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Living Well Mom

Simple, easy, and natural ways to care for your family.

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18 Easy Kid Friendly Meals

By Erika in Dinner

round upThis post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

What are fun and healthy meals that kids will actually eat? These kid friendly meals are good for kids and they taste delicious too!

Thinking of meals that kids will enjoy eating is easy enough. But add in the requirement that they are actually healthy too, and the challenge gets leveled up quite a bit. So many healthy meals just don’t look appetizing to kids, and you can only squeeze so many nutrients into mac and cheese and chicken nuggets.

Thankfully, there are tons of healthy recipes out there that your kids will love – and I found a bunch of them for you.

close up of rice casserole this idea now...

Easy Meals For Kids

We all know that kids’ tastes change from day to day. There is just no telling what they are going to like next week. This is actually a good thing because it means you can keep introducing healthy foods like vegetables and fruits in different ways and you’ll eventually find something they like!

It also means you shouldn’t labor for hours in the kitchen over something they might not enjoy. When it comes to making kid-friendly meals, the keyword is “easy.” In fact, if you keep the recipes simple, kids will enjoy them more! Aren’t kids great? 🙂

That’s why the recipes on this list are all so easy. You get to spend more time with your kiddos and less time cooking – plus they will enjoy these delicious recipes too! Mom win!

Questions About Meals For Kids

First of all, you may have some questions about cooking for kids. No sweat! Here are some of the common questions people ask. If you don’t see your question in this list, please leave it in the comments so I can answer it!

How Do You Get Kids To Eat Their Vegetables?

This is tough because it depends on the reason the kids don’t enjoy the vegetables. For some, it’s a texture thing. Some kids prefer raw spinach to frozen or canned spinach just because it’s not as slimy.

The best thing you can do is just keep offering vegetables in different ways. If they didn’t like the raw veggies with dip, maybe try chopping them up in a soup.

You can also try to involve them in the process of picking out recipes and cooking them. When they are involved like that, they will be more likely to eat what they cook.

Another option I’ve heard of is pureeing the veggies and hiding them in sauces (like spaghetti sauce). It’s a really sneaky way to make things more nutrient-dense and does work for really picky eaters.

Are Kids’ Meals Healthy?

The most unhealthy ingredient for kids is sugar. If you can find a way to cook meals that aren’t drowning in sugary sauces, then it will be better for your children. Always try to find ways to offer fruits and veggies with every meal too so that they are eating enough fiber and vitamins.

At What Age Can Kids Start Making Their Own Meals?

This is entirely up to you and how you feel about your kids in the kitchen. Some parents like to allow their toddlers to stir things, others prefer to teach kids when they are older. There are small things that preschoolers can do to help cook, but other times it might feel stressful – especially if you are pressed for time.

If you are looking for a simple way to include your young child, give them the chore of “sprinkling” on things. For example, they can sprinkle on their own shredded cheese. You can also pre-measure out a spice like salt, and let them add it to the recipe. For safety versions, I’d steer clear of spices that can irritate and burn eyes, such as pepper.

Kid-Friendly Meals Your Children Will Actually Eat

These are some of my favorite ones! You can serve these for either lunch or dinner. Try them all out and save the ones that they loved the most to a Pinterest board or your recipe binder so you can find the recipes later.

1. Sloppy Joes

These slow cooker sloppy joes definitely check the boxes of being both easy and kid-approved! This high-protein recipe even has some veggies hidden inside…but they’ll never know!

Slow cooker sloppy joes

2. Tasty Chicken and Rice Casserole

There is something so comforting about eating a casserole. This chicken and rice casserole is gluten free and dairy free, and has 3 different veggies layered within.

gluten-free chicken casserole

3. Mac and Cheese (One of the Ultimate Kid Friendly Meals!)

Of course, no kid-friendly food list would be complete without mac and cheese. Even the pickiest eater will love this one!

mac and cheese, one of the top kid friendly meals

4. Taco Pizza

Struggling to choose between taco night or pizza delivery? Why not make this taco pizza dish—it’s the best of both!

Slice of taco pizza with lettuce and tomato on top

5. Beef and Been Enchilada

Kids seem to think they can exist solely off carbs sometime. If you are desperate to get some protein into your child’s diet, this delicious enchilada recipe will do the trick!

layout of printable recipe binder pages
Beef and bean enchiladas in a baking dish

6. Easy Southwestern Casserole

This is one of those kid friendly meals that adults will love too! Ground sausage and enchilada sauce make this extra flavorful.

southwest casserole on a plate

7. One-Pot Jambalaya

Historically, jambalaya may not have been a dish kids flock to. This kid-friendly jambalaya with toned down seasonings is just the trick.

With shrimp, ground sausage, and chicken, this One-Pot Jambalaya dinner is kid-friendly and ready in 30 minutes or less!

