Easy Easter Dinner Menu, Grocery List + Tips!

Tips For Hosting a Successful Easter Dinner Party

First, let’s talk about some tips for serving a larger crowd!  If you keep these in mind as you work on prepping your kitchen a day or two before the big day, I promise that everything will go smoothly the day of your dinner. 

1. Serve your guests buffet style.

You are not a restaurant, and trying to plate up each person’s individual meal will take time and energy you don’t need to spend. Place all the food on a sideboard (or even your kitchen counter or island) where your guests can take their plates to fill up, or put it right on the table and let your guests fill their plates as the dishes get passed around. 

2. Set your table before your guests arrive.

This might seem like a silly thing to mention, but setting a pretty table takes time and a bit of fussing. If it’s done before anyone arrives, you won’t have any distractions or eyes watching you do it! Also, here’s a little secret: when the table is set your guests will feel more confident that the food is almost ready, and it buys you some time if you’re running behind! If you’re looking for some simple ideas for setting your table, here are 7 Easy Easter Table Settings & Decor Ideas!

3. Read through all of your recipes beforehand. 

I cannot stress this enough. There is nothing worse than getting halfway through a recipe and finding out you are missing a key ingredient 10 minutes before your guests arrive. Read through everything a few days before, and make sure you have what you need and know how much cooking time to allow each dish. 

4. Print off this grocery list, check off what you already have, and head to the store!

I’d recommend shopping for your dinner a few days ahead of time. These ingredients are pretty accessible at most stores but give yourself some extra time, just in case!

5. Plan out your serving dish strategy ahead of time. 

This is one thing I really try to do ahead of time, because it will honestly save you so much time and stress on the day of your dinner. We have all searched for the one bowl we need to serve that salad in, only to find it holding leftovers in the back of the fridge. Don’t let that happen to you this Easter! Decide which food items you want to serve on what platters or in what bowls, and have them washed and ready to serve!

6. Plan your oven strategy.

Seriously. Make sure the casserole dish for the potatoes and the roaster for the ham will fit in the oven at the same time. If they don’t, you need a different plan, and you have lots of time to make one now instead of panicking a few hours before your guests arrive! Tip: You can cook the ham in an oven safe skillet, covered in tin foil, to save space. 

7. Prep what you can the day before and morning of.

The less you have to do after guests arrive and right before the food goes on the table, the better!  I’ve even made a list of what to do and when to do it, all to make this as easy as possible for you.

8. Ask for help.

You do not need to do it all yourself. I repeat. You do not need to do it all by yourself! Ask your family for help. Get them to chop vegetables, grocery shop or take on any tasks that you need! Ask someone to help with grocery shopping, have someone set the table and help clean. People like to help.

Easy Easter Dinner Prep List:

What to do the Day Before:

• Make the spinach dip, and put it in the fridge in a glass or plastic container (just don’t put it a bread bowl until right before you want to serve it).
• Grate one cup of cheese for the potatoes. Store in the fridge.
• Cut two pounds of carrots into rounds.
• Make the carrot cake sheet cake. Don’t ice it just yet! Just cover it tightly and keep it on your counter (you don’t have to refrigerate it).

What to do the Morning of:

• Make the Panettone Bread. Mix your bread dough in the bread machine, then braid it and bake it in the oven. Fresh baked bread is the best.
• Prep the scalloped potatoes in a casserole dish, cover with tin foil and place them in the fridge for now. 

What to do the Afternoon of:

• Prep your ham and put it in the oven approximately 2.5 hours before you plan to eat. Set the timer for one hour.
• After the 1 hour ham timer goes off, place the scalloped potatoes in the oven. Reset the timer for the remaining cook time on your ham (half an hour). The potatoes will need to stay in the oven for about one and a half hours, whereas the ham will come out for glazing and get put back in for 30 more minutes. They should be done at about the same time!
• Make the cream cheese icing and ice the cake. You can keep your iced cake on the counter until dessert time.
• Mix the glaze ingredients for both the carrots and the ham.

Shortly before your guests arrive:

• Put the spinach dip in the bread bowl and place it on the table with assorted veggies, crackers, and bread chunks for dipping. 

What do to at dinner:

• Cook your glazed carrots (this takes about 15 minutes) and put them in a serving dish.
• Slice your ham and place it on your serving platter.
• Slice the bread.