How Much Does The Easter Dinner Cost?

Easter is a celebration in honor of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, that happens during one of the spring Sundays. People often attend church services. Children, in the first day of Easter, find sweets in their baskets, said to have been brought by the Easter Bunny, including eggs.

By the way, most often the eggs are made of plastic and filled with delicious sweets, some money, and even toys. Then there is an Easter egg hunt and the one who collects the most eggs will win. On the second day of Easter, on the lawn of the White House, the Easter egg roll is held annually, attended by the President of the United States.

Each country has its own traditions, depending on religion and culture. Easter is an important holiday for many peoples, but each family has its own rituals to celebrate it. Regardless of country and language, Easter is the perfect holiday for those who want to spend time with family or friends.

For most, including Americans, the best way to spend time with loved ones is to sit around a rich meal with traditional Easter dishes.

In the US, lamb steak was dethroned by ham or smoked pork, which are the main dishes on the American Easter table. Also here is the race to look for painted eggs, where adults hide eggs for the little ones to find.

The main dish at a family dinner on Easter day are potatoes, ham with pineapple, and salad fruits. The American people slice the ham and serve it with vegetables and potatoes.

The only prominent feature, which is considered common to Americans of all religions, is the fact that the Easter Sunday dinner find the whole family and friends gathered around a large meal.

How much does the Easter dinner cost?

The average cost of the Easter dinner is around $104 for a home-cooked meal for eight people, which means an average of $13 per person. These costs are due to inflation, rising costs of meat, eggs, sweets, and many others.

At Walmart you are likely to find all the necessary items, so we’ve made a list with most of the essentials for a perfect Easter dinner table, available for all budgets.

How much does an Easter dinner to-go cost?

If you do not have time to cook or you’re not too skilled of a cook, you have the option to order your Easter dinner. Definitely, it will be a costly Easter dinner, but at least it will save you all the kitchen work.

According to Atlanta on the Cheap, there are several places from where you can get your Easter dinner delivered depending on your preferences and for how many persons you want. You can pre-order Easter meals that may include entrée, sides, and desserts, ready-to-cook, or just heat. Here are some examples:

The Fresh Market

• Rack of lamb for 2 people for $49.99
• Ham meal for 4 people for $59.99
• Ham meal for 8-10 people for $89.99
• Easter brunch featuring your choice of quiche for $25
• Fresh fruit tart with shortbread crust for $19.99

Boston Market

• A complete ham meal for 4-6 persons is $100 and includes 3 sides, cornbread, and a 9″ apple pie.
• A complete ham meal for 12 persons is $140 and includes 4 sides, cornbread, and 2 9″ apple pies.
• Sides and desserts ordered a la carte are $8 to $15.

Cracker Barrel

• Ham dinner for 4-6 people is $110
• Ham dinner for 8-10 people is $160
• Prime rib dinner for 4-6 people is $130

The meals also come with mashed potatoes and gravy, and yeast rolls.

How to save money on your Easter dinner?

Buy less, and choose qualitative food

It is said that a meal cannot be fast, cheap, and good at the same time. Of all these, you have to choose two, as you can never have all three. When it comes to food, one should buy less and make sure what they buy is of quality, because many have this terrible tendency, to have the table full. We like the quantity, we like to overwhelm the guests with a lot of food and when we buy a lot, of course we also look for products a little cheaper, so that we stay on a budget.

Homemade Easter dinner

Cooked food is the healthiest and the cheapest, but it requires effort, availability, and time spent in the kitchen. And then comes the variant of pre-made food, food delivered to our door, ready to cook or just heat, which is automatically more expensive. No one will put in the pan the quality ingredients we will choose when we cook at home.

When you buy cooked food from the supermarket or restaurant, there has to be an obvious profit for the seller. That profit is taken from our wallet. Nothing will be more balanced, healthier, and cheaper, than when you are cooking your Easter dinner at home.

Make a list and a budget, and stick to them

In order not to spend a lot, it is good to set a budget, from the beginning and to make a shopping list, from which you do not deviate.

Turn it into a potluck

You might also like our articles about the cost of a Christmas meal or an Easter basket.

In case you have a big family or many friends coming over, you can ask each guest to bring something. In this way, the cost of the Easter dinner won’t be supported just by you. It doesn’t matter whether it’s the juice or wine, the side dish or the dessert. They can all contribute, so the Easter dinner will be about being together and not about you getting broke.

Factors that affect the cost of the Easter dinner

• Easter dinner to-go or homemade Easter dinner;
• Product prices that differ from shop to shop, and from state to state like meat, eggs, cheese; vegetables, sugar, sweets, and desserts;
• Type of recipes you prefer for your Easter dinner;
• The number of persons attending the Easter dinner.

Final words

In order not to spend all your monthly budget on a dinner, try to set up a budget for the Easter meal from the beginning. Then make a shopping list and try to stick to it.

Traditional Easter recipes help us to have both caloric and financially balanced portions. The cheapest and healthiest option is to cook at home, but if you choose to order, better be less but qualitative food.

And don’t forget: If you have too many leftovers from your Easter dinner and throw them away, you’re actually throwing money into the trash!