Recipe Roundup: Cooking With The Kids

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Recruit your littlest sous chef for help with these four kid-friendly recipes that are tons of fun to make together.

They may not be the most efficient sous chefs, but there's nothing more satisfying - not to mention fun! - to me than cooking with kids. It's well
known
that good eating habits start early, and one of the best ways to build lifelong healthy eaters is by giving kids agency during the cooking process. Asking for their help with even a small prep task as you make dinner will make them feel valued, and the pride they'll feel in the finished product will outweigh any doubts they might otherwise have had about that veggie dish, for example. While nearly any meal has at least one step that can be accomplished by little hands, these are my favorite things to cook with kids:
From start to finish, even the littlest ones can make my Kid-Approved Peanut Butter Granola Bars. Measuring, mixing, and pressing into the pan - all they need you for is putting the bars into the oven! When they're baked, you've got an on-the-go treat that's packed with fiber, protein, and a little chocolate just for fun.
By starting with a store-bough rotisserie chicken, Crispy Chicken Taquitosbecome an easy weeknight meal. Put your mini chef to work shredding the chicken while you grate the cheese, then let them mix the filling and roll up the taquitos (at a safe distance from the stove!) as you fry them in hot oil.
All kids love fish sticks, but they'll be even more excited about ones they make themselves! (And you'll love that these Parmesan Fish Sticks are baked, not fried.) They can stir up the breading and oil the tray, while you do the messy work of coating the salmon fillets. Then, let them customize the herb-yogurt dipping sauce!
Combining two kid classics, my Pizza Grilled Cheese sandwiches are an easy special occasion meal. Older kids can grate the cheese, while anyone can mix the filling, spread sauce, and assemble the sandwiches. They make a great activity for a party, too - just lay out the ingredients and let the kids fill and decorate their sandwiches individually.

What do you like to cook with the kids in your life? Let us know in the comments!