Our Best Easter Brunch Recipes

By Food & Wine
Updated April 07, 2020
© Tina Rupp
If you’re opting for an Easter Brunch this year instead of a huge dinner, consider mixing things up with some of our favorite breakfast(ish) dishes. There’s quiche and ricotta pancakes, fizzy grapefruit spritzes and tater tot waffles (more on that in a minute)—with some ham recipes thrown in the mix too. Check out the full spread below to inspire your menu.
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Brioche with Prosciutto, Gruyère and Egg

© JOHNNY MILLER
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“I love a good frisée salad,” says Suzanne Goin. “And of course I love toasted, buttery bread, with big slabs of melted cheese and prosciutto and an egg on top.” Her sumptuous open-face sandwich combines all her favorite things.

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Custardy Baked Orzo with Spinach, Bacon and Feta

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This eggy baked pasta dish, which combines orzo, sautéed leeks, bacon, feta and Greek yogurt, is perfect for brunch.

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Bacon-and-Leek Quiche

Photo © Quentin Bacon
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Elevate the flavor of two essential flavor boosters with this elegant French classic.

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Fluffy, Buttery Cinnamon Rolls

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When pastry chef Deborah Racicot makes her fluffy cinnamon rolls people go insane for them. Racicot gathers up every bit of leftover dough, smears it with cinnamon butter and bakes it.

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Grilled Apricots with Burrata, Country Ham and Arugula

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Depending on the season, Travis Lett also makes this salad with plums, peaches and pears.

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Orange Popovers

Photo © Matthew Armendariz - mattbites.com
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Grace Parisi loves popovers, but baking them can be tricky: They don’t always rise as they should. For these foolproof ones, Grace adds a bit of baking powder to the batter and chooses to use a regular (not nonstick) muffin tin.

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Gale Gand's Sugar-Dusted Vanilla Ricotta Fritters

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Gale Gand got this recipe from her mother-in-law, Vita Seidita; the fritters are also good sprinkled with cinnamon sugar or dipped in jelly.

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Mushroom and Ham Quiche

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Quiche is a brunch staple. It looks fancy, but it’s not that difficult to make, and you can swap in whatever vegetables you have around, just as long asa you cook them down first.

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Charred Fava Bean Salad with Lemon and Tarragon

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It’s impossible to grill tiny favas, but the sweet-starchy beans get a similar smoky flavor when they’re charred quickly in a hot skillet. Jean-Georges Vongerichten tosses the charred beans with garlic, jalapeño, tarragon and cubes of cheese for a warm salad.

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Crunchy Couscous Galette

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This big, cheesy couscous cake is a wonderful way to use up leftovers, but it’s so good and fast you’ll want to make it with fresh couscous, too.

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Pea Tortilla with Mint and Yogurt

© John Kernick
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A Spanish tortilla is like a frittata. Francis Mallmann makes a lovely spring version with yogurt, fresh mint and sweet peas, baked in an oven (preferably a wood-fired oven) until just set. It’s delicious served warm or at room temperature.

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Crêpes with Sweet Yogurt and Raspberry-Apricot Sauce

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These crêpes are like free-form blintzes, with thick and creamy Greek-style yogurt standing in for the cheese filling and a quick topping made with preserves and frozen raspberries.

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Salmon Hash with Poached Eggs

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Hash is a such a great way to use leftovers, like the cooked salmon called for here. Any other cooked or smoked fish—or diced ham—could be used in place of the salmon.

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Almond-Fennel Cooler

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“Growing up in Northern California, I loved the smell of wild fennel that grows along so many roads and waterways,” Jennifer Colliau says. That memory inspired this anise-accented mocktail, made with a fennel-infused simple syrup. For the orgeat, she advises using one made from almonds, not just extract.

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Sour Cherry-Yuzu Bellinis

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Jean-Georges Vongerichten adds yuzu juice (from the bumpy-skinned Japanese citrus fruit) to this effervescent sour-cherry cocktail for a citrus kick; a mix of tangerine and lime juices nearly matches yuzu’s flavor.

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Grilled Asparagus Salad with Fried Eggs

© Tina Rupp
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Chef Mark Broadbent upgrades the standard lemony arugula salad by topping it with grilled asparagus, butter-fried eggs and freshly shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano.

