Woman in kitchen with child and selection of food ingredients

Cooking with Kids

Teaching children how to cook is a good idea - it’s a great life skill and helps them to take an interest in what they are eating from a young age. Plus, it can be great fun too!

With some supervision, depending on their ages, you can encourage them to be creative, enjoy new flavours, understand the importance of a balanced diet and give them some confidence in the kitchen. Let them help you out on a regular basis or ask them to choose which recipes they’d like to try – Kikkoman has a huge online collection – many can be adapted to suit particular tastes and diets.

Follow these basic cookery steps and most of all enjoy the experience!.

What should you do before you begin cooking with kids?

  1. Roll up sleeves and wear an apron.
  2. Tie back hair and wash hands.
  3. Read through the recipe with your children first so that you do not discover halfway through that you needed to preheat the oven or have a special sized tin!
  4. Ensure all work surfaces are clean.
  5. Choose a recipe which they will enjoy making and eating - shaping burgers, rolling up tortillas, decorating pizzas are all easy to do and taste great.

What should you do while cooking with kids?

  1. Let them help with weighing, mixing, decorating.
  2. Older children can help chop ingredients under close supervision.
  3. Care should always be taken when placing or removing dishes from the oven, so leave this task to the adults!
  4. Teach children good hygiene – regular hand washing and using clean chopping boards and utensils prevents bacteria and cross contamination.
  5. Encourage them to taste as they go (unless it contains raw meat or eggs) so they can develop their palates.
  6. Show them that they can adapt recipes to suit their own tastes. Adding their own twist or favourite flavours will give them a sense of achievement and make the results more enjoyable.

What should you do after cooking with kids?

  1. Washing up together! It teaches children that it is the last part of the cookery process. And the reward is the eating afterwards!
  2. Allow food to cool enough before eating or removing from tins to avoid nasty burns.

Recipe ideas for cooking with kids

Give these recipes a whirl as a family. Easy to make and fun to eat!

Baked Chicken Teriyaki Burrito