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  4. 20 Traditional Easter Dinner Recipes That'll Wow Your Crowd

20 Traditional Easter Dinner Recipes That'll Wow Your Crowd

Southern Living May 2021 Cover
By Southern Living Editors Updated February 11, 2022
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Baked Ham with Brown Sugar-Citrus Glaze
Credit: Victor Protasio; Prop Styling: Ginny Branch; Food Styling: Chelsea Zimmer

Find the perfect main dish recipe for your Easter brunch, lunch, or dinner with these traditional Easter recipes for ham, lamb, and chicken. Choose a showstopping centerpiece for your spring feast from our wow-worthy selection of main dish recipes. Impress your guests with a Sweet-Hot Plum-Glazed Ham, Ginger Ale-Can Chicken, or Braised Lamb Shanks. Hosting a casual potluck? Our Pan-Grilled Chicken with Fresh Plum Salsa can easily be made for a crowd. A stunning Herb-Crusted Roasted Leg of Lamb is sure to be the focus of your traditional Easter dinner. Whether you host a formal sit-down or an easy brunch, you will find the ideal main dish to make your Easter meal memorable. Be sure to check out our Easter side dish recipes for delicious ways to round out your meal.

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Glazed Ham with Pineapple Chutney

Glazed Ham with Pineapple Chutney
Credit: Greg Dupree; Prop Styling: Audrey Davis; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall

Recipe: Glazed Ham with Pineapple Chutney

Don't even think about using that packet that came with your grocery store ham. Wrap the ham in foil for the juiciest results. Don't worry—you'll kick up the heat at the end so the glaze of bourbon, pineapple preserves, and brown sugar can caramelize up to perfection.

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Pork Crown Roast Recipe

Cornmeal Crescent Rolls
Credit: Victor Protasio; Prop Styling: Kay E. Clarke; Food Styling: Chelsea Zimmer

Recipe: Pork Crown Roast Recipe

This tangy and flavorful pork roast is the crown winner for Easter dinner.

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Honey-Mustard Baked Salmon with Vegetables

Honey-Mustard Salmon with Vegetables
Credit: Antonis Achilleos; Prop Styling: Christine Keely; Food Styling: Tina Bell Stamos

Recipe: Honey-Mustard Baked Salmon with Vegetables

Easter dinner is a breeze with this sheet pan meal, complete with salmon and roasted veggies.

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Baked Ham with Brown Sugar-Citrus Glaze

Baked Ham with Brown Sugar-Citrus Glaze
Credit: Victor Protasio; Prop Styling: Ginny Branch; Food Styling: Chelsea Zimmer

Recipe: Baked Ham with Brown Sugar-Citrus Glaze

We added some zest to this baked ham by covering it with a citrus glaze made with fresh orange juice and orange marmalade.

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Apricot Glazed Ham

apricot glazed ham
Credit: Frederick Hardy II; Food Styling: Margaret Dickey; Prop Styling: Christina Daley

Recipe: Apricot Glazed Ham

Start with your ham at room temperature and cover in foil before popping it in the oven. It's the best way to lock in all those delicious juices. When it's time to baste on the golden glaze, remove the foil and let it cook, forming a nice, caramelized crust over the top.

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Sweet-Hot Plum-Glazed Ham

Sweet-Hot Plum-Glazed Ham
Credit: Southern Living

Recipe: Sweet-Hot Plum-Glazed Ham

Ham is a staple on Southern Easter dinner tables, and this recipe takes that classic and gives it a new twist. Think of this recipe as bringing the flavors of spring to this family meal. Plum preserves spiked with fresh citrus, ginger, and crushed red pepper update the traditional Easter ham. The orange juice and lime juice add the right combination of sweet and tart, while the honey clings onto the ham to bake into the perfect glaze. You'll love just that hint of red-pepper heat. Garnish it with tropical fruits like kiwi and pineapple for a beautiful look.

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Broiled Lamb Chops

Broiled Lamb Chops

Recipe: Broiled Lamb Chops

This savory lamb chops recipe only requires 10-minutes of hands-on-time, making it the perfect dish for a busy Easter.

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Braised Lamb Shanks with Parmesan-Chive Grits

Braised Lamb Shanks with Parmesan-Chive Grits
Credit: Photo: Victor Protasio; Food Styling: Torie Cox; Prop Styling: Kay E. Clarke

Recipe: Braised Lamb Shanks with Parmesan-Chive Grits

Let your slow-cooker do the work this Easter. This decadent lamb shank recipe is complete with the ultimate Southern side: grits.

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Maple-Bourbon Glazed Ham

maple bourbon glazed ham
Credit: Photographer: Frederick Hardy II, Food Stylist: Margaret Dickey, Prop Stylist: Christina Daley

Recipe: Maple-Bourbon Glazed Ham

This five-ingredient glaze is destined to dazzle your Easter table. It's spicy and sweet, sticky and crunchy, and the best way to dress up a store-bought ham with ingredients you probably already have stocked in your kitchen.

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Brown Sugar-Bourbon-Glazed Ham

Brown Sugar-Bourbon-Glazed Ham
Credit: Becky Luigart-Stayner; Prop Styling: Buffy Hargett Miller; Food Styling: Vanessa McNeil Rocchio

Recipe: Brown Sugar-Bourbon Glazed Ham

You know this dish will be a winner when the online reviews include comments like "the glaze is fantastic and delicious." It sure is. This classic recipe for glazed ham is not only delicious, but it is a beautiful dish for your Easter brunch. What's even better is that to enjoy this incredible dish you don't have to plan to spend all day in the kitchen. In three easy steps you can make this ham studded with cloves and flavored with a brown sugar-bourbon glaze. Then slice it, serve it, and settle in to see the happy faces as your family and friends savor every delicious bite.

