Cooking for family holidays like Easter and Passover can be a lot, especially if there are cherished family recipes that, if screwed up, will ruin everyone’s day and bring shame upon you. But unless you live with your entire extended family, you’re not likely to be cooking for or celebrating with a crowd this year.
When the world around us feels weird, there’s some comfort in making a classic holiday meal, even if it’s just to remember that there’s something to look forward to this week or next weekend. Maybe it’s not the time to make your family’s overly involved heirloom recipes, but you can still have a simple, springy meal to share with your live-in partner, your roommate, or even just for yourself, with leftovers to pack away for days.
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Here are some of our favorite riffs on the Passover and Easter spread—all simple enough to make right now. Who cares if it’s not how you usually do the holidays? If you’re moving your Passover or Easter gathering into the virtual realm, you’re already kinda giving the finger to tradition anyway.
Matzo Ball Soup Recipe
Our version of the seder staple stays pretty true to tradition, schmaltz and all.
Herb-Roasted Spatchcock Chicken Recipe
This spatchcocked roast chicken can be the centerpiece of your table no matter which holiday you’re celebrating.
Caramelized Onion and Potato Gratin Recipe
If you Google “Easter food,” nearly every menu includes scalloped potatoes. (We know because we did that like 20 minutes ago.) Our onion and potato gratin is easier and even more delicious.
Gochujang-Glazed Ham Recipe
If honey-baked ham was too Betty Crocker for you, spice up the Easter table with a gochujang-glazed centerpiece instead. And yes, obviously, this isn’t for Passover, unless your family is more Reform than most.
Green Pea and Ricotta Farfalle Recipe
Few foods pair better with your ham than peas, and this easy green pasta is packed with them. Plus, it’s just a good excuse to eat bowtie pasta as an adult.
Pizza Rustica Recipe
This dish translates to “Full Pizza” for a reason: It’s loaded with meat, eggs, and cheese. Definitely not your weekly pie, but it’s worth making for Easter, just the way Italian tradition would have it.
Easy Lamb Meatballs Recipe
Lamb is super traditional for Easter, of course—but why not go rogue with easy lamb meatballs instead of having to roast a whole leg?
Honey-Glazed Carrots Recipe
Easter = rabbits = carrots = duh—you have your side dish covered. Even if you don’t have fancy rainbow colored carrots, this vegetable dish is an easy A.
Yogurt-Marinated Lamb Chops Recipe
If you want to go fancy for your holiday meal—and you can get ahold of lamb—these yogurt-marinated lamb chops are the way to go. It’s the pistachio dressing that makes them really sing.
Easy Salt-Baked Fish Recipe
Sure, Passover brisket is great, but have you tried baking a whole fish in salt? This simple recipe works with basically any whole fish you can find at the store.
Grilled Lamb Rump Recipe
Who doesn’t love a good rump? Everything in this lamb dish gets a little char and smoke, and you’ll never want to eat an eggplant any other way.
Chipotle Deviled Eggs Recipe
Like decapitating a hollow chocolate bunny and dyeing Easter eggs, deviled eggs are kind of an Easter tradition. Make this year’s eggs a little more exciting with some smoky chipotle.
Fig, Caramel, and Chocolate Matzo Recipe
If you don’t have figs, it’s fine—we’re pretty sure nobody’s ever complained about chocolate- and caramel-covered matzo anyway.
Cardamom Cookies Recipe
Let’s be honest—few among us really like coconut macaroons. These kosher delights, however, are a perfect, easy dessert for seder.
Cocoa-Almond Cookies Recipe
Dorie Greenspan is the queen of cookies, and we dare you to tell us that these gluten-free chocolate cookies wouldn’t be the best dang Passover dessert you’ve ever had.
Classic Noodle Kugel Recipe
A noodle kugel is the kind of dessert you make if you really want to pass out on the couch afterward. Go ahead, you deserve it.
Perfect Carrot Cake Recipe
When it comes to party-worthy spring desserts, we’re always going to trust star baker Natasha Pickowicz, and this carrot cake is no exception.
Easy Banana Cream Pie Recipe
Oh no, you forgot about the bananas again. Great—the riper the better for this 30-minute, no-bake dessert that feels light and springy enough for Easter.
Hot Cross Buns Recipe
If you didn’t eat warm and freshly baked hot cross buns on Easter, then did Jesus even rise from the dead?
Easy Chocolate Mousse Recipe
Skip the graham crackers to keep it kosher, and you’ll impress even the pickiest of bubbies with this simple chocolate mousse.
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