If the dinner problem — defined, broadly, as “what should I make for dinner?” — is difficult to solve, picture solving it every night for the choosiest audience imaginable. This audience is not composed of food critics, or exacting chefs. It’s children. Nothing in the kitchen is more reliably frustrating than trying to feed a picky one. (I say all of this with love.)
That’s why my wonderful colleague Margaux Laskey has created a collection of 18 kid-friendly recipes (13 of which are entirely new) to please whole families — children and adults, eating the same meal in harmony. Margaux also spoke with a nutritionist who offered helpful tips for feeding the picky.
Four recipes from that list are below — I was just going to feature one, but they looked so good I picked a whole bunch — along with a personal pick that my own children scarf down routinely.
Feedback? Suggestions? Always reach out. I’m [email protected].
I’m also making:
Cinnamon date smoothies, banana pancakes, gravlax.
1. Broccoli Rice With Eggs
Hetty Lui McKinnon’s new recipe is a bowl of ease, and I’d happily eat this for dinner with chile oil dribbled on top. If you’re making this for a kid who won’t eat a runny egg, then scrambled eggs, or halved boiled eggs, would work just fine.
2. Sesame Salmon Noodle Bowls With Ponzu
Buy a bottle of ponzu sauce and you’re already half-done making this easy recipe from Ali Slagle. Assemble a beautiful bowl, like the one in the photo above, or separate the noodles from the salmon and the vegetables for younger eaters who can’t abide different foods touching each other on the plate.
3. Cheesy Gnocchi With Corn and Pesto
A “whoa!” idea from Carolina Gelen: Combine crisp gnocchi with chewy sweet corn kernels, pesto and gooey melted cheese for a dinner that is both familiar but not quite like anything else. Tortellini would be a good substitute for the gnocchi, should you need one. Commenters are loving it, especially Michael L., who fed his kids with it and wrote, “Easily in the NYT Cooking top 5 when it comes to the flavor/effort cost ratio.”
4. Crispy Baked Tomato-Oregano Chicken
Breaded chicken cutlets have an appeal that cuts across age groups and cuisines, with their seasoned crumb coating and juicy meat. Yasmin Fahr’s new recipe offers a simple but hardly basic take, with the cutlets baking on top of juicy tomatoes.
5. Everyday Dal
This is my pick for a kid-friendly dinner, a staple on Cooking and in my own kitchen. My children love dal, and Priya Krishna’s recipe hits the spot. They eat these pleasingly soupy lentils plain, with rice, but there are about a hundred ways you could easily add flavor or texture that enriches or pops.
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Emily Weinstein is the editor in chief of New York Times Cooking and Food. She also writes the popular NYT Cooking newsletter Five Weeknight Dishes.
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