First of all, before we get into the 8 must-know recipes for kids, Sara and I want to thank you from the VERY BOTTOM of our heart for your response to Giant Cookie Week last week! We were stunned by the response…seeing all your cookies and creativity and families made us SO happy and reminded us why we do this! So many of you said it was a welcome break and, honestly, it was for us, too–it reminded us why we’ve done this blog thing for so long! (If you missed those recipes, check out our Big Giant Chocolate Chip Cookie, Big Giant Peanut Butter Cookie, Big Giant Double Chocolate Fudge Cookie, Big Giant Snickerdoodle, and Big Giant Oatmeal Cookie.)
What’s next?
Sara and I have spent a lot of time talking about what kind of challenge we want to do next. Some of our ideas: cooking basics, a Chopped-style challenge, yeast bread bakealong (that would likely not be every day like the giant cookie because that’s a lot of bread, yo), and pantry cooking. But before we decide, we’d love to hear from you what you’d like to see, so either drop a comment here or pop over to Instagram (me! Sara!) Sara and I will meet up and announce a new challenge shortly!
One thing we keep coming back to is what we want our kids to know before they move away from home (which is getting to be an uncomfortably short amount of time that I’m trying not to think about ????). Obviously, this can be modified depending on your dietary preferences…if your family is vegetarian, you probably don’t need to teach them to cook a pot roast. And this is a basic list of some of the things my kids love the most, but it’s a great starting point!
8 Must-Know Recipes for Your Kids
- Scrambled Eggs. This is an old post that desperately needs a makeover, but the information is still good! Scrambled eggs are one of the most basic, essential recipes–they’re cheap, nutritious, and easy, but they’re one of the things that even lots of seasoned cooks still have trouble with. I share all my tips for light, fluffy, delicious scrambled eggs in that post!
- Pot Roast. Pot roast is one of my all-time favorite comfort foods, but it took me a long time to figure out how to make it right. This particular recipe uses a pressure cooker, but I also link to Sara’s recipe for oven-braised pot roast.
- Grilled cheese is another thing that I feel like every kid should know how to make, but lots of people with lots of experience in the kitchen still can’t get it right (I will 150% judge a restaurant on their ability to make grilled cheese…if they offer it, they’d better know how to do it right.) From a late-night dinner to the perfect breakup food, grilled cheese is comfort food at its finest.
- This Cream Green Chili Chicken Bake is something you could set your kids loose on in the kitchen and have it turn out great, which is a great way to build their confidence! I make mine in the crockpot instead of the oven and it’s a great way to make sure dinner is on the table at night (because sometimes I get to dinnertime and am really mad that I’m the one in charge of dinner.)
- Guiltless Alfredo Sauce. This sauce doesn’t taste even a little bit lower in fat, but it is! It teaches a lot of great kitchen skills, like thickening with flour, peeling, mincing and sautéing garlic, and cooking pasta.
- Fried Eggs. As my kids have gotten older, they tend to prefer fried eggs to scrambled and this is something I didn’t perfect until a few years ago. One thing every person should know–how to cook eggs the way they like them cooked.
- Blueberry Muffins. Muffins are one of the very first things I ever learned to cook, probably because they’re easy, cheap, and everyone loves them. This recipe for streusel-topped blueberry muffins is still my go-to!
- Buttermilk Pancakes. Pancakes are the VERY first thing I ever remember learning to cook–I still remember my mom telling me to watch the bubbles and when they popped and left a hole, it was time to flip them. This recipe is a little extra work, but definitely worth it (also, I used this recipe to teach my kids to separate eggs, which is now their new favorite trick!)
We hope you have an AMAZING week and please keep sharing with us pictures and videos of you and your family in the kitchen with our recipes!
Questions & Reviews
Hi Kate, these recipes look fun and easy to cook with kids. Thanks for sharing!
I like the muffin idea with just making a half dozen muffins. I also like the variety idea every day. So many options. I have found despite having more time at home, because all my young kiddos are here I am leaning more on “simple and easy” dinners. And because things are more simple my 11 year old is getting to help more.
Thanks for the fun cookie challenge! Another idea is smoothies and/or summertime/refreshing family drinks or popsicles? Different kinds of pancakes? Thanks for the fun!
Thank you so much! One of my kid’s goals this year was to learn some cooking/baking basics. I think cooking basics and pantry staples would be great!
What if it was some sort of somewhat basic food each day but something different? You would have to put out an ingredient list the week before probably. But like a pasta dish one day, a yeast bread type thing another, a breakfast dish, a pizza of some sort, and maybe a dessert for Friday?? We LOVED the cookies! My husband was thrilled to come home each day and have what little scrap was left. My waistline might not recover for a couple of weeks but I love any excuse to bake! Thank you!
You could do a muffin challenge with a recipe that just yields a half dozen muffins. The best part of the cookie challenge (other than getting a surprise recipe each day) was the small amounts that came with making just ONE cookie – made it super easy for the kids to measure and easy to sacrifice baking supplies if something didn’t turn out. 🙂
Love this idea!
Thank you for the big cookie challenge! We only had a chance to make a couple of those cookies from last week’s challenge, but I plan on compiling them all onto one document and putting it in my kid friendly recipe book along with the ones you shared in this post. I loved the easy to follow recipes and how simple it is to have a delicious cookie without having to dedicate the time to make and bake a full batch of cookies.
What about a mug cooking challenge? It could be dessert themed (cakes, brownies) or breakfast themed (muffins, egg scramble). Or just have mug be the theme and then you can do both.
What about a string of pasta dishes? That’s an easy thing for young people to do and would be easy to riff on with ingredients on hand. I just packaged up “giant cookie kits” for my niece and nephews who have May birthdays. Their mom will provide the butter, egg and vanilla but everything else is included for a fun treat!
A breakfast challenge would be amazing!