Easter Sunday is just around the corner, meaning it's time to prep your holiday menus and stockpile an assortment of spring-themed ingredients. At the crux of the annual festivity, which commemorates the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, is religiously symbolic foods. A typical Easter feast includes lamb, which symbolizes Jesus' self-sacrifice as the "Lamb of God" in Christianity and the spring equinox in Paganism; and ham, which symbolizes luck. There's also eggs, which symbolize renewal and rebirth; and bread, which symbolizes fertility.
Of course, no Easter meal is complete without dessert, like classic cinnamon rolls, carrot cake and lemon meringue pie. Whether you're hosting your first dinner or attending as a guest, choosing which ingredients to include can be both difficult and overwhelming. That's why Trader Joe's is here to help with their wide selection of options!
From spiral sliced ham to savory pastry bites, here are 6 menu helpers to grab from Trader Joe's for a delicious, hassle-free Easter.
Per TJ's, their bone-in-ham is 100% antibiotic-free, nitrates and nitrites-free and comes only from vegetarian-fed pigs. The best part is that each ham comes fully cooked and only needs to be warmed at 275ºF for 12 to 15 minutes per pound before serving.
TJ's Spiral Sliced Uncured Ham is best enjoyed with a homemade glaze made from the requisite ingredients, such as brown sugar, honey, and/or mustard, plus other additions like spices, maple syrup or even fruit juices. If you're looking to infuse a little booze, try adding some bourbon to the mix!
The glazed ham can be served on its own or alongside red beans and rice or a roasted vegetable medley.
This seasonal appetizer is both comforting and hearty, making it the perfect treat to share before dinner. Made from roasted butternut squash, macaroni, cheddar, gouda, Béchamel sauce and plenty of spices (like sage, nutmeg and thyme), the bites are then dipped in batter, rolled in breadcrumbs and lightly fried. Enjoy them with homemade tomato sauce or an Easter-inspired cozy soup.
If your local TJ's no longer carries the Butternut Squash Mac & Cheese Bites, be sure to pick up TJ's signature Mac and Cheese Bites instead. The latter is made from not two but six blends of cheese — cheddar, havarti, Swiss, Gouda, Monterey Jack and Pecorino Romano — and lots of cream cheese. Yum!
Another great appetizer option is TJ's bite-sized pastries made from puff pastry, creamy feta, cream cheese and caramelized onions. This simple ingredient list is enough to make our mouths water.
TJ's Pastry Bites Feta Cheese & Caramelized Onions are perfectly sweet and salty, which means they can be enjoyed before dinner, with beer or wine or during as a side dish. Serve them alongside your spiral sliced uncured ham, steak, chicken, fish or salad (like this gnocchi pasta salad with lemony vinaigrette). TJ's also recommends trying the pastry bites with their other bite-sized appetizers like the Parmesan Pastry Pups, Spizzico di Pizza, Mini Chicken Tacos and Party Size Mini Meatballs.
Spring vegetables, like TJ's Extra Fine French Green Beans, are a must-have at Easter dinner. The long and vibrant vegetables are especially tasty because they're grown "by a trusted French produce supplier," per TJ's. The beans are flash-freezed at the "very peak of their freshness, to ensure that once you heat them up at home, they'll be as sweet and tender as they'd be if you'd picked them yourself."
Enjoy the beans with diced onions and slivered almonds or in a green bean casserole. They're also great steamed or sautéed in olive oil alongside TJ's Organic Riced Cauliflower (which can be used to make a delicious, low-carb risotto).
This traditional Dutch dessert — akin to mini fluffy pancakes — is made from sweet, yeasted batter and shaped in a specialized skillet called a poffertjespan. Luckily, you don't have to travel all the way to the Netherlands to enjoy these treats, thanks to TJ's ready-to-eat Maple Poffertjes.
TJ's frozen Poffertjes are flavored with rich maple sugar to mimic the taste of pancakes covered in maple syrup. To prepare, simply pop the Poffertjes into the microwave and warm for less than a minute. Enjoy them for dessert with melted butter and a sprinkling of powdered sugar. Or, top them with a drizzle of your favorite chocolate syrup and caramel sauce.
These Chocolate Mousse Eggs are literally made for Easter. Each sweet "egg" includes a layer of chocolate mousse and chocolate cake that's encased in a smooth chocolate shell. Seriously, these are so good you'll be struggling to not finish the entire pack in one sitting.
If you're looking for another reason to pick up these chocolate eggs, take it from the TJ's enthusiasts over at Reddit, who are also huge fans of the dessert:
"My mom sent these to my husband and I (we do an Easter basket exchange) and omg they're so good!" wrote user u/IndecisiveLlama. "I can't wait to find them for other seasons!" Similarly, user u/lifeisgood50 wrote, "Whenever these are available — as pumpkins, flowers, little presents, etc — I get a couple of packs and put them in the freezer."
