Kids hungry? Bored? Get them busy with these vegan recipes for kids!
By Lora O’Brien
Whether they’re our sons and daughters, friends, or nieces and nephews, we all love spending time with wee ones. But sometimes, it can be a bit tough to think of what to do with them – or what to feed them! But whipping up some vegan recipes for kids solves both problems.
In a world where healthy eating has never been more accessible, it’s our duty as adults to educate children on the importance eating good, healthy food. Children are impressionable, and if they grow up on sugary and fast foods, they’re going to think that’s just the normal way of eating. It’s down to us to keep their food exciting and tasty whilst taking care of their health and wellbeing. One way to do this is to teach them to cook, and these vegan recipes for kids are the perfect way to start.
Vegan and vegetarian lifestyles for kids are somewhat controversial with some parents (falsely) believing ‘kids need meat’. But today, plenty of moms, from Ellen Fisher of Mango Island Mamma, and Monami Frost, to Cissy Lala and the Aaron Family, are showing just how healthy and inspiring a plant based lifestyle can be.
Tips For Cooking With Kids
No matter how old they are, kids can participate in cooking.
Smaller kids from 3-8 can:
- mix batters in a bow
- place toppings on burgers, tacos and pizzas
- decorate cookies and cakes
- smash stuff up in a bowl, like potatoes or chickpeas
- help do the washing up
Older kids can participate more fully in the entire process. But of course, an adult should always be present to:
- supervise all activities involving an oven
- supervise the use of knives (or better yet, cut anything that needs a sharp knife)
The truth is, kids love doing whatever they see adults doing (and yes, that does include doing the dishes!) Creating some easy vegan treats with kids will instill a sense of independence, teach them new skills and about nutrition, and imbue them with a sense of responsibility. Oh, and of course, it will fill their tiny bellies with loads of goodness!
20 Easy Vegan Recipes For Kids To Make
1. Super Simple Vegan Pancakes
Though you may have to do the flipping of these flapjacks for the younger ones, kids around 10 or so can have fun cooking these. They can even play with the shapes and sizes on the pan. Kids of all ages can mix the batter of course, and the most fun part is adding the toppings: berries, coconut flakes, chopped nuts, agave syrup, you name it! Tip: For some extra fun, make faces on your pancakes: raisin eyes, apple slice mouths, berry noses, for example.
Get the recipe here.
2. Sticky Bun Chia Pudding
This chia pudding offers all the mouth-watering flavours of a sticky bun! This nut-milk based recipe needs to soak overnight, but it’s one of the easiest vegan recipes for kids to make.
Get the recipe here.
3. Vegan Pizzas
Pizza is such a great way to let your children get creative and a little mucky in the kitchen. I used to love making my own pizza toppings and waiting as it baked in the oven. Set your children up with a dough of their own and let them top their pizza with lots of veggies. If, like me, your children find a tomato base a little boring, why not mix things up with a creamy green dressing? You could even use a shop-bought pesto if you’re in a rush (just check for pure ingredients and no nasty additives).
And if the dough is just too much to prepare, never fear. You just buy a premade base, then add your sauce, veggies and vegan cheese. Done!
4. Carrot Hot Dogs
Real hot dogs contain god-only-knows-what disgusting animal parts and artificial flavours, and yet so many parents feed them to their kids! Let yours enjoy a healthier vegan version instead. Kids can dress these up with as many condiments as they like. Try chopped onions or tomatoes, pickles, mustard and ketchup. Bonus: carrots are super cheap, just like real hot dogs. And when they’re smothered in condiments, you barely notice they’re not the ‘real’ thing!
Get the recipe here.
5. Chickpea Tuna Sandwiches
Thanks to its off-the-charts levels of mercury, tuna is off the menu for many families today, even if they’re not fully vegan. So this chickpea tuna alternative is a great idea for any family, and it’s easy for kids to make for themselves. Oh, and try toasting it – it’s amazing!
Get the recipe here.
6. Pinto Bean Tacos
Taco bars are super fun, especially at birthday parties. Set up a bunch of taco shells, and get the kids to prepare some torn lettuce, shredded vegan cheese, chopped tomatoes, torn cilantro, some pinto beans, spring onions, and sliced avocado. Yum!
Get the recipe here.
7. Jacket Potatoes with Home Baked Beans
This is a cafeteria staple, but can be so incredibly fun to make for kids! First, you just bake the potatoes, then get them to add the toppings they like. This recipe calls for home baked beans, but you could just as easily add hummus, sweetcorn, guacamole, tahini, salsa, or any leftovers you may have in the fridge! Not a fan of the spud? Sub a sweet potato instead.
Get the recipe here.
