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  1. Home
  2. 12 Easter Mains That Aren't Ham

12 Easter Mains That Aren't Ham

By Cooking Light Team April 11, 2022
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Credit: Jennifer Causey
We love a good Easter ham, but there's a wide world of holiday main dishes to explore if you're feeling adventurous this year. From garlic gremolata lamb shanks to honey-baked pork roast to butternut squash "short ribs," these festive Easter mains may become your family's new favorite. The best part? Many of these can be made in your slow cooker or Instant Pot. 
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Honey-Baked Pork Roast

Credit: Photo: Hector Manuel Sanchez
View Recipe: Honey-Baked Pork Roast

Instead of the traditional cured ham that's full of sodium and nitrates, bake the flavors of honey-baked ham into a pork picnic roast. You can season it up to 2 days in advance for even better flavor. The cooked roast cuts like ham, with firm, juicy slices that go perfectly with a simple honey-mustard sauce. We use a skin-on picnic roast here, which is cheaper than a Boston butt roast—making the holiday a little more affordable.

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Braised Lamb Shanks With Garlic Gremolata

Credit: Cooking Light
View Recipe: Braised Lamb Shanks with Garlic Gremolata

With the glamour of a fancy entrée yet all the ease of slow-cooker prep, this is ideal to serve on a holiday or special Sunday supper. Let the lamb and sauce be the star of your meal, and serve with blanched beans or roasted carrots.

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Pork Loin Stuffed With Spinach and Goat Cheese

Credit: Photo: Victor Protasio
View Recipe: Pork Loin Stuffed With Spinach and Goat Cheese

High-flavor ingredients embellish a lean cut in this elegant slow cooker main. A sophisticated stuffing of creamy goat cheese, silky spinach, and lemony herbs give this lean and mighty pork loin 5-star flavor. Topped with apricot-infused sweet and sour sauce, we tip our hats to the slow cooker for coaxing out this degree of decadence.

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Acorn Squash With Sage-Cranberry Rice Stuffing

Credit: Photo: Victor Protasio
View Recipe: Acorn Squash With Sage-Cranberry Rice Stuffing

This beautiful vegetarian main comes together in the slow cooker with acorn squash, pre-cooked brown rice, green onions, and herbs. Crunchy hazelnuts finish the dish, which is perfumed with sage and thyme. 

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Braised Pork With Potatoes and Shallots

Credit: Caitlin Bensel
View Recipe: Braised Pork With Potatoes and Shallots

Use pre-ground fennel and coriander seeds if you’re short on time; you’ll lose the texture the crushed seeds provide, but you’ll get the same great flavor. Substitute 2 teaspoons each of the ground seeds for 1 tablespoon whole seeds.

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Peppercorn-and-Coriander-Crusted Beef Rib Roast

Credit: Greg DuPree
View Recipe: Peppercorn-and-Coriander-Crusted Beef Rib Roast

This holiday-worthy roast requires a little planning ahead but is fairly hands-off. Call your butcher ahead of time to cut the roast and remove the chine bone. Slow roast the beef up to 2 hours in advance, then sear it just before serving.

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Grilled Pork Adobo

Credit: Photo: Victor Protasio
View Recipe: Grilled Pork Adobo

Adobo is a popular preparation for chicken or pork in Filipino cuisine. Adobo is typically a stewed dish, with the meat simmered in a mix of soy sauce, vinegar, and aromatics. For maximum flavor here, we save the marinade, add extra vinegar, and cook the mixture down into a syrup for basting the grilled pork and drizzling over the finished dish. A touch of brown sugar in the marinade thickens the finished sauce and helps the meat get gorgeously charred bits over the flames. 

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Braised Butternut Squash “Short Rib”

Credit: Robbie Melvin
View Recipe: Braised Butternut Squash “Short Rib”

Braised short ribs are an iconic holiday comfort food, but that doesn’t mean vegetarians have to miss out! In this recipe, butternut squash (our vitamin A-packed, cold-weather favorite) stands in for beef, getting a long, slow braise in a savory, herb-heavy vegetable broth, yielding fork-tender “steaks” that get smothered in the quick-simmer sauce. It’s a holiday showstopper that will convert the most fervent carnivores at your dinner table.

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Ginger-Honey Glazed Pork Tenderloin

Credit: Photo: Becky Luigart-Stayner; Styling: Missie Neville Crawford
View Recipe: Ginger-Honey Glazed Pork Tenderloin

Glazed with honey, ginger, and Sherry vinegar, this stovetop pork tenderloin comes together in about 30 minutes. It's complemented perfectly by a colorful cucumber, radish, and watercress salad.

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Sweet-and-Sticky Instant Pot Short Ribs

Credit: Photo: Alison Miksch
View Recipe: Sweet-and-Sticky Instant Pot Short Ribs

Nothing shows off the Instant Pot's capabilities quite like this recipe. Create fall-off-the-bone tender short ribs in just 30 minutes. Coated in a sweet and spicy Asian-inspired sauce, this recipe is wonderful served with a side salad and mashed potatoes or polenta. Any leftover meat can be shredded and used as a terrific taco filler. 

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Chunky Spring Gratin

Credit: Victor Protasio
View recipe: Chunky Spring Gratin

This dish is hearty and cheesy without being heavy. Be sure to use fat asparagus spears; thinner ones will overcook. Feel free to use 4 oblong, shallow gratin dishes for individual portions.

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Roasted Spring Lamb With Fennel, Rhubarb, and Strawberries

Credit: Jennifer Causey
View Recipe: Roasted Spring Lamb With Fennel, Rhubarb, and Strawberries

"Frenched" racks of lamb are trimmed so that the bones are cleaned of fat and meat. If you can't find pre-Frenched lamb racks, ask the butcher to French them for you.

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    1 of 12 Honey-Baked Pork Roast
    2 of 12 Braised Lamb Shanks With Garlic Gremolata
    3 of 12 Pork Loin Stuffed With Spinach and Goat Cheese
    4 of 12 Acorn Squash With Sage-Cranberry Rice Stuffing
    5 of 12 Braised Pork With Potatoes and Shallots
    6 of 12 Peppercorn-and-Coriander-Crusted Beef Rib Roast
    7 of 12 Grilled Pork Adobo
    8 of 12 Braised Butternut Squash “Short Rib”
    9 of 12 Ginger-Honey Glazed Pork Tenderloin
    10 of 12 Sweet-and-Sticky Instant Pot Short Ribs
    11 of 12 Chunky Spring Gratin
    12 of 12 Roasted Spring Lamb With Fennel, Rhubarb, and Strawberries

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