Lightly cooked seasonal vegetables and deviled egg salad dressing make this Spring Salad a vibrant part of your Easter menu. Prosciutto and shaved cheese puts it over the top in the best way.

Large white platter filled with spring salad made with asparagus, snap peas, prosciutto, cheese and shallots.

Spring Salad for Easter

This Easter Salad is probably unlike most of the other ones you’ve found on the internet, for all the best reasons.

First of all, this one has a deviled egg salad dressing. And yes, it’s just as good as it sounds, incorporating hard-boiled egg yolks with mustard, a bit of horseradish, paprika and olive oil to create a creamy, tangy dressing.

You also may have also noticed that there’s no lettuce in this salad! It’s not traditional, but using simply a mixture of crisp snap peas, lightly cooked asparagus and parsley keeps this salad crunchy, refreshing, and the perfect thing to have a scoop of on a plate filled with ham and cheesy potatoes.

Oh, and there’s also prosciutto. That may be gilding the lily when there’s already ham on the table, but who’s gonna say no to a bit of prosciutto?

Why you’ll love this Spring Salad Recipe

  • The seasonal appeal of deviled egg salad dressing for Easter can’t be beat! This is a great use for dyed Easter eggs if you have them.
  • It’s visually stunning when composed on a large platter. It might end up being the star of your holiday table.
  • The fresh and vibrant ingredients provide a crisp counterpoint to some of the heavier dishes on the Easter table, like meat and creamy casseroles.

“I made this today for a brunch and we all loved it! To make the salad stretch farther, I assembled it on top of a bed of arugula. It was fantastic!”

—Angie
Ingredients for an Easter salad recipe on a light surface, including parsley, asparagus, snap peas, prosicutto, eggs, lemon, honey, spices, cheese, shallots, oil and condiments.

Easter Salad Recipe ingredients

  • asparagus – you’ll need one bunch of fresh asparagus. Trim the woody ends before you start.
  • parsley – about 1 cup of fresh parsley leaves will do it for this Spring salad recipe.
  • snap peas – you will need a half pound (8 ounces) of fresh sugar snap peas.
  • shallot – one small shallot, which you’ll peel and cut into rings.
  • hard boiled eggs – you’ll use hard boiled egg yolks to make the deviled egg dressing, and you might as well slice up the whites and put them in the salad, too!
  • prosciutto – you will need 2 ounces of thinly sliced prosciutto, torn into bite-sizes pieces for this Easter salad recipe.
  • Pecorino Romano cheese – you can’t beat the sharp bite of this special cheese, although if you cannot find it, high quality shaved Parmesan cheese is a fine substitute.
  • lemon zest – some ribbons of fresh lemon zest add a nice brightness to this salad.
  • red wine vinegar – this adds acid and brightness to the dressing. Feel free to substitute white wine vinegar instead.
  • horseradish – the prepared kind, from a jar.
  • Dijon mustard – this adds another little kick of subtle spiciness to the dressing for this Spring salad.
  • honey – adds sweetness and helps to emulsify the dressing.
  • sugar – also adds sweetness to help balance the bite of the horseradish and mustard.
  • paprika – what’s a deviled egg without a little bit of paprika sprinkled on top? I included it in the dressing for this salad for Easter, too.
  • salt and pepper – seasons the dressing.
  • olive oil – choose a high quality oil since it will be the backbone of the dressing.

How to make Spring Salad

A food processor filled with a golden yellow liquid, with hard boiled egg whites in a small bowl alongside.

1. DRESSING. In a food processor with the knife blade attachment, puree the egg yolks, water, honey, vinegar, mustard, horseradish, sugar, paprika, salt and pepper, then drizzle in the oil while the processor is running.

A large stainless steel pot filled with water and asparagus, with a pink bowl of ice water next to it.

2. ASPARAGUS. Blanch the asparagus by dropping it into a pot of boiling water for just a minute or two, or until the asparagus is just tender. Then, immediately transfer it to an ice bath.

A large stainless steel pot filled with water and snap peas, with a pink bowl of ice water and asparagus next to it.

3. PEAS. Repeat the boiling and ice bath procedure for the snap peas.

A wooden cutting board where a knife is cutting asparagus stalks into three pieces. There is also a small bowl of halved snap peas on the board.

4. CHOP. Remove the vegetables from the ice water and pat them dry. Cut the asparagus stalks crosswise into thirds. If desired, gently open snap peas to expose their insides (this is pretty but not required).

A large white platter filled with a Spring salad recipe, which includes asparagus, peas, herbs, hard boiled eggs, cheese and prosciutto.

