Czech Easter at the table: mazanec, lamb cakes and a day of willow whips

The bakeries fill up with golden loaves and little lambs. Bunches of willow twigs turn up on stalls. In a Czech household, Easter has a menu as well as a calendar.

Maundy Thursday: greens

Zelený čtvrtek (Green Thursday) is the day before Good Friday. Tradition says to eat green food: spinach, nettle soup, herbs, young greens. Some families bake jidáše, small twisted sweet buns. It is a way to mark the arrival of spring, and a reminder that a lot of Czech food customs are really seasonal ones.

Good Friday and Saturday

Good Friday is traditionally a quiet day with modest meals. On Saturday, families prepare for Sunday and Monday, boil and paint eggs, and bake.

Mazanec

Mazanec is a sweet bread, round and low, made with butter, raisins and almonds, and decorated with a cross cut into the top. It is eaten in slices, with butter or on its own. Bakeries sell them in the weeks before Easter, and many families bake their own.

It is close in spirit to the Christmas vánočka but has its own character: denser, rounder, less braided. See Czech sweets and pastries for the rest of the bakery counter.

Beránek, the lamb

The beránek is a lamb-shaped sponge or yeast cake, baked in a mould and decorated with a sugar glaze and a ribbon. The lamb is an old Christian symbol of Easter. You will find them in bakeries and supermarkets, in sizes from a palm to a small table centrepiece. Buy one if you want a table decoration that doubles as dessert.

Eggs

Eggs are the heart of the holiday. Hard-boiled eggs are painted, dyed, wrapped in wax patterns or decorated with scratches. In households you will see them in bowls, hung on branches or given as gifts. For decoration methods, see Czech Easter traditions.

Families often serve a festive Sunday meal with boiled eggs on the table, and menus vary by region and household. Do not expect a single standard dish; expect eggs, bread, something sweet and a lot of conversation.

Easter Monday and pomlázka

On Easter Monday, boys and men visit houses with a braided willow whip (pomlázka) and symbolically whip girls and women for health and youth. The women reward them with eggs, sweets or a small glass of spirit. The custom is lighter than it sounds, and today it is mostly playful. In cities you are likelier to see it in villages and among families. The cultural side is covered in the culture section; the table side is a plate of eggs and a bottle of something strong.

If you are a visitor and a group of children turns up at the door, now you know why. A few sweets or a painted egg is the right response, and a small drink for the adults.

If you are invited

Easter hospitality is relaxed compared with Christmas, but the same rules of good manners apply. Bring something small: a mazanec or a lamb cake from a bakery is a natural gift, and chocolate eggs for children are always welcome. Accept the first plate of food. In Czech homes, a refusal can sound final, and a host will usually offer again. If there is a glass of something strong on offer on Monday, you may take a sip and set it down; nobody counts.

If you want to join the customs without a home to visit, the Easter markets are the easiest route, and a decorated egg makes a better souvenir than most things sold on the squares.

Drinks

Slivovice and other fruit spirits turn up on Easter Monday, as do beer and wine. See slivovice and Czech fruit brandy for how the small glass works. Sipping is fine, and so is a polite refusal.

Easter markets

Prague holds Easter markets in spring. They sell painted eggs, crafts, sausages and sweets. Dates and locations change from year to year, so check the official visitor site (as of 2026; check the official source). They are a good place to buy a decorated egg or a pomlázka as a souvenir, and to taste seasonal food without being invited to a home.

Common mistakes

The first is forgetting that the dates move. Easter falls on a different date each year, so the Thursday-to-Monday sequence moves with it, and you cannot plan by the calendar of last year. The second is assuming shops and restaurants keep normal hours: check, especially around Good Friday and Easter Monday. The third is taking the pomlázka custom too literally or too seriously. It is a playful tradition, and the right reaction is to laugh and offer something sweet.

Frequently asked questions

What do Czechs eat at Easter?

Mazanec (a sweet bread), a lamb-shaped cake (beránek), boiled and painted eggs, and green food on Maundy Thursday.

What is pomlázka?

A braided willow whip. On Easter Monday boys and men visit houses and symbolically whip girls and women, who give eggs, sweets or a small drink.

When is Easter Monday?

The date changes each year, so check the calendar.

Where can I buy mazanec in Prague?

At bakeries, and in the weeks before Easter also at markets and supermarkets.

Are there Easter markets in Prague?

Yes, in spring. Dates and locations change, so check the official visitor site.

Do this today

Look up the date of next Easter, find a bakery that sells mazanec, and ask when they start. If you want to bake, buy raisins and almonds in March.