A balanced diet is essential for the growth of children, which is why no meal of the day should be underestimated. Thus, dinner for children should be light but nutritious, balanced and very attractive. For that, design a weekly menu where you intersperse vegetarian dinners, mixed dinners and protein dinners. Also, if you want to teach your children to eat healthy, never force them and act as an example, that is, eat those same foods. On the other hand, serve them an amount of food according to their age, no more and no less. Likewise, respect if the child is reluctant to any food and check with the doctor if it is not a food intolerance or allergy.
Thinking about everything that has been said, we have compiled the best 15 healthy dinners for children and, why not, also for adults. Keep reading and start delighting the little ones with healthy and fun dinners.
Healthy eggplant burgers
The best way to camouflage vegetables is to prepare them in shapes of foods that children like, for example, hamburgers! If you cut the vegetables too thin, they won’t even notice. Also, to prepare them you don’t have to make a fuss in the kitchen, just follow the following steps of the Eggplant Burgers Recipe, they are great mounted with bread and vegetables!
Since we’re talking about healthy dinners for kids, how about adding a fun twist to burgers? Instead of making them in the typical round shape, you can use cookie cutters and give them different shapes, such as a star shape, a heart shape…
Light and fun spinach cream
This smooth cream combined with a few pieces of toasted bread and low-fat cheese or a little milk cream, will delight the little ones in the house! The combination of textures and flavors and even its color will not go unnoticed by them, especially on cold or rainy days. Again, you can give it an original touch by forming a face with the cheese or cream and the pieces of bread. In general, children pay a lot of attention to the appearance of food, so it is important to present it to them in fun ways. Although it may seem incredible, they will eat a vegetable cream with an original presentation much better than one without any kind of adornment.
Tip: milk cream is usually quite caloric, so opt for a light one or add just the right amount to make the drawing.
Healthy Chickpea Flour Pizza
Healthy pizza for kids! Yes, you have in front of you a version prepared with products of plant origin: legumes, vegetables and nuts. Without a doubt, a dinner that children will love, since pizza is a food that delights them with its colors and flavors. In addition, this dinner can be consumed by those who are intolerant to lactose and gluten. With that said, start preparing it!
Tip: keep in mind, in case of allergies, that the cheese on this pizza is prepared with nuts.
Mashed potatoes with original cauliflower
Puree without further ado works very well during dinner when your children have an upset stomach, as its consistency is smooth, light and easy to digest. But if it’s about stimulating their appetite, use it as a side dish and let your imagination fly by presenting it in a very creative way. For example, you can shape it into a little mouse using the puree for the face, hamburger for the ears, and vegetables for the eyes, whiskers, and mouth.
As we are talking about healthy dinners for children, choose light burgers, such as the eggplant burger that we have recommended soy burger, chicken or turkey.
Tip: Eating cauliflower balances the body’s electrolytes in case of diarrhea or vomiting, so it is a light dinner for children when they have these symptoms.
Tuna and other fish burgers
Fish is not only a light meal and perfect for the last meal of the day, but also an essential food for growing children due to its nutrients: proteins, phosphorus and omega 3 fatty acids, among others. Don’t worry if fish is not among your children’s favorite foods, because prepared in the form of a hamburger, it will be irresistible and even more so with a good presentation! Also, you can add vegetables to the burger dough. As in the previous cases, you can present the hamburger by drawing a face on it and even placing fries as hair. French fries are not light, but in the following recipe you will see that they can be. Likewise, you can make the hamburgers thicker and form a kind of cupcakes with mashed potatoes and vegetables cut into strips, look at the photo! To put the puree like this, use a pastry bag.
Now, if you want to explore other options to make fish dinners for your children, you should know that there are infinite ways to do it. For example, you can prepare some fish fritters and cook them in the oven (at 180ºC for 15-20 minutes), fish croquettes and cook them in the oven, grilled fish fillet, etc. On many occasions, the same recipe may or may not be healthy depending on the cooking method chosen. If you cook all this in plenty of oil, it will not be a healthy dish, however, baked or grilled, it is a nutritious and healthy food. Thus, these are ideal healthy dinners for children aged 10 to 12, but they can also be ideal for younger children if you enhance the presentation by making fun drawings with vegetables, potatoes, puree…
French fries without oil
Do you want the kids to jump for joy at dinner time? Well, prepare them a side of French fries, yes, without oil. Surely many healthy dishes will look more appetizing for them. Our first proposal in this sense is to serve them together with some chicken and spinach burgers, plus a celery, tomato and avocado salad. With that said, learn step by step how to make French fries without oil, and easily decorate your dinner!
Tip: The only fat in oil-free fries is used in the pan to prevent sticking.
