Looking for some delicious and yet healthy kid friendly recipes for summer this year? We’ve compiled a handful of our favorite kid friendly recipes to inspire you through healthy alternatives and seasonal goodness!
I am so excited to have Rosevine Cottage Girls guest posting for me today! They are a wonderful family living the homestead dream along with me (several states away). If you are pulling away from processed foods, these summer recipes for kids are a perfect addition to your menu.
Healthy Kid Friendly Recipes Your Kids Will Love
It’s so important to ensure your kids have healthy nutrient dense foods in their diets but it’s easy to slide into the habit of using prepackaged convenience food. But you may be surprised how easy it is to make healthy choices by picking homemade alternatives to those foods that you pick up premade and slip in veggies and other goodies to ensure your kid is getting the nutrients they need to thrive. We’re going to show you some easy kid friendly recipes that you can feel good about serving because you know they aren’t filled with preservatives and other chemicals.
Kid Friendly Recipes For Summer
Summer cooking is the perfect time to experiment with seasonal vegetables that you can grow in your garden or pick up at a farmers market or local farm. But it can be a bit of a challenge to make sure that those recipes are still kid friendly. Something I hear a lot from friends and family is that healthy food tastes bad, and that’s absolutely not true! When done properly, and by selecting healthier alternatives to many prepackaged you can create wonderful kid friendly recipes at home.
So with no further ado let’s dive into some yummy and yet healthy kid friendly recipes for summer:
FireCracker Pig-In-Blanket
This is a great one to make ahead and freeze for later (leaving off the cheese of course), you can also make what you need and refrigerate or freeze the extra hot dogs and dough for later for a quick and easy healthy kid friendly recipe option. These are a great option for a summer BBQ or even Independence Day.
Ingredients:
- 1 Package Uncured Nitrate Free Beef Hot Dogs
- 1 Slice of cheese of your choice
- 2 Cups Organic Flour
- 3 Teaspoons Non-Aluminum Baking Powder
- 1/2 Teaspoon Cream of Tartar
- 1/4 Teaspoon Celtic Sea Salt
- 1/2 Cup Organic Butter
- 2/3 Cup Organic Milk
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350F.
In a large bowl mix together flour, baking powder, cream of tartar, and salt.
Cut in the butter until the flour mixture becomes crumbly.
Add the milk to your flour mixture and stir until a ball is formed.
Roll out dough until about ½ inch thick and cut into 1-½ inch long slices.
Roll the dough around the hot dog, swirling upward until it wraps from one end of the hot dog to the other. Cut away any access dough.
Bake the pigs-in-blankets until the dough is golden, about 10-15 minutes. The time may vary based on your oven.
Pirate Ship Potatoes
Another one of our favorite healthy kid friendly recipes for summer is “battleship” potatoes, these are such a fun way to bring more veggies to the table while making it fun and tasty at the same time. Even our pickiest eaters couldn’t help but love having a pirate ship for lunch. This is a recipe that your kids could easily make or you can whip up really quick.
Ingredients:
- Baked Potato
- 1/2-1 Tablespoon Grassfed Butter
- Himalayan Salt to taste
- 2 Mini Carrots
- 2-3 Tablespoons Cottage Cheese
- 1 Black Bean Chip
- 1 Tablespoon english peas (optional)
Directions
Slice the baked potato as you would for a normal baked potato, sprinkle with salt to your kiddos taste and add butter.
Spoon cottage cheese on top of the potato, place the carrot cannons on either side of the potato in the cottage cheese across from each other.
Place the chip in the middle of the cottage cheese.
Sprinkle the peas here and there for cannon balls, again this is optional if your family doesn’t like english peas leave them off of this dish.
And serve!
More healthy kid friendly recipes from Rosevine Cottage Girls!
Making Better in a Jar in 10 Easy Steps
How to Make Eggs in a Basket
Dr. Suess Burger
Homemade Macaroni & Cheese
There is nothing that says kid friendly recipe more than macaroni and cheese, but store bought mac & cheese are filled with preservatives, and other ingredients that aren’t good for you. Enter our healthy kid friendly recipe for macaroni and cheese from scratch- don’t worry it’s easier than you think! This recipe uses goat cheese for the sauce because goat milk has wonderful health benefits including being high in calcium, an essential nutrient for your bones, teeth, and organs. Plus goat milk and goat cheese is easier to digest.
