Why This is the Best Recipe

1. Make-Ahead Friendly: You can prep this quick recipe days in advance for easy summer lunches to bring to work or enjoy at home. It's the perfect party recipe that lets you get one of the dishes done ahead and it is easy to bring to a potluck.
2. Budget-Friendly: Using in-season fresh vegetables and prepared dressing keeps the cost down.
3. Refreshing and Cold: The pasta salad tastes best served chilled from the fridge making it perfect for cold weather.

Ingredients

Here are my favorite quick prep ingredients:

• Short Pasta Shapes: I used rotini noodles because I think they're fun to fork but you could use farfalle, penne, or ditalini if you prefer.
• Italian Dressing: Using a bottle of prepared dressing makes this quick and easy. I used Olive Garden brand but the Zesty Kraft Italian dressing is another family favorite. Use whatever you love!
• Fresh Cherry Tomatoes: I chose a pint of multi-color tomatoes so the salad would be extra pretty, any tiny tomato you want will work.
• Bell Peppers: I used red and orange but yellow would work, too. Green is a little too harsh for this recipe.
• English Cucumber: The perfect seedless cucumber option.
• Red Onion
• Fresh Mozzarella Balls: I love the teeny tiny bite-sized ones but you could also chop a fresh log of mozzarella if you can't find them.
• Fresh Parsley: Dried parsley would work in an emergency but fresh parsley adds a lot of flavor to the dish and is hard to substitute. It's worth the splurge.

OPTIONAL:
This recipe is a perfect vegetarian-friendly dish to serve if you make it as is.

However, I love to add some chopped turkey pepperoni for even more flavor. I buy little pouches of it in the deli section of our grocery store.

How to Prep the Vegetables

While the pasta is cooking, you'll have plenty of time to prep the veggies.

I prefer to small-dice each vegetable so that they are easy to fork with the pasta shape I'm using.

I quartered the cherry tomatoes, small diced the bell peppers, and cut the cucumber into long, thin strips for easy dicing.

The red onion is easy to mince but if you struggle with heartburn like I do, you can soak the diced onion in ice water for 5 minutes, drain it, and add to the recipe to help reduce some of the "bite" of the onion.

Pasta Cooking Tips

The biggest mistake home cooks make when prepping a pasta salad is overcooking the noodles so they become mushy.

Once you add the Italian dressing and fresh veggies, the pasta will continue to absorb all the moisture and soften up as it chills in the fridge.

It is essential that you boil the pasta for the lowest amount of time listed on the package so that it remains very firm and has room to absorb more liquid and soften.

I never rinse my pasta because the starch helps thicken my pasta sauces but when making a chilled pasta salad, I always rinse the strained pasta with cold water for a minute to stop the cooking process and cool the noodles before stirring them into the fresh veggies.

How to Assemble

Pour the pasta over the prepped veggies and add the Italian dressing and fresh parsley.

Gently toss everything together until the pasta is evenly coated in dressing.

Then add the fresh mozzarella balls and chopped pepperoni (if using.) Stir gently to combine and chill.

Make Ahead Tips

Italian pasta salad tastes best when it has been prepped in advance and chilled in the fridge for at least 4 hours so the flavors can mingle.

You can keep it in a covered container in the fridge for up to 4 days.

Simply toss the salad to redistribute the dressing before serving.

Serving Suggestions

The crispy, crunchy cold veggies in this pasta salad make it the perfect summery side dish to serve with grilled chicken, steaks, or fish.

When I add the chopped pepperoni, it works as a lighter main dish for lunches or a light dinner.

If you plan to take it to a potluck party in warm weather, skip the pepperoni and mozzarella cheese and you won't even have anything to worry about spoiling in the heat!

Variations

While I adore the fresh mozzarella and pepperoni combo, you can easily make simple tweaks for new variations on this dish:

• Fresh Broccoli and Parmesan: Swap the bell peppers for fresh broccoli florets chopped small and shredded parmesan cheese. This was my mom's favorite combo when I was growing up.
• Artichoke Hearts and Feta: Add a jar of marinated artichoke hearts and crumbled feta cheese for a Greek pasta salad.
• Sweet Corn, Crumbled Bacon, and Goat Cheese: Carve fresh sweet corn off the cob or thaw frozen corn and stir in crumbled peppered bacon instead of the pepperoni. Crumbled goat cheese brings an excellent tang to the dish.

