6 Fun Summer Recipes to Try With Your Kids - Ranked From Least to Most Challenging
Fun Activities To Do With Your Kids This Summer
It’s summertime and the kids are home from school! (Yay!) If you’re looking for a way to get in some quality time with them while you balance work, chores, and everything else - try cooking!
Cooking together is win-win because you get to help your kids kill some of the (abundant) free time they have and also because you get an extra pair (or two) of helping hands.
We’ve put together a few recipes you can try with your kids this summer. We’ve rated each one on three parameters - how many pots/pans/utensils you’re likely to use (and wash 😅), whether or not they require heat, and how much of a mess your family is likely to make in the kitchen.
Watermelon and Feta Salad
How to Make Watermelon and Feta Cheese Salad at Home
Pots/Pans/Utensils Needed: 1-2
Heat Required: None
Messiness Potential: 1/5
What says “summer” better than cold salad on a hot day? We’ve chosen this recipe because the ingredients it requires are easy to procure in any part of the world. Since it requires no heat, this might be something your kids can prepare by themselves.
Tips from DIY HQ:
(1) You can replace the red wine vinegar in this recipe with a dressing made from lemon juice, honey, pepper, and salt.
(2) If you can’t find feta, you can use curd cheese or cottage cheese instead.
Avocado Toast
Avocado Toast Recipe
Pots/Pans/Utensils Needed: 1-2
Heat Required: Just a Toaster
Messiness Potential: 1/5
It’s not 2020 anymore but avocados are still all the rage. How could they not be? They’re so easy to prepare and so delicious! We’re sure your kids will love this recipe. Best of all, avocados are super healthy!
Tip from DIY HQ:
You can top each slice of avocado toast with some bacon and a fried egg to make a hearty breakfast of it.
Microwave Pasta in Arrabbiata Sauce
Microwave Arrabbiata Pasta Recipe
Pots/Pans/Utensils Needed: 2
Heat Required: A Significant Amount
Messiness Potential: 1/5
If you’re confident with recipes 1 and 2, it’s time to move on to something a little more challenging.
Most kids (and adults) love pasta. This recipe gives kids a way to make pasta by themselves without having to use a stove. There are still hot dishes to be careful around, but with the right prep and enough practice, your kids should be able to make this without supervision.
Tips from DIY HQ:
(1) Instruct your kids to wait a few minutes for dishes to cool in the microwave before they pull them out
(2) Keep oven mitts handy so your kids don’t accidentally touch hot dishes.
Ratatouille
How to Make Ratatouille at Home From Scratch
Pots/Pans/Utensils: 1-2
Heat Required: An Oven
Messiness Potential: 2/5
Whether or not they’ve tasted it, we guarantee that all kids already love Ratatouille thanks to the Disney movie. We ranked this less fail-safe than microwave pasta because of how much slicing is involved and how time-consuming this recipe is. If your kids aren’t super interested in cooking, this recipe might lose their attention somewhere around the 30-minute mark (this recipe takes at least an hour to make because it needs to bake in an oven).
Having said that, Ratatouille is a dish that packs a punch in both taste and health! You could get creative with the vegetables at home, add them to your pan and you’re golden!
Sweet and Sour Tofu
Sweet and Sour Tofu Recipe
Pots/Pans/Utensils Needed: 2-3
Heat Required: A Stove
Messiness Potential: 2/5
This recipe is 100% vegan and makes for a very satisfying meal. The catch is that you’ll need to use a stove to fry the tofu and prepare the sauce. You could coat the tofu in batter and bake it in the oven, but you’ll still need a stove to stir fry your fruits and vegetables.
Tip from DIY HQ:
Pineapples weren’t available when we first tried this recipe so we used pieces of a peeled green apple instead. It tasted great, so feel free to try our version or come up with your own!
Homemade Pizza
How to Bake Pizza at Home From Scratch
Pots/Pans/Utensils Needed: 3-4
Heat Required: A Significant Amount
Messiness Potential: 4/5
This recipe is a whole day of excitement so we recommend trying it only when you have the day off. It’s one of our favorite recipes because it’s a science experiment, a cultural experience, and a delicious meal - all in one activity.
Be warned that pizza making is a messy affair. Even the neatest adults walk away from the process with flour in their hair and sauce on their aprons. As ardent pizza fans, however, we think it’s well worth the effort!
Tips from DIY HQ:
(1) This recipe is a quick one and recommends letting your dough rise for only 10 minutes. If you have time, wait for 30 minutes instead - this will give your yeast longer to work and will change the texture and density of your pizza base.
(2) Show your kids how yeast blooms - it’s fun for kids to see just how small organisms can be and how fast they can grow. You can then show them diagrams off the internet to explain the process of mitosis to them.
(3) Before you roll out your dough, show your kids videos of how pizza is traditionally made in different parts of Italy. Did you know that Roman pizza and Neapolitan pizza look and taste different?
(4) You can use this recipe for the pizza base and sauce, but feel free to choose your own toppings!
If you liked this list, we have an entire course dedicated to teaching kids recipes, and more importantly, how to use stove tops, ovens, and kitchen appliances responsibly. Check it out here: https://diy.org/courses/4
What are your favorite recipes to try out with your kids? I’d love to hear from you - write to me at shreya@diy.org.
Happy cooking!
Love,
Shreya V.
Team DIY
There are thousands of projects for kids to try this summer! CLICK HERE to Install the DIY app and check them out!