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Spicy Honey-Glazed Bacon

PHOTO © TINA RUPP
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Slices of smoky bacon slathered in a spicy honey mixture are great at breakfast and addictive enough for a midnight snack.

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Tea Thyme

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Mixologist Kathy Casey steeps vodka in English Breakfast tea for this drink. To sweeten it, she uses local honey.

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The Breslin's Ricotta Pancakes with Orange Syrup

PHOTO © LUCY SCHAEFFER
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While these pancakes are delicious on their own, they’re exquisite with the soft ricotta topping, crunchy sliced almonds and ingeniously vibrant (and neon-bright) orange syrup.

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Asparagus-and-Zucchini Frittata

© John Kernick
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Chef Chris Behr’s versatile frittata with crisp spring vegetables can be eaten warm or at room temperature. Serve for brunch with an accompanying platter of crusty bread, fresh fruit, cheese and salumi, or for lunch with a green salad.

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Scrambled Eggs Florentine


Eva Kolenko
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Eggs may be a must at Easter brunch, but they easily can be stepped up from your basic scramble or omelet. Here, we fold spinach and mascarpone into soft scrambled eggs and spoon over crostini for an easy appetizer that fits right in with the other holiday-special dishes on the table.

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Tater Tot Waffles with Smoked Salmon and Caviar

© Eva Kolenko
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Jen Pelka of The Riddler in San Francisco makes supercrunchy and delicious waffles using Tater Tots. Here she tops the waffles with caviar and smoked salmon, creating a delicious and decadent dish that’s ideal with Champagne.

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Brock Eggs


© Abby Hocking
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At The Pig Brockenhurst in England, chef James Golding plays on classic Scotch eggs with his Brock Eggs, made by encasing little quail eggs in a tasty ham mixture, then deep-frying them.

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Ham and Sausage Strata

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The strata needs to be refrigerated for at least 4 hours or overnight before baking, so plan accordingly.

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Roasted Asparagus and Mushrooms


Eva Kolenko
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Roasted asparagus and hen-of-the-woods mushrooms go with any Easter dish, from glazed ham to a spring quiche. The vegetables roast first in olive oil then finish in butter for an extra dimension of flavor and a nice sheen.

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Cinnamon-Raisin Bread Custard with Fresh Berries

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Chef Bradley Ogden's 1987 recipe for ultrarich bread pudding is perfect for dessert or brunch. It can be made with store-bought bread, but it's best made with a fresh bakery loaf, sliced 1/2 inch thick

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Glazed Lemon-Ginger Scones

Con Poulos
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Aimee Olexy’s lemony, cream-based scones are light, moist and laced with pieces of chewy candied ginger.

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Arugula-Endive Salad with Honeyed Pine Nuts

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This salad reinvents the classic combination of blue cheese and honey with crumbled Maytag blue and a crunchy, brittle-like garnish made from honey and pine nuts. Pine nuts have a subtle flavor that goes especially well with milder honeys, but other nuts, like pecans and walnuts, work nicely here, too.

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Grapefruit Spritz


Eva Kolenko
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We’re bidding farewell to winter and embracing spring in this rosy cocktail, combining the last of winter’s citrus with seasonal raspberries. Tart and bitter notes from the grapefruit juice and Campari are balanced by floral crème de framboise and raspberries. It’s a cocktail worthy of your Easter buffet, and a refreshing change from too-sweet lemonade or mimosas.

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The Bumble


Savanna Sturkie
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Bartender Sam Johnson is playful (and literal) with this cocktail, using the Spanish term “manzanilla,” meaning chamomile, with manzanilla sherry. He brews the tea and creates a concentrated syrup, then adds the syrup to the shaker with sherry, gin, and an egg white for a refreshing, frothy cocktail.

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Olive Oil Cake with Honey-Yogurt Cream and Strawberries


Eric Wolfinger
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This is no featherweight spring cake: Olive oil and almond flour keep it dense and moist so it can hold plenty of juicy macerated strawberries. An infusion of lime in the cake batter and a tangy yogurt whipped cream brightens each slice.

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Wine-Poached Strawberries 
and Apricots


Victor Protasio
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Semi-dry Riesling, which is refreshing and not too sweet, is the secret to this impressive, balanced dessert. Dried apricots lend a gentle bitterness while the strawberries add sweetness and impart the rosiest color.

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