5 Foods We Love Cooking With Our Kids
Want to cook with your kids? It's doable, we promise. Here's how to cook with little ones without wanting to tear your hair out.
Cooking with kids can be a case of good intentions gone awry. Not only is the kitchen full of hazards, but the splatters and spills and smashes can make the phrase “foods we love cooking with kids” sound like a contradiction rather than inspiration. Panic no more, however, with smart advice from HexClad recipe developer Lauryn Tyrell, who makes cooking with kids sound both fun and doable.
“The key is to find ways to have a successful dinner that the kids will actually eat,” said Tyrell. This means choosing dishes that give kids agency. They’re more likely to eat food they’ve had a part in, she stresses. That’s the case with all the recipes below, which are a combination of choose-your-own adventure dinners, French toast that even the youngest kids can put together, and a pasta recipe with kid-sized meatballs.
“There’s so much to do when the kids are back in school,” said Tyrell, stressing the ways that kids are just along for the ride throughout their days. Cooking is a time when they can make small choices that make them feel like they have a say in their lives.”
5 RECIPES THAT ARE GREAT FOR MAKING WITH YOUR KIDS
MINI PIZZA NIGHT
Forget the wan pita pizzas that so many websites will tell you to cook with kids. Kids love the tactile nature of pizza dough, and you don’t even have to make your own (though if you want to, we’ve included the recipe for that).
Tyrell suggests heading to your local pizza joint and buying fresh dough from them. “It’s like five bucks and usually better than the grocery store,” said Tyrell. Plus, it requires no forethought to defrost frozen dough.
You’ll place individual rounds of dough on a cold—not preheated—HexClad Hybrid Pizza Steel and let each kid assemble their own pizza without worrying about a hot pizza stone. Let kids get creative with toppings, offering everything from standard faves like sausage and pepperoni to more “grown-up” ingredients like pesto.
Get the 101 on Mini Pizza Night.
CHEESE CRUSTED QUESADILLAS
Want to get your kids excited about eating? Throw in a cheese pull, said Tyrell. “If you can figure out one little thing to get them excited about, they’re way more enthusiastic about eating.” So, with these cheese-crusted quesadillas, we’re talking gooey cheese stretching from bite to bite. But, said Tyrell, it could be a “funny little gag or a spin on the food that makes them feel more emotionally engaged."
Get the recipe for Cheese Crusted Quesadillas.
CINNAMON SUGAR FRENCH TOAST STICKS
Even if your kids are very young, says Tyrell, they can crack eggs. Her now-five-year-old started whisking eggs at two. “French toast is a fun little bit of alchemy,” said Tyrell. “Kids get to watch it turn into something new.” As for you? You get to use up leftover bread, whether it’s a loaf of stale challah, brioche, homemade sourdough, or plain sandwich bread.
Get the recipe for Cinnamon Sugar French Toast Sticks.
RICE PAPER ROLLS FOR KIDS
Rice paper rolls might be the ultimate choose-your-own-adventure food, said Tyrell. Hand rolls don’t have to be fancy, she said. These customizable rolls are cheap, fast, fresh, healthy, and beautiful—everything you could want your kids to eat. “It hits all the spots,” said Tyrell. “They can use their hands to eat it, there’s a sauce for them to dip it in, it hits all the spots.”
Get the recipe for Rice Paper Rolls For Kids.
SPAGHETTI & MINI MEATBALLS
Following the theory that kids like food that they’ve been involved with better, why not let them shape the meatballs for this easy spaghetti and meatballs recipe? The recipe serves just two adults, but expect it to be enough for three to four hungry little ones, or two school-age kids. Though spaghetti is classic, consider letting your kids select the pasta shape, following Tyrell’s tip to increase kids’ sense of control with food wherever you can.
Get the recipe for Spaghetti & Mini Meatballs.