Chicken thighs stuffed with ham and cheese
At dinner it is good to include proteins from lean meats, both for children and adults, because the body regenerates muscles during rest time. In the case of children, it helps in their growth in general, especially improving muscle development. For this reason, we propose a delicious recipe, simple but very tasty: chicken thighs stuffed with ham and cheese. A healthy dinner for children and adults! Of course, choose a light cheese that can be melted.
Spinach cannelloni with pancakes
These canellas are stuffed with ricotta cheese and spinach, bathed in homemade tomato sauce and pecorino cheese, a real delight! And a little secret, cannelloni are crepes! Thus, if your little ones suffer from celiac disease, you can easily replace them with pancakes without TACC. In addition, this dish provides fiber, abundant vitamin A, vitamin K, iron, calcium, folic acid, among other nutrients. You will see that this healthy dinner will please your children very much; it is even an ideal dinner for adolescent children due to all the nutrients that make it up.
Creamy Chicken with Broccoli
This dinner is healthy and very complete, as it brings together nutrients of animal and vegetable origin: proteins of high biological value, vitamins E, C, B, A, K, omega 3 fatty acids, calcium, among others. In addition, it is very appetizing for the little ones because it combines contrasts of textures and flavors. An easy, light and tasty dinner for children of all ages, which you will have ready in no time. So if you’re looking for light and quick dinners for kids, this is perfect! Follow the steps of the Creamy Chicken with Broccoli Recipe and offer your children a different dinner, but full of flavor and nutrients.
Funny boiled eggs
Eggs are a low-cholesterol food and a good source of protein, minerals and vitamins, perfect for stimulating the growth of children! What do you think if you turn these boiled eggs into little mice with carrot ears and noses? That way they are super appetizing and colorful! And not to leave them alone, you can accompany them with a cucumber sandwich but in the shape of a cat, you’ve already completed dinner!
Healthy and original carrot sandwich
Kids always look favorably on a sandwich, but they love a fun, colorful sandwich more. Thinking about this, we propose an easy preparation with vegetables and sliced bread, in which the only necessary material is a round mold. If you don’t have one, you can improvise a container in the same shape and a knife to remove the excess edge of the bread. Once the pieces are cut, follow the steps in Carrot Crumb Sandwich Recipe. At the end of the assembly, take inspiration from this pumpkin face to decorate the surface, it also works for Halloween!
Homemade chicken sausages
One of the dinners that children of all ages like is the one made up of frankfurter-type sausages, right? However, they are not considered a healthy food, so surprise them with a healthier version: homemade chicken sausages! Yes, prepare them a balanced and delicious dinner combining sausages (proteins), mashed potatoes (carbohydrates) and a salad (fiber and other compounds). Of course, do not neglect the presentation, and put a lot of color on it!
If you need easy ideas, here we give you a great one, how about a snail in the forest? Although the image shows a frankfurter type sausage, you only have to substitute it for the chicken sausage.
Cheese and broccoli soufflé
The texture of the soufflé will open the children’s palate to new taste experiences and its flavor will captivate them, as it combines three very tasty ingredients: cheese, eggs and broccoli. A light, nutritious and very tasty dinner, which does not involve much effort and will allow you to get your children to eat this vegetable that is so beneficial for their body. You can serve this kid-friendly dinner on its own or accompany it with the oil-free fries above. Without a doubt, this is a healthy dinner for children of different ages and adults, since you will love it too! In this Cheese and Broccoli Soufflé Recipe we teach you the step by step. To make it lighter, you can substitute the Parmesan cheese for another low-fat cheese.
Healthy meatballs for kids
Another of the favorite foods of the smallest of the house meatballs. This one has healthy and tasty versions, so as to never bore the palate
To make them healthy, instead of cooking the fried meatballs you can bake or grill them with just the right amount of oil. Likewise, you can accompany them with a light sauce, with vegetables, with mashed potatoes or cauliflower, or with a corvette omelet. As for the presentation, we can think of a clothed bear, very creative and appetizing! although we will show you this in the following proposal.
French omelet of different flavors
Finally, we highlight the French omelet as one of the best healthy dinners for children because it hardly needs oil and are loaded with nutrients, such as proteins, vitamins and minerals. In addition, the advantage of the French omelet is that you can prepare it with many more ingredients and thus obtain varied dinners. For example, and following the line of healthy dinners for children of all ages, you can make tuna and spinach French omelet, zucchini, mixed vegetables, mushrooms and even sweet ham.
If you make the tortilla in a round shape, you can prepare a very fun dish with the meatballs above. For example, the meatballs can be the face, ears and little hands of a bear, while the tortilla will act as a blanket that covers it. Draw the face with cheese or zucchini and voila, a very original and nutritious dinner!
Other healthy dinner recipes for children
So many creative recipes show us that stimulating children’s taste for healthy foods is not an impossible mission. It’s all about presenting food in an attractive way, as similar as possible to your favorite foods. Likewise, it is essential to season this type of food in a balanced way: neither leave it bland nor overly seasoned.