More Pasta Salad Recipes

Chicken Pasta Salad with Grapes

Asian Chicken Pasta Salad

Southern Macaroni Salad

Ingredients

This easy smoothie starts with simple whole foods:

• Frozen Cherries
• Whole Almonds (Unsalted!)
• Fresh Apple
• Greek Yogurt: I used lowfat vanilla yogurt because that is what I had on hand but to reap the full protein benefits of this recipe you'll want to use plain or vanilla Greek yogurt which will also make the smoothie thicker.
• Almond Milk

NOTE: Depending on your blender, you may want to consider substituting 2 tablespoons of almond butter instead of whole almonds. My blender chopped the almonds most of the way but the smoothie still had a bit of a "crunchy" texture. Using smooth almond butter would fix that.

Prep a Smoothie Kit

We were eager to enjoy our smoothie immediately so I didn't have time to freeze the apple. The smoothie tastes even better once the fruit is ice cold so I recommend making smoothie kits for your freezer.

• Peel and chop the apple.
• Measure the frozen cherries.
• Add the almonds so you don't even need to measure them later!

How to Make It

When you're ready to make your smoothie, add the yogurt and almond milk to the bottom of the blender, this will help the blades properly mix the smoothie.

Add the frozen fruit and almonds on top and blend until smooth.

Serving Suggestions

A nice protein smoothie is a great breakfast for before a test at school but my kids enjoy them as after school snacks, too.

Sometimes I'll split the smoothie to serve as a smaller breakfast drink alongside a frozen breakfast sandwich or scrambled eggs and vegetables for even more protein.

Ingredients

This simple smoothie is made from easy whole foods:

• Frozen Peaches
• Fresh Orange
• Banana
• Greek Yogurt: I used lowfat vanilla yogurt because it was what I had on hand. To reap the full protein benefits, you'll want to choose a plain or vanilla Greek yogurt. Bonus: it helps make the smoothie thicker, too.
• Orange Juice

Prep a Smoothie Kit

In a pinch, I just used the ingredients as-is but for a super chilled and thick smoothie, you can prep smoothie kits for the freezer:

• Peel and break apart the orange segments.
• Peel and slice the banana.
• Measure the frozen peach slices or peel and slice fresh peaches.

Freeze the fruits together in one bag and you'll be able to just dump the whole kit into the blender.

How to Make It

Add the orange juice and yogurt to your blender first. It is always a good idea to have the liquids on the bottom to help the blender blades.

Add the frozen fruits on top.

Blend until smooth.

Serving Suggestions

A nice protein smoothie is a great breakfast for before a test at school but my kids enjoy them as after school snacks, too.

Sometimes I'll split the smoothie to serve as a smaller breakfast drink alongside a frozen breakfast sandwich or scrambled eggs and vegetables for even more protein.

Ingredients

This easy smoothie starts with real whole foods:

• Red Grapes: Or you could use a mix of red and green.
• Frozen Blueberries
• Frozen Banana
• Almond Milk
• Greek Yogurt: I used lowfat vanilla yogurt because that is what I had on hand but to reap the full protein benefits of this recipe you'll want to use plain or vanilla Greek yogurt which will also make the smoothie thicker.

Prep a Smoothie Kit

We were eager to enjoy our smoothie immediately so I didn't have time to freeze the grapes or banana. The smoothie tastes even better once the fruit is ice cold so I recommend making smoothie kits for your freezer.

• Wash and pluck the grapes from the vine.
• Peel and slice the banana.
• Measure the blueberries.

How to Make It

When you're ready to make the smoothie, add the almond milk and Greek yogurt to the blender first. This helps the blender blades mix everything better.

Then add the fruit pack on top and blend until smooth.

Serving Suggestions

A nice protein smoothie is a great breakfast for before a test at school but my kids enjoy them as after school snacks, too.

Sometimes I'll split the smoothie to serve as a smaller breakfast drink alongside a frozen breakfast sandwich or scrambled eggs and vegetables for even more protein.

Why This is the Best Recipe

When I took my daughter on a series of college campus tours, she begged me to stop at Raising Cane's on our way to Alabama. This popular fried chicken restaurant is often found in college towns and it was one of our more delicious lunch breaks of the summer.

