🍽️🌸 What Europeans Eat for Easter: Traditional Dishes from 10 Countries 🐰🥖
From lamb roasts to braided bread, Easter across Europe is a feast of flavor and tradition. Here’s what’s on the table in 10 different countries this spring:
🇮🇹 Italy – Colomba Cake
Sweet dove-shaped bread.
The Colomba di Pasqua is a fluffy, panettone-like cake shaped like a dove.
🇫🇷 France – Gigot d’Agneau (Roast Lamb)
Herbs, garlic, and spring veggies.
Roast leg of lamb is the centerpiece of many French Easter tables, often served with flageolet beans or seasonal greens.
🇬🇷 Greece – Tsoureki & Spit-Roasted Lamb
Red eggs, braided bread, and lamb over fire.
Tsoureki is a sweet, buttery bread often braided with red-dyed eggs. Easter Sunday is all about the lamb, slow-roasted and seasoned with lemon and herbs.
🇵🇱 Poland – Easter Breakfast Spread
Baskets, kielbasa, and babka.
Families bless baskets of food on Holy Saturday, then share them on Easter morning: boiled eggs, smoked sausage, horseradish, and sweet babka cake.
🇭🇺 Hungary – Kalács & Smoked Ham
Sweet bread and hearty meats.
Kalács is a soft, braided bread served with smoked ham, hard-boiled eggs, and spicy mustard. A rustic, satisfying meal.
🇵🇹 Portugal – Folar de Páscoa
Bread with eggs baked inside.
Folar is a symbolic Easter bread, usually sweet and spiced, with whole eggs (shell on) baked into the top. It’s often gifted to godparents.
🇪🇸 Spain – Mona de Pascua
Festive cake topped with eggs and chocolate.
Regional variations abound, but this traditional treat is often decorated with colorful feathers, hard-boiled eggs, or chocolate figures.
🇩🇪 Germany – Osterlammkuchen (Lamb Cake)
Sweet sponge in the shape of a lamb.
This light cake is baked in a lamb-shaped mold and dusted with powdered sugar. It’s adorable, symbolic, and delicious.
🇸🇪 Sweden – Easter Smörgåsbord
Salmon, herring, and creamy potatoes.
Swedish Easter tables look a lot like their Christmas ones—expect gravlax, Jansson’s Temptation, and plenty of pickled things.
🇫🇮 Finland – Mämmi (Rye Pudding)
Dark, sweet, and an acquired taste.
Mämmi is a traditional rye and molasses pudding served cold with cream and sugar. Loved by some, avoided by others—but undeniably Finnish.
🌍 Whether you’re planning your own trip or just hungry to learn, this post is your guide to what Europeans eat for Easter.
🥚 Don’t miss our other Easter posts about the most beautiful traditions and best spring destinations in Europe!
🎧 Want more Easter inspiration? Listen to our podcast episode where we share our favorite Easters since moving to Europe — from Florence fireworks to a snowy Easter in the Alps. It’s full of sweet memories, surprises, and a few travel tips too!
