80 Easter Dinner Ideas That Go Beyond Glazed Ham

1. Skillet Roast Chicken with Schmaltzy Potatoes

• Time Commitment: 5 hours, 45 minutes
• Why We Love It: high-protein, one pan, special occasion–worthy

Thanks to a buttermilk brine, this burnished chicken looks and tastes impressive but is foolproof for all skill levels. (Plus, the side dish makes itself.)

2. Antoni Porowski’s Strip Steak with Harissa Butter and Parsley Salad

• Time Commitment: 20 minutes
• Why We Love It: ready in <30 minutes, beginner-friendly, special occasion–worthy

You love to order steak in a restaurant, but you’re too nervous to cook it at home. Queer Eye star Antoni Porowski is coming to the rescue with this foolproof, flavorful NY strip.

3. Seared Scallops with Green Peas, Mint and Shallots

• Time Commitment: 20 minutes
• Why We Love It: ready in <30 minutes, <10 ingredients, special occasion–worthy

Our biggest tip for success with scallops? Make sure they’re super dry before plopping them in a hot skillet. Otherwise, they’ll never get a gorgeous golden brown sear (and that’s kind of the best part).

4. Dorie Greenspan’s Potato-Parm Tart

• Time Commitment: 1 hour, 20 minutes (+ chilling time)
• Why We Love It: special occasion–worthy, crowd-pleaser, vegetarian

Beautiful, versatile and overflowing with carbs and cheese—what more do you need to know? Perhaps that the crust is easily assembled (no pan!) and baked, or that you can replace the potato with apple for a twist.

5. Jammy Upside-down Onion Tart

• Time Commitment: 50 minutes
• Why We Love It: under 500 calories, special occasion–worthy, vegetarian

Onions usually take a backseat in most recipes, but when offered the spotlight, they shine. Don’t believe us? Try this tart, which is deeply savory and works as a side dish or main course.

6. Strawberry, Basil and Arugula Salad with Lots of Black Pepper

• Time Commitment: 10 minutes
• Why We Love It: ready in <15 minutes, beginner-friendly, vegetarian

Proof that fruit salad doesn’t have to mean a bowl of grapes and flavorless melon. The dressing for this one comes together as you toss the berries in honey and vinegar, so it’s as easy as it can get.

7. Carrot, Fennel and Miso Soup

• Time Commitment: 50 minutes
• Why We Love It: vegan, dairy free, under 500 calories

Carrots for spring? Groundbreaking. Seriously—when roasted and blitzed together with fennel and miso, you won’t believe the depth of flavor of this soup.

8. Smashed Brussels Sprouts

• Time Commitment: 40 minutes
• Why We Love It: vegetarian, <10 ingredients, under 500 calories

Think smashed potatoes, but sub good-for-you Brussels sprouts instead of spuds. (Don’t worry, they’re dusted with plenty of Parmesan cheese.)

9. Seared Scallops with Citrus-Shallot Salad

• Time Commitment: 20 minutes
• Why We Love It: ready in <30 minutes, special occasion–worthy, <10 ingredients

We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: Scallops should be at the top of your easy-yet-fancy dinner list. They take minutes to sauté and always manage to impress. The accompanying citrus salad is just gilding the lily.

10. Pommes Anna

• Time Commitment: 30 minutes
• Why We Love It: special occasion–worthy, crowd-pleaser, one pan

Only the French could turn a vegetable that grows underground into a work of art. This requires little more than butter, salt and spuds once you grasp the technique of layering the potato slices in the pan.

11. Spicy Orange-Honey Glazed Ham

• Time Commitment: 1 hour, 20 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, special occasion–worthy, high-protein

For the sake of tradition, we couldn’t leave this main off the list. Our version is a little spicy (that’s the red pepper flakes) to keep things modern. Serve it warm or make it ahead and dish it up cold.

12. Slow Cooker Turkey Breast with Orange and Herbs

• Time Commitment: 6 hours, 30 minutes
• Why We Love It: slow cooker recipe, crowd-pleaser, beginner-friendly

When you make a turkey in the slow cooker, there’s no basting, rotating or fiddling with tinfoil. (Plus, the oven is free for a batch of dinner rolls.)

13. Greek Chicken And Rice Skillet

• Time Commitment: 40 minutes
• Why We Love It: one pan, high-protein, beginner-friendly

If one-and-done is more your speed, this one-pan dish is as pretty to look at as it is tasty. Garlic, green olives, feta and plenty of herbs ensure foolproof flavor.

