5 Vegetarian Alternatives To Ham For Your Easter Dinner

While there are plenty of delicious recipes that can help hosts celebrate Easter, many of the dishes can be heavy on the meat. To keep the vegetarians at your dinner table content, we have a few suggestions as you create bright and fresh menus to serve to your guests. With texturally-satisfying sides of vegetables and aesthetically pleasing tarts; main dishes made with flavorful pasta, grilled tofu, seared mushrooms; and platters of eggs cooked in different ways, you'll be able to accommodate a range of dietary preferences with your meat-free holiday meal.

The best part of these suggested dishes is that many of them can be made in advance and reheated so that you can focus on pouring drinks and serving elegant glasses of bubbles to encourage a festive spirit at your party. Plus, you can borrow from the seasons with plenty of chopped garden herbs for garnish or set pretty edible flower petals on top of plates. Get ready to present a beautiful meal that ushers in warmer, brighter months of the year, sans meat.  

Our fresh lemony spinach pistou lasagna recipe is perfect for spring menus. Made in a cast iron pan, this bright dish can be made in advance and reheated on the stovetop or grill before serving. The recipe takes around one hour to make, so if you'd like to cut down on prep work before your guests arrive, you can make the lasagna before the doorbell rings. Pistou sauce is essentially pesto, but this French version of the recipe includes pine nuts. You may want to make more than what the recipe calls for, however, as you can use the blended batch of spinach, olive oil, garlic, and parmesan as a dip for toasted garlic bread and seeded crackers. 

While Barrett's recipe layers pistou, noodles, and ricotta before finishing the towered assembly with gouda, you can also sneak seitan into the mix to bulk up your meal without adding any beef. Make perfect seitan at home to have on hand to grill, roast, or sneak into other veggie-based recipes. When tucked into lasagna, this is the kind of dish that can easily find its way into a weekly dinner rotation, no holiday needed.

To bring a bit of heat to the Easter spread, carry the punchy flavors of sauce that is traditionally used with meats. Our jerk-marinated grilled tofu recipe is one of our favorite recipes that can help you fall in love with tofu. Think of tofu like a kind of flavor sponge, as the ingredient will soak up whatever flavors you cook it with. You'll need to plan ahead, however, as blocks of tofu will need to soak for several hours for the tastiest result to grill and serve. Look for super firm tofu in the store to prepare at home.

While making your own marinade, adjust flavors accordingly, swapping Scotch bonnet peppers for jalapeño, or you can take peppers out of the equation entirely for less heat. When combined with lime, soy sauce, thyme, a touch of maple syrup or honey, and spices like allspice, ginger, and nutmeg, this is the kind of dish that promises to maximize on flavor all while keeping meat away from the table. When cooked on the grill, your marinated cubes of tofu will offer a satisfying smoky bite. This beauty of a dish can be plated with rice and quinoa or served alongside greens for a fresh take on the flavors of spring.

Spruce up the holiday dinner with a filling side of crispy seared oyster mushrooms. These mushrooms are known for their savory flavor, and their texture provides a satisfying chew when compared to cremini mushrooms. Bowls of this tasty side can easily accompany salads or be sprinkled on top of other recipes, like slabs of grilled tofu or servings of pasta. Even creamy scoops of mashed potatoes will take on a new flavorful direction when crowned with these meaty morsels.

Made with shallot, garlic, avocado oil, butter, salt, pepper, and chives, the crispy oyster mushrooms will come to life when prepared and served. Avocado oil offers a subtle earthy flavor to the dish and the high smoke point you'll need as you cook pieces at a high heat. When garnished with freshly diced chives, the appealing presentation will disappear quickly. If you're looking for an even bulkier meat replacement to set onto the table, you can also use king oyster mushrooms, as these mushrooms are the vegetarian steak alternative that will keep vegans and vegetarians full.

Our spring quiche recipe is made for the spring season, and the flexible recipe is ideal for the hurried host as ingredients can be modified based upon the preferences of guests or the items you picked up from the store. Whether reaching for leeks or onions, spinach or kale, goat cheese or feta, your choice of ingredients will be placed into a pre-baked pie crust to help you save time in terms of party prep. While you can also bake your own crust from scratch, such culinary shortcuts can help build confidence in the kitchen before the first guest arrives.

Eggs, half-and-half, and cheese will be mixed together with vegetables like spinach, arugula, and leeks, then flavored with garlic, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. For easy clean up, you can make a separate quiche using a sheet pan and pack that one with mushrooms and prosciutto for any meat eaters in attendance.

While you have eggs stocked in your kitchen, you can also consider a spring garlic and mushroom frittata to add to your dinner spread. Made with spring vegetables and herbs, this savory platter is first cooked on the stove, then finished in the broiler for a fluffy finish. Top any of your egg dishes with extra cheese, chopped garden herbs, or a final flourish of flaky sea salt or cracked black pepper for a plate that is bound to impress.

An asparagus goat cheese tart sure looks impressive, but the aesthetic dish is actually an approachable recipe to offer to dinner party guests. Made with puff pastry dough, asparagus, goat cheese, and a sprinkle of thyme, this is the kind of recipe that can be put together in twenty minutes and served — and you certainly don't need to be a professional to make it happen.

The simplicity of this cheese tart can offer a light, bright option for your holiday menus, and you can customize your recipe accordingly with pinches of cardamon or cinnamon, sprigs of dill, or added spinach leaves for an extra touch of green. For an adorable spring-like touch to adorn the dinner table, place this fresh tart alongside medallions of sliced compound butter that have been garnished with edible flowers. A tablescape this inviting and colorful will not only end up on your guests' social media feeds but will make a lasting impression as you celebrate the season.