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Easter dinner on a budget is easier than it sounds, and it doesn’t have to be the most expensive meal of the spring. This menu feeds eight with a glazed ham, two simple sides, a fresh salad, soft rolls, a pan of carrot cake bars and a pitcher of strawberry lemonade, and most of it can be made ahead.
With grocery prices where they are, a holiday meal can feel like a lot to take on. So this menu leans on affordable staples like eggs, potatoes, carrots and a bag of spinach, and saves the spending for the one thing that matters most: the ham.
Below you’ll find the full menu, a link to every recipe, a make-ahead plan that starts two days out, and tips for keeping the total down.
The Menu at a Glance
- Appetizer: Classic Deviled Eggs
- Appetizer: Carrot & Celery Crudité with Ranch Dip
- The Main Event: Pineapple-Honey Glazed Ham
- Side: Scalloped Potatoes
- Side: Lemon Parmesan Roasted Asparagus
- Salad: Strawberry Spinach Salad
- Bread: Soft Dinner Rolls
- Dessert: Carrot Cake Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting
- Drink: Fresh Strawberry Lemonade
The Recipes
1. Classic Deviled Eggs
A platter of deviled eggs is the classic Easter starter, and one of the cheapest. Hard-boiled eggs are filled with a creamy, tangy yolk mixture and dusted with paprika.
Make-ahead tip: Boil and peel the eggs up to 2 days ahead and fill them on Easter morning. The recipe makes 12 halves, so make a batch and a half if your crowd loves them.
Time: 33 minutes (includes 5 minutes of cooling) · Serves: 6
2. Carrot & Celery Crudité with Ranch Dip
Crisp carrots and celery around a bowl of homemade ranch dip. It gives everyone something fresh to snack on while the ham finishes.
Make-ahead tip: Cut the vegetables and mix the dip the day before. Keep the vegetables in cold water in the fridge so they stay crisp.
Time: 10 minutes · Serves: 10
3. Pineapple-Honey Glazed Ham
A boneless ham baked with a sweet, sticky pineapple and honey glaze. It’s the centerpiece of the meal and the one place this menu spends a little more.
For 8: The recipe is written for a 2 to 3 pound ham. Buy a 5 to 6 pound boneless ham and double the glaze. A bigger ham needs longer than the recipe’s 50 minutes, so plan on 15 to 20 minutes per pound at 350°F. An instant-read thermometer takes out the guesswork: a fully cooked ham is ready when the center reaches 140°F.
Time: 1 hour 10 minutes (includes 10 minutes of resting) · Serves: 4
4. Scalloped Potatoes
Thinly sliced potatoes baked in a creamy cheese sauce until bubbly and golden. Potatoes are one of the best values in the store, and this is their dressed-up holiday form.
For 8: Double the recipe and bake it in a 9×13-inch dish. A deeper dish takes longer, so bake until a knife slides easily through the center. Make-ahead tip: Assemble it the day before, cover and refrigerate.
Time: 1 hour 30 minutes (includes 10 minutes of resting) · Serves: 4
5. Lemon Parmesan Roasted Asparagus
Spring asparagus roasted on a sheet pan with garlic, Parmesan and lemon. It takes about 12 minutes, so it goes into the oven while the ham rests.
Make-ahead tip: Trim the asparagus the day before and stand it upright in a glass with an inch of water in the fridge.
Time: 17 minutes · Serves: 8
6. Strawberry Spinach Salad
Baby spinach, strawberries, feta and toasted almonds in a honey balsamic dressing. It adds color and something fresh next to the ham and potatoes.
Make-ahead tip: Shake up the dressing up to 5 days ahead. Toss the salad right before you sit down.
Time: 15 minutes · Serves: 8
7. Soft Dinner Rolls
Soft, buttery homemade rolls made from flour, yeast, milk and butter. They’re there to soak up the glaze.
For 8: One batch makes 8 rolls. Make two batches if your family likes seconds. Make-ahead tip: Bake them the day before and rewarm, wrapped in foil, for 10 minutes in a warm oven.
