What to cook: Easy dinners for kids

I once made a cheesy broccoli soup that was rejected by a two-year-old for being "too green". 

So, I asked parents in the ABC Lifestyle team to recommend the recipes their kids — aged between two and eight — eat and enjoy. 

Most are pantry-based and healthy and we hope they make dinner time at your place a little bit easier. 

Finger food

Reporter Patrick Wright makes Alice Zaslavsky's zucchini fritters for his son, aged two-and-a-half. "This is a good way to get him to eat at least some vegetables. The only problem is that he doesn't like having to wait for the fritters to cook!" 

Nutritionist Heidi Sze developed this recipe and knew she was onto a winner when her son took a bite and broke into a happy dance. 

Meals for the whole family

Reporter Kellie Scott says her son, aged three, is a huge fan of sushi. "This bowl is perfect for him as he gets to experience the ingredients separately and demand exactly what he wants in his bowl." Option to substitute salmon fillets for the chicken if you prefer.

"Pasta is always a winner with the boys," says editor Jo Joyce, who has sons aged six and eight. "Both get really excited when I say I am making this dish. It's also simple enough that they help." 

This pantry-based meal is flexible enough for different preferences — Jo serves one bowl with ricotta and the other without. She adds chopped bacon and red onion to the initial fry-off for extra flavour.

"This one the boys just LOVE. It's so easy, absolutely delicious, healthy and about as cheap as any meal can be," says Jo. Her eight-year-old son agrees. "I just like how it's really simple but it still tastes really, really good." 

Jo's found this to be a great way of getting her kids into curries without too much spice. It's served with soba noodles and her boys "love having noodles instead of rice because it makes it more fun."