Beyond colorful hard-boiled eggs, there are many delicacies that make up traditional Easter meals around the world. These recipes are often quite indulgent, featuring the foods that were forbidden during Lent. And with variations from countries and regions, you’ll find plenty of sweet breads, pastries, meat, and egg dishes.
Click through the following gallery and discover traditional Easter foods from around the world.
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Finland
In Finland, mämmi is a traditional dessert that needs preparation days in advance, as it’s stored chilled before being served. It’s made from water, molasses, malted rye, rye flour, and orange zest for seasoning. It’s usually eaten cold with milk or cream.
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Argentina
Tarta pasqualina is a traditional Argentine savory pie filled with ricotta, hard-boiled eggs, spinach, artichoke, and parsley. The large amount of eggs is used to symbolize the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
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Poland
White borscht, or zurek, isn’t exclusively made at Easter, but it’s common during the holiday. It’s a hearty and filling soup, made from soured rye flour, sausage, and hard-boiled eggs.
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Italy
Sweet breads are a common holiday food in Italy, with colomba di pasqua served during Easter. Shaped like a dove, a symbol for peace, it’s stuffed with candied fruit and then sprinkled with almonds and pearl sugar.
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Equador
Though exact ingredients differ from household to household, fanesca soup consists mainly of a variety of grains and beans, as well as dry salted cod. Ideally 12 different kinds of beans are used to make the soup, representing the 12 apostles. The salted cod symbolizes Jesus.
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Austria
Ham is the main star of any Easter dinner table in Austria. One popular dish is osterschinken im brotteig, a cooked ham baked into bread dough.
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Russia
Made with cottage cheese and cream cheese, pashka is a savory dessert that can either be eaten alone or with bread. It’s often decorated with the letters XB, which mean Christ is risen.
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Netherlands
This boozy Dutch beverage, called advocaat, is made with egg yolks, sugar, and brandy. Though it can be found in the Netherlands all year round, it’s traditionally consumed during Easter celebrations.
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Lebanon
After a 40-day period of Lent, these buttery shortbread cookies, called ma’amoul, are the ultimate treat. They are filled with dates or chopped nuts, flavored with rosewater or orange flower water, and dusted with powdered sugar.
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Brazil
Introduced to the country by the Portuguese, it’s common to eat cod dishes on Easter. One of the most common recipes is bacalhoada, where the fish is cooked with vegetables and eggs.
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Greece
A Greek tradition, tsoureki is a braided sweet bread that symbolizes the Holy Trinity. The hard-boiled eggs are meant to represent the blood of Christ, which is why they’re dyed red.
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Slovenia
Pinca is a popular Easter treat used to celebrate the end of Lent in many Eastern European countries, like Slovenia. It has a cross carved into the dough at the top of the bread to mark the occasion.
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Georgia
Chakapuli is a typical Georgian Easter food that consists of a lamb stew based on white wine, tarragon leaves, green plums, chives, and green peppers. It’s served hot and accompanied by bread.
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France
A particular French Easter recipe is a leg of lamb known as le gigot d’agneau Pascal. The meat is seasoned with garlic and herbs such as rosemary, and then roasted.
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Cyprus
Souvla is a lamb meat skewer that Cypriots have for lunch on Easter Sunday. Eating lamb is a tradition of honoring the sacrifice of the lamb of God.
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United Kingdom
Traditionally eaten on Good Friday to signify the end of Lent, these sweet, spiced buns have been an Easter tradition for centuries. With currants or raisins in the dough, a glaze is used to make a cross on top, which signifies the crucifixion of Jesus.
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Sweden
Swedish Easter Sunday is commonly celebrated with a feasting table of eggs, pickled herring, and some roasted lamb and boiled potatoes.
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Philippines
Many Filipino dishes draw influence from other cooking styles, including paella. Influenced by their former colonizers, this Spanish dish can be found on many Easter tables in the Philippines.
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Germany
Known as kerbelsuppe in German, chervil soup is made from chervil, a herb related to parsley. The soup is typically eaten on Maundy Thursday, which is known in German as Gründonnerstag, or Green Thursday, hence the green soup.
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Mexico
A popular Mexican Easter dish is capirotada. It’s a bread pudding served on Good Friday, usually made with baguette-like bread, which has been soaked in mulled syrup made from sugar, cinnamon sticks, and cloves. Nuts, dried fruit, and even sprinkles are common toppings.
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South Africa
Ingelegde vis, or pickled fish in Afrikaans, is a traditional Easter meal around the region of Cape Town. To make the dish, fresh fish is fried, then marinated in a mixture of onions, spices, vinegar, and sugar. It’s refrigerated for at least 24 hours before being served cold with bread or hot cross buns.
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Lithuania
Vedarai, or Lithuanian potato sausage, is either meatless or made with the addition of bacon. Consisting of potatoes, onions, bacon (optional), eggs, and spices, the mixture is stuffed into hog casings and cooked for an hour.
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Spain
Torrijas, enjoyed all over Spain, are a variation on French toast. It’s made of slightly stale bread, is soaked in milk, sugar, and spices overnight, then dipped in egg and fried in olive oil.
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Nigeria
After Nigerians attend church on Easter Sunday, it’s tradition to cook a big meal, and jollof rice is the main star of the show. The tomato-based rice is spicy and served in many West African countries.
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Ireland
Simnel cake is a rich, sweet fruit cake that’s traditionally eaten in the UK and parts of Ireland just before Easter. The cake is smothered in a layer of marzipan, and it’s typically decorated with tiny marzipan eggs on top.
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Jamaica
Jamaica’s typical Easter food is fish-based. After the fish is fried, it’s marinated in a spicy sauce and topped with white onions, strips of carrot, and peppers. It’s served on Good Friday with white rice or bammy, a traditional cassava bread.
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Romania
One of Romania’s most popular Easter foods, pasca has a pagan influence. A sweet bread made with cheese and raisins, its round shape represents the Sun, which symbolizes life.
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Ukraine
Paska is a festive bread eaten in Ukraine around Easter time. It’s quite fluffy and baked with raisins. Locals regularly bring baskets filled with paska to church so they can be blessed.
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Switzerland
For anyone with a sweet tooth, osterchüechli is the ultimate treat! A traditional pie served after Easter dinner, it has a vanilla filling with lemon zest for some freshness.
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