15 Minute Kid-Friendly Meals

There is something really special about watching your kid enjoy a bowl of wholesome homemade food all from fresh ingredients that they just love and lick the plate clean.

But let’s face it, most of the time it just doesn’t work that way. Either you’ve got 15 minutes to rustle up something quick, or you’ve slaved over the cooker only to have them chuck it at you from across the room.

So here are our parent's 15 minute kid-friendly meals that are guaranteed to be a hit!

Make-your-own Pizza

Our little ones love to feel like chefs and make-your-own pizzas are a fantastic way to get them involved and excited for meal time. For the base you can use a simple pitta bread, a pre-made base or even even cheaper if you have time is a quick dough.

To make 5 small pizzas we use 500g of strong flour, 1/2 tablespoon dry yeast and 400mL of warm water. Knead for five minutes and leave covered until you’re ready to use.

Give them a few bowls with fresh tomato sauce, cheese and toppings to choose from. Let their imaginations go wild with their designs. Pop them in the oven and cut them before giving them back their creations to gobble up!

Rainbow Salad

We’ve actually been really amazed by how willing kids are to try foods when there’s a choice and no pressure, especially if they see other kids doing the same! We make a ‘rainbow salad’ by simply chopping up a small amount of a few different vegetables, fruits, nuts, beans, potatoes, eggs, rice, and placing them in sections to choose from.

Chose-Your-Shapes Pasta

Another way for kids to feel part of cooking process is to allow them to choose ingredients. We have a few shapes of pasta and let the kids choose which they want. If your kids are anything like mine they still love to feed themselves, so choose small shapes like shells (Conchiglie), bows (Farfalle) or twirls (Fusilli) that they can easily get hold of.

A quick pasta sauce with fresh tomatoes and chopped or pureed veg is a great way to get fresh ingredients into a meal. Be careful to check the salt content if you use a pre-made pasta sauce.

Pancakes

Pancakes are a really handy way for kids to feed themselves. And you don’t have to limit yourself to the standard blueberry variety. I found savoury pancakes are a great way to incorporate new foods and always go down a storm at lunch and dinner time.

For a basic pancake mix to make around 10 pancakes I use 300g all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoons baking powder, 2 medium eggs, 300mL full-fat milk and 2 tbsp melted butter or olive oil.

Add whatever ingredients you fancy. We like cheese, finely chopped vegetables, mushrooms, chicken or ham. For desserts you can add fruits and seeds directly to the mix. Mix thoroughly and cook in a frying pan with a little extra butter or oil on a low heat.

Make them small enough for little hands to hold.

Pick & Mix Stir Fry

Noodles are a really fun food for kids. However I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything messier than a 2-year-old trying to eat a plate of saucy noodles. One way around it is to fry up your veg and protein into kid friendly sizes, keep a little sauce for them to dip into and your cooked noodles separate on a plate for them to pick from. It saves a lot of mess and they have as much joy eating them. Again, be careful of the salt content of soy and pre-made cooking sauces, use them very sparingly for young children.

We hope you found this article useful. You can find lots of great baby-friendly recipes here.

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