5. PLATE. On a large platter, gently toss together shallot, lemon zest, parsley, asparagus and snap peas. Top with the cheese, prosciutto and egg whites. Serve drizzled with the dressing, or serve dressing on the side.

Home Chef Tips for Easter Salad

  • My favorite kitchen gadget for perfect hard boiled eggs is the Cuisinart egg cooker (affiliate link). It makes perfect hard boiled and soft boiled eggs EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. I cannot recommend it enough!
  • Add extra herbs if you have them! A little bit of dill, mint or chives would add even more layers of flavor to this fresh side dish.
  • To save time on Easter day, prep as much of your salad in advance as possible. See “Storing Spring Salad” below for more info on this.
Bowl of Easter salad made with seasonal produce, prosciutto and cheese and topped with deviled egg dressing.

How to serve this Salad for Easter

While this Spring salad is great as part of an Easter menu, it can be a part of any Spring or early summer celebration, including Mother’s Day and baby and bridal showers.

It can also be eaten on its own as a light meal.

What is a traditional Easter meal?

Traditional Easter meals can vary widely depending on culture and region. I’ve included some of my favorite appetizers, entrees and sides for Easter below. Choose 1 -2 from each category to round out your meal.

Closeup on a large platter of salad for Easter made with peas, asparagus, shallots, hard boiled eggs, cheese and cured meat.

Storing Spring Salad

Once the salad is drizzled or tossed with dressing, it doesn’t store that well. But, if you have any leftovers of the composed salad that aren’t yet dressed, store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a day. Store the remaining dressing in a separate covered container in the fridge.

Let’s also talk about prepping elements of this Spring salad recipe in advance, and storing them that way. Here’s how I do it:

  • The parsley can be washed and kept in the refrigerator up to 3 days in advance for this salad recipe for Easter.
  • The eggs can be boiled and the dressing can be made up to 2 days in advance and kept in an airtight container in the fridge.
  • The asparagus and snap peas be blanched, ice bathed, patted dry and stored in the refrigerator in zip top bags up to 1 day in advance.
  • The cheese for this salad for Easter dinner can be shaved up to 1 day in advance and kept in the fridge.
  • The shallot can be sliced up to 1 day in advance and kept in the fridge.

On the day of the big feast, simply assemble all of your ready-to-go ingredients for this Easter salad and serve!

White platter filled with spring salad made with asparagus, snap peas, prosciutto, cheese and shallots.

Salad for Easter

Yield: 6 servings
Prep Time: 40 minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes

Lightly cooked seasonal vegetables and deviled egg salad dressing make this Spring Salad a vibrant part of your Easter menu. Prosciutto and shaved cheese puts it over the top in the best way.

Ingredients

For the Deviled Egg Dressing:

  • 4 hard-boiled egg yolks (save the whites for the salad)
  • 3 tablespoons water
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
  • 1 tablespoon prepared horseradish
  • 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon paprika
  • Pinch of kosher salt and ground black pepper
  • 1/3 cup olive oil

For the Salad:

  • 1 bunch asparagus
  • 8 ounces snap peas
  • 1 small shallot, thinly sliced
  • Zest of 1 lemon, grated or thinly sliced
  • 1 cup fresh parsley leaves
  • 2 ounces Pecorino Romano cheese, shaved
  • 2 ounces prosciutto, torn into bite-sized pieces
  • 4 hard-boiled egg whites, sliced

Instructions

  1. Make the Deviled Egg Dressing: In food processor fitted with knife blade attachment, puree egg yolks, water, honey, vinegar, mustard, horseradish, sugar, paprika and salt and pepper until well combined. With processor running, slowly drizzle in oil until all oil is incorporated. Makes about 3/4 cup dressing.
  2. Make the Salad: Heat large pot of salted water to boiling over high heat. Prepare a large bowl of ice water and place it next to the stove.
  3. Drop asparagus into boiling water and cook 1 to 3 minutes or until asparagus is just tender when pierced with a paring knife. Using tongs, transfer asparagus to ice water.
  4. Repeat process with snap peas (these should take 1 to 2 minutes to become tender).
  5. Remove vegetables from ice water and place in clean kitchen towel to pat dry. Cut asparagus stalks crosswise into thirds. If desired, gently open snap peas to expose their insides (this is pretty but not required).
  6. On large platter, gently toss together shallot, lemon zest, parsley, asparagus and snap peas. Top with cheese, prosciutto and egg whites. Serve drizzled with dressing, or serve dressing on the side.

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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 269Total Fat: 19gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 13gCholesterol: 140mgSodium: 579mgCarbohydrates: 14gFiber: 3gSugar: 10gProtein: 13g

This website provides estimated nutrition information as a courtesy only. You should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.

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