Is Ham The Best Choice For Easter Dinner This Year?

Families all over the Cowboy State will gather and break bread in celebration of Easter this weekend. The question that keeps popping up is what will be the main dish on tables this year?

In my family, we don't have many food traditions outside of Turkey, except for Thanksgiving and Ham at Easter. After looking into the numbers, my family is right on par with other families in Wyoming.

Even though ham is popular, not all ham is created equally. You could have a honey glazed ham, smoked ham, country ham, fresh ham, cured ham, canned ham, bone-in ham, or blackforest ham to name a few. Regardless of what you eat, you can rest assured that ham is likely to be on your menu.

The reason ham is so popular at Easter is tradition, as it's more affordable than lamb. As the price of lamb began to rise, pigs were cheaper, and most were slaughtered in the fall and cured through the winter months. In the early days, refrigeration wasn't arond, so curing meat was a way to prepare it and make it last.

So, that means that by the time Easter rolls around, the ham is ready to be eaten. Hence, the reason ham is the most popular Easter main dish.

Boom! The history around ham at Easter.

Even though ham is highly popular in Wyomnig, other options will be on the Easter dinner table. I conducted an unofficial poll on the most popular Easter foods, and here are the results.