Easy Plan for an Easter Brunch for Two
Plan a festive Easter brunch for two with these easy but elegant brunch recipes that can be scaled down for two people or make excellent leftovers so nothing goes to waste. Delicious ideas featuring fresh spring flavors make the prettiest holiday brunch.
If you're planning an Easter brunch for two, I'm sure you're looking for easy recipes that make just enough for a small menu but still want the meal to feel special for the holiday.
With a few clever choices, you can plan an elegant but easy Easter brunch filled with all your holiday favorites.
Set the table with fresh flowers and your prettiest dishes, these recipes will help you finish off the festive scene in a flash.
How to Plan a Small Easter Brunch Menu
I know that planning a special holiday meal for two people can be a challenge when most festive recipes are sized to feed a crowd.
You can still enjoy a full and celebratory Easter brunch when cooking for just two people as long as you pick recipes that can be easily scaled down or make excellent leftovers so nothing goes to waste.
I've pored over the recipes on my site and hand-picked the best Easter brunch recipes that would work well for an intimate holiday menu.
Just follow these three steps:
- Pick 1 Main Dish: I have several groupings for you to choose from that organize the mains into sweet vs. savory, fancy vs. simple. Just pick your favorite!
- Pick 2 - 3 Side Dishes: Then select your fresh fruits, breakfast meats, or vegetable sides to round out the menu.
- Pick 1 Pastry: I have a whole section of Easter breads and pastries that would be great for 2 people.
- Pick 1 Dessert: It's a holiday! Don't forget the sweet ending. My desserts are perfect for making a small batch.
Sweet Breakfast Entrees
If you're serving Easter breakfast early in the day, you may want to choose one of these classic breakfast diner-style entrees. They can all be prepped ahead and even frozen and reheated if you want to save the leftovers.
- Buttermilk Pancakes: Top these buttermilk pancakes with maple syrup or my favorite triple berry sauce.
- Classic French Toast: Top a batch of classic French toast with strawberry sauce or homemade lemon curd and whipped cream. Sprinkle fresh berries on the side.
- French Toast Bake: My overnight French toast casserole recipe has 14 different flavor variations to choose from but the bourbon pecan is my favorite.
- Buttermilk Waffles: You could go sweet or savory here. Why not try my Southern chicken and waffles?
Savory Egg Dishes
If you prefer a savory start to your holiday, eggs are an excellent choice for an Easter brunch. Even fancy restaurant style egg dishes can be scaled down very easily for two people:
- Classic Quiche: Yes, if you make my whole easy quiche, you will have leftovers but they reheat so well! You'll enjoy it over the next day or two.
- Eggs Benedict: You could easily make eggs benedict for just two people using the special trick I learned at a bed and breakfast on our anniversary.
- Fried Eggs or Scrambled Eggs: If you make a simple egg dish, pair it with lots of fancy sides!
- Eggs in Purgatory: My husband went crazy for this super easy eggs in purgatory dish. Serve it with crispy toast points for dunking.
Classic Easter Main Dishes
Honestly, just because you're cooking for 2 doesn't mean you can't enjoy a classic Easter main dish like glazed ham. I picked the best recipes for scaling down for a smaller roast so you don't have too much leftover.
- Glazed Ham: There are so many delicious ways to use leftover ham, go for it and just make the whole glazed ham. My crockpot spiral ham would be easy to buy just a small sized one if you need.
- Roasted Pork: You could buy a smaller sized pork loin and make my roasted pork loin with green peppercorn sauce. Use any leftovers to make this roasted pork sandwich the next day!
- Macadamia Halibut: If you want to make my baked macadamia halibut for two, you can easily cut the nut coating mixture in half and just bake two filets of fish.
- Tender Turkey Breast: Just like the ham, if you want turkey, make the turkey! You could make a small crockpot boneless turkey breast and use the leftovers in a million ways.
Simple Breakfast Items
If you prefer to keep things simple and have several options on the holiday table instead of investing your time into one big main dish, you could mix some of these easy breakfast ideas:
- Granola and Greek Yogurt: Make a batch of my homemade granola to make fresh fruit and yogurt parfaits.
