5 Delicious Vegetarian Dishes for Your Kids

If you’re trying to get your kids to eat more vegetables or want to adopt a more plant-based lifestyle for your family, you may need a few ideas for vegetarian dishes to make dinner fun and interesting. Getting your children to cook with you can motivate them to try new healthy foods as well. Here are 5 delicious vegetarian dishes for your kids that will get the whole family excited about dinner.

Veggie Pizza

If your children love Pizza Night, you can make your own pizzas at home and allow your kids to select their own colorful veggie toppings. You can make homemade pizza crusts or purchase mini crusts and let each of your children create the pizza of their choice. Top the crusts with marinara sauce and cheese or a vegan alternative, and offer vegetables like olives, mushrooms, spinach, onions, peppers, and broccoli. When your little ones can pick the vegetables they want on their pizza, they may be more likely to eat healthy foods and come back for seconds.

Veg Rolls

You can skip the Chinese takeout and make Asian-inspired food filled with veggies at home. Vegetarian egg rolls filled with cabbage, carrots, and onion are fun to make. They are also filled with fiber and vitamins that are essential for your family’s health. You can buy veg roll wrappers at your local grocery store and sautee the chopped vegetables before placing the veggies in the wrapper and deep-frying or baking the veg rolls. Vegetable fried rice is a great side dish for the veg rolls and is another ideal way to sneak in more vegetables at dinner. Make your Asian-inspired dinner even more fun by baking a small batch of fortune cookies and adding loving or inspirational messages to the cookies for each member of your family.

Taco Bowls

Put a spin on Taco Tuesdays by making taco bowls that include a variety of tasty vegetables. Fill bowls with rice and black beans, or use cauliflower rice for a low-carb dinner. Season peppers, onions, corn, and sweet potatoes with olive oil, sea salt, cumin, and taco seasoning, and roast them in the oven. Place the roasted vegetables on the beans and rice, and add your favorite taco toppings like lettuce, tomato, sour cream, and cheese. You can also sautee some tofu with salt, pepper, garlic, and taco seasoning to add to the taco bowls in place of meat. Offer some plantain or cassava chips on the side to scoop up all the veggies and add a satisfying crunch to the meal.

Enchilada Casserole

Enchiladas may seem like a difficult endeavor, but if you call it (or anything) a casserole, it gets instantly easier to make -and eat! Start by chopping up a few zucchini into small pieces, and finely chopping up a whole red onion. These will be the veggie fillings. You can make your own enchilada sauce by creating a rue with olive oil and flour.  You can then add chili powder and chipotle powder to taste, or you can of course purchase enchilada sauce at the grocery store. After which you can lightly fry corn tortillas in oil. This is an optional step, but it does add a ton of flavor to the dish.

Finally, you are going to layer the tortillas, zucchini, onions, cheese (whatever cheese you like, cheddar is a good option), and sauce. Create several layers up to the edge of your casserole dish. This layering method makes it much easier to assemble rather than the traditional enchilada method of rolling the tortillas. Then bake away! Serve with rice and beans- or whatever you’d like. This dish is an easy and delicious spin on traditional enchilada dishes. And also because you can control the veggies inside and the spice level, you can make sure your kids will enjoy it!

Veggie Pasta

Pasta is often a dinner favorite, and a pasta dish filled with vegetables is likely to be a hit in your home. Boil your favorite pasta and season it like your favorite pizza. Add sauce, parmesan cheese, olives, tomatoes, and spinach, top with mozzarella cheese, and bake for about 15 minutes. Or, you can make a veggie pasta with peas and carrots. If your children don’t like the taste or texture of certain vegetables, you can puree squash or spinach and add it to spaghetti sauce to hide the appearance of the veggies while ensuring your little ones still get the nutrients. Stuffed shells are another great pasta option that allows your children to participate in making dinner by adding the veggies they like to the meal.

These nutrient-rich dishes are packed with flavor and will get your children excited about getting in the kitchen. Once your family tries these vegetarian meals, you’ll have more go-to recipes to prepare when you’re pressed for time and want to make sure that your family is getting the necessary vitamins and minerals to feel their best.

Let us know in the comments about the vegetarian dishes you love to cook and eat. Looking forward to hearing your yummy recipes!