Raising Cane's does ONE THING and they do it well: chicken tenders. When a restaurant specializes with such a narrow focus, you just know that their chicken dipping sauce is their idea of the absolutely perfect one.

If we didn't have 2 more days before our 8-hour road trip back home, I would have stock piled our cooler with to-go cups of this utterly delicious condiment.

I knew we just had to make a copycat version to enjoy ourselves!

Ingredients

To make this easy chicken dipping sauce at home, you just need a handful of pantry ingredients:

• Mayonnaise: Any southerner would tell you, Duke's is essential.
• Ketchup
• Hot Sauce: You will always find Texas Pete in our fridge.
• Worcestershire Sauce: If you need this to be a gluten-free recipe, be sure to use a gluten-free Worcestershire. This is especially good to keep in mind if you're making the dip for a party.
• Garlic Salt
• Celery Seed
• Course Ground Black Pepper: The sauce has a very peppery look, fine ground black pepper won't be the same. Either grind your pepper fresh, buy a course ground pepper, or grab a bottle of this delicious California Bold Pepper which is what I used. It has a course grind giving your sauce nice peppery flakes and adds even more garlic and oniony bite with hints of bell pepper.

More Easy Dip Recipes

Looking for more easy dip recipes to pair with chicken? Here are a few more of my favorites:

Copycat Chick-Fil-A Sauce

Buttermilk Ranch Dip

Honey Mustard Dip

Alabama BBQ Sauce

Why This is the Best Recipe

• Uses Sourdough Discard: No need to toss that precious starter, this is one of my favorite discard recipes.
• Bread Machine Friendly: Let your bread maker do the hard work while you handle the fun part: toppings!
• Crispy Crust with Flexible Toppings: Whether you love a veggie-packed pie or a meaty classic, this crust holds it all beautifully. Any of my pizza recipes would work with this dough.

Ingredients

This dough comes together with just a few pantry staples plus your sourdough discard:

• Sourdough Discard: After you've fed your sourdough starter, you can use the leftover starter here.
• Lukewarm Water
• All-Purpose Flour
• Table Salt
• Taylor Street Seasoning: I love this seasoning for our pizza doughs but it is optional. Check the recipe card for some easy substitutions.
• Instant Yeast: I use ActiveDry Yeast, you do not need yeast that is specifically labeled for bread machine use.

Tips on Sourdough Starter

If you're new to using sourdough starter, you'll want to take a moment to read my tips for getting started with sourdough starter here. Once you're in maintenance mode, you'll need tips on how to feed sourdough starter.

This pizza dough recipe is one of my favorite sourdough discard recipes but don't miss these sourdough discard crackers and bake up a batch of sourdough discard brownies for dessert!

Getting Started with Your New Sourdough Starter

How to Feed Sourdough Starter for Absolute Beginners

Sourdough Discard Crackers

Sourdough Discard Brownies

How to Make the Dough in a Bread Machine

As the author of The Ultimate Bread Machine Cookbook, I use my bread maker as often as I can. I think it turns out the best doughs and all I need is 5 minutes of prep and a push of a button.

First, you'll want to add your sourdough discard to the bread machine pan fitted with the paddle attachment.

Sourdough discard is difficult to measure using measuring cups so the most accurate way to know you have the right amount is to weigh it with a food scale.

Place the empty bread pan on the scale and hit the "TARE" button. This will set the panel to 0 so you can easily weigh your starter.

Add the Wet Ingredients First

Once the starter has been measured, as with all my bread machine recipes, you'll want to add all the liquid ingredients first.

For this recipe, you just need to add the lukewarm water. I run the water from my tap until it is just barely warm to the touch and then measure it.

Add the Dry Ingredients

Then you'll add the dry ingredients right on top of the liquid ingredients.

Weigh the flour by hitting the "TARE" button again and then measuring in the right amount of flour, spoonful by spoonful.

Add the salt around the perimeter of the pan and use your spoon to dig a shallow well in the center. That's where you'll place the yeast.

I add the Taylor Street Seasoning around the edges, too. This help keep the salt and yeast away from each other until it is time for them to be properly mixed by the bread maker.

Mix the Dough

Place the bread pan back into your bread machine.

Select the DOUGH program and hit Start.

The cycle will take about 90 minutes to mix the dough, knead it, and let it do the first rise.

