Simple Easter Recipes For Homemakers Who Love To Save
Today I am sharing a few recipe ideas for a budget friendly Easter menu!
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If you haven’t been able to tell, it’s really been on my heart lately to share ways I save money as a homemaker. While I don’t usually go all out decorating for Easter, I thought it might be helpful to instead share some recipes for a budget friendly Easter menu. Groceries are so expensive these days, but you can still make a delicious, homemade Easter feast with these money saving recipes.
I have compiled a list of some of my favorite easy and affordable dishes for your budget friendly Easter dinner menu. Whether you plan to eat Easter dinner with just your family or with added guests, these recipes are simple and sure to please!
Oven Roasted Whole Chicken with Crispy Herbed Skin
When you think of main dishes for Easter dinner ideas, the first thing that probably comes to mind is a honey baked ham, lamb or maybe even a pork tenderloin roast. While these options are all delicious, a whole roasted chicken is not only an easy dish packed with flavor, it’s also a really affordable option for a budget friendly Easter menu!
A whole chicken costs about $7 or $8 and only take about 5-7 minutes of prep time. Yes, you heard that right! For less than $10 in less than 10 minutes, you’ll have a healthy, mouth watering meal that’s real and whole and best of all, affordable. This crisp-tender chicken is just as delicious as any bone-in-ham, baked salmon or pork loin, and you’ll be done prepping it before your kids are finished finding their Easter eggs haha
Oven Roasted Whole Chicken with Crispy Herbed Skin
This delicious, oven roasted chicken has an herby, crispy skin yet the meat is still juicy and mouth watering every time I make it!
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken
- 2 tbsp coconut oil
- 1 tsp Himalayan pink salt
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp pepper
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 425
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Remove giblets from the chicken cavity
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Pat dry chicken with paper towels
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Place chicken, breast side down, into a 9×13 dish
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Brush chicken with coconut oil, seasonings and fresh herbs
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Flip chicken (breast side up) and repeat
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Place chicken in the oven for about 1 hour or until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees
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Allow chicken to rest 10-15 minutes
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Serve and enjoy!
Simple Sourdough Bread
With such an easy main course, you’ll find you will have plenty of time to bake some delicious homemade sourdough bread in a dutch oven. Now, I realize sourdough isn’t for everyone and many of you would prefer to buy a can of $3 biscuits for your Easter celebrations. That is totally understandable! However, if you are anything like my family, we are huge lovers of homemade bread and making our bread has saved us a lot of money over time with the amount of bread we go through haha
There is just nothing quite like fresh, warm slice of sourdough bread with some melted butter on top. This recipe has yet to fail me, and tastes better each time I make it! This Easter appetizer is sure to please, and you likely already have at least three out of the four ingredients in your pantry, making this recipe a budget friendly Easter menu win!
Don’t be too intimidated by making your own active sourdough starter. It’s much simpler than you think, and I have a whole blog post dedicated to a step by step starter guide. Fair warning, once you start making your own sourdough loaves, you probably will never want to go back to store bought bread again!
Simple Sourdough Bread in a Dutch Oven
Super simple sourdough bread recipe that anyone can make!
Ingredients
- 1/4 Cup Active Sourdough Starter
- 1 1/2 Cup Warm Filtered Water
- 4 1/2 Cup All Purpose Flour
- 1 1/2 Tsp Sea Salt
Instructions
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In a mixing bowl, add your flour and salt. Dissolve your sourdough starter in the warm water until it is dissolved completely and add it to your flour and salt mixture
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Mix all of the ingredients thoroughly until your dough is formed, cover with a damp towel and let rest for 30 minutes
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Pull sections of your dough away from the main portion to fold and activate the dough on all four sides
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Cover your dough with a damp towel and set aside to allow it to rise for a minimum of 6 hours
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Once your dough has risen a minimum of 6 hours, remove your dough from the mixing bowl onto a floured surface
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Shape the dough by folding four different sides again into the center of your dough and let your dough rest 10-15 minutes
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Place the dough into a bowl lined with a floured towel or banneton cover and let rise an additional 60 minutes
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Preheat your oven to 450 degrees
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Once your dough has risen an additional 60 minutes, cover with parchment paper and flip your bowl upside down, dropping your dough onto the paper
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Take a sharp knife or bread lame and score your bread
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Take all four corners of the parchment paper to lift your dough and place it into the dutch oven covered. Bake for 30 minutes.
