50 Ostara Recipes to Enjoy This Spring

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Ostara is the pagan holiday that celebrates the Spring Equinox, which occurs between March 19th and March 23rd in the Northern Hemisphere. The holiday honors the goddess Eostre and the fertility of the spring season with symbols like eggs and rabbits.

Some ways you can celebrate the holiday include eating recipes that include eggs, decorating your altar with flowers connected to Ostara like daffodils and violets, and even doing a bit of spring cleaning to shoo any energetic cobwebs from the winter out the door.

The traditional foods of Ostara go beyond eggs, though. Here, you’ll find a list of traditional foods as well as modern and classic recipes for the holiday.

Ostara Recipes and Foods - Bunny — *Photo Credit: Janan Lagerwall*

What Is Ostara?

Ostara is the Wiccan and pagan holiday that celebrates the first day of Spring. It is one of the Lesser Sabbats or quarter holidays. It represents the Spring Equinox (also known as the vernal equinox), which is one of the two times of the year when night and day are the same length.

For Wiccans, it is when the Goddess is in her Maiden aspect and when the God is a young man.

Ostara Recipes and Foods - Flowers — *Photo Credit: Mink Mingle*

What Are the Traditional Foods of Ostara?

Eggs and foods made with eggs are the most important foods for Ostara. Eggs are a symbol of fertility in both a literal way and a metaphorical one. They represent the potential for life as well as what is possible and coming to be as the wheel turns towards warmer days.

It’s the time when the world starts awakening with life. Plants are starting to peek out from the ground, baby animals are born, and when we get to enjoy sunnier days. If this all sounds a bit like Easter, you’d be correct. The Christian holiday was heavily influenced by the pagan one.

Ostara Recipes and Foods - Eggs — Photo by Євгенія Височина on Unsplash

Some traditional foods of Ostara include:

Eggs
Honey
Hot Cross Buns
Lemon
Sprouted Greens
Spring Greens
Asparagus
Violets
Lavender
Mint

Ostara Recipes

Some of these Ostara recipes are more traditional, while others are inspired by the foods enjoyed during the Spring Equinox. The most traditional food of Ostara are eggs. But, spring vegetables, bright foods like lemons, and sweet honey also represent the holiday.

1. Eggs

Eggs are a symbol of fertility and the central symbol of the spring holiday. Depending on the recipe, you can boil and decorate them first!

Ostara Recipes and Foods - Egg Salad Sandwich — *Photo Credit: Budget Delicious*

2. Honey

Like the coming of Spring, honey is sweet. It’s a great food to place on your altar in a small bowl or to enjoy as a way to sweeten the season.

Ostara Recipes and Foods - Fig Brie and Honey Tart — *Photo Credit: A Grateful Meal*

3. Hot Cross Buns

In modern times, we associate Hot Cross Buns with Christianity and the symbol of the cross. However, Gather Victoria suggests they have been incorporated into holiday festivals for much much longer.

“According to a variety of food scholars, early Goddesses such as Inanna, Ishtar, Isis, Hathor, Artemis, Aphrodite and Venus were all offered small round buns marked with a cross during springtime religious festivals.” The markings markings represent the lunar cycle.

Ostara Recipes and Foods - Hot Cross Buns — *Photo Credit: King Arthur*

4. Lemon

While many citrus fruits are considered winter produce, lemons also bloom in the spring. Their bright, refreshing flavor is evocative of the holiday and the season.

Ostara Recipes and Foods - Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes — *Photo Credit: Let’s Eat Cake*

5. Sprouted Greens and Spring Produce

Thanks to trade and modern technology, we can find most vegetables year round. But, these green vegetables are those that either first arrive or ripen during Spring. These include vegetables like asparagus, peas, cabbage, and greens like kale, mustard greens, and arugula.

Ostara Recipes and Foods - Asparagus and Mushroom Pasta — *Photo Credit: Recipes from a Pantry*

6. Violets

In Ireland, the dog violet blooms around March and in addition to being a gorgeous flower, it can be incorporated into recipes. In fact some of my favorite cookies have violets in them!

Ostara Recipes and Foods - wild violet cake — *Photo Credit: Fare Isle*

7. Lavender

Lavender is another flower and herb that begins blooming in mid-spring. It’s wonderful for adding to sachets and mojo bags but is also tasty in recipes. Just don’t go overboard with it unless you want your food to taste like soap.

Ostara Recipes and Foods - Lavender Lemonade — *Photo Credit: Aleka’s Get Together*

8. Mint

To me, mint feels like Spring. And that’s not just because Girl Scout Cookies are available. The fragrant herb is abundant all year round, but especially so in March and beyond.