NOTE: Depending on the humidity and weather and how you measured the ingredients, your dough may end up a bit more sticky than it should. Keep an eye on it as it mixes. If it is sticking too much to the sides of the pan or the bottom, sprinkle in a teaspoon of flour at a time until it pulls away and forms a ball like you see in the photo above.

Add the flour very slowly, only add as much as you need, remember you can't take it back out.

Second Rise or Store

Once the bread machine is done, drizzle a little olive oil into a large mixing bowl and brush it around the sides.

Scrape the dough out into the bowl and turn it to coat in the oil. Be sure to remove the bread paddle if it stuck!

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and then you can:

1. Do the Second Rise for Baking: If you want to bake right now, let it rise on your counter for 2 hours before baking.
2. Store in the Fridge for Up to 5 Days: If you want to prep the dough now for dinner another time, immediately put the bowl in the fridge to prevent it from rising. You'll want to leave 2 - 3 hours for it to rise on your counter before using because it will be starting from a chilled state.

Prep the Pizza Toppings

The pizza prep instructions are the same for all of my pizza doughs. If you want step-by-step detailed instructions, you might want to reference how to roll pizza dough by hand.

This recipe makes enough for two pizza crusts. Divide the dough in half and then work one crust at a time.

Top your crust with your favorite pizza sauce. I love this tomato marinara pizza sauce and this white garlic pizza sauce but pesto or olive oil would work great, too.

Top your pizza as desired. I think the tangy sourdough flavor of this dough pairs well with Italian-style toppings like tomato bruschetta pizza, chicken pesto pizza, or a classic cheese pizza. It works great with pepperoni and sausage, too.

You could also use it to make more gourmet style pizzas like my harvest apple pizza or this fresh peach pizza.

Baking Instructions

My baking method always turns out crispy crusts in the oven and works for all my pizza dough recipes. For step by step detailed instructions, please reference how to bake pizza dough in the oven.

Preheat the oven to 450°F with a pizza stone in the center of the oven. Let it preheat for at least 30 minutes so the stone gets blazing hot.

Transfer the prepared pizza onto the stone using parchment paper and let it cook for 10 - 15 minutes or until your toppings have melted and the crust is golden brown.

Serving Suggestions

For a fun pizza night menu, you can pair a simple garden salad or Caesar salad on the side.

Bake a batch of whole wheat breadsticks or sourdough discard breadsticks to go with it, too! Both recipes are made in the bread maker, too!

Quick Prep Garden Salad Recipe

Caesar Salad Dressing {No Anchovies}

Whole Wheat Breadsticks

Why This is the Best Recipe

• Quick to Make: From prep to plate in under 30 minutes, this dish is perfect for busy weeknights.
• Pantry-Friendly Sauce: Uses ingredients you likely already have, like soy sauce, orange juice, and honey.
• Easy to Tweak: Don't like one of the veggies? You can make simple swaps that work for your family.
• Super Versatile: Serve the stir fry mix over rice, noodles, or wrap it in lettuce, whatever works best for your crew!

Prep the Veggies

Stir fry dishes cook very quickly, you won't have time for chopping vegetables once your meat is in the pan so it is best to get all the fresh veggies prepped before you begin.

• Onion: Diced
• Carrots: Half-moon slices
• Green Onions: minced
• Mini bell peppers: Sliced into thin rounds
• Bok Choy: Chopped, keep the greens and whites separated -- you'll add them at different times.

If you want to substitute any of those vegetables, here are a few more delicious options that would work great in this dish:

• Snow peas
• Broccoli florets
• Bell peppers
• Zucchini
• Yellow squash

Prep the Stir Fry Sauce

Another handy time saver that will keep your dinner prep moving quickly is to prep ahead the stir fry sauce.

Mix together the soy sauce, orange juice, vinegar, honey, ginger, red pepper flakes (or chili crunch), and cornstarch until smooth. I just whisked it together with a fork right in my measuring cup.

Cooking Instructions

Once all your basic elements are prepped, the final cooking is going to go so much easier.

Place a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and the ground pork. Season it with salt and pepper. Break it up into crumbles as it cooks.

Once it is no longer pink, drain the fat and transfer the cooked pork to a clean dish.

Add the remaining tablespoon of olive oil to the now-empty skillet. Add the firmer vegetables to the pan first. Start with the regular onion and carrots.

Cook the veggies until the onions have softened. Then add the more delicate vegetables: the sliced mini bell peppers and the white parts of the bok choy, and the white parts of the green onions. Add the garlic.

