Have you ever noticed how most religious holidays or observance days are associated with food? Like, Christmas = Ham, Thanks Giving = Turkey, but what about Easter? So I did a little digging and it turns out that the traditional meat eaten on Easter Sunday is lamb. Yay! So I thought I’d put together the ultimate guide to Easter food. You can expect Lamb, Hot Cross Buns and Easter Eggs of course, but so much more too. Let’s dive right in … the ultimate guide to traditional Easter food!

easter food pin

How To Explain what Easter is to Children

Easter is the most important of all Christian holidays. Whilst Christmas celebrates Jesus’s birth, Easter celebrates the end of his life, the resurrection of Jesus, 3 days after he died on the cross. I found this cute video to explain Easter to children.

Why do people eat lamb at Easter?

I absolutely love a good roast lamb. Eating lamb on Easter Sunday is a great tradition. I’ve done a bit of research about this, and there are a few variations on the history of why we eat lamb at Easter. Some sources say lamb is eaten as it’s representative of Jesus being the lamb of God, who was then killed on the cross as a sacrificial lamb taking on the sins of humanity, hence why they say “he died for our sins”. Jewish people also eat lamb as part of Passover. Here are some alternative lamb recipes if you don’t want to go for the traditional roast lamb.

What’s the relationship between Eggs and Easter and the Easter Bunny?

Why is there an Easter Bunny?

According to History.com, the Easter Bunny was, surprisingly, never mentioned in the Bible. *Funny that* In fact, the origins of the Easter bunny, arguably the symbol of modern Easter, originates from German immigrants to America in the 1700s. The “Oschter haws” was an egg-laying hare. and children would be encouraged to build nests for the hare to lay their eggs. It evolved that the bunny would bring gifts and eggs, and then chocolate eggs became a common theme. And the rest, as they say, is history. As we all know, bunnies are prolific breeders and some say it also symbolised rebirth and new life. Personally, I’m not sure how I feel about an egg laying bunny. What about the chicks? lol

easter cupcake recipes

 

Why do people decorate eggs at Easter

The history of Easter Eggs actually dates back to pagan times. An egg is also a symbol of new life and in Christianity, it was thought to represent Jesus emerging from the tomb after his resurrection. Christians would dye eggs red to represent the blood of Jesus. However, decorating of eggs at Easter is said to date back even further to the 13th century. Apparently, eggs were forbidden during lent and people would decorate them to celebrate the end of lent. There are many more modern traditions around eggs at Easter and even a few games such as rolling decorated hard-boiled eggs as a race, even the egg and spoon race. And obviously, an Easter Egg Hunt is an Easter tradition that children all over the world love to participate in on Easter Sunday.

Back to the Easter Food!

Before I get listing all the delicious Easter deserts and Easter food, and suggesting some amazing Easter recipes for you to try at home, I wanted to share with you this super cute Easter wrap created by my good friend Charlotte from TeamStein Blog. You can check out how to do it, along with other seasonal activities for kids in April on her blog

 

Baking at Easter – Sweet Easter Recipes

Easter biscuits

 

Even though there are many different Easter foods, if you want to get the kids involved over the Easter holidays and have some fun in the kitchen, here are some lovely Easter Recipes ideas of desserts and cakes to make with all those yummy Easter Eggs.

 

 

hot cross buns easter food

Hot Cross Buns and other Easter Pastries

 

Now the question is, which of these delicious recipes will you try this Easter. Personally, I’m keen to have a go at the Homemade hot-cross buns. I love toasted hot cross buns with loads of butter on them. After that, I’ll probably make some bunny tail easter cupcakes with the girls, and some Easter fudge for later.

Easter Gifts & Easter Crafts

I’m sure you’ve got all your Easter food planned after that. But if you’re planning to gift anyone this Easter, check out these alternative Easter Gifts for the whole family. And if you’re looking for some Easter Crafts to keep the kids busy this Easter, check out my 21 Spring and Easter Crafts for Kids, my friend Helen’s 15 super easy craft ideas for kids at Easter, or take a look at my Easter inspired Pinterest board. There are loads of ideas in there too.

Happy Easter everyone.

18 easter recipes

 

18 Eggciting Easter Recipes