Here are five easy recipes to help your kids learn to cook

These are some recipes to get your kids started in the kitchen (Photo: Shutterstock)These are some recipes to get your kids started in the kitchen (Photo: Shutterstock)
These are some recipes to get your kids started in the kitchen (Photo: Shutterstock)

With the majority of children now no longer going to school as UK lockdown continues, finding ways to keep them occupied is vital for a lot of parents.

So why not teach them a useful skill that’ll come in handy throughout their entire life - cooking.

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Here are five recipes to get you and your kids inspired. For safety, make sure your kids are supervised and aren’t handling any sharp objects or directly in control of something like a hot pan.

Spaghetti and meatballs

Spaghetti and meatballs is a classic dinner time favourite, for kids and adults alike - and the good news is that it’s not difficult to make.

To make the meatballs, you’ll need sausage meat, beef mince, a grated onion, grated carrot, dried oregano, grated parmesan cheese, an egg and some olive oil.

Stick all of those ingredients in a bowl and let your kids get their hands messy by mixing it all up. Once it’s all incorporated, let your children roll them into small meatballs.

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The grown ups should be in charge of cooking the meatballs in a frying pan.

Cook your spaghetti according to the package instructions and use a jar of tomato pasta sauce.

Tortilla pizzas

It’s probably a safe assumption that your kids love pizza - who doesn’t? If you fancy giving homemade pizza a try, but don’t feel up to the task of making your own dough, then these tortilla pizzas are the perfect kid-friendly alternative.

First, you’ll need your base of a tortilla. Set your kids to work using a spoon to spread out tomato paste around the tortilla, making sure to get right to the edges. Next, get them to sprinkle on some cheese (without making too much of a mess).

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The best part about making your own pizza is that your kids can choose whatever toppings they want - it's totally customisable. Something classic like pepperoni, vegetable or ham and pineapple.

Crispy oven baked chicken nuggets

For your oven baked chicken nuggets, adults are advised to cut up the chicken breasts into bite sized pieces - but the kids can be in charge of coating.

You’ll need some toasted breadcrumbs and a beaten egg.

Kids can take turns dipping the chicken pieces in the beaten egg mixture and then into the breadcrumb mixture.

Place on a baking tray and stick in the oven.

Shepherd's Pie

Shepherd's Pie is a classic dish in many households across the UK, and an opportunity for kids to get more experience in the kitchen due to its various elements.

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If you trust your children with chopping vegetables, they can cut up things like the onion, carrots and potatoes - if not, they can wait until the potatoes have been boiled and get to work mashing.

Rice Krispy treats

Of course cooking doesn’t have to just be about savoury meals for dinner - you can also try some sweet treats.

Rice krispy treats are really easy to pull together - all you need is Rice Krispies cereal (or any other puffed rice cereal) and chocolate.

Put the chocolate in a glass bowl over a pan of boiling water and mix until melted - alternatively you can microwave it in short bursts instead.

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Once the chocolate is melted, let your kids mix up the chocolate and cereal mixture and divide into little muffin tray liners. Before you pop them in the fridge to set, you can add any toppings you like, such as sprinkles or marshmallows.