Stir and cook until the peppers just begin to char.

Finally, return the pork to the pan along with the most delicate veggies: the green parts of the bok choy and the green onions. Stir and cook for just a minute.

To finish the dish, pour in the prepared stir fry sauce. Stir to coat and bring the liquid to a boil. Keep stirring as the sauce thickens and coats all the veggies.

Serve immediately with sesame seeds and more green onions sprinkled over the top as desired.

Make Ahead Tips

While I think the stir fry tastes best fresh out of the skillet, you can absolutely make this dish in advance and store it in an airtight container for up to 4 days.

Simply reheat it in the microwave.

You could also freeze individual portions for easy-to-grab dinners on extra busy nights.

I like to make meal prep containers with a layer of rice topped with a spoonful of the stir fry mix and refrigerate or freeze so I have an all-in-one meal to grab quickly.

DIY Meal Kit

This dinner is an excellent option for a DIY dinner kit you can keep ready to grab in your fridge.

Simply prep ahead when you have time:

• Prep the Veggies: Pre-chop all the veggies. Store them in airtight containers. Personally, I'd separate the whites and greens of the bok choy and green onions into separate containers but everything else could be stored together.
• Mix the Stir Fry Sauce: You can prep the sauce and store it in a mason jar in the fridge.
• Bundle It Together: Store the veggies and sauce right next to the package of meat so you remember what goes together!

Variations

• Lean Stir Fry: Use ground chicken or ground turkey for a lighter dish.
• Peanut Butter Stir Fry: Add a spoonful of peanut butter to the skillet when you add the sauce and top your dish with chopped peanuts. Fresh cilantro would be an excellent garnish.
• Ground Beef Stir Fry: For a richer dish served with ramen noodles, check out my family-friendly ground beef stir fry recipe here.

Serving Suggestions

When I served this ground pork stir fry for our family dinner, I spooned it over my favorite Instant Pot jasmine rice which soaked up every drop of that delicious stir fry sauce.

You could also serve it over your favorite ramen noodles or pasta tossed in just a touch of olive oil to prevent sticking.

For a gluten-free dinner, serve it with a plate of butter lettuce for making lettuce wraps or make a quick stir fry salad and spoon it over your favorite chopped greens.

More Stir Fry Recipes

Love the ease of a quick stir fry dinner? Here are a few more of my favorite recipes I think you'll love:

Easy Ground Beef Stir Fry with Noodles

Stir Fry Beef and Broccoli

Spicy Pork Egg Roll Bowls

Stir Fry Seasoning for Chicken and Vegetables

Why This is the Best Recipe

• No Bake Cookies: You can whip these up in minutes without turning on the oven. Just mix, roll, and chill!
• Pantry-Friendly Ingredients: Everything in this recipe can be kept ready to grab in your kitchen, making it a quick option when a craving hits.
• Make-Ahead Dessert: These little bites get even better as they chill, so they’re great to prep the night before a party or to keep on hand during the holidays.

Ingredients

Keep these simple ingredients in your pantry and you'll be ready to roll the cookies in no time:

• Butter: I used unsalted butter for this recipe so I could control the salt added to the dish. If you use salted butter, you'll want to reduce or omit the added salt.
• Superfine Sugar: This specialty sugar can be found at most major grocery stores, it comes in a tall plastic spouted container. If you can't find it, see the recipe card below for a handy substitution. Use some for this recipe and you can use the rest on a batch of my easy Irish shortbread cookies!
• Strong Coffee or Espresso: I used a Starbucks dark roast instant coffee powder. Cafe Bustelo makes an instant espresso powder that would work great, too.
• Desiccated Coconut: This ingredient makes a big difference and gives the chocolate balls a more authentic Swedish look and texture. Be sure to see my notes below.
• Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
• Rolled Oats
• Vanilla
• Salt

Prep the Cookie Dough

In a medium mixing bowl, combine the softened butter, sugar, and vanilla. Use a spatula to mix until creamy and well blended.

Prepare the instant coffee according to the directions on the package.

In a separate small bowl, stir together the cocoa powder and brewed coffee until it forms a thick, rich paste.

Add the cocoa-coffee mixture into the butter mixture and stir thoroughly to combine.

Stir in the rolled oats and a pinch of salt. Mix until the oats are evenly distributed.

