Healthy Recipes You Can Cook with Your Kids
With many schools now closed due to the current COVID-19 outbreak, you may be looking for activities to keep your children active, engaged and entertained.
Although many activities can keep children busy, cooking is one of the best options, as it is both fun and educational.
Cooking may help develop problem-solving skills and hand-eye coordination, increase confidence, and even improve diet quality by encouraging fruit and vegetable intake.
However, it is important to choose age-appropriate recipes and assign safe kitchen tasks for your child to handle.
1. Overnight oats
Overnight oats are an oatmeal dish that you prepare ahead and refrigerate overnight — with no cooking required.
Not only can pre-making nutritious breakfast options save you time, but choosing dishes that children can make themselves may also help your kids get excited about preparing healthy food.
Overnight oats are simple and appropriate for all ages. Plus, they’re easy to individualize, allowing kids to be creative and try out different nutrient-dense toppings like berries, nuts, coconut, and seeds.
Try out these easy, kid-approved recipes with your children. They can participate by measuring, pouring, and chopping ingredients, depending on their age. Let your kids jazz up their oats by choosing toppings of their own.
2. Strawberry and cantaloupe yogurt pops
Most kids love fruit, which is why strawberry and cantaloupe yogurt pops make a perfect snack.
Strawberries and cantaloupe are both loaded with fiber, vitamin C, and folate, a B vitamin that’s important for growth and development.
Dipping fruit in protein-packed yogurt ups its nutrient content and boosts feelings of fullness.
This easy recipe is appropriate for children of all ages. Kids can cut the fruit, dip it in the yogurt, and slide the fruit onto popsicle sticks, depending on their age.
3. One bowl banana bread
Many banana bread recipes require multiple steps that can leave your kitchen a mess.
Notably, this healthy recipe requires just one bowl and is kid-friendly.
It’s high in protein, fiber, and healthy fats thanks to its almond flour, eggs, and flax meal. As such, it’s sure to keep your little ones satisfied between meals.
Plus, the dark chocolate chips and banana give this bread a hint of sweetness.
Have your children mash the bananas, measure ingredients, and fold the chocolate chips into the batter. Once it’s out of the oven, they can top their slices with nut butter for a boost of protein.
4. Ants on a log
Ants on a log, which combines crunchy celery, smooth or chunky nut butter, and sweet, chewy raisins, is a classic snack for many kids.
All you need are those three basic ingredients, though you can also spice things up. Let your kids get involved by spreading their favorite nut butter onto the celery and sprinkling fun toppings, such as chocolate chips, granola, and fresh or dried fruit, onto the “logs.”
If your child has a nut allergy, you can fill the celery with cottage cheese, cream cheese, or even mashed avocado for a more savory twist.
This recipe offers many variations of ants on a log sure to please even the pickiest of eaters.
5. Guacamole
Avocados are one of the healthiest foods you can eat. They’re an excellent source of healthy fats, fiber, and micronutrients like potassium, folate, and vitamins C and E.
Plus, their smooth, creamy texture can be a hit with kids, especially when made into guacamole and paired with tortilla chips or veggie sticks.
Guacamole is a breeze to make and can be modified depending on your child’s tastes. For example, you can add veggies like onions and tomatoes to the mix, as well as fresh herbs like cilantro.
Kids can have a blast mashing the avocados with a handheld masher or old-fashioned mortar and pestle.
Here’s a kid-friendly guacamole recipe that your whole family will love.
6. Mini Eggplant Pizza
This mini eggplant pizza recipe is perfect for kids and parents alike.
Eggplant is used in place of pizza dough as a base, which can help increase your child’s intake of vegetables.
Kids of all ages can participate by brushing eggplant slices with tomato sauce and covering them with cheese. More adventurous people can try different toppings such as olives or anchovies.
7. Kid-friendly green juices
Smoothies are an excellent way to introduce more fruits, vegetables and other healthy ingredients into your child’s diet.
This green smoothie recipe is naturally sweetened with frozen fruit and contains a healthy dose of fat and protein from nutritious toppings like Greek yogurt and avocado.
