How to Plan a Frugal Easter Dinner (Free Printable Meal Planner!)

Easter will be here before we know it. Planning can help save you money and reduce stress. With these frugal Easter dinner tips and a free Easter dinner menu planner printable, you’ll have the dinner planned in no time.

I love the holidays. I love to decorate, plan special meals, and spend time with my loved ones. I can also stress out about the details if I’m not careful.

Over the years, I’ve learned that planning makes all the difference. For Christmas, I start planning months ahead of time because there is so much to do. We don’t do as much for Easter, so I don’t need to start too early, but I still want to be prepared.

Frugal Easter Dinner Tips

One thing that being prepared does, other than of course reducing stress, is to save you money. You can look for better deals and do a bit more yourself, which can add up to a lot of savings.

After years of planning and cooking Easter meals, I’ve found several things that can help make the meal easier and save you a lot of money. 

Keep it Simple

Leftovers are great, but we want to be mindful of how much leftover food we want to have around. Look at your guest list, if you are having eight people, you likely don’t need five side dishes and eight desserts.

Pinterest can also make you think the dishes have to be super fancy, but sometimes simple is just as good, or even better. Talk to your guest and find out their Easter favorites; they likely aren’t the super fancy dishes.

In my house, green bean casserole is always a must, and I use canned green beans, which makes it a fairly frugal dish. We also have ham, a potato side dish, rolls, and a dessert. It’s not fancy, but everyone is always happy. 

A potluck is also a way to simplify things. That’s how my extended family handles most holidays, and it works well. You can use a site like Perfect Potluck to help you keep track of who’s bringing what.

If you are sending out invites, try Paperless Post. You can create online invitations, so there is no mailing involved. It’s quick and easy.

Use Apps for Coupons and Cash-Back

Many grocery stores now have apps with mobile coupons. It makes using coupons so easy. Be sure to check to see if your local store has digital coupons before you shop to make sure you are getting the best deals.

You can also use apps like Fetch Rewards to get points from your receipts, which you can turn into gift cards. I love using this app because you get points for every receipt.

Shop Online

I like to get a lot of my ingredients ahead of time online to save some time shopping. My favorite places to shop are Thrive Market, iHerb, and Natural Candy Store. If you watch for deals, you can sometimes get some great sale prices from these shops. 

Skip Disposables

If possible, use real dishes. It will save you money and is better for the environment. If you don’t have enough, see if a guest or two would mind loaning some. If you have a small crowd, cloth napkins may also be a good option.

Plan Your Menu

Having a detailed menu plan and shopping list is key. Using the free Easter dinner menu printable, which you can get below, will help you stay organized. You can keep it in your planner or home management binder.

When planning your menu, be sure to see what you already have on hand. No point in buying things you already have. Also, use sale ads as inspiration for dishes. The more ingredients you can get on sale the better. 

If you want to be extra organized, you can get my Easter planner. It’s a digital download, so you will get it right away, so you can print it off and get started. It’s great for looking back at the next year to remember what worked and what didn’t.

Get a Free Printable Easter Menu Planner

This free printable Easter menu planning sheet can help you keep everything organized. If you want to keep it with you while you are cooking, I recommend putting it in a page protector so it doesn’t get wet or dirty. I love this trick for recipes and planning sheets I’m using while cooking!

Additional Easter Resources

Want some more resources to help you with Easter planning? I’ve got you covered!

• Vintage Easter Recipes
• 1950s Easter Meal Plan
• 1940s Easter Meal Plan
• Vintage Easter Decorations

Pin This Post for Later!

Not quite ready to plan for Easter? Pin this post so you can find it later.