Time: 1 hour 15 minutes (includes 45 minutes of rising) · Makes: 8 rolls
8. Carrot Cake Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting
Soft, lightly spiced carrot cake baked in one pan and covered in cream cheese frosting. One pan makes 16 bars, so there’s plenty for seconds.
Make-ahead tip: Bake the bars the day before and frost them on Easter morning.
Time: 50 minutes · Serves: 16
9. Fresh Strawberry Lemonade
A bright pink pitcher made from four ingredients: strawberries, lemons, sugar and water. It looks festive on the table and it’s ready before the day begins.
Make-ahead tip: Make it up to 2 days ahead and keep it covered in the fridge. Stir before serving.
Time: 45 minutes (includes 30 minutes of chilling) · Serves: 8
Your Make-Ahead Plan
Two days before
- Boil and peel the eggs.
- Make the salad dressing.
- Make the strawberry lemonade.
The day before
- Bake the carrot cake bars and the dinner rolls.
- Assemble the scalloped potatoes, cover and refrigerate.
- Cut the carrots and celery and mix the ranch dip.
- Mix the deviled egg filling and trim the asparagus.
Easter morning
- Frost the carrot cake bars.
- Fill the deviled eggs and keep them chilled.
- Rinse and dry the spinach and slice the strawberries.
About 2½ hours before dinner
- Put the ham in the oven at 350°F.
- About 1¼ hours before dinner, put the scalloped potatoes in next to it. They may need a little longer than the recipe says at this temperature.
- Set out the deviled eggs and the crudité platter about 30 minutes before you eat.
While the ham rests
- Cover the ham with foil and turn the oven up to 425°F.
- Roast the asparagus for 10–12 minutes and rewarm the rolls.
- Toss the salad, slice the ham and bring everything to the table.
Savvy Tips for a Cheaper Easter
- Watch the ham sales. Stores often discount ham in the weeks before Easter, so check the flyers and buy when the price drops.
- Let the ham be the splurge. Every other dish on this menu is built from inexpensive staples.
- Buy store brands for the basics: butter, flour, sugar, cream cheese and shredded cheese.
- Skip the bakery. The rolls and the dessert are made at home from pantry ingredients.
- Use frozen strawberries for the lemonade if fresh ones are expensive.
- Plan for leftovers. A slightly bigger ham costs a little more now and covers several dinners later.
What to Do With the Leftovers
Leftover ham can carry dinner for most of the following week. Our 7 leftover ham recipes turn it into sliders, fried rice, soup, pasta and more. Extra hard-boiled or dyed eggs can become egg salad, and our guide to cooking eggs 8 ways has more ideas.
Free Printable: Holiday Dinner Planner and Timeline
Changing the menu or the serving time? Write in your own dishes, work out the oven schedule and fill in the make-ahead timeline on this free planner.
Holiday Dinner Planner and Timeline
Two pages: your menu, an oven schedule and a make-ahead timeline from a week out to the last hour. Free, with no sign-up needed.
See all of our free printables.
Easter Dinner Questions
How much ham do I need for 8 people?
Plan on about a third to half a pound of boneless ham per person. A 5 to 6 pound boneless ham feeds eight with some left over for sandwiches.
What can I make ahead for Easter dinner?
Almost everything except the asparagus and the salad. The eggs, dressing and lemonade can be made two days ahead, and the rolls, carrot cake bars, scalloped potatoes and dip the day before.
Is a spiral ham or a boneless ham cheaper?
It depends on the week, so compare the price per pound in the store’s flyer. Boneless ham has no bone weight, so more of what you pay for ends up on the plate.
What do I do with leftover Easter eggs?
Refrigerate hard-boiled eggs within 2 hours and use them within a week. Eggs that sat out longer than that, such as eggs from an outdoor egg hunt, should be thrown away. The rest make good egg salad or deviled eggs, or slice them over a green salad.