In addition, fresh greens give this juice an attractive hue.
Your kids can help by washing and chopping the ingredients and adding them to the blender.
8. Rainbow spring coil
Although many kids hate vegetables, and introduce vegetables to your kids for fun, exciting ways can make them more willing to try new foods.
The clear rice paper used to make spring rolls allows the colorful ingredients inside to sparkle, providing a visually appealing meal or snack for kids. In addition, spring rolls are easy to make and very versatile.
Your kids can help with a spiralizer to create long, thin strands of vegetables, layer ingredients in rice paper crusts, and mix up delicious dipping sauces.
Carrots, zucchini, and cucumbers are good choices for making snails. If you like, you can add protein sources like chicken or shrimp to make the rolls more filling.
Here is the recipe for spring roll suitable for children.
9. Chocolate chip dough without baking
If you’re looking for a delicious dessert for your kids that isn’t full of added sugar and artificial ingredients, try this chocolate chip cookie dough recipe.
It’s loaded with healthy ingredients like almond butter, coconut milk, and raisins and sweetened with honey and dark chocolate chips.
Moreover, it requires no baking, uses only one bowl, and takes only 10 minutes to prepare. Kids can help by flipping the ingredients and forming dough balls.
10. Apple Pie in a Jar
This hearty recipe uses ingredients like almond flour, eggs, honey, apple, and coconut oil to create a nutrient-rich snack.
While most desserts rely on refined ingredients, such as white flour and vegetable oil, these mini apple pies are more beneficial.
Kids can get rolling by rolling the dough into individual balls, stirring ingredients, and assembling pie jars.
11. Vegetable omelette
Kids can learn a lot about cooking by making omelettes. Plus, it’s customizable and packed with nutrients essential for growth.
For example, eggs are often considered a multivitamin in nature because they contain many vitamins and minerals, including choline, iron, and vitamins A, B12, and E, all of which are essential for children’s health.
Adding colorful vegetables like peppers and greens enhances the nutritional value of the omelette.
On top of that, kids are likely to enjoy cracking eggs, whisking ingredients, and frying makings on the stove. Older children can even be tasked with making their own omelettes from start to finish.
Check out this vegetable omelette recipe for some ideas.
12. Healthy Cheese Crackers
Some common snacks marketed to children, such as cheesecake crackers, are full of additives such as unhealthy oils, preservatives, and artificial flavors and colors.
However, you and your kids can make healthy snack alternatives at home using simple, nutritious ingredients.
This recipe for cheesecake biscuits uses only four ingredients, including real cheddar cheese and whole grain flour. Your kids can cut the dough into fun shapes before baking it.
13. Colorful salad jars
Making colorful salad jars with your kids is an excellent way to motivate kids to eat more vegetables.
If your child is a picky eater, making vegetables more visually appealing and giving your child frequent opportunities to try them may boost vegetable intake.
Moreover, research shows that children prefer sweet vegetables over sweet ones, so mixing sweet and sour varieties in one dish may diversify your child’s diet.
Have your kids help you put vegetables and other healthy ingredients like beans, seeds, chicken, and eggs into mason jars. Allow your child to choose the vegetables he prefers, but encourage him to mix bitter and sweet vegetables.
14. Frozen Yogurt Pops
Many ice creams and yogurts are filled with added sugar, artificial colorings, and sweeteners. Since these ingredients should be limited in kids’ meals, consider eliminating store-bought ones and asking your kids to help make homemade nutrient-rich yogurt balls.
This frozen yogurt recipe uses yogurt that is full of protein and is naturally sweetened with frozen fruit and a little honey.
Kids can help by gathering ingredients, pouring fruit puree and yogurt into paper cupcake liners, and opening the tray in the freezer.
15. Sweet Potato Nachos
Sweet potatoes are a favorite of many kids because of their sweet taste and bright colour. It’s also highly nutritious, providing high amounts of beta-carotene, fiber, and vitamin C (12Trusted Source).
To make nutrient-dense nachos, replace regular corn flakes with sweet potatoes.
Kids can put on healthy toppings of their choice, such as sauce, cheese, black beans, and peppers.