This Is The Most Searched For Easter Recipe In The South

When it comes to Easter in the South, celebrations are back. People are excited to host loved ones, whether as part of a large Easter brunch or a quiet family gathering, and as a result people are searching for everything from appetizers to desserts to feed a crowd.

After a few challenging years when gatherings were difficult to hold, readers want to entertain again,and enjoy Easter with family and friends more than ever.  

While ham for Easter is a no-brainer, readers were interested in mixing things up last year, searching for menu ideas that don’t center around ham. On the dessert front, cheesecake was on everyone’s mind. 

Out of all of our Easter recipes though, we were pleasantly surprised to see Herb-Crusted Roasted Leg of Lamb take the top spot. The second most popular Easter recipe also happens to be the perfect side dish for serving alongside the lamb: Asparagus with Cheese Sauce and Herb Breadcrumbs. Together, these two recipes create the ideal Easter feast, if you ask us, or rather, if you ask the internet.

Lamb Is Easier To Prepare Than You Think 

A leg of lamb sounds like a huge project to take on, especially if you don’t cook lamb often (or ever!), but if you can roast a chicken, you can roast a leg of lamb. It’s worth noting that bone-in, this cut can be a little difficult to carve, especially your first time preparing it, so to make life easier, you can buy a boneless leg of lamb or ask your butcher to debone it. 

On the plus side, the cooking process for a leg of lamb is fairly hands off. Our recipe starts it in a low oven, before cranking the heat at the end of the cooking process to brown the outside for flavor and color. While it roasts, you can prepare your favorite Easter sides and the easy accompanying herb sauce that comes together quickly in the bowl of a food processor. 

For everything else you need to know about preparing lamb, check out our guide on Cooking Temperatures And Tips For Lamb To Ensure It's Just Right Every Time. 

No Matter The Main Dish, This Is The Side You Want On Easter 

As spring sets in, there is no better time to enjoy asparagus, and our cheesy take on the vegetable will make even the pickiest of eaters go for seconds. Our recipe for Asparagus with Cheese Sauce and Herb Breadcrumbs blankets tender stalks of asparagus in a silky Parmesan sauce and finishes the dish with lightly-spiced breadcrumbs. It might have come in second to lamb in search results, but it’s our favorite way to make asparagus. 

It's also, as one Southern Living member commented, an extra versatile recipe. “The cream sauce and breadcrumb combo would also be fantastic on other vegetables, chicken, fish, etc. Yum!!”

And they’re right—you can use the tasty sauce on all sorts of veggies (we think it would be great on broccoli), as well as on proteins that could use a flavor boost (like bland chicken).

Although this recipe is relatively easy to make, it’s also easy to overcook asparagus, so even if you are a seasoned home cook, it’s worth reviewing our Common Mistakes To Avoid When Cooking Asparagus. It never hurts to brush up on best practices, right? 

And if lamb and asparagus aren’t your ideal Easter menu, find inspiration in Our Favorite Easter Menu Ideas of All Time. We've got recipe ideas for every kind of Easter event.