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!.

Before you begin

  • Roll up sleeves and wear an apron.
  • Tie back hair and wash hands.
  • 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!
  • Ensure all work surfaces are clean.
  • 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.

During cooking

  • Let them help with weighing, mixing, decorating.
  • Older children can help chop ingredients under close supervision.
  • Care should always be taken when placing or removing dishes from the oven, so leave this task to theadults!
  • Teach children good hygiene – regular hand washing and using clean chopping boards and utensils prevents bacteria and cross contamination.
  • Encourage them to taste as they go (unless it contains raw meat or eggs) so they can develop their palates.
  • 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.

After cooking

  • Washing up! It teaches children that it is the last part of the cookery process. And the reward is the eating afterwards!
  • 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