Italian Easter Recipes - let's celebrate the holiday gathered around the table and serve up Easter "Italian Style" this year! Any holiday in our family is a cause to celebrate. And what better way to celebrate than with a delicious meal along with a few Easter Desserts. Let me share with you a few of my family's favorite Italian recipes.
For most families, Easter marks the end of the Lent where you are supposed to sustain from foods such as meat, eggs and butter. Easter is a time of celebration for Christ's resurrection and what better way to celebrate than with these Italian Easter Recipes.
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Italian Recipes
So what exactly do Italian people eat for Easter? It varies from region to region, however, most Italian households will have some sort of pasta dish with homemade meatballs and sauce to go along with the traditional ham, turkey, or even lamb is a favorite.
We host Easter every year and I almost always prepare Eggplant Parmesan. It's one of my favorite Italian Easter Recipes to serve to my family.
Appetizers
My family loves a good spread of appetizers! Sometimes I think we eat way too much that no one will eat the main course, but that never really happens.
One of my favorite Italian styled appetizers to serve besides a traditional cheese board or "antipasto" is Air Fryer Mini Ravioli.
Easter Bread Tradition
Another important ingredient for most Easter celebrations is eggs; both dyed and cooked. They're also an important part of an Italian Easter celebration as they are a symbol of renewal and rebirth.
Most Italian families have a tradition of preparing Easter Bread. Which is a sweetened, yeast bread dough with colored eggs baked right into the dough. The fun thing about this bread is you insert the colored eggs raw and they cook along with the bread in the oven.
I have two versions of this recipe on my site. One uses the traditional yeast bread recipe and the other uses frozen bread dough made into individual Easter Bread Rings.
Easter Desserts
If there's one thing Italians know how to do is make desserts. Every year we have Ricotta Pie made by my sister and my mother's famous Italian Cookies. She makes these for almost every family gathering.
We also love to serve non-traditional Easter desserts like Homemade Cream Puffs; which is another of my mother's recipes that I now make. I usually fill them with vanilla and chocolate pudding, but how delicious would it be to fill them with cannoli filling?
If you're looking for more ideas, read my 15 Italian Easter Desserts collection.
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Italian Easter Recipes
Almost all of our family celebrations start out with a cheese board and Easter is no different. Here are a few favorite ways to put one together.
Cherry tomatoes, fresh basil leaves and mozzarella balls drizzled with an easy balsamic glaze are simply delicious and will look beautiful on your buffet table.
The authentic taste of Italy comes through in every single bite, making it a comforting and easy appetizer that you’ll want to make for every single party you host.
Combined with the dressing and fresh vegetables, the bread is chewy and satisfying. Makes the perfect starter for any Easter dinner celebration.
Easter Dove Bread [Colomba Pasqua] is the most well-known of the many traditional breads prepared in celebration of the Easter holiday in Italy and around the world.
Pan fried thin chicken breasts layered with homemade marinara sauce and mozzarella cheese.
Eggplant stuffed with ricotta cheese, rolled up and covered in homemade tomato sauce. Baked to perfection and served with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.
These Italian lamb shanks are braised with red wine to be extra tender. It’s a perfect addition to your holiday table.
Easy to make and enough to serve a crowd!
Italian Easter celebrations would not be complete without this recipe for savory rustic pizza pie.
Roasted Asparagus with Goat Cheese and Walnut Lemon Gremolata is a beautiful and tasty way to showcase this springtime jewel!
A fast and easy Pasta dish the whole family will love.
Easter pie in Italy (pizza rustica) is filled with egg and meat and such a delicious dish!
If you too are a fan of lasagna, you will want to add this super tasty meal to your menu list like right now, not later. You can thank me later!
Sicilian Ricotta Pie is an authentic recipe with a lemon scented creamy ricotta filling in a buttery, tender crust!
Italian-inspired creamy tiramisu cheesecake is easy to make at home with this step-by-step recipe. It's hands-down the best cheesecake there is!
Italian Lemon Polenta Cake is a delicious, elegant, gluten-free dessert. Simple and refined. The perfect way to end a meal.
Soft Italian ricotta cookies feature both lemon and almond flavorings for a bright and springy treat.
Easy Italian jumbo pasta shells stuffed with ragu bolognese sauce, vegetables, fresh herbs, all topped with mozzarella and parmesan cheese
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