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Joanna Gaines Salmon Recipe

Joanna Gaines Salmon Recipe
Credit: Amy Neunsinger

Recipe: Joanna Gaines Salmon Recipe

Have you ever wished to have dinner in the Gaines household? Here's your chance – kind of. Make Joanna Gaines' beloved salmon recipe for Easter.

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Classic Beef Pot Roast

Classic Beef Pot Roast

Recipe: Classic Beef Pot Roast

Grace your dinner table with this hearty pot roast.

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Instant Pot Mississippi Pot Roast Recipe

Instant Pot Mississippi Pot Roast
Credit: Antonis Achilleos; Prop Styling: Kathleen Varner; Food Styling: Maggie Ruggiero

Recipe: Instant Pot Mississippi Pot Roast Recipe

Whip up this savory pot roast in a slow cooker and serve it alongside mashed potatoes.

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Ginger Ale-Can Chicken

Ginger Ale-Can Chicken

Recipe: Ginger Ale-Can Chicken

It is hard to get simpler, or more Southern, than Can Chicken. For this recipe, two whole chickens are marinated in a mixture that includes liquid steak seasoning, rosemary, garlic, and pepper. The chickens then get oven-baked vertically over opened cans of ginger ale until they are perfectly roasted. The secret is that in the hot oven the ginger ale steams, keeping the chicken moist. This easy roasting method also allows fat to drip through and around the chickens, giving them a rich flavor and a beautiful golden-brown color. This will taste great on the table—fresh and hot, it would certainly give "canned chicken" a whole new meaning.

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Citrus-Glazed Ham

Citrus-Glazed Ham
Credit: Southern Living

Recipe: Citrus-Glazed Ham

You may expect baked ham on a Southern dinner table at Easter, but you probably did not expect one that tastes this good. Our citrus-glazed ham is sure to please your family this Easter. The key is what goes on top: a bottle of fizzy, bubbly bottled orange-juice flavored soft drink forms the foundation for a perfect glaze. Pour it on, put everything in the oven, then baste on the pan juices every 20 minutes as the ham cooks. Let it stand for 15 minutes when it comes out of the oven so the juices have time to settle. You'll savor every salty-sweet bite.

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Red Pepper, Potato, and Ricotta Frittata

Red Pepper, Potato, and Ricotta Frittata
Credit: Greg DuPree

Recipe: Red Pepper, Potato, and Ricotta Frittata

If you're looking for a deliciously robust Easter dinner, the red pepper, potato, and ricotta frittata is the way to go.

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Pan-Grilled Chicken with Fresh Plum Salsa

Pan-Grilled Chicken with Fresh Plum Salsa
Credit: Jennifer Davick

Recipe: Pan-Grilled Chicken with Fresh Plum Salsa

The combination of sweet and spicy flavors make this pan-grilled chicken the ideal main dish for your Resurrection Day dinner.

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Spring Vegetable Frittata

Vegetable and Goat Cheese Frittata
Credit: Photo: Jennifer Causey  

Recipe: Spring Vegetable Frittata

With fresh ingredients like asparagus, onion, and feta cheese, this spring frittata will leave you refreshingly satisfied.

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Baked Chicken Thighs Recipe with Dressing

Sheet Pan Chicken with Dressing
Credit: Victor Protasio; Prop Styling: Audrey Davis; Food Styling: Tina Bell Stamos

Recipe: Baked Chicken Thighs Recipe with Dressing

We gave this sheet pan chicken recipe a Southern upgrade by adding chunks of cornbread to the mix.

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Herb-Crusted Roasted Leg of Lamb

Herb-Crusted Roasted Leg of Lamb
Credit: Greg Dupree; Prop Styling: Audrey Davis; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall

Recipe: Herb-Crusted Roasted Leg of Lamb

Cooking the meat low and slow for just under two hours, removing it from the oven to rest for 30 minutes, then cranking up the heat and returning it to the oven for another 10 to 15 minutes results in an undeniably tender leg of lamb with a crisp and utterly decadent herb-and-garlic crust. It's a showstopper.

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    1 of 20 Glazed Ham with Pineapple Chutney
    2 of 20 Pork Crown Roast Recipe
    3 of 20 Honey-Mustard Baked Salmon with Vegetables
    4 of 20 Baked Ham with Brown Sugar-Citrus Glaze
    5 of 20 Apricot Glazed Ham
    6 of 20 Sweet-Hot Plum-Glazed Ham
    7 of 20 Broiled Lamb Chops
    8 of 20 Braised Lamb Shanks with Parmesan-Chive Grits
    9 of 20 Maple-Bourbon Glazed Ham
    10 of 20 Brown Sugar-Bourbon-Glazed Ham
    11 of 20 Joanna Gaines Salmon Recipe
    12 of 20 Classic Beef Pot Roast
    13 of 20 Instant Pot Mississippi Pot Roast Recipe
    14 of 20 Ginger Ale-Can Chicken
    15 of 20 Citrus-Glazed Ham
    16 of 20 Red Pepper, Potato, and Ricotta Frittata
    17 of 20 Pan-Grilled Chicken with Fresh Plum Salsa
    18 of 20 Spring Vegetable Frittata
    19 of 20 Baked Chicken Thighs Recipe with Dressing
    20 of 20 Herb-Crusted Roasted Leg of Lamb

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    20 Traditional Easter Dinner Recipes That'll Wow Your Crowd
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