Kids love to be in the kitchen with their parents as they are always curious about how to prepare food. However, you need to be very careful when your little ones are around with you while you cook. Fortunately, you can involve them in cooking some easy and safe recipes while also encouraging them to serve from a casserole. It is a great experience for both of you and you can find a lot of ideas for elementary, middle, and high school kids. Like any activity you do with kids, cooking can also be super fun when done with safety.
If you want to involve your little ones in the kitchen, it can be one of the most enjoyable activities. Every child should experience cooking and also understand that kitchen is not a place reserved just for mom. So, here we’ve listed 10 easy recipes that you can cook together with your little champs and enjoy the moment…
1. Garlic Broccoli Subs
One of the best ways to encourage kids to eat green vegetables is by making them cook something loaded with veggies. Garlic broccoli subs are easy to make and you can also include any vegetable of your choice. The warm broccoli with cool and creamy cheese that is pickled with vegetables on crusty bread will make a delicious dish. Ask your little one to help hack up the broccoli for roasting and also mix up the cheese for the subs.
2. One-Pot Baked Potato Soup
One-pot recipes are great to start with kids and you can also keep the dish in a casserole or hot case for binge eating. This is a simple dish with minimum ingredients and does not requires much preparation. Your kid can help add ingredients to the pot for this creamy soup made with potatoes or frozen has browns. The tiniest chef can help with cutting the potatoes or green onions and mash the finished soup. You can also involve them in serving hot soup from a casserole, while on your dining table.
3. Cheesy Quesadillas
A delicious and nutritious recipe that you can try with your kid as this perfectly crisp quesadilla does not require master chef skills. You can ask your kids to grate cheese and mix the vegetables of their choice for quesadillas. This is a simple recipe but you need to be careful if kids are helping you out with chopping veggies as it is important to monitor them when they have a knife in hand.
4. French Bread Pesto Pizza
One of the great recipes to start with if your kids are insisting to cook pizza. French bread pizza does not require to wrestle with the dough as it can easily be prepared with bread and some veggies or chicken whatever you like. Your kids can easily assemble the bread pizza alone as all they have to do is slice the bread and set it on the baking sheet. Make sure you do the baking part and let the kids do the topping later.
5. South Indian Food
South Indian food such as dosas, idli, vada, etc is easy to make and you kids can help cook them. You can ask for your kid’s help to chop the vegetables and mix the batter as they are fuss-free to make. You can also use a readymade batter to start with and ask your little ones to whip it up. Idli is a healthy dish and cooking, serving from a casserole such recipes with the tiniest chefs will encourage healthy eating habits.
6. Curd Rice
Kids often love one-pot dishes and curd rice is easy to make dish that they will love to prepare and eat. It is truly comfort food and tastes great when served with pickle or chutney or vegetables. Your kids can help you with chopping the vegetables or fruits and mix rice with the curd. They can also help put the dish in a serving bowl and top-it-up with their favorite ingredients such as herbs or fruits.
7. Sandwiches
Most kids and even adults love sandwiches and there are many different ways you can make them. Also, this is one of the easiest recipes to start with when you are thinking about inviting your little champ to help with cooking. Sandwiches are simple and only require a few ingredients and you can come up with any fun combination with your kids. Ask them to cut the bread, mix up the ingredients, and spread on the bread to make sandwiches.
8. Burgers
Burgers are everyone’s favorite and an outstanding recipe to go with when your kids are insisting to help you out in the kitchen. You can ask your kids to use their favorite ingredients such as green vegetables, cheese, etc, and make delicious burgers with bursting flavors. Kids can help with chopping vegetables, onions, tomatoes, lettuce, etc, and spread creamy delicious dressing to make that perfect burger.
9. Cookies
An ultimate way to satisfy those sweet cravings is by letting your kids make cookies at home. This will serve two purposes – encouraging your kids to cook and make their favorite cookies at home using healthy ingredients. This is a great way to introduce kids to cooking as making cookies does not require much preparation or frying. From chocolate chips to sugar cookies, there are many recipes for kids that you can try.
10. Pasta
A popular dish among kids that they can also help you with cooking and another best thing about it is that you can add all the healthy ingredients to it. The wondrous shapes and chewy texture of pasta make it an interesting dish and when mixed with colorful veggies, cream, and herby sauces, it becomes super delicious. Your kids can help with cutting and mixing ingredients for this casserole dish.
Letting your kids help in the kitchen will make them more responsible and encourage healthy eating habits. However, there are some precautions about letting kids cook such as…
- Avoid recipes with deep frying.
- Teach your little ones to follow sanitary rules.
- Teach them about the dangers of fires and using an extinguisher.
- Always monitor kids while they’re in the kitchen.
- Do not let them use extra-sharp knives or tools.
- Start with just mixing up the ingredients or topping.
If you want to encourage healthy eating habits, it is also good to invest in some good-quality casserole set and a steel casserole would be an ideal choice. This will help keep the food warm for hours and you won’t need to reheat anything again and again.