Just like at Christmas time we may have favorite recipes just for that time of year, Easter can be the same way. If you are looking for food that has religious meaning, then eating broiled fish and honeycomb on Sunday afternoon can remind us of what Jesus ate when he appeared to his disciples Sunday evening. Luke 24: 41-43 “and while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat? And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb. And he took it, and did eat before them.”
Incorporating broiled fish and honeycomb as part of your Easter food allows for a good time to talk about how Jesus wanted his disciples to really know His was a resurrected body, that He wasn’t a spirit. In our house, I often will make fish as part of the meal and if I can’t find honeycomb at a health food store, or I don’t want to spend the money on it, I will just serve it with a bowl of honey.
Other food that can be unique to Holy Week is Passover food and Mediterranean style food. This may mean hummus, pita, grapes, cheeses, dried apricots and lentil soup. The Joe and Janet Hale’s Easter book has some practical recipe and meal ideas. Here is a lentil soup recipe but there are many options online. It is obviously easiest to just buy pita bread as your unleavened bread or it can be made at home or use matzah crackers. Here is a tip I learned the hard way: even though probably dark grape juice was used at the Last Supper, we have been much happier serving white grape juice when spills are likely.
In many places and cultures people fast (go without food or water for 2 meals) on Good Friday and you may want to incorporate fasting as part of your holy week commemorations.
Hot Cross Buns are also a Good Friday food. Here is one recipe, one from Oh, Sweet Basil! and this site shares that one tradition is the spices used in hot cross buns represent the spices brought to the tomb by the women.
Crown of thorns snack idea; Easter Story cookies; Easter story snack mix great for younger kids
Here are two recipes just for fun that remind us of the sweetness Jesus’ life brings! Spring salad and eclair cake
Here is a google doc with a compilation of Easter recipes and it includes recipes from other countries. Thank you Elkridge stake for sharing!
There are many versions of Resurrection Rolls (its a basic roll that cooks with a marshmallow inside so it’s hollow like the empty tomb). Here is one simple take using Pillsbury dough.