I asked our editors, Test Kitchen team, Bakeable members and Community Cooks for their best Easter hosting tips.
Work Backwards to Build Your Schedule
One of our best tips for hosting a successful Easter gathering is to plan out the entire timeline, starting with sending out RSVPs about a month before the event. Write down everything that needs to happen before guests arrive, and start scheduling errands and planning day-of tasks.
“I map out one week ahead and include all errands, grocery and flower shopping,” says Catherine Ward, Taste of Home’s prep kitchen manager. “When planning day-of timing, I start with the mealtime and work backwards with how long each dish needs to cook, bake, rest, carve, etc.” This type of timeline is how professional kitchens operate to start service on time, ensuring everything is fresh and ready to go.
As you plan the day-of timeline, make sure to include tasks that make cleanup easier later. Julie Schnittka, Taste of Home deputy editor, recommends emptying the dishwasher before the party starts. “You want to have it ready to load and run as it becomes full.” That also happens to be one of our favorite easy weeknight cooking tips.
Prep Serving Stations and Dining Tables in Advance
As they say, the eyes eat first! Events like Easter are a good time to pull out your nice servingware. “When I’m planning the menu, I actually pull out all my serving dishes, decide which recipe will go in each one and label them with Post-It notes,” says Sarah Farmer, Taste of Home’s executive culinary director. It will feel more hectic if you wait to figure it out when the dishes come out of the oven.
Planning your table settings ahead of time is another easy (but important!) job. Once you decide on your Easter table decor, Julie and Catherine recommend ironing tablecloths and napkins one to two weeks beforehand. That way, they’re ready to plop onto the table on Easter morning (or the night before, if you have an early brunch).
Consider Setting Up a Buffet
Sarah recommends serving the food buffet-style for the easiest flow, and she has a little trick for creating a visually appealing setup. “I love using sturdy boxes as hidden risers under tablecloths or runners to elevate platters.” She also serves the food using a mix of cake stands, footed bowls and trifle dishes to add height and dimension.
If your crew is a little more casual, Sarah recommends lining the tables with kraft paper instead of fancy tablecloths. Use a marker to label the dishes right on the paper. It’s a great way to explain each dish and write any dietary notes for those who need them. If you have an artist in the family, encourage them to draw little tulips, bunnies, chicks and eggs on the paper before adding the serving ware. Everyone will be proud of their work!
Make Your Flowers Go Further
Flowers can get expensive, and it’s hard to justify the cost when you know they’ll wither away. But I can never pass up peonies when they’re in season because they make the table look so gorgeous! To get the most out of your flower purchase, Catherine suggests buying them early. “Cut white lilies are a favorite for my centerpieces. I shop four days ahead and get closed blooms that will be open come party time. Just change the water every day to ensure freshness,” she says.
Sarah reminded me that expensive bulbs aren’t needed to make a big impact. It’s easy to make a flower arrangement on a budget. “Greenery alone can make a space feel special for spring,” Sarah says. I often pick up inexpensive filler flowers or greens from the grocery store and display them in small jars or petite vases I already have.”
Lean On Make-Ahead Dishes
When I’m hosting, I always find the morning moves more quickly than anticipated. Preparing make-ahead dishes is a great way to take tasks off your plate on party day. Thankfully, many Easter recipes can be made ahead of time, including classic dishes like scalloped potatoes, deviled eggs or make-ahead butterhorn rolls. You can also use the slow cooker for set-and-forget convenience to cook your honey-glazed ham or side dishes like ranch mushrooms or citrus carrots.
For brunch, Taste of Home’s content director for print, Mark Hagen, recommends an overnight egg bake as the main dish. Dishes like sausage bake, strata with ham or a tried-and-true breakfast casserole can be stashed in the fridge and reheated in the morning. Some recipes don’t store well, but they can still be prepped ahead. When Mark makes cucumber party sandwiches for Easter, he mixes the cream cheese spread a day ahead, slices the cucumbers in the morning and assembles the sandwiches just before the guests arrive. That way, the sandwiches don’t get soggy.
As for make-ahead desserts, Community Cook Heather Karow has a genius hack: “I often make cupcakes, so I will make them ahead of time and freeze them, then decorate the day before. They also decorate better when frozen, so it’s win-win!” Try it yourself this year with our pretty spring cupcake recipes.
Add Small Details to Delight Your Guests
You don’t have to create grand decorations like a pastel balloon arch to make your party feel whimsical. People will get just as excited over little creative elements. Sarah likes to shape flavored butter in silicone molds to form pretty flowers, bunnies or carrots. Catherine freezes orange juice in mini muffin pans for very well-chilled mimosas. Guests are delighted when they pop the frozen discs in champagne flutes and top with bubbly.
