dish is filled with cheddar cheese, cream, and noodles, and you can make it the night before, then bake it the next day.

Green Bean Casserole is a must-have on your dinner table. It’s an iconic holiday recipe, and if you’re anything like my family, we only have it on a holiday…

The traditional casserole recipe uses cream of mushroom soup, which is perfect. But, if you’re looking for a little lift to the easy recipe, try using the cream of onion! Last Thanksgiving, my store was out of mushroom soup, so I went with cream of onion, and I don’t think I’ll ever go back!

This southern classic of Slow-Braised Green Beans with Bacon is a beautiful, easy side dish that’s perfect for Sunday dinner. This recipe uses fresh green beans and shallots! It’s a classic recipe, one of the healthy options you can add to your menu.

This buttery recipe of Roasted Sweet Potato Medallions MELT in your mouth! Classic and delicious with so many meals. Sweet potatoes never tasted so good!

More Side Dish Options

Sweet Potato Casserole is another one of those traditional easter recipes that can’t be left out!

Collard Greens Recipe with Bacon is a fantastic addition to your easter table. The umami pot likker is just what you want and one of my favorite recipes! I serve this whether it’s a holiday or not!

Deviled Potato Salad is equal parts potato salad and egg salad together! Make sure you add a sprinkling of paprika on top for that quintessential deviled egg finish!

Pineapple Cheese Casserole – hands down, this is my absolute favorite side dish recipe for a holiday meal! If you are serving ham, you’ve got to try this sweet and salty, creamy and crunchy side dish recipe.

I would be remiss not to give you my big leftover secret too… The next day, toast a leftover biscuit, then add a schmear of pineapple cheese casserole + a slice of ham. Close it up, and enjoy!!

Stick of Butter Rice or Brown Butter Rice is an old-school recipe that pairs well as a side dish! You plop canned soup plus rice in a baking dish, dot it with a stick of butter, and your side dish is ready in an hour! Talk about fixing it and forgetting it!

Cornbread Salad is another traditional southern easter dinner menu recipe you need on your menu! The best part about this one is you make it the night before! Yes, you read that right! You make a salad the night before.

Delicious Appetizers to Serve for Easter Dinner

Pimento Cheese and crackers on the table when your people start arriving is a super easy way to get them out of your hair, but satiate them too! You can make this recipe the Tuesday before Easter, then let it sit.

But you might want to hide it in the back of the fridge!

My grandmother always filled a Relish Tray with raw vegetables, Onion Dip, olives, and pickles. Whether it was Thanksgiving, Christmas, or Easter, this was out while the final touches were being put on dinner.

Naughty Hammie Sammies — these are great if you’re doing a more snack dinner idea for your easter menu!

No Southern dinner menu is complete without a cheeseball… Enter All the Cheese Cheeseball! It’s filled with a variety of cheese that has your mind playing tricks on you with every single bite.

And if you’re feeling really festive, you could shape this into a carrot shape and top it with parsley or carrot tops! How cute…

Easter Desserts

Carrot Cake is a traditional favorite, and the cream cheese icing is one of the most decadent things you can serve! I absolutely love Ina Garten’s recipe! It’s filled with big chunks of pineapple and large shreds of carrots. You know it’s carrot cake! There’s no mistaking that!

Pina Colada Fruit Salad – this is new to me recipe, but I can’t stop thinking about it! Any kind of fruit you like is mixed with a creme of coconut and pineapple juice mixture. Next, you’ll stir in shredded sweetened coconut for a bright fruit salad that can be served as a dessert!

Hummingbird Cake is a traditional southern cake recipe that uses pineapple, pecans, and spice cake. This is one of those easter dinner desserts you want to make! So good!

Delicious Southern Easter Dinner Meal Additions

You’ll want to serve hot homemade rolls! These Texas Roadhouse copycat rolls are super yummy! The cinnamon butter is a must-make, and a lot of people will thank you for it!

Bruschetta Panzanella is a fantastic addition and not really a traditional southern easter menu recipe! But! It’s the fresh flavors you crave with a casserole-heavy meal!

Hot Cross Buns are a traditional easter recipe. Traditionally, they are eaten on Good Friday, and the cross on top symbolizes the crucifix.

A large pitcher of Sweet Iced tea is a great addition to your Southern Easter Dinner Menu! Give this Vanilla Almond Iced tea a try. You won’t be disappointed! It will have your taste buds dancing across each vanilla, almond, and lemony flavor!

When hosting your Easter celebration, I have a few tips for you!

Hosting a Southern Easter Dinner

If you’re hosting a crowd, choose to use paper products! Simple white paper plates will be fine.

This post contains affiliate links.

Looking to dress your table up without spending a ton of money??

These paper placemats are my go-to table-setting trick! They also make a roll of paper that you can use as a table runner. It’s my favorite!!

Add plain white, unscented candles to the center, along with a couple of plants. You can pick up potted daisies from the grocery and call it a day.

You can find all of my Easter Table Finds in my Amazon Storefront!

If you want to set your table with real items, my go-to move is shopping at my house before I buy anything.

Cake plates with candles on them make a lovely centerpiece.

Finally, choose one main dish and 2-3 side dish recipes when creating your menu. I like to choose side dish recipes that bake at the same temperature. If you want more than three side dishes, try choosing recipes that can be served at room temperature or out of the fridge.

Making Easter lunch is a big undertaking; you want to make it as easy on yourself as possible.

Snag a copy of the Hostess Handbook and dive into effortless hosting! It will walk you through hosting easily and explain what makes a party enjoyable.

In Conclusion

In closing, family traditions are established during holiday times. You have the opportunity to make your family’s favorite easter recipe ideas and keep the tradition alive!

I hope you find a few traditional southern easter dinner menu recipes to try!

Pin this post to your favorite Easter Board!