14. Pomegranate-Maple Glazed Lamb Chops

• Time Commitment: 40 minutes
• Why We Love It: special occasion–worthy, gluten free, beginner-friendly

Easter and lamb are like peanut butter and jelly: a no-brainer. This recipe comes together in all of 40 minutes’ time. You’ll find pomegranate molasses in the international aisle of most grocery stores.

15. Pistachio-Crusted Pork Tenderloin with Apple and Escarole Salad

• Time Commitment: 40 minutes
• Why We Love It: sheet pan recipe, special occasion–worthy, gluten free, dairy free

Behold the most buttery, tender pork you’ve ever tasted. The pistachios add crust and a festive color. Best of all: It cooks from start to finish on a single baking sheet.

16. Whole Roasted Branzino with Shaved Fennel Slaw

• Time Commitment: 1 hour, 10 minutes
• Why We Love It: special occasion–worthy, high protein, gluten free, dairy free

Cooking a whole fish at home sounds intimidating, but it’s actually so simple. Start with cleaned fish from the supermarket, then just stuff it with citrus and roast until its meat is juicy, flaky and perfectly done. Prepare to blow your dinner guests away.

17. Baked Sesame-Ginger Salmon in Parchment

• Time Commitment: 30 minutes
• Why We Love It: beginner-friendly, sheet pan recipe, under 500 calories

For those who love cooking but hate the post-feast cleanup, this recipe has almost none of the latter, thanks to the parchment paper cooking technique known as “en papillote.” More time for Easter baskets, right?

18. Grilled Flank Steak with Lemon-Herb Sauce

• Time Commitment: 2 hours
• Why We Love It: low carb, paleo, special occasion–worthy

If the weather treats you well, fire up the coals. If not, this can easily be cooked on a griddle pan on the stove. Serve it with a festive salad and a potato side dish for a complete feast.

19. Lemon and Herb Roast Chicken

• Time Commitment: 1 hour, 20 minutes
• Why We Love It: beginner-friendly, special occasion–worthy, <10 ingredients

Tender, juicy meat? Check. Crispy, golden skin? Double check. Another plus to roasting an entire chicken? If you’re lucky enough to end up with leftovers, use them in salads, soups and pastas all week long. 

20. Ina Garten’s Tuscan Turkey Roulade

• Time Commitment: 2 hours, 20 minutes
• Why We Love It: special occasion–worthy, high protein, gluten free

That’s right, the Barefoot Contessa is coming over for dinner. This main looks so impressive, but it’s actually super easy to make. (That’s Ina for you.)

21. Pork Scallopini With Lemon, Capers And Radicchio

• Time Commitment: 20 minutes
• Why We Love It: <10 ingredients, high protein, low sugar

It’s ready in 20 minutes, so you can whip up a side to go with it—perhaps some salt and vinegar potatoes?—and not lose your entire evening to the kitchen.

22. Portobello Mushrooms Stuffed with Barley Risotto

• Time Commitment: 1 hour, 15 minutes
• Why We Love It: vegetarian, under 500 calories, high protein

This one goes out to the vegetarians at the table. (And even if you’re not vegetarian, you’ll want a second helping.) If you’re not a fan of barley, use another grain such as quinoa or farro.

23. Foolproof Cheater’s Confit

• Time Commitment: 3 hours, 30 minutes
• Why We Love It: special occasion–worthy, high protein, beginner-friendly

Confit (aka cooking something slowly in fat) is luxurious and elegant, albeit a little time-consuming. Our recipe is streamlined, and can be made with chicken or duck.

24. Orecchiette With Spring Greens

• Time Commitment: 15 minutes
• Why We Love It: ready in <15 minutes, kid-friendly, vegetarian

Pasta is always a good idea. Dress it up in its spring Sunday best with seasonal greens, and suddenly it’s an ideal Easter dinner. (We’d pair this one with a hearty salad and a crisp white wine.)

25. Dorie Greenspan’s Sheet Pan Balsamic Chicken with Baby Potatoes and Mushrooms

• Time Commitment: 1 hour, 15 minutes
• Why We Love It: sheet pan recipe, beginner-friendly, high protein

Prepare for everyone to ooh and ahh when this comes out of the oven. Just don’t tell them how easy it was to put together. If you’ve got a crowd coming, double the recipe and use two pans.