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After 30 minutes, uncover and bake an additional 20 minutes.
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After 20 minutes, remove loaf from dutch oven onto a cooling rack
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Let finished loaf rest for an hour, serve and enjoy!
Easy Easter Side Dishes
While I don’t have a dedicated recipe card for this, roasting some vegetables on sheet pans with a little olive oil is one of the easiest and most affordable “recipes” for a budget friendly Easter menu. While fresh vegetables from my own garden are my preferred choice, I often will buy frozen, organic veggies from the store during the colder months when fresh ingredients aren’t an option. A bag of frozen veggies is less than $5 and is so easy to prepare.
A family favorite is roasted asparagus. I add about a tablespoon of olive oil, season with salt and pepper to taste and then put it in the oven for 10 to 12 minutes at 425 degrees. You can do this for just any vegetable with similar results!
Another great option is a strawberry pineapple salad that I have been making for years and am actually going to be bringing to our family Easter dinner this year! You’ll need romaine lettuce, strawberries, pineapple and glazed pecans or almonds. (To glaze your pecans or almonds, melt butter in a large pot then stir in brown sugar and your preferred nut of choice.) You could also add some chopped up bacon for an added crunch and bit of savoriness.
Feel free to add in any extra fruit you’d like too! If you are looking for a budget friendly salad, try using organic frozen fruit instead of fresh. For the dressing, mix 1 cup of sugar, 1 cup of oil, 1/2 cup of vinegar, 4 tbs of sesame, 2 tbs of poppy seeds, 2 tbs of pureed onion, and finally 1 tsp of salt in a bowl or mason jar for easy pouring.
Gluten Free Carrot Cake
Easter dessert wouldn’t be complete with a delicious carrot cake! While I know the price of eggs keeps increasing, most of these ingredients are likely ones you already have in your pantry. You absolutely don’t have to use gluten free flour either, and if you’re not a coconut fan or don’t want to spend extra for coconut, try adding an extra cup of carrots instead. You can also swap out the coconut oil for just regular vegetable oil to save costs there as well.
If you don’t have buttermilk in your fridge, don’t worry! You can whip up your own using regular milk and white vinegar or lemon juice. I simply mix 3/4 of a tablespoon of white vinegar with 3/4 of a cup of milk, then stir together and let the milk sit for about five minutes until it begins to curdle.
Gluten Free Carrot Cake
Amazingly Moist Gluten Free Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
- 3 Eggs
- 3/4 Cup Buttermilk
- 3/4 Cup Coconut Oil
- 1 1/2 Cups Sugar
- 2 Tsp Vanilla Extract
- 2 Tsp Ground Cinnamon
- 1/4 Tsp Salt
- 2 Cups Gluten Free Cup for Cup Flour
- 2 Tsp Baking Soda
- 3 Cups Shredded Carrots
- 2 Cups Shredded Cocounut Flakes
- 1 8 oz Can Crushed Pineapple with Juice
Instructions
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Preheat your oven to 350 degrees
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Grease and flour an 8×13 pan or 2 9" round pans
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Sift flour, soda, salt and cinnamon in a medium bowl and set aside
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In a large bowl, combine eggs, buttermilk, oil, sugar and vanilla and mix well
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Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix well
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In a medium bowl combine carrots, coconut and pineapple
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Fold in the carrot mixture with the batter
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Pour into pan and bake at 350 degrees for one hour
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If using two 9" pans, bake for 35-40 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean
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Allow cake to cool before icing
Recipe Notes
For the frosting, beat together 8oz of softened cream cheese with one stick of softened butter. Add one tsp of vanilla and 2 cups of powdered sugar.
Well friends I hope these recipes were helpful and inspire you to make your own budget friendly Easter menu this year! And don’t worry about storing the leftovers in your refrigerator because these dishes will likely be eaten up before the meal is done haha I hope you have all have a wonderful Easter holiday. He is risen, he is risen indeed!
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