20 Recipes to Make Your Family Holidays Less Stressful
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Food

20 Easter and Passover Recipes That You Can Enjoy Solo

Your celebration might be virtual, but you can still treat yourself to holiday specialties like kugel, matzo ball soup, or a good baked ham.

Cooking for family holidays like Easter and Passover can be a lot, especially if there are cherished family recipes that, if screwed up, will ruin everyone's day and bring shame upon you. But unless you live with your entire extended family, you're not likely to be cooking for or celebrating with a crowd this year.

When the world around us feels weird, there's some comfort in making a classic holiday meal, even if it's just to remember that there's something to look forward to this week or next weekend. Maybe it's not the time to make your family's overly involved heirloom recipes, but you can still have a simple, springy meal to share with your live-in partner, your roommate, or even just for yourself, with leftovers to pack away for days.

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Here are some of our favorite riffs on the Passover and Easter spread—all simple enough to make right now. Who cares if it's not how you usually do the holidays? If you're moving your Passover or Easter gathering into the virtual realm, you're already kinda giving the finger to tradition anyway.

Matzo Ball Soup Recipe

Matzo Ball Soup Recipe

Our version of the seder staple stays pretty true to tradition, schmaltz and all.

Herb-Roasted Spatchcock Chicken Recipe

This spatchcocked roast chicken can be the centerpiece of your table no matter which holiday you’re celebrating.

Caramelized Onion and Potato Gratin Recipe

If you Google "Easter food," nearly every menu includes scalloped potatoes. (We know because we did that like 20 minutes ago.) Our onion and potato gratin is easier and even more delicious.

Gochujang-Glazed Ham Recipe

If honey-baked ham was too Betty Crocker for you, spice up the Easter table with a gochujang-glazed centerpiece instead. And yes, obviously, this isn't for Passover, unless your family is more Reform than most.

Green Pea and Ricotta Farfalle Recipe

Few foods pair better with your ham than peas, and this easy green pasta is packed with them. Plus, it's just a good excuse to eat bowtie pasta as an adult.

Pizza Rustica Recipe

Pizza Rustica Recipe

This dish translates to “Full Pizza” for a reason: It’s loaded with meat, eggs, and cheese. Definitely not your weekly pie, but it’s worth making for Easter, just the way Italian tradition would have it.

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Easy Lamb Meatballs Recipe

Easy Lamb Meatballs Recipe

Lamb is super traditional for Easter, of course—but why not go rogue with easy lamb meatballs instead of having to roast a whole leg?

Honey-Glazed Carrots Recipe

Honey-Glazed Carrots Recipe

Easter = rabbits = carrots = duh—you have your side dish covered. Even if you don’t have fancy rainbow colored carrots, this vegetable dish is an easy A.

Yogurt-Marinated Lamb Chops Recipe

If you want to go fancy for your holiday meal—and you can get ahold of lamb—these yogurt-marinated lamb chops are the way to go. It's the pistachio dressing that makes them really sing.

Easy Salt-Baked Fish Recipe

Easy Salt-Baked Fish Recipe

Sure, Passover brisket is great, but have you tried baking a whole fish in salt? This simple recipe works with basically any whole fish you can find at the store.

Grilled Lamb Rump Recipe

Who doesn’t love a good rump? Everything in this lamb dish gets a little char and smoke, and you’ll never want to eat an eggplant any other way.

Chipotle Deviled Eggs Recipe

Chipotle Deviled Eggs Recipe

Like decapitating a hollow chocolate bunny and dyeing Easter eggs, deviled eggs are kind of an Easter tradition. Make this year's eggs a little more exciting with some smoky chipotle.

Fig, Caramel, and Chocolate Matzo Recipe

If you don't have figs, it's fine—we're pretty sure nobody's ever complained about chocolate- and caramel-covered matzo anyway.

Cardamom Cookies Recipe

Cardamom Cookies Recipe

Let’s be honest—few among us really like coconut macaroons. These kosher delights, however, are a perfect, easy dessert for seder.

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Cocoa-Almond Cookies Recipe

Cocoa-Almond Uglies Recipe

Dorie Greenspan is the queen of cookies, and we dare you to tell us that these gluten-free chocolate cookies wouldn’t be the best dang Passover dessert you’ve ever had.

Classic Noodle Kugel Recipe

Classic Noodle Kugel Recipe

A noodle kugel is the kind of dessert you make if you really want to pass out on the couch afterward. Go ahead, you deserve it.

Perfect Carrot Cake Recipe

Perfect Carrot Cake Recipe

When it comes to party-worthy spring desserts, we’re always going to trust star baker Natasha Pickowicz, and this carrot cake is no exception.

Easy Banana Cream Pie Recipe

Easy Banana Cream Pie Recipe

Oh no, you forgot about the bananas again. Great—the riper the better for this 30-minute, no-bake dessert that feels light and springy enough for Easter.

Hot Cross Buns Recipe

Hot Cross Buns Recipe

If you didn’t eat warm and freshly baked hot cross buns on Easter, then did Jesus even rise from the dead?

Easy Chocolate Mousse Recipe

Easy Chocolate Mousse Recipe

Skip the graham crackers to keep it kosher, and you'll impress even the pickiest of bubbies with this simple chocolate mousse.

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