8. Pasta Skewers
Kids love food on a stick. Kids love pasta. So pasta on a stick is pretty much a no brainer! This recipe calls for cheese tortellini, but you can modify it to include your favourite: gluten free, spinach filled, or mushroom and walnut, for example. You can also add veggies your kids love. Maybe some sun dried or cherry tomatoes? And yet another fun thing you can do with this is include a tomato or pesto based ‘dip’. Let your imagination run wild!
Get the recipe here.
9. Vegan Mashed Potatoes
Kids love to smash things up, right? If you pre-cook the ‘taters, they’ll have a ball creating the rest of this super simple recipe. And of course, they’ll love eating it, too!
Get the recipe here.
10. Butterfly Quesadillas
These are so cute, and easy to make, too! First, create the body of your ‘butterfly’ by lining up whatever you like on the plate. I personally would replace the grapes, below, with cherry tomatoes, with a bit of hummus or guac on their bottoms to keep them in place on the plate.
Then, simply get some store-bought quesadillas (corn or wheat, up to you), and some store bought vegan cheese. Get the kids to place the cheese on one quesadilla; place the other on top and fry them up (or bake them). Cut them into quarters, and make the ‘wings’ of the butterfly!
Tip: If you can’t find vegan cheese, and can’t be bothered to make your own, you can fill these babies up with guacamole, hummus, or refried beans instead.
Get the recipe here.
11. Peanut Butter & Jam Sushi Rolls
These are about as far from actual sushi rolls as you can get. But my, they look tasty! And this is one of the easiest vegan recipes for kids to make, too.
All you need is a loaf of white bread, and some PB & J. Cut the crusts off the bread, have the kids spread on the PB & J, and roll the bread up. Cut into smaller ‘sushi’ sized bites, and you’re done!
12. Salad In A Jar
Kids can find salads a bit boring. But when you give them a selection of veggies, from avocado and lettuce to nuts and croutons, to layer in a jar, well, things get a bit more exciting! Especially when they can add the salad dressing and shake it up in the jar to coat all the ingredients!
Get the recipe here.
13. Taco Bar
This is such a fun idea! Get the kids to fill up small dishes with sweet corn, shredded vegan cheese, torn lettuce, store-bought salsa, and whatever else you fancy. Put some tacos in a bowl, and have the kids create their own fully loaded tacos! They can also create their own guacamole with this recipe.
Get the recipe here.
14. Peanut Butter Quesadillas
This is kind of a stroke of genius! Take a quesadilla, add some peanut butter, banana and vegan chocolate, and grill. I think i want one of these right now myself!
Get the recipe here.
15. Ants on a Log
It doesn’t get easier than ants on a log. It’s quite literally just three ingredients; celery, peanut butter and raisins. Let your kids get stuck in and messy with the peanut butter jar as they smear is between celery and top it with little raisin dots looking like little ants on a log, as its namesake suggests. It’s the perfect snack, lunch side dish, or even dessert.
Get the recipe here.
16. Owl Rice Crackers
This is another one of the easiest vegan recipes for kids to make! All you need are some round rice crackers, slices of banana, apple and peach, blueberries and a round oat cereal. These are a great snack to make when your kids have friends over, and they’re super healthy, too!
Get the recipe here.
17. Fruit Kebabs
How cute do these look? Let your children get creative with the cookie cutters by cutting shapes into their fruit and placing them on wooden skewers to enjoy a sweet treat. There’s something aesthetically pleasing by seeing your favourite fruits cut into little hearts, but you could use whichever cutters you have on hand. Children will have lots of fun punching shapes out of fruit!
Get the recipe here.
18. Peanut Butter Apple Monsters
How fun do these look? And they’re so easy and healthy to make. They’re just apple slices, strawberries, sunflower seeds and a little nut butter. The googly eyes are optional but of course they look pretty cool, right? Kids are going to love making these and they’re so easy to put together. They’re also a perfect little dish for parties.
Get the recipe here.
19. Choco-Avocado Ice Cream
Lsat summer, I made this with my nephew, telling him to keep quiet about the ‘secret’ ingredient here – namely avocado. After we served it to the family, he took great delight in shouting ‘HA HA! You all just ate a vegetable’!
Get the recipe here.
20. Three Ingredient Chocolate Cookies
It doesn’t get easier than this! Bananas, peanut butter and cacao comprise these healthy, sugar-free cookies. Kids can pretty much do all of the work. All you need to do is take these out of the oven for them. Feel free to vary the recipe, too. For example, if your kid has a peanut allergy, you can sub in any nut butter you please. Alternatively, these can be decorated with chocolate chips, or you can even put a thumbprint on top and fill it up with jam!
Get the recipe here.
- Author
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Lora O'Brien
Food Editor at Eluxe Magazine
After graduating in Journalism from the University of Greenwich, Lora worked for Sugar and Healing Lifestyles magazines in London before being hired to write about food for Eluxe. She’s recently become a new mom to baby Lulla, and is writing a blog about the experience of being a new mom. See more about Lora here.
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