26. Creamy Vegan Lentil and Roasted Vegetable Bake

• Time Commitment: 1 hour, 25 minutes
• Why We Love It: vegan, one pan, crowd-pleaser

Yep, it’s plant-based, but it still tastes super indulgent thanks to a homemade cashew cream sauce. To make this gluten-free, omit the breadcrumbs in the topping topping and garnish the casserole with simply toasted pine nuts.

27. Sheet Pan Honey Tahini Salmon with Chickpeas and Couscous

• Time Commitment: 25 minutes
• Why We Love It: sheet pan recipe, ready in <30 minutes, crowd-pleaser

Minimal prep, modest cooking time and almost no cleanup after? This is our idea of an Easter dinner. Even the couscous is cooked on the same pan.

28. Joanna Gaines’s Spring Vegetable Risotto

• Time Commitment: 1 hour, 40 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, beginner-friendly

Take a trip to the farmers market and buy whatever produce looks good. Voilà, you’re hallway done already. It’ll taste delicious no matter what you choose, thanks to all that butter, white wine and Parm.

29. Bacon-Wrapped Black Cod with Spinach and Capers

• Time Commitment: 40 minutes
• Why We Love It: <10 ingredients, special occasion–worthy, beginner-friendly

Bacon-wrapped anything gets our seal of approval. A bed of sautéed spinach keeps the dish light, but you could trade it out in favor of any of the salads on this list.

30. Spicy Whole Roasted Cauliflower

• Time Commitment: 1 hour, 30 minutes
• Why We Love It: <10 ingredients, vegetarian, under 500 calories

It’s unconventional and dramatic, aka the perfect thing to serve at a holiday meal. (You’ll get bonus points for pleasing the vegetarians at the table, because yeah, they’re sick of eating just bread and sides.)

31. Harissa and Honey-Roasted Carrots

• Time Commitment: 30 minutes
• Why We Love It: <10 ingredients, vegetarian, sheet pan recipe

Easter side dishes have the potential to be a snooze-fest, but not these carrots. They’re smothered in a spicy-sweet harissa and honey mixture that’s irresistible at first bite.

32. The Best Potatoes au Gratin Ever

• Time Commitment: 1 hour, 10 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, special occasion–worthy, vegetarian

They’re an Easter classic for a reason: cheese, cream and crispy bits. This one can be assembled ahead for ease, too. We’ve opted for nutty Gruyère to balance out the creaminess of this classic French dish, you can—and should—experiment with different cheeses (cheddar would work well).

33. Salt and Vinegar Roasted Potatoes with Feta and Dill

• Time Commitment: 55 minutes
• Why We Love It: <10 ingredients, crowd-pleaser, vegetarian, gluten free

If you’re more of a crispy-potato person, these salty spuds are sure to impress. They taste like a potato chip in the best way possible. Use new potatoes, which will get shatteringly crisp on the outside but maintain their creamy interiors.

34. Melted Onions

• Time Commitment: 1 hour, 5 minutes
• Why We Love It: <10 ingredients, under 500 calories, beginner-friendly, gluten free, vegetarian

Never served onions as a side dish? Tonight’s the night. They become tender and sweet after a long roast in the oven, and thanks to your muffin tin, look like little rosettes.

35. Whole Roasted Radishes

• Time Commitment: 35 minutes
• Why We Love It: Vegetarian, one pan, <10 ingredients

Radishes lose some of their peppery bite when roasted in the oven, so all you’re left with is tender, buttery goodness. These would taste mighty fine alongside a roast chicken, just saying.

36. Cacio e Pepe Brussels Sprouts

• Time Commitment: 35 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, under 500 calories, low carb, gluten free

Is there anything Parmesan cheese can’t improve? (That’s a rhetorical question.) This five-ingredient side dish will please even the biggest green vegetable haters.

37. Zesty Chargrilled Broccolini

• Time Commitment: 10 minutes
• Why We Love It: ready in <15 minutes, <10 ingredients

You can make these in a cast iron pan over high heat if grilling isn’t an option. A grating of lemon zest transforms the flavor, so don’t skip that step.

38. Spicy Broccoli Sauté

• Time Commitment: 25 minutes
• Why We Love It: ready in <30 minutes, <10 ingredients, kid-friendly

The key to keeping broccoli interesting is the crispy breadcrumb topping. It’s also an excellent way to use up the stale loaf of bread you can’t bring yourself to toss. Simply tear up a loaf, blitz it in the food processor and use as needed to instantly upgrade a dish.