NOTE: If you just brewed the coffee before adding it to the cocoa, the warmth of the mixture will really soften, if not completely melt, the butter in the dough. This makes it easy to stir the dough together but makes rolling the cookie balls a little more challenging.

You can pause now and chill the cookie dough for 30 minutes which will make the cookie balls much easier to roll or keep going and use my little time-saving hack.

Roll the Cookie Balls

I was in a time crunch when prepping these cookie balls and didn't have time to chill the dough before rolling the balls. The warm coffee made the dough very soft.

I used a small spoon to scoop ping-pong ball sized portions of dough and gently dropped them into a shallow bowl of desiccated coconut.

Once I had a few balls dropped into the bowl, I used my clean fingers to scoop and pinch some coconut over the top of each portion and then gently patted each ball into a round shape.

As I patted them into balls, I rolled them in the coconut. This kept the sticky chocolatey surface away from my fingers and the coconut coating made them easier to pat into shape.

Chill the Cookies

Transfer the coconut covered chocolate balls to a clean plate and chill them in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before serving.

This helps the cookie balls to firm up and hold their shape but the chocolate mixture tastes even better cold, in our opinion!

Make Ahead Tips

These chocolate balls store beautifully! Keep them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week or freeze them for up to 2 months.

You can even prep the mixture a day in advance, chill them in the fridge, then roll and coat on the day you want to serve them.

Serving Suggestions

I made these coconut-coated chocolate balls as a sweet treat to add to a snack board with fresh fruit and a bowl of my easy fruit dip for my daughter's after-prom party at a friend's house. According to her, they were a huge hit and the snack board came home empty.

You could enjoy them as a special treat for an afternoon tea party or coffee chat with a friend. They'd make an excellent prep ahead Christmas cookie for the holiday season but they are right at home for a special brunch, especially with that strong coffee flavor in every bite.

Easy Fruit Dip

Christmas Cookies 101 {Start Here!}

Easy Plan for an Easter Brunch for Two

How to Host a Brunch

More Cookie Recipes

Looking for more easy cookie recipes? Here are a few of my favorites:

Irish Shortbread Cookies

NYC Black and White Cookies

Foolproof Mexican Hot Chocolate Cookies

Chocolate Cookies with Peanut Butter Chips

Why This is the Best Recipe

• Only Two Ingredients: You can whip this up with pantry staples in minutes.
• Fast and Make-Ahead Friendly: Just beat, blend, and chill. No cooking, no stress, and you can prep it ahead of your party.
• Kid-Friendly but Grown-Ups Love It, Too: The sweet, tangy flavor pairs beautifully with fresh fruit or cookies and disappears fast!

Ingredients

This fruit dip keeps it sweet and simple with just two easy-to-find ingredients:

• Cream Cheese: I prefer to use a full-fat cream cheese. If you choose a lighter cream cheese it may affect the texture and be less creamy and smooth but it will still taste great.
• Marshmallow Fluff

How to Make the Dip

Add the softened cream cheese to a mixing bowl and beat it until smooth with a hand mixer on medium high speed.

Scrape the marshmallow fluff in and beat it into the cream cheese.

Spoon the fruit dip into a pretty serving bowl and chill it until you're ready to serve, at least 30 minutes but up to 5 days.

Make Ahead & Storage Tips

This dip is perfect for prepping in advance! Store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. Give it a quick stir before serving to fluff it back up.

Variations

• Vanilla Fruit Dip: Add a splash of vanilla extract
• Tropical Fruit Dip: Fold in crushed pineapple or orange zest
• Flavored Cream Cheese Dip: Swap in your favorite flavored cream cheese (like strawberry or honey pecan) to change up the base flavor of the dip

Serving Suggestions

I served this easy fruit dip on a fruit snack board with fresh strawberries, green grapes, cubed pineapple, and added our favorite Swedish chocolate balls with coconut as a sweet side.

You could serve this dip with apple slices, melon cubes or crispy dunkers like graham crackers, vanilla wafers, or pretzels for a sweet-and-salty combo.

More Fruit Dip Recipes

Looking for more fun cold party dips you can make ahead for your event? Here are a few of my favorites:

Creamy Piña Colada Fruit Dip

Creamy Peanut Butter Apple Dip

Strawberry Cheesecake Dip

Lemon Bars

This one-pan easy dessert bar recipe is always a huge hit at potluck parties. My tart Meyer lemon bars would be a perfect choice for Easter. If you can't find Meyer lemons, you can substitute regular lemons.

