Explore some unique French Easter traditions – including my favorite Easter foods in France – and get inspired for your own celebration.

Springtime in France is one of my favorite times of year! The trees are blossoming, café terraces are buzzing, and chocolate shops are suddenly teeming with…fish? And bells? Welcome to Easter in France! 

Known as “Pâques,” French Easter celebrations combine family, faith, folklore, and – bien sûr – delicious food. As an American pastry chef living in France, I’ve come to love this country’s Easter traditions. So today, I’m sharing some of my favorites!

I hope these French Easter food ideas and other local traditions help you find new ways to celebrate the holiday in your own home.

My Favorite French Traditions for Easter

Let’s start with a few of the ways France celebrates the Easter season. While some of these traditions may sound similar to your own holiday, others are uniquely French!

Chasse aux Oeufs (Easter Egg Hunts)

Like many places around the world, kids in France eagerly wake up on Easter morning to search gardens and parks for hidden treasures. But don’t expect plastic eggs here—oh non. French egg hunts are full of real-deal, high-quality chocolate eggs and other chocolate treats, including bunnies, bells and even sea creatures.

Les Cloches de Pâques (The Easter Bells)

Forget the Easter Bunny! Throughout much of France, Easter magic flies in on bells. Yes, bells! 

According to tradition, all the church bells in France stop ringing before Good Friday, when they fly to Rome to be blessed by the Pope. As the story goes, the bells return to France on Easter morning, ringing in the holiday and bringing with them gifts for children. 

Shops even sell beautiful chocolate bells wrapped in gold foil. This is a delightfully sweet tradition that is so very French.

Easter Monday

France celebrates Easter not just on Sunday, but Monday, too. It’s a national holiday, which means schools and offices are closed and families typically enjoy a long, lazy meal together. 

The origins of Easter Monday trace back to the Middle Ages, when the eight days following Easter Sunday were a time of celebration known as the “Octave of Easter.” Masses would be held daily and some people would even use this time to pilgrimage to Rome.

The full week celebration ended in the early 1800s under Napoleon’s rule, but Easter Monday remains a public holiday to this day. It’s one of the most beloved French Easter traditions!

French Easter Food Traditions

All right, now we’re getting to the good stuff – the food! French Easter food traditions are some of my favorites. They are a celebration of spring, family, and incredible French cooking. 

Here are some of the dishes I look forward to most:

French Easter Breakfast Traditions

Easter morning calls for a leisurely breakfast or brunch, and in my house, that means pastries – lots of them! 

Think croissants (you can even try these Bunny Croissants for Easter), buttery brioches (sometimes topped with flowers or powdered sugar!), and maybe a batch of my Berry Nice Scones to serve with tea or coffee.

Omelets are another popular option for Easter brunch or a heartier breakfast. In fact, people in the southwest city of Bessières, France, have been making a giant omelette – using 15,000 eggs! – every Easter Monday since the 1970s!

Traditional French Easter Dinner

The heart of a French Easter menu is typically lamb, usually a roasted leg (gigot) cooked with garlic, olive oil, and herbs de Provence. 

It’s often served with springtime vegetables like asparagus, flageolet beans, baby potatoes, and sometimes radishes with butter or soft leeks in vinaigrette. 

You might also find Pâté de Pâques, a rustic puff pastry filled with seasoned meat and hard-boiled eggs. Oeufs mimosa, French-style delivered eggs, are also a popular addition to a French Easter menu.

French Easter Desserts

Now for the best part (you saw this coming, right?) – dessert! French Easter desserts are a celebration of chocolate, spring produce, and sweet tradition. They’re also one of my favorite French Easter traditions!

Some of my favorite Easter desserts in France include:

Le Lammele (Easter Lamb Cake): This dish is a simple brioche baked in a mold and shaped like a lamb. It is dusted with powdered sugar and is light, sweet and charmingly old-fashioned. It’s also easy to make – as long as you have the lamb baking mold! You can find them in specialty stores around Easter time or online. 

In some parts of France, you’ll also see this dish made as a sponge cake baked in a lamb mold instead of brioche.

Nid de Pâques: A bundt cake frosted to look like a bird’s nest, complete with candy eggs nestled in buttercream. This dish is a real showstopper and you’ll often see these in bakeries and pastry shops leading up to the Easter holiday.

Chocolate Candy: Like many places around the world, chocolate eggs are a popular pick for a simple Easter treat. But in France, you’ll also find chocolate bells, hens, bunnies and even fish!

The fish is a traditional Christian symbol, and it’s not hard to find chocolate shaped like fish and other sea creatures in your favorite chocolatier this time of year.

Chocolate Everything: Chocolate is a popular French Easter food, even beyond candy. It’s common to see chocolate cakes and other desserts gracing the Easter table. Try my rich Chocolate Mousse Cake for a delicious treat.

Fruit-Filled Favorites: It’s also common to enjoy fruit-filled spring tarts for Easter in France. Try La Fénêtra, an apricot tart, or go for a classic Almond Fruit Tart or a tangy Bergamot Curd Tart.

Carrot Cake Variations: This tradition comes more from my American background, but I love serving carrot cake at Easter – even here in France. Try my Mini Easter Carrot Cakes – decorated to look like birds’ nests! – or my Carrot Cake Cinnamon Cheesecake or Carrot Cake with Goat Cheese Frosting for a fun twist.

Celebrate Your Own French Easter

Whether it’s bells flying through the sky, chocolate fish or the smell of lamb roasting in the oven, Easter in France is a joyful celebration filled with sweetness. 

I hope this little glimpse into French Easter traditions inspires you to bring a touch of that joy into your own celebration – and maybe bake something new this year. Joyeuses Pâques!