Vegan Easter Guide {Chocolate Bunnies, Easter Eggs, & Brunch Ideas!}

When the first bright, sunshine-y days of Spring come along and the fresh breezes are blowing, I tend to think of Easter. Thoughts of woven baskets full of goodies, creamy chocolate bunnies, and wearing your best Sunday dress (or suit!) come to mind. I eagerly look forward to decorating my home for Easter with golden daffodil heads and perky, sherbet-colored tulips. Such a joy!

How to Celebrate A Vegan Easter

If you’re wondering, it’s easy to celebrate a vegan Easter without any ethical compromises or personal sacrifice. Plus, this holiday is a great opportunity to teach your kids about the importance of living with kindness and consideration in all aspects of life. I’m happy to share some cruelty-free options for your plant-based Easter celebrations this year.

Vegan Chocolate Bunnies 

It makes me so happy to see that several online chocolate shops now offer a selection of vegan Easter-themed goodies—including vegan Easter bunnies. Chocolate bunnies are iconic for Easter, as well as shiny, foil-wrapped chocolate eggs. Just be sure to double check that items are vegan, as some companies that make vegan chocolates also offer products that aren’t vegan.

• No Whey Chocolate (100% vegan)
• Moo Free (100% Vegan)
• Vegan Treats (100% Vegan)
• Amanda’s Own
• Divvies
• Lake Champlain

Etsy is also home to many craftspeople who sell homemade vegan chocolate bunnies. Plus, you’ll be supporting a small business! 

Vegan Cream-Filled Chocolate Eggs

If you’re a lover of the ooey-gooey, cream-filled Cadbury eggs, you’re in luck. Several companies have started to replicate this using all vegan ingredients. No Whey Chocolate and Moo Free make vegan Cadbury eggs and they are awesome. You can also find foil-wrapped vegan chocolate eggs (as well as bags, boxes, and vegan chocolate bunnies) at Amanda’s Own.

Making your own vegan cream-filled chocolate eggs might be fun, too! Here are a few recipes that are super close to the original. If you don’t mind taking the time, they’re worth it. Each cream egg recipe is slightly different in texture, flavor, and shape, so choose whichever looks best to you.

• Vegan Chocolate Creme Eggs by It Doesn’t Take Like Chicken 
• DIY Vegan Chocolate Eggs With Raspberry Cream by Vancouver with Love
• Vegan Cream Eggs by A Virtual Vegan
• Cadbury Vegan Creme Eggs by Hell Yeah, It’s Vegan!

Vegan Easter Baskets

Suggestions for a beautifully filled vegan Easter basket

Easter Basket Sweets:

• Vegan chocolate bunny
• Vegan cream eggs
• Other vegan chocolates
• Vegan candies or lollipops

Small Toys and Candy-Free Easter Basket Gifts:

• Stuffed animal
• Stickers
• Small children’s book
• Dino egg bath bombs
• Coloring pages
• Sketchpad
• Art supplies
• Bunny pasta
• Small puzzle
• Small lego set
• Shiny coins or money 

Peep! While you’re carefully considering what to add to your vegan Easter baskets, please remember not to purchase Peeps. Although they are sweet, soft, and squishy, Peeps are made with animal skin and bones (gelatin). Yuck! Instead, try out this super cute vegan marshmallow peeps recipe from LiveKindly.

Sustainable Easter basket Swaps:

• Instead of using plastic eggs that open, choose colorful little canvas drawstring bags for storing small gift items.
• Wrap your basket with a patterned print fabric and cloth ribbon. The clear plastic gift bag and ribbon that are traditionally used creates a good deal of waste at the end of the day.
• Have a hide-and-seek game with chalk eggs! After all of the eggs are found, each child can receive a little chalkboard to draw on or have a section of the driveway to create original pieces of artwork. So much fun!

More Eco-Friendly Options

We all want to be more Earth-friendly, so I wanted to list some awesome alternatives that will save you money and also save you from using so much plastic waste. As always, only do what you can, you don’t have to be perfect. Even a small swap will make a big difference in the long run. 

• Don’t Buy New Baskets – Reuse baskets you already have at home or go to the thrift store to find baskets in good condition. I’ve bought at least five baskets this way and they only cost $1 each! Choose natural materials over colorful plastic so that you can use the baskets all year long for different holidays and seasons.
• Say No to Decorative Straw – This is a hard one. I know that the translucent green (or pink!) filler is incredibly appealing, but it’s horrible for the planet. I have two suggestions, though. If you really must have this straw, buy it once and save it from year to year. Because it’s plastic, it can be rinsed or washed if necessary, but you can just throw it in a storage bag to use the next year. A better option (if you haven’t already bought any filler) is to find paper green “grass”. You can even get recycled paper grass at Five Below stores, which can be saved, composted or recycled when you’re done. 
• Earth-Friendly Fun – Pass on the plastic when purchasing vegan Easter toys and gifts for your baskets. Buying a ton of cheap plastic trinkets will only add up to more unwanted junk in your house, and will also leave more refuse for the landfill. Choose wooden puzzles and toys, books, coloring pages, crayons (these are even egg shaped!), art supplies, construction paper, and maybe some vegan yarn and wooden knitting needles.

