Healthy Dinner Recipes That Kids & Toddlers Will Love
It can be a real challenge getting your kids to embrace a healthy meal with plenty of veggies on the side. A balanced diet is so important for your kids, but it’s pretty common for them to push away a plate of broccoli and salad.
Thankfully, here’s everything you need to know about how to make healthy recipes for kids. Discover these top tips and tricks for cooking vegetables and find out how to whip up some super healthy and tasty soup.
Easy dinner recipes for kids that are fun too
Kids refusing to eat veggies is a really common issue that has many parents tearing their hair out and trying to find creative ways to add these goodies into meals. Aside from bribing them with rewards, one of the easiest ways to make vegetables for toddlers and children is to arrange them in a way that makes them look fun, colorful and tempting to eat. Have a look at the following top tips for getting creative when it comes to preparing vegetables for kids:
· Create a yummy spaceship with crackers for the aircraft, cucumber sticks for the legs and cherry tomato halves for the top.
· Have some cookie cutters lying around? Use them to make your vegetables look more enticing – watermelon and cucumber are ideal for this. Slice your vegetable into circles and use a heart or star shaped cookie cutter to make some fun shapes out of them.
· Raw vegetables make for a very spooky skeleton, great for Halloween! Sticks of celery, peppers, carrots and cucumbers make perfect ribs, spines, arms and legs.
· Get your kids excited about veggies and turn them into homeade chips!
Fresh homemade soups are another great way to get more vegetables into your children’s diets. They can be full of fiber and vitamins and are filling when served with a side of bread. All you need to do is put your veggies into the soup maker – it does all of the work for you, including the heating and blending and it’s faster than a stovetop*. This clever little gadget will have fresh, colorful soup ready in as little as 18 minutes, without the need for multiple pots and pans!
Kid-friendly soup – easy tomato
Another tasty soup for kids is this easy-to-make tomato soup. This yummy soup only needs three ingredients, so not only is it full of vitamins and flavor, but it’s really easy to make, too. Make it a fan favorite and pair with a grilled cheese sandwich.
Ingredients:
0.5 large onion, chopped
2 medium tomatoes, chopped or 1 cup of cherry tomatoes
Fresh basil, chopped
Pinch of sea salt
To make the soup: Fry the onion in a little olive oil until soft. Add the chopped tomatoes and simmer for around 40 minutes. If you have a soup maker, put your ingredients into the appliance and let it do its thing! Making soup your kids will like has never been easier.
Because smoothies taste so good and look really colorful, your child won’t even notice that they’re enjoying something packed with goodness and vitamins. And once your smoothie creation is topped off with a pretty paper straw and a colorful umbrella, your kids won’t be able to resist!
Top tip: Use a quality, high speed blender to make your smoothie smoother – and even more nutritious!
Berry smoothie
Ingredients for 3 child-size portions:
· 0.66 cup raspberries
· 0.66 cup blueberries
· 0.66 cup strawberries or blackberries
· 1 pear
· 7 oz milk or plant-based milk like almond milk, coconut milk or oat milk.
To make the smoothie: If you’re using frozen berries, let them defrost for around 15 minutes before blending them. Wash and peel the pear, cut into pieces and blend together with the berries and the milk. If you find that your kids can’t get enough of yummy berries, check out this recipe for a smoothie with fruits and oatmeal.
Frog Prince with kiwi and banana
Ingredients for 2 child-size portions:
· 1 banana
· 1 kiwi
· 1 tbsp oats
· 6 oz freshly squeezed orange juice or natural cloudy apple juice
Preparation:
Peel the kiwi and banana, cut into small pieces and puree in a blender. On hot summer days, you can make delicious smoothie ice cream as a healthy treat. Creamy smoothies with banana, milk or yogurt will work best for this, as the water content is low and better for freezing. To make this for your kids, pour your freshly made smoothie into ice cream moulds before freezing for at least six hours.