8. One-Pot Pancit

Less dishes, and totally clean plates. What more could you want out of this one-pot pancit?

bowl of kid-friendly pancit

9. One-Pot Turkey Enchilada Casserole

This is one of the kid friendly meals that your children will absolutely gobble up. Grownups will too – enchilada casserole is delicious!

enchilada casserole dish

10. Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos

These slow cooker chicken tacos are a crowd-pleaser for the entire household. You can serve these over a bed of lettuce, or fold them into tortillas…either way they are delicious!

slow cooker chicken taco with fresh avocado

11. Southwestern Turkey Pasta Bake

Love pasta? Me too…and so do my kids! Elevate your typical spaghetti by making this yummy turkey pasta bake.

Southwestern turkey pasta bake in a casserole dish

12. Baked Ziti

Another one of my favorite pasta dishes! This baked ziti is definitely a kid friendly meal that adults will love too.

A serving of baked ziti on a plate

13. Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

These creamy chicken enchiladas are as simple and delicious as it gets! This is another one of my favorite sneaky ways to get my kids to eat protein.

creamy chicken enchiladas after baking

14. One-Skillet Healthy Orange Chicken and Rice

We LOVE orange chicken at my house. But the take out version is not only filled with unhealthy ingredients, the cost can also add up quick. Instead, make this healthy orange chicken and rice!

healthy orange chicken and rice

15. Salmon Quesadillas

At first glance, anything with salmon on it may not make your cut of kid friendly meals. However, I’d urge you to give this salmon quesadilla recipe a shot!

salmon quesadilla recipe

16. Aloha Chicken

Juicy pineapple chunks and tender flavorful chicken served over warm rice – it doesn’t get any better than aloha chicken!

17. Easy Sloppy Joes

This is a classic cafeteria food for a reason…kids LOVE it! Make this easy sloppy joes recipe in minutes.

easy sloppy joes on buns

18. Teriyaki Turkey Burgers

There was a season in our household where this was THE most requested dinner. Made with lean ground turkey and plenty of flavor, these teriyaki turkey burgers are a hit!

teriyaki turkey burgers topped with grilled pineapple

There you have it! Some of my family’s favorite kid friendly meals! I hope you found several to add to your meal rotation. Enjoy!

Pin the image below to save these ideas for later!

kid friendly meals

Dear mom, I have so much more I’d love to share with you…

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    Filed Under: Dinner, Food for Kids, Recipes Tagged With: round upPublished on February 5, 2021

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    About Erika

    Erika Bragdon is a second-generation homeschooling mom with 3 kids at home and 1 in college. She lives in the beautiful hills of New Hampshire on a small farm and loves writing, baking, nature, and sharing flower essences and more natural solutions with moms.

    Comments

    1. Marlene V says

      September 6, 2012 at 12:17 pm

      My fav. kid approved recipe is shepards pie. Even my one that doesn’t like veggies eats it!!!

      • Erika says

        September 6, 2012 at 12:23 pm

        Good one, Marlene! Thanks for sharing.

    2. Shari Lynne says

      September 6, 2012 at 12:34 pm

      Yum, yum, yum Erika! Thanks!
      Blessings!

    3. Jennifer Mae Hiles says

      September 6, 2012 at 1:55 pm

      I’ve been looking for a post like this! I’m a first time mom with a 16 month old and sometimes I just have know idea what I should be feeding her!

    4. Angela says

      September 6, 2012 at 2:14 pm

      Fabulous recipe roundup! Thanks so much for featuring my recipe!

    5. serena adkins says

      September 6, 2012 at 3:32 pm

      Thanks for sharing these ideas. This is gonna be helpful when trying to create meals for my 4 year old son.

    6. Erika E says

      September 6, 2012 at 5:21 pm

      My son likes beef stew. I only put beef, potatoes and carrots in it and then make sure there’s gravy. It’s a hit every time.

    7. Hermit Forall says

      September 6, 2012 at 7:13 pm

      This is great! Anyone can use ways to improve/healthify meals. Thanks

    8. Alene says

      September 7, 2012 at 1:48 am

      This looks like a great book.

    9. heather hrpcha says

      September 7, 2012 at 1:44 pm

      thanks for sharing this

    10. Yona says

      September 8, 2012 at 1:15 am

      These are great ideas and the visuals really make me want to try some of these recipes out.

    11. katklaw777 says

      September 10, 2012 at 12:09 am

      I have been looking for a Cheeseburger Macaroni recipe cause my kids luv the one out of the box and tho convenient it has sooooooooooooooooo many bad ingredients…thanks for sharing these recipes!

    12. trista doerfer says

      September 12, 2012 at 7:51 pm

      these are great ideas

    13. Mike Davis says

      September 16, 2012 at 12:55 pm

      We do a lot of cooking with kids with four always in the kitchen, not only do we have good eaters,but we use this for math, and science and sometimes art. Gets us through some of the long learning lesson, as a visual aid–thanks for the great ideas

    14. Michelle says

      September 18, 2012 at 7:10 pm

      Wow! Yummy!
      Thanks for sharing!

    15. Nena Sinclair says

      October 5, 2012 at 4:36 pm

      I like this! I’m going to pass it onto my daughter, my grandson is an extremely picky eater!

    Erika Bragdon sitting on a bench drinking a drink out of her mug

    Welcome! I’m Erika and I’m the creator behind Living Well Mom.

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