Healthy Eating for Kids Recipes and Menus

Featured Recipes

Old-Fashioned Spaghetti & Meatballs

To stretch the ground beef, we use high-fiber bulgur and whole-wheat breadcrumbs in the meatballs, which are baked rather than fried.

» Old-Fashioned Spaghetti & Meatballs

Almond-Crusted Chicken Fingers

Instead of batter-dipped, deep-fried nuggets, we coat chicken tenders in a seasoned almond and whole-wheat flour crust and then oven-fry them to perfection. With half the fat of standard breaded chicken tenders, you can enjoy to your (healthy) heart's content.

» Almond-Crusted Chicken Fingers

No-Bake Cookies

Your kids will love helping you make these peanut butter-graham treats.

» No-Bake Cookies

Loaded Twice-Baked Potatoes

Potatoes are one of the great comfort foods, especially when stuffed with a satisfying mixture of lean ground beef and broccoli florets plus reduced-fat sour cream and Cheddar cheese. Add a tossed salad and you have a healthy and hearty meal that will leave you feeling good.

» Loaded Twice-Baked Potatoes

The EatingWell Taco

Building the perfect taco is a very personal task—cheese under meat, cheese on top, no cheese at all? This is just our recommendation.

» The EatingWell Taco

Hamburger Buddy

Very finely chopping onion, mushrooms and carrots in the food processor is not only fast—it makes the vegetables hard to detect for picky eaters. They also form the base for the sauce of this ground beef skillet supper. Make it a meal: Serve with a green salad.

» Hamburger Buddy

French Onion Dip

In our homemade version of French onion dip, we simmer chopped onions in broth and use reduced-fat sour cream and yogurt for the familiar rich and creamy flavor. All told, our version has 12 grams less fat and nearly 50 percent less sodium per serving than the original.

» French Onion Dip

Enjoy these delicious kid friendly recipes from EatingWell.

Give your kids what they want to eat--yummy recipes that will have them running to the dinner table! We’ve included kid favorites like chicken fingers, tuna melts, and good old no-bake mac & cheese, but we’ve made them delicious and much healthier! Teaching kids to eat healthy foods at a young age will help them develop healthy eating patterns for life, so we’ve included kid-friendly recipes with a variety of vegetables, using proteins that are naturally lower in calories and rich in vitamins and minerals. These delicious kid-friendly recipes will help your kids learn to love whole grains (most kids should be eating at least 6 ounces a day!). And don’t forget calcium-rich recipes to build strong bones. This collection of healthy kid-friendly recipes gets high marks from kids of all ages and is designed to make meal planning easier. We think your whole family will love them!

Download a Free Cookbook of Recipes for Kids!

COMMENTS	POSTED
My husband travels a lot and it is hard to fix dinner just for me and an 8 and 9 year old. Susan, Ogden, UT — Anonymous	09/01/2009 - 5:17pm
It is hard to be alone with two active kids when a husband is traveling. Ask them to take turns choosing what they want for dinner. One can set the table, while the other one helps to prepare the food. Have a night out where no one cooks, if you can. —Helen, Hartford, CT — Anonymous	09/01/2009 - 5:42pm
we need easy healthy food for my 5 year old 3 year old and 8year old. we want to stay healthy and fit. so my family stays fit.we don't want trans fatty food. I like this website. — Anonymous	11/20/2009 - 8:57pm
i have a 2 yr old and a 1 yr old. my boyfriend loves food and doesnt want to sacrifice flavor. i go to college part time and im a stay at home mom with the trouble of having to figure out dinner. my kids are very stressful and my days are usually busy. i want to make sure my family is healthy without sacraficing a lot of flavor and spending a ton of time in the kitchen preparing meals. i hope this website will help. — Anonymous	03/26/2010 - 5:46pm
I have a fussy teen who refuses to eat red meat and bores easily of rice, pasta and potatoes. I also have a 4 year old junk-aholic who refuses to eat proper meals unless they consist of chips and a 10 year old who will eat most things but doesn't like his foods to touch on the plate or be mixed together (bolognaise etc.) so I need help varying their diet without compromising their individual tastes. — Anonymous	07/08/2010 - 8:26pm
tell your kid to eat what you feed them to the lady with the teen four year old and ten year old what do u make three seperate meals for them and people wonder why kids do whatever they want — Anonymous	11/12/2010 - 12:01am
Use organic ingredients in baby food recipes, to be sure that you are avoiding pesticides. Choosing organic food for your baby is hugely beneficial to a baby's health. This is because your baby has a less developed blood-barrier system to protect it from food chemicals. healthy children's recipes — Anonymous	11/20/2010 - 4:13am
this recipes are pretty good and I'm only twelve years old no joke :) my favorite recipes are the smoothies they are so good! -KLM — Anonymous	11/22/2010 - 7:10pm
I am so glad you're writing about this. I have 2 small children and eating healthy can be a challenge. I find that the more we involve them with the shopping and the cooking, the more apt they are to eat it! Great article! — Anonymous	01/28/2012 - 2:18pm
These meals are not very healthy. Creams, cheese, breaded, carbs, etc. These are more like meals I would serve occasionally as something special. Not as a healthy meal. — Anonymous	04/11/2013 - 4:20pm