Lindsay Mattison, Taste of Home senior editor, upgrades deviled eggs by turning them into a choose-your-own adventure. “I’ll set out a platter of plain deviled eggs alongside a few cute bowls filled with toppings,” she says. “Include a little variety, like spicy chili crisp or hot sauce, something crunchy like bacon bits or fried onions, and something bright like chives or pickled red onions. If I’m feeling fancy, I’ll add smoked salmon or prosciutto to the mix.”
Embrace Fun Easter Desserts
Easter is quite an adorable holiday, aesthetically speaking. Between all the pastel hues and baby animal motifs, all those cute Easter treats are pretty enough to double as decor! Easter nest cake makes a stunning centerpiece, and you can fill out the rest of the table with cutesy treats, like decorated Easter sugar cookies, Easter basket cupcakes and Easter egg cake pops.
If you want something that feels like spring but is less whimsical, make an Easter pie and decorate it with edible flowers. Or lean into pavlova, a gorgeous meringue-based dessert topped with whipped cream and berries. “Pavlova has been my favorite Easter dessert to make since I learned it existed,” says Ellie Martin Cliffe, Taste of Home brand content director. The recipe only uses the egg whites, so Ellie repurposes the yolks in other recipes on the menu. “Hollandaise, an egg bake or even creme anglaise to drizzle (OK, generously splash) over dessert.”
Let Guests Help with the Menu
One of my biggest flaws when hosting is trying to take on everything. I just want my loved ones to come over and feel pampered! To no one’s surprise, doing this always leaves me feeling super stressed and overworked, and then I’m not the best host I can be. I’ve learned that people actually do want to help! So don’t be afraid to ask guests to bring a dish or drink.
Bakeable member Rebecca Van Horn likes to decide early whether she’ll do all the cooking or have guests bring items. If it’s the latter, Rebecca suggests finding gaps in your menu for them to fill, and having those answers ready when people start inquiring. I like to ask guests to bring dishes best served cold or at room temperature. That way, I don’t have to figure out how to fit their food in my oven, which is already tight on space.
But who is best for what? “When assigning things, think about what will help you out the most,” says Julie, “Not a baker? Ask someone else to bring dessert. Is one relative notoriously late? Assign them something other than an appetizer.”
Plan Easter Activities for Kids
An Easter egg hunt makes the holiday magical for the little ones. Bakeable member Kallee Krong-McCreery suggests assigning each kid their own egg color, and hiding the colors according to the child’s skill level and height. “It makes it fair for the younger, slower ones,” says Kallee. Hide the older kids’ eggs in funny places, like in the mailbox, in an uncle’s shoe or in an actual egg carton.
Taste of Home senior editor Emily Palruski suggests noting where you hide each egg. “When my husband and I host, we note how many eggs we hid in the yard. That way, we don’t leave any out overnight by accident. Squirrels don’t need those dollar bills!” Not to mention any eggs with chocolate inside—no one wants to come across rancid chocolate in six months.
If your kids are too old for the Easter egg hunt, give them fun jobs that help in a real way. “Kids don’t want a distraction; they want ownership,” says Lindsay Parrill, Taste of Home trends writer. “Give them a job that actually matters, not pretend help or a craft away from the group.” Lindsay lets her kids take on tasks like arranging flowers, writing names on place cards, hiding eggs for the younger kids and putting the “finishing touches” on dishes, like sprinkling Maldon salt on deviled eggs or adding fresh berries to a cake.
Send Guests Home with Something Special
Party favors aren’t just for birthday parties! Gifting a take-home treat is like tying the perfect bow around the day. “Last year, I bought inexpensive wreaths from the dollar store and hung them on the back of everyone’s chair with ribbon,” says Mark. “They each got to take them home.” He also loves to send home guests with a few turtle dove nests.
You don’t need to get crazy with a craft, either. Going the extra mile to provide something useful and practical is just as remarkable. Mark suggests setting out storage containers so everyone can take home leftovers. To make sure there were ample leftovers one year, he actually made two meals. “I served one as our Easter dinner, and I boxed up the second meal for each guest and surprised them with a completely separate meal they could take home and enjoy the next day.”
Remember That Everything Won’t Go to Plan
Accept the probability that not everything will be just as you imagined. Problems will arise: You may forget to buy an ingredient, or the potatoes may not turn out as tasty as last year’s. One time, my power went out the morning of the party—it was chaos! But I stayed calm, called the electric company and we were back in action an hour later.
While you can’t predict problems, do everything you can to stay ahead. Community Cook Marina Castle Kelley suggests to write down everything you need to achieve before the big day, get your supplies and relax. You can also help yourself out for next year! Julie keeps an entertaining journal to track menus, food quantities and which recipes were popular. “That way, I don’t have to reinvent the wheel year after year,” she says. “It’s been my lifesaver for over 25 years!”
“Be patient and flexible,” says Community Cook Theresa Ravencraft. “It’s more important for everyone to have a good time than it is for everything to be perfect.”