- Sweet Cream Cheese Spread with Bagels: Prep ahead this easy chocolate chip cheese ball and serve with fresh fruit and bagels.
- Deviled Egg Salad: Serve scoops of homemade deviled egg salad on beds of lettuce greens or on split fresh croissants.
- Fresh Fruit and Pina Colada Dip: Pile up the pineapple and fresh strawberries for dunking in my creamy piña colada fruit dip.
Breakfast Casseroles
Breakfast casseroles are always a great choice for a holiday brunch because you can prep them in advance but they usually make more than you'd need for two people. You could easily cut these recipes in half and just make a smaller portion if you prefer.
- Sausage Biscuits and Gravy Casserole: You can prep the elements for this savory biscuits and gravy casserole the day before and just bake it on Easter morning.
- Sausage Breakfast Casserole with English Muffins: If you want veggies in your breakfast, this easy sausage breakfast casserole with English muffins is so good.
- New Orleans Bread Pudding: It's a holiday, I would totally count this New Orleans bread pudding as a breakfast! Serve it with this easy bourbon sauce over the top.
- Lemon Blueberry Baked Oatmeal: For a lighter option, this easy lemon blueberry baked oatmeal is filled with whole grain oats and fresh fruit.
Breakfast Pastries
In my opinion, the best part of any holiday menu is what you select for the bread basket. That's how you know the meal is extra-special.
- Hot Cross Buns: My favorite part of Easter is my hot cross biscuits. You could split the recipe or freeze the leftover biscuits for another time.
- Resurrection Rolls: Made from refrigerated crescent roll dough, my Resurrection rolls are super meaningful for Easter weekend.
- Carrot Cake Bread: Pop a batch of carrot cake bread into your bread maker. You can enjoy slices with breakfast for several days.
- Easy Quick Breads: Make your favorite quick bread recipe, my lemon poppy seed bread or almond poppy seed bread are the two I'd pick for Easter.
- Chocolate Croissants: Homemade chocolate croissants from just 3 ingredients? Easy peasy.
- Homemade Scones: My homemade scones are the lightest, flakiest scones you've ever had. Blueberry scones are a classic but my fresh peach scones or these easy almond cherry scones are great choices, too.
Side Dishes for 2
With your main dishes and breads selected, now it is time to load up on some easy sides to fill out the menu.
- Breakfast Meats: Peppered bacon and turkey breakfast sausage are our family's favorites.
- Breakfast Potatoes: Crispy breakfast potato skillet or crispy roasted sweet potatoes pair so well with savory egg dishes.
- Fresh Tomatoes: You could prep a bowl of marinated tomatoes for topping your eggs or salads or homemade crostini or serve a simple caprese salad if you want to add some cheese to your menu.
- Roasted Vegetables: I love to use my air fryer to make air fried butternut squash, air fryer green beans, or roasted asparagus. Just cook enough for the two of you or plan to throw the leftovers into an easy quiche or egg scramble the next morning.
- Creamy "Salads": Another traditional side dish for our holiday table involves these fun creamy fruit salads like pistachio fluff, ambrosia salad, or creamy grape salad.
Easter Desserts for 2
What is a holiday without a special dessert to enjoy at the end of the meal?
- Carrot Cake: The quintessential Easter dessert does not need to be baked in a towering layer cake. My easy carrot cake is baked in an 8x8-inch baking pan and just perfect for a smaller Easter dessert.
- No-Bake Desserts: Prep ahead a creamy pie like my strawberry cream pie or an Oreo cream pie. Or indulge in a smaller portion of my banana pudding without bananas! The original recipe makes a 9x13-inch pan but you could easily cut it in half and make an 8x8 instead.
- Dessert Dips: My cannoli dip with butter cookies and fruit is extremely decadent. You could also bake my Irish shortbread cookies to serve with tea and fresh lemon curd.
- Easy Cheesecake Ideas: Buy a small cheesecake from the grocery store and top it with one of these easy cheesecake toppings. Or bake a pan of crescent roll cheesecake bars. They are delicious enough you may want the entire 9x13-inch pan but you could easily cut it in half and just bake an 8x8-inch pan instead.