39. Whole Roasted Carrots

• Time Commitment: 45 minutes
• Why We Love It: <10 ingredients, vegetarian, beginner-friendly

Glazed carrots? Yawn. Give the veggie a modern update with onions, cumin, red wine vinegar and lots of fresh lemon zest. (Make sure you choose vegetables that are about the same size so they roast up evenly.)

40. Domino Potatoes

• Time Commitment: 1 hour, 20 minutes
• Why We Love It: special occasion–worthy, <10 ingredients, vegetarian

These might be the most gorgeous potatoes we’ve ever seen. We’ll take another helping, please. Use a mandoline or extra-sharp chef’s knife for the neatest slices.

41. Roasted Mediterranean Vegetables

• Time Commitment: 40 minutes
• Why We Love It: beginner-friendly, under 500 calories, low carb, sheet pan recipe

Pick and choose everyone’s favorite vegetables and toss them all on a sheet pan. It doesn’t get simpler, and the heat of the oven will intensify the flavors of whatever you choose.

42. Broccoli and Cauliflower Gratin

• Time Commitment: 1 hour, 15 minutes
• Why We Love It: beginner-friendly, kid-friendly, high-protein

Two of our go-to cruciferous veggies, together in cheesy harmony. Even the kids table will be singing your praises (really).

43. Charred Sweet Potatoes with Pistachio-Chili Pesto

• Time Commitment: 55 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, special occasion–worthy, gluten free

It’s the pistachio-chili pesto that will have everyone coming back for more. It’s spicy, tangy and salty, and it adds a bit of texture to those roasted spuds.

44. Broccoli Rabe and Burrata with Lemon

• Time Commitment: 10 minutes
• Why We Love It: ready in <15 minutes, low carb, beginner-friendly, <10 ingredients

A side dish featuring burrata is already a treat, but this one happens to be ready in ten minutes and surprisingly low in carbs. Win-win.

45. Baby Vegetables with Orange and Thyme

• Time Commitment: 50 minutes
• Why We Love It: sheet pan recipe, beginner-friendly, low carb

Orange and thyme are a welcome change to the typically too-sweet pairings for carrots you’re familiar with. Everything gets cooked in its own parchment parcel, so there’s almost no cleanup.

46. Oven-Roasted Beets and Potatoes

• Time Commitment: 1 hour
• Why We Love It: one pan, under 500 calories, <10 ingredients

It’s part side, part work of art. The combination of golden and red beets and Yukon Gold potatoes is just the right balance of savory and slightly sweet.

47. Crispy Smashed Potatoes with Horseradish and Sea Salt

• Time Commitment: 30 minutes
• Why We Love It: under 500 calories, gluten free

Covered with Parmesan cheese, lemon zest and herbs, these potatoes are an indulgence. It’s like serving French fries at your Easter spread, but fancier.

48. Cacio e Pepe Cauliflower

• Time Commitment: 20 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, <10 ingredients, kid-friendly

To be honest, we can’t think of a bad way to serve cauliflower. But this definitely ranks up at the top. Cheese and black pepper are magical like that.

49. Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Sriracha and Lime

• Time Commitment: 55 minutes
• Why We Love It: <10 ingredients, beginner-friendly, under 500 calories

Give the Easter feast a little kick with sriracha and lime. (Just warn everyone about the spice level before digging in.) Want to up the ante? Add a simple lemon-yogurt sauce for dipping.

50. Swiss Chard au Gratin

• Time Commitment: 1 hour
• Why We Love It: vegetarian, under 500 calories, crowd-pleaser

Here’s definitive proof that anything can be holiday-ready when topped with breadcrumbs. Good news, it can be prepped in advance, in individual portions or in one big family-size baking dish.

51. Spring Panzanella Salad

• Time Commitment: 25 minutes
• Why We Love It: under 500 calories, beginner-friendly, ready in <30 minutes

Instead of a boring mixed greens salad, whip up a medley of spring’s finest produce. Asparagus, watercress and peas make a lively trio.

52. Prosciutto and Fig Salad Board

• Time Commitment: 15 minutes
• Why We Love It: no cook, special occasion–worthy, beginner-friendly

Bowls are fine, but boards are better. Why? Because you can put all the delicious toppings on display, like a salad collage.