Ingredients:
- 1 container Chèvre Goat Cheese
- 2 Tablespoons Grass-fed Butter
- 2 Tablespoons Organic All-purpose Flour
- 1 Cup Whole Milk (goat or cow)
- Salt & Pepper to taste
- 2-3 Cups Elbow Macaroni pasta
- Grated cheese of your choice
Directions:
Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil. Once boiling cook your elbow macaroni according to the packaging.
In a saucepan over medium heat melt butter, once melted add flour and mix until well combined. Add milk and whisk until smooth.
Follow the milk with the Chèvre goat cheese. Whisk until the cheese has broken down and is incorporated into the sauce.. Add salt and pepper to taste.
When the pasta is done, drain and pour into a bowl.
Pour the sauce over the top of the pasta and stir until all the pasta is coated. Sprinkle grated cheese over the top.
Serve hot
An easy variation to this yummy kid friendly recipe would be to add english peas to your pasta to get some veggies into the meal.
Mini Blackberry Hand Pies
Nothing quite says summer like blackberries warmed by summer sun, which makes this fun kid friendly recipe so perfect for summer. This is a great healthy kid friendly recipe to make with the kiddos, it is a little more time consuming to make- but trust me it’s absolutely worth it!
Ingredients:
Dough:
- 1 1/4 Cups Organic Flour
- 1/2 Teaspoon Himalayan Salt
- 1/3 Cups Grass-fed Butter
- 3-4 Tablespoons Cold Water
Filling:
- 1-2 Cups Blackberries
- 1/3 Cup Raw Sugar
- 1/2 Teaspoon Tapioca Flour (or 2 teaspoons Cornstarch)
- 1 Teaspoon Lemon Juice
- 2 Tablespoons Organic Free Range Egg (beaten)
- 1 1/2 Teaspoons Water
Glaze (optional):
- 1/2 Cup Organic Powdered Sugar
- 1 Teaspoon Water
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 450° F.
In a medium-size bowl place your flour and salt.
Cut in the butter until crumbly.
Add water and stir until a ball forms.
Wrap the dough in plastic wrap; refrigerate for 1 hour.
Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, combine the sugar, tapioca flour, or cornstarch.
Add blackberries and lemon juice; toss to coat.
Bring the blackberry filling to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly.
Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 5-10 minutes or until blackberries are tender. Remove the blackberry filling from the heat and set aside.
In a small bowl, combine egg and water.
Roll dough into a 12-in. square; and then cut into four squares. Brush with half of the egg mixture.
Spoon about 1/4 cup filling on half of each square (don’t overfill them!); fold the dough over and press the edges with a fork to seal.
Place the hand pies on an ungreased baking sheet and brush with the remaining egg mixture.
Bake for 17-22 minutes or until golden brown. Timing may vary depending on your oven.
Remove to a wire rack and allow to cool slightly.
Combine powdered sugar glaze ingredients; drizzle over turnovers. Serve warm.
Yield: 4 servings.
Frozen Lemonade Fruit Pops
This healthy kid friendly recipe would be perfect for your kids to make on a hot summer day, or you can make ahead of time to surprise them. You could even add some homemade electrolytes to these pops to help to keep the kids hydrated in the summer.
Ingredients:
- 2 Cups Water
- 6 Teaspoons Lemon Juice
- Stevia to taste
- Fresh or frozen berries of your choice (blackberries, raspberries or blueberries are great choices)
Directions:
Add stevia and lemon juice to water and stir until well combined.
Pour the lemonade into popsicle mold.
Add fruit and place the popsicle in the center of each mold.
Place the frozen lemonade fruit pops into the freezer for several hours or until frozen solid.
The Rosevine Cottage Girls are a mother, daughter team living in middle Tennessee, on a hobby farm. They’re passionate about encouraging others in their walk with Christ, wholesome recipes, and all things country life. We would love for you to connect with us on Instagram and Facebook!
For more healthy kid friendly recipes, check out these posts!
8 Pumpkin Recipes for Babies and Toddlers
10 Easy Apple Recipes for Kids
About the author
