Want to fill your kids’ Easter baskets up with something other than sugar-loaded chocolate and candy? Or maybe you’re planning a spring-themed party? Then, you must check out these fun and healthy spring recipes!
Creative Spring And Easter Recipes
Spring is tricky when you’re trying to eat better and raise healthy eaters. It’s strange, really. We start the year off with grand resolutions to stick to a healthier diet, cut out fat and sugar, and generally maintain a better overall lifestyle. Then February happens, and out come the chocolate hearts, chocolate-dipped strawberries, and ginormous boxes of chocolate-covered everything. Name any food and February will find a way to smother it in chocolate.
If you think you’ll get a reprieve once March rolls around, think again! Chocolate is joined by its gooey friend, the marshmallow, and the whole cycle starts over. This time, though, your kids become the target audience. Commercials featuring clucking bunnies and dancing marshmallows bombard our kids and send them begging for the one thing we’re really trying to cut out of their diets: junk food.
Here’s the good news: if you think outside the box of chocolates and get creative with healthy foods, your kids won’t miss all the junk! Check out these 21 fun spring & Easter recipes, then read on for a few tips on turning the ordinary into extraordinary for your family.
21 Fun Spring & Easter Treats & Recipes
Let’s get this Easter party started with my top 10 favorite spring recipes (complete with pictures). Then, I’ll share some others that I really like, and we’ll finish off with a few tips for making ordinary food more festive.
Quick note, I included some affiliate links below to recommended products for these recipes. If you buy through them I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
1. DIY Strawberry Roses
These strawberry roses are perfect for any spring holiday, including Easter and Mother’s Day. They’re actually a lot easier to make than you might think! Grab some strawberries and wooden skewers (I like these). Then check out my DIY Strawberry Roses tutorial to learn how.
2. Hard-Boiled Egg Chicks
Here’s one of my all-time favorite Easter recipes. Turn ordinary hard-boiled eggs into adorable little chicks with just a few extra ingredients. Again, they’re super simple. Plus, if you mess up you can always turn your mistakes into egg salad. Grab the recipe here.
3. No-Bake Fruit Tarts
Nothing says “spring” quite like fresh fruits! Not only are they healthy and delicious, but they’re so bright and colorful. That makes them perfect for creating Easter desserts! Follow this recipe for egg-shaped tarts, or check out my Monsters Inc. healthy fruit tart for kids!
4. Fruit Flower Centerpieces
If you have fruit leftover from your tarts (or if tarts just aren’t your thing), use it to make this beautiful centerpiece. It’ll look great on your Easter or Mother’s Day tablescape! Check out my fruit flower centerpiece tutorial here.
5. Easter Carrot Treat Bags
These little Easter carrot treat bags from Cincy Shopper are super inexpensive and require absolutely no cooking or crafting skills. That said, if you want to make them even healthier, you could always fill them with my homemade gluten-free 2-ingredient goldfish. Oh, and if you prefer to fill up something reusable rather than plastic-based, I love these little felt carrot bags.
6. Hummus Flower
This hummus flower idea is as easy as pouring some hummus into a bowl, setting it on a pretty tray, and surrounding it with carrots. Finish it off by making a celery stalk stem and use some green pepper slices for the leaves. It’s perfect for any spring-themed party.
7. Pear Fruit “Donuts”
Kristy at On My Kids Plate makes some of the cutest healthy recipes for kids, including this adorable pear fruit “donut”. Don’t let the name fool you, this isn’t your average donut. In fact, it’s not really a donut at all! It’s a pear decorated to look like one. Make them as a fun spring afterschool snack for kids or set out all of the ingredients and let them decorate their own.
8. Easy Pastel Deviled Eggs
Deviled eggs are a MUST for Easter parties! They’re delicious enough on their own, but when you use some non-toxic safe egg dye to color them first, they’re downright adorable! Grab this easy pastel deviled eggs recipe here.
9. Cheese Stick & Fruit Butterfly
Here’s another really simple spring snack idea, this time from Creative Kids Snacks. Just use a cheese stick and some fruit/veggies to make a butterfly. If you don’t want to use cheese (maybe your child is lactose-intolerant or just doesn’t like it), swap it out for sliced zucchini (sliced vertically, not horizontally). It’s a similar color on the inside. Or get creative and make a colorful butterfly with different raw veggies.
10. Healthier Homemade Gummies
These homemade gummies are perfect for putting in Easter baskets. They’re healthier than store-bought candy, and they actually taste better, too. You can even turn them into multivitamins if you want. Even without extra supplements, though, the fruit juices used in the recipe pack an extra healthy punch. If you’re going to give them a try, I recommend grabbing this gummy bear mold.
11 More Spring Recipes to Try
- Easter Egg Smoothie Popsicles
- Carrot-shaped Veggie Pizza Bars
- Frozen Yogurt Bunny Pops
- Apricot Fruit Leather
- Rainbow Fruit Cups
- Bunny Head Fresh Fruit Platter
- Apple Bunny Fruit Snack
- Easy Cheese Rabbits
- Healthy Butterfly Pancakes
- Flower Fruit Pops
- Easy & Healthy Frozen Easter Treats
Tips on Turning the Ordinary into Extraordinary Fun Spring Food
As promised, here are a few tips that will help you turn even the most ordinary food into a fun spring or Easter treat!
Get kids involved
The #1 way to get kids to actually eat that fun healthy recipe you want them to try: get them involved in making it. Kids as young as 2 can help hand you the ingredients, while older kids can mix & stir, arrange creative patterns, and more.
Invest in cute cookie cutters
Cookie cutters turn boring sandwiches and other healthier offerings into irresistible goodies in no time at all. Grab some bunny and chick shapes for spring! You can also get an oval-shaped cutter and use healthy condiments and veggies to “decorate” an Easter egg sandwich!
Stick it on a stick
For foods that don’t work with cookie cutters, break out the kabob sticks. Alternate tomatoes, cucumbers, and carrots for a colorful “salad on a stick,” or make a “sandwich on a stick” out of cold leftover chicken cut into cubes, chunks of cheese, tomatoes, and folded-up slices of whole wheat pita bread. For younger kids, grab blunt-ended kabob skewers or cut off the sharp tip before serving.
Make it a game
Print out some fun spring shapes, like tulips, bunnies, or chicks. Coloring pages also work. Stick the page under a clear (and clean, obviously) placemat or a clear party plate, then cover the design with healthy foods like fruits, veggies, or anything else you really want your kids to eat. Tell them there’s a secret surprise hiding underneath, and they have to eat all of their lunch to uncover it.
Try these tips along with the fun spring recipes above and your kids will never even miss the chocolate-covered marshmallow madness this Easter! You can even use some of these fun food ideas as basket fillers!
Last update on 2022-11-19 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
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