53. Shaved Spring Vegetable and Apple Salad with Ginger-Dijon Dressing

• Time Commitment: 15 minutes
• Why We Love It: no cook, ready in <30 minutes, gluten free

After a long, cold winter, this fresh salad is a sight for sore eyes. The tangy-sweet-spicy dressing, while homemade, is impossible to mess up (it comes together entirely in a blender).

54. Radicchio, Lentil and Apple Salad with Vegan Cashew Dressing

• Time Commitment: 35 minutes
• Why We Love It: vegan, gluten free, special occasion–worthy

The cashew cream is completely dairy free, but no one would know just by tasting it. Here, combined with bitter radicchio, lentils and apples, it serves as the ultimate foil to a crunchy, crispy salad.

55. Kale and Brussels Sprout Caesar Slaw

• Time Commitment: 25 minutes
• Why We Love It: ready in <30 minutes, no cook, dairy free

This slaw is surprisingly versatile: You can use pretty much any winter greens or cabbage as long as you shred them thinly. The cheese can be left out or swapped for whatever you have (any blue or hard cheese) and you can use any soft herbs in your fridge.

56. Minty-Fresh Zucchini Salad with Marinated Feta

• Time Commitment: 15 minutes (+ marinating time)
• Why We Love It: no cook, <10 ingredients, make ahead

This side tastes best when you make it ahead of time, which is music to our ears. The marinade becomes a dressing, which is even more convenient.

57. Sugar Snap Pea Salad with Chèvre Ranch

• Time Commitment: 15 minutes
• Why We Love It: ready in <30 minutes, low carb, crowd-pleaser

’Tis the season for peas—why not turn them into a crisp, fresh salad? Goat cheese is whirled into an irresistibly tangy dressing and crumbled on top for double the flavor.

58. Asparagus Caesar Salad

• Time Commitment: 35 minutes
• Why We Love It: under 500 calories, low carb, crowd-pleaser

We’re super excited for the in-season asparagus, sure, but don’t tell anyone we’re even more looking forward to the croutons.

59. Cast Iron Cornbread

• Time Commitment: 45 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, kid-friendly, beginner-friendly, vegetarian

The cast iron skillet is the key to a golden-brown, toothsome edge—preheat it before pouring in the batter. Serve it with lots of butter and a sprinkle of flaky salt, of course.

60. Kale Salad With Crispy Chickpeas

• Time Commitment: 1 hour
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, special occasion–worthy

This salad is simple, and sometimes that’s exactly what your menu you needs. The homemade dressing has Dijon, garlic, lemon and anchovies for a savory je ne sais quoi.

61. Citrus, Fennel and Avocado Salad

• Time Commitment: 35 minutes
• Why We Love It: no cook, <10 ingredients

You can use any mix of fresh citrus you like, such as grapefruit, tangerines and blood oranges. (Just make sure you have a ripe avocado at the ready.)

62. Easy Dinner Rolls

• Time Commitment: 2 hours, 5 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, kid-friendly, <10 ingredients

Skip the freezer-section rolls in favor of these fluffy cuties, which are way easier to make than they seem. Most of the cooking time is spent proofing the dough, so you can tend to other dishes while the rolls rise.

63. 6-Ingredient Peasant Bread

• Time Commitment: 2 hours, 35 minutes
• Why We Love It: <10 ingredients, beginner-friendly, kid-friendly, crowd-pleaser

This bread comes together with just six ingredients and you don’t even have to knead it. Genius? We think so. You’ll use instant yeast instead of active dry, which doesn’t need to be activated in liquid and gives a fast rise to the dough.

64. Sweet and Spicy Cornbread

• Time Commitment: 1 hour, 20 minutes
• Why We Love It: one pan, crowd-pleaser

The cornbread gets brushed with honey before it’s done in the oven, but you should definitely serve it with extra on the side. Don’t want to make the whole pan spicy? Easy, just leave the pepper slices off half.

65. Sprightly Biscuits

• Time Commitment: 20 minutes
• Why We Love It: ready in <30 minutes, <10 ingredients, beginner-friendly, kid-friendly

These biscuits have a secret: They’re made with lemon-lime soda, which lends a fluffy texture without any leaveners.

66. Apple Focaccia with Blue Cheese and Herbs

• Time Commitment: 12 hours, 20 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, special occasion–worthy, beginner-friendly

It’s part cheese plate, part carb-y side. We’re smitten. Focaccia is a perfect homemade bread for beginners, since it requires zero shaping and no kneading.

