9 Healthy Recipes to Get Kids Cooking

Butternut squash is cubed, roasted sweet and sprinkled with a refreshing thyme yogurt sauce to top these delicious appetizers. Kids will have fun whisking the sauce together and drizzling it over the tasty toasts to make edible art.

Get the recipe: Roasted Butternut Squash Crostini

Forbidden rice is a dark, short-grained variety used in Asian cuisine. Lime juice, avocado oil and honey make a delicious tropical dressing for this medley of black rice, mango and pomegranate seeds.

Get the recipe: Forbidden Rice Fruit Salad

Children will love mashing the chickpeas together with green onions, Dijon mustard and garlic in this meatless spin on a chicken salad. Try topping the mix with bell peppers, olives or tomatoes for an even tastier sandwich.

Get the recipe: Chickpea Salad Sandwiches

From Top Chef's Fabio Viviani comes an out-of-the-box Italian dish everyone will devour. Cherry tomatoes are sautéed until sweet and paired with basil infused olive oil to top the freshly made gnocchi, which the grandkids can roll and cut into bite-sized pieces themselves. 

Get the recipe: Gnocchi with Cherry Tomato Sauce

Crunchy oats and pumpkin seeds are seasoned with nutmeg, candied ginger and maple syrup, then mixed with tart cranberries for a delightful flavor contrast. Little ones will enjoy coating the oat-pumpkin seed mixture with maple syrup in this hearty snack.

Get the recipe: Harvest Granola

Refreshing orange, lemon and lime juices come together to dress sweet roasted beets, hearty spinach and creamy goat cheese. Kids will have fun transforming the roasted beet slices into characters using cookie cutters, before building their own, unique salad stack.

Get the recipe: Roasted Beet Salad Stacks

Eggs pack in the protein, while heart-healthy mushrooms and red bell pepper slices add vitamin C to these miniature frittata muffins. Your mini-sous chefs can chip in by whisking the eggs together with cheddar cheese, then transferring the batter to muffin cups in this adorable breakfast-for-dinner.

Get the recipe: Vegetable Frittata Muffins

Peanuts and sweet potatoes lend their familiar flavors to a soup that’s perfect for introducing your blossoming Madhur Jaffrey to the exotic world of curries. Substitute equal amounts of butternut squash in place of the sweet potato for a variation of this delectable North African soup.

Get the recipe: Sweet Potato Peanut Curry

Potato pancakes made from cauliflower and sweet potatoes offer much more of vitamins A and K than those made from traditional russets. Grandparents and grandchildren cook side by side in separate skillets so you won’t have to make mutiple batches. To give your pancakes those lacy, crunchy edges, try shredding the sweet potato through the smallest setting on your grater.

Get the recipe: Cauliflower Potato Pancake