Vegan Easter Eggs (For Painting)

Before you reach for that carton of eggs, consider this. Every conventional egg subjects a hen to 24 hours in a battery cage (or similarly miserable conditions). The poor hens! Instead of painting chicken eggs, look for more creative and caring alternatives.

• Wooden Easter Eggs: Buy a set of lovely wooden eggs and adorn with acrylic paints, stickers, or cover with your favorite fabric. Visit our vegan art supplies guide for inspiration. There are endless, creative ways to make this activity fun for children.
• Paper Egg Cutouts: Cut egg shapes out of pretty patterned card stock and accent with fun, sparkly stickers. Or, use pastel construction paper and color them with markers. You can hang them on the fridge and save them for years to come. Add a small picture of your family to the front and you also have a fun family heirloom, too!
• Avocados: Paint an avocado! Or cover it in a piece of fancy foil and boom—the ultimate vegan Easter egg. Just make sure that it’s not overripe!
• Cookies: Bake a batch of egg-shaped vegan sugar cookies and decorate them with vegan royal icing or frosting made with vegan butter! Check out this Vegan Food Coloring guide for more rainbow-color inspiration.

Vegan Easter Brunch Menu Ideas

Easter brunch is one of the highlights of my Italian Grandma’s family celebration. She can spend weeks deciding what to make, which cookies to bake, and which candies to buy. Though meals will differ from family to family, here’s a list of my favorite vegan recipes that can easily be substituted for traditional Easter meals. They’re delicious! What are your family favorites for Easter?

Plant-Based Easter Appetizers

• Huge, crispy salad
• Savory hummus board 
• Fresh sweet tart fruit salad
• Crispy home fries
• Creamy deviled potatoes 

Vegan Easter Main Meal

• Veggie Meatloaf, Mushroom Wellington, or any of these phenomenal vegetarian roast recipes. 
• Fluffy Vegan Frittata or savory Vegan Quiche
• Easy Vegan Sheet Pan Pancakes
• Lovely Lemon Asparagus With Shallots
• Creamy Asparagus and Mushroom Soup
• Glazed Vegan Ham With Amber Ale Glaze
• Pasta Salad (made with bunny-shaped pasta)
• Steaming Dinner Rolls

Delicious Vegan Easter Desserts

• Decadent Vegan Carrot Cake
• Lucious Lemon Olive Oil Cake
• Creamy Vegan Lemon Custard
• Dreamy Vegan Snickers
• Rich, chocolatey Florentine Cookies
• Protein-packed Lemon Pistachio Quinoa Cookies
• Fluffy Vegan Crumb Muffins
• Chewy Vegan Scotcharoo Bars
• Adorable Vegan Easter Chickpeep Cupcakes With Buttercream Frosting

Easter Drinks

• Sweet-tart Strawberry Mint Lemonade
• Sparkling Strawberry Peach Spritzer
• Refreshing Orange Juice Smoothie
• Zesty Lemon Smoothie

Searching for egg substitutes or more plant-based egg recipes? Our Vegan Egg Guide is the perfect place to start!

Easter PSA: Please Don’t Buy Live Rabbits

If you’ve made a thoughtful and long-term decision to welcome an adorable bunny into your home, that’s wonderful! But please be sure to adopt and keep in mind that some bunnies are high maintenance, especially Angora bunnies. They can also be pretty destructive and love chewing on electrical cords and furniture. Sadly, most rabbits given as Easter gifts wind up neglected and unwanted when the novelty wears off. 

Different breeds of bunnies also have numerous health issues. It’s a good idea to do some research ahead of time to be certain that you have the time and energy to commit to this sweet, sensitive animal. If you feel that you’re 100% committed, you can find many resources for adopting at the House Rabbit Society.

Rabbits can live up to 12 years, and the estimated cost of caring for a rabbit over that time is between $3,000 and $4,000 dollars. If that doesn’t fit in your budget, then visit an animal sanctuary or head to your local animal shelter to volunteer and play with bunnies instead. Volunteering is far more rewarding with no expense or obligation. 

I hope this guide will help you celebrate a compassionate and caring vegan Easter for years to come! 

Photos by Michelle Cehn. Content copyright World of Vegan, all rights reserved.