The least seed oil Easter
The ham is rarely the problem, and neither is the basket. Most of the seed oil at Easter rides in on the fat the brunch is cooked in: the pan for the potatoes and eggs, the dough for the biscuits and the cake. Know where it hides, then swap the easy ones.
Easter Sunday is March 28, 2027 (date source). New to seed oils? Start with what they are, then come back.
One Easter brunch plate, two ways
One serving of each:
- Ham steak, 4 oz
- Scrambled eggs, 2 eggs
- Roasted potatoes, 1 cup
- Biscuits, 1 biscuit
Our estimates: each dish from the table the app's Cook at home screen uses, its own ingredients plus its usual added fat.
Where the seed oil hides at brunch
| Dish | Serving | With vegetable oil or margarine | With butter | Where it hides |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scrambled eggs | 2 eggs | 4.5 g | 2.1 g | oil or margarine in the pan |
| Hash browns | 1 cup | 10.2 g | 0.6 g | the oil they are cooked in |
| Roasted potatoes | 1 cup | 7.7 g | 0.5 g | vegetable oil on the pan |
| Biscuits | 1 biscuit | 3.3 g | 0.9 g | the shortening or margarine in the dough |
| Dinner roll | 1 roll | 1.7 g | 0.5 g | the oil or shortening in the dough |
| Pancakes | 3 pancakes | 4.0 g | 1.6 g | the oil in the batter and on the griddle |
| Waffles | 2 waffles | 7.0 g | 2.2 g | the oil in the batter and on the iron |
| French toast | 2 slices | 4.5 g | 2.1 g | margarine or oil on the griddle |
| Eggs Benedict | 2 halves | 12.7 g | 3.1 g | the hollandaise, if it is made with margarine or oil |
| Deviled eggs | 2 halves | 3.5 g | 1.1 g | the mayonnaise |
| Banana bread | 1 slice | 5.8 g | 1.0 g | vegetable oil in the batter |
| Yellow cake with frosting | 1 slice | 8.0 g | 0.8 g | oil in the batter and shortening in the frosting |
| Cheesecake | 1 slice | 3.3 g | 0.9 g | margarine in the crust |
Our estimates. Each dish gets its usual added fat (the app's Cook at home numbers), made once with a vegetable oil blend and once with butter.
The basket, an ounce at a time
Easter candy is mostly sugar, so its polyunsaturated fat is small. These are USDA measurements for the candies our grocery data has, an ounce each. The ones with peanuts come out higher.
- Marshmallows, 1 oz (28g): 0.0 gUSDA
- Skittles, 1 oz (28g): 0.0 gUSDA
- Kit Kat bar, 1 oz (28g): 0.3 gUSDA
- M&M's milk chocolate, 1 oz (28g): 0.3 gUSDA
- Milk chocolate, 1 oz (28g): 0.4 gUSDA
- Reese's Pieces, 1 oz (28g): 0.5 gUSDA
- Peanut M&M's, 1 oz (28g): 1.0 gUSDA
- Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, 1 oz (28g): 1.5 gUSDA
A plain ounce of milk chocolate is 0.4 g and an ounce of peanut butter cups 1.5 g. A stack of pancakes cooked in a vegetable oil blend is 4.0 g (our estimate), so the brunch table matters more than the basket.
Want more label checks? See the grocery aisles ranked and the skip this, pick this swaps.
The easy swap is the fat
Biscuits, hash browns and the cake all start with a spread or an oil. A tablespoon of each, from the USDA and the product's label:
- Butter, 1 tbsp: 0.5 gUSDA
- Soft margarine (80% vegetable oil), 1 Tbsp (14 g): 6.0 gFrom the label
Butter is 0.5 g and soft margarine 6.0 g. Use butter in the pan and the dough and the brunch table drops a lot.
Eating out on Easter Sunday
These chains were named as open on Easter Sunday 2026 in news roundups; hours vary by location, so call ahead. Grams come from each chain's own nutrition guide.
Sources for the open-on-the-day list: TODAY (April 4, 2026), Cheapism (April 5, 2026).
Five easy Easter swaps
- Cook the eggs and potatoes in butter. Scrambled eggs come to 4.5 g in a vegetable oil blend and 2.1 g in butter, and roasted potatoes 7.7 g against 0.5 g (our estimates).
- Make the biscuits with butter: one biscuit is 3.3 g the usual way and 0.9 g with butter (our estimate).
- Order the ham: at Denny's a grilled ham slice is 0.8 g and at Waffle House city ham is 0.9 g.
- Skip the hash browns and casseroles when you can: at Cracker Barrel the loaded hashbrown casserole tots are 48.6 g.
- Let the basket be: it is the small number on the table.
Then next January: Half by February
When you want a plan, the four week plan to cut your seed oil in half is in the app every January. See the plan.
Download for iPhone Get it on Google Play
Free to download.
Common questions
Is the Easter ham high in seed oil?
Not by itself. At Denny's a grilled ham slice is 0.8 g and at Waffle House city ham is 0.9 g, from each chain's own nutrition guide. The sides and the baking are where it adds up. See what counts as a seed oil.
Is the Easter candy a seed oil problem?
It is a small number. By the USDA numbers an ounce of milk chocolate is 0.4 g and an ounce of peanut butter cups is 1.5 g. See more skip this, pick this swaps.
Are the restaurant numbers exact?
They are worked out from each chain's own published nutrition, item by item. Long-press any item in the app to see how. See how the numbers work.
Does the app cost anything?
The tracker is free. You can download Seed Oil Tracker for free, and logging your meals, the restaurant report cards, the order builder, the barcode scanner and your goal plan all stay free. Premium is optional. It adds a few extras and helps support the project.
More guides
Seed Oil Tracker doesn't tell you what to eat. It shows you the grams so you can pick your own number. Curious about the research? Read the studies on both sides.