67. Spicy Ricotta-Stuffed Phyllo Rolls

• Time Commitment: 55 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, beginner-friendly, under 500 calories

An Easter meal wouldn’t be complete without a little cheese. If you can’t find the tart and lightly sweet peppadew peppers for the filling, you can substitute jarred roasted red peppers.

• Time Commitment: 35 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, low sugar

Spice up your side dish rotation with this Central New York favorite, which stars escarole, prosciutto, bread crumbs and spicy cherry peppers. If you can’t find fresh peppers, you can substitute pickled, or use any other hot red pepper.

69. Scallion And Chive Flatbread

• Time Commitment: 1 hour, 40 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, special occasion–worthy, under 500 calories

It’s almost too pretty to serve—almost. (Psst: It’s also super simper to put together. The dough is a lot like making pizza crust or focaccia, and it only needs an hour to rise.)

• Time Commitment: 1 hour, 5 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, special occasion–worthy, vegetarian

A tarte tatin is a French pastry, traditionally made with apples, that involves flipping a flaky slab of puffy pastry out of a skillet to reveal the buttery, caramelized topping. That makes this savory version sounds much more finicky than it actually is—you’ve got this, trust.

• Time Commitment: 15 minutes
• Why We Love It: no cook, crowd-pleaser, beginner-friendly

When a salad needs to have enough pizazz to cut through a rich meal, we reach for a recipe that’s more complex than plain old greens. With biting radicchio and frisée (plus tart apples and pistachios), this dish checks all the right boxes.

• Time Commitment: 30 minutes
• Why We Love It: <30 minutes, beginner-friendly, sheet pan recipe

This Easter, we’ve sworn off making overly complicated dishes for company…which leads us to this elegant, four-ingredient side. If you can’t find rainbow carrots, use the standard orange. They’ll taste just as good.

73. Pull-Apart Bread with Caramelized Onions and Goat Cheese

• Time Commitment: 3 hours, 10 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, special occasion–worthy

This one’s like monkey bread, but savory and fancy for Easter. It’s time-consuming but worth the effort, especially if you serve it warm from the oven.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour
• Why We Love It: beginner-friendly, special occasion–worthy, crowd-pleaser, sheet pan recipe, <10 ingredients

Behold, an entree that’s both special enough to serve to company and ready in about an hour. The secret? Spatchcocking the chicken, which speeds up the cooking time and increases the surface area for more browned, crispy skin.

• Time Commitment: 30 minutes
• Why We Love It: <30 minutes, crowd-pleaser, special occasion–worthy

These chops are seasoned with vinegar and garnished with a creamy, nutty sauce. If you’re not familiar with loin chops, well, they’re a lot like rib chops but without the long bone (and with a slightly richer flavor).

• Time Commitment: 35 minutes
• Why We Love It: <10 ingredients, special occasion–worthy

If minty pistachio butter isn’t your thing (to each her own), try this twist on lamb. This seven-ingredient spring dinner sounds super fancy (and tastes like it too), but actually comes together in a single pan. Even if your strawberries aren’t perfectly ripe, they’ll sweeten up as they cook.

77. Easy Pretzel Buns

• Time Commitment: 3 hours, 40 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, kid-friendly, special occasion-worthy

Are you a professional baker or something? You have us fooled. (Hot tip: Make some small, dinner roll size, and a few large for leftover ham sandwiches.)

• Time Commitment: 1 hour
• Why We Love It: special occasion–worthy, gluten free

While we’ll admit this dish requires some watchful stirring, we promise the resulting creamy, dreamy rice is worth the labor. You’ll be rewarded with an elegant meal that’s ideal for serving a smaller group.

• Time Commitment: 35 minutes
• Why We Love It: low carb, beginner-friendly, vegetarian

This underrated veggie is finally getting the glow-up it deserves, thanks to a spicy-sweet mixture of harissa and brown sugar, brown butter and a dilly sour cream dip for serving. Make it as an Easter side dish and blow your guests away.

• Time Commitment: 15 minutes
• Why We Love It: <15 minutes, special occasion–worthy, vegetarian

As much as we want to serve a bounty of tender greens and fresh vegetables, Easter is often early in the spring season (and the farmers market is still kind of bare). This salad is bright, crisp and make-ahead friendly, plus it features seasonal ingredients you’ll still be able to find.