Meyer Lemon Bars

These Meyer Lemon Bars have a buttery shortbread crust and a perfectly sweet-tart lemon filling. The smooth, citrusy custard balances perfectly with the crisp, golden crust, making these bars an irresistible treat. They’re easy to make and perfect for any occasion!

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Lemon Sugar Cookies

My bright and chewy lemon doodles are a sweet buttery sugar cookie that is so easy to make for a dessert table.

Lemon Doodles

Lemon doodles are the perfect combination of soft, chewy sugar cookies and bright citrus flavor. With a hint of lemon zest and a sweet, crinkly sugar coating, they are an irresistible treat for any occasion.

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Lemon Cheesecake Bars

My cinnamony crescent roll cheesecake bars are SO good but you can easily make them into lemon cheesecake bars by adding lemon zest to the cheesecake filling and layering in some lemon curd.

Crescent Roll Cheesecake Bars

Layers of flaky crescent rolls surround a creamy cheesecake filling topped with a crispy cinnamon sugar coating. This easy dessert tastes like two treats in one: a delicious rich and creamy cheesecake and a crispy cinnamon churro!

4.96 from 42 votes

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Lemon Meringue Tart

For a show stopping and elegant Easter dessert, you can bake my lemon meringue tart mostly in advance. The final steps just take a few minutes on Easter day.

Lemon Meringue Tart

This bright and zingy lemon meringue tart is a stunning dessert to add to your celebration. The filling and crust can be made ahead of time and stored separately to save time.

5 from 1 vote

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No-Bake Lemon Torte

You can make my lemon torte sugar-free if you need to with one simple little swap.

Light and Lemony Torte

This light no-bake lemon torte recipe is perfect for warm weather entertaining. Easily adjustable for sugar-free or traditional sugar use to accommodate your guests.

5 from 1 vote

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Pink Lemonade Cake

Nothing looks prettier than a sweet pink cake on the Easter table. My pink lemonade cake is truly festive and bakes up in a simple cake pan.

Strawberry Lemonade Cake

This perfectly portable 9x13 pink lemonade cake is an awesome potluck party dessert. Bright and tart, it is delicious straight out of the fridge ice cold but can be served at room temperature, too.

5 from 1 vote

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Lemon Poppy Seed Bread

My lemon poppy seed bread could double as a lemon poppy seed cake if you drizzle some fresh lemon glaze over the top!

Lemon Poppy Seed Bread

Light and zesty lemon poppy seed bread can be made with sparkling sugar for an easy quick bread breakfast treat or you can prep a simple vanilla glaze for drizzling over the top for a stunning presentation.

5 from 1 vote

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Lemony Creme Brulee

I love my orange-y Grand Marnier creme brulee but you can make it a lemony creme brulee by swapping limoncello for the Grand Marnier!

Grand Marnier Creme Brulee

This elegant restaurant quality vanilla bean creme brulee dessert is shockingly easy to make right in an average home kitchen with a few simple tricks. Serve as a special treat for a dinner party or Valentine's Day and let your loved ones torch their own caramelized sugar crust.

5 from 5 votes

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Lemon Curd

My easy make-ahead lemon curd is SO delicious you could make it a dessert all by itself. Serve it with a tray of simple butter cookies or homemade Irish shortbread and fresh fruit.

Lemon Curd

Homemade lemon curd is so easy to make with fresh lemons. This rich lemon sauce is delicious as a base for a lemon tart but would be amazing spooned over a pound cake, spread onto toast or a biscuit, or used with French toast or pancakes.

5 from 5 votes

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Lemon Scones

Having an Easter brunch tea party? Serve my lemon scones for dessert with lemon curd and a bowl of mock clotted cream.

Lemon Scones

Fresh lemon scones with poppy seeds and a sparkling sugar top are so delicious served warm from the oven with a pat of butter or lemon curd.

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Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies

For a not-too-sweet dessert, my amazing lemon poppy seed cookies are baked with olive oil in the cookie dough that gives them such a fantastic texture.

Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies

These not-too-sweet, crispy lemon poppy seed cookies are so pretty with a drizzle of fresh lemon glaze. They make a perfect cookie to add to your dessert tray for a tea party or cookie exchange.

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