When I was a kid, I hated everything – especially sauces. Today, I give ketchup and well-rounded, plant-based recipes a pass.
Took me awhile to get there.
According to WebMd, children may be picky eaters, or now known as “selective eaters,” due to smell, texture, or taste sensitivities.
Keeping that in mind, every kid will have their own preferences, dislikes, and their fondness for familiar foods.
It’s a great idea to experiment, using dishes they already like and making small tweaks along the way.
For example, if they love mac and cheese, maybe throw in veggie bacon made of mushrooms.
Or, if they can never get tired of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, opt for natural peanut butter, crushed raspberries, and a drizzle of honey or date syrup. You can even keep it simple with a side of toasted baguette and a garlic butter dip.
Additionally, if you’re concerned your child is not consuming a well-rounded diet, speak with your child’s pediatrician to check for nutritional deficiencies.
Kitchen Tools I Use And Love
There are a few kitchen tools I use on a very regular basis. One of my favorite kitchen tools is the Oster Blender.
It has several setting including pulsing and blending. I use it often for smoothies, sofrito, and oat flour. I’ve had mine for a couple of years and it’s still kickin’.
Cool, ready to be a kid again with your kid? Grab those forks! We’re diving right in.
1 – Vegan Mac and Cheese
Insanely creamy, rich, and a dish that just keeps on giving – this plant-based mac and cheese recipe will have your kids asking for more! Who would have thought, raw cashews are the best base for any plant-based, homemade cheese sauce.
Smoky Vegan Mac and Cheese
2 – Veggie “Fried” Rice, Oil-Free
Oooh, gimmie! A kid-crowd-friendly dish that uses affordable and accessible ingredients. Yeah, this is the kind of recipe anyone can get behind. The best part about this recipe is that it’s adjustable.
Oil-Free Vegan Fried Rice
3 – Bean and Tofu Burger
Mushy, flat, and reeks of “healthy food”? Nope! This one has a variety of textures and a depth of flavor. Using tofu, beans, and mushrooms – this is the veggie burger your kids have been thinking about. Just make sure to pile on the fries on the side. 😉
Black Bean Tofu Burger Recipe
4 – Breakfast Burrito
Fill those bad boys up with flavor-punch soyrizo, cooked tofu scramble, crispy potatoes, black beans, and sneak a few greens! Wrapped in a warm, fresh tortillas, this is the dream of all breakfasts.
Vegan Breakfast Burrito Recipe
5 – Mushroom Bacon
Kids are craving something savory, crispy, that can perfectly co-exist with a mountain of scrambled tofu? Give ‘em mushroom bacon. Before you say, “ahh but it’s mushroom.” Yes, it’s mushroom, but it’s hands-down the best veggie bacon I have ever had. And it takes just 5 ingredients. Smoky, peppery, with a touch of maple, everyone’s going to enjoy this one.
Easy Vegan Mushroom Bacon
6 – Zucchini Fries
Potato fries are cool, but if you’re looking to switch things up and get a crisp out of veg, zucchini fries are definitely the way to go. Give the kids their favorite sauces and dips and let ‘em dunk their zucchini fries. You get to give them veggies and they get to have their fun dips – sounds like a win-win to me.
How To Make Vegan Zucchini Fries
7 – Buffalo Cauliflower Wings
The best way to get your kids to eat vegetables? Well, cover in something that makes it look like something else. These buffalo cauliflower wings are perfectly tender inside and crunchy on the outside.
Crispy Buffalo Cauliflower Wings
8 – Grilled Cinnamon Raisin PB&J
Quick and easy, here’s a PB&J sandwich that’s perfect for lunchtime or as a snack. My advice: use natural peanut butter, thick slices of whole wheat bread, and homemade raspberry jam. We’re taking the traditional PB&J sandwich and making it even better.
Grilled Cinnamon Raisin PB&J Sandwich
9 – Vegan Butter “Chicken”
Thinking about introducing something new to your kids? This might be a good start. The veggies and spices are blended into a thick, creamy sauce that they’ll never even suspect. Opt for a side of brown rice for a touch of fiber and added nutrients. This easy Indian recipe will give your kids something new to test their palates.
Vegan Butter Chicken (Murgh Makhani)
10 – Extra Crispy Baked Tofu Nuggets
Baked, crispy, and dunkable – these tofu nuggets are that meal that everyone can get behind. Because they are mild in flavor, they can be tossed and dipped in anything you want. Personally, I still go for a pool of ketchup.
Extra-Crispy Baked Tofu Nuggets
11 – Banana Pancakes
The texture of banans can be offputting, I totally understand. If they aren’t blended, whipped into an ice-cream, or fried…they can be a bit mushy. So, just like everything else here, let’s just throw them into a stack of thick, gluten-free pancakes made of oat bran.
How To Make Vegan Banana Pancakes
12 – Oat Bran Pancakes with Chocolate Syrup
Okay, so maybe the kids aren’t interested in a normal stack of pancakes, well, give them chocolate! This homemade chocolate syrup is made from cocoa powder, water, and sugar. They’ll be so distracted by the chocolate, they’ll have no idea that their pancakes are stacks of blended oat bran and chia seeds.
Oat Bran Pancakes With Chocolate Syrup Recipe
13 – Hot Chocolate
Kids want something warm and sweet to settle their tummies before bed? Stir up a mug of hot chocolate. Using pure cocoa, this is a chocolate treat with a good source of fiber, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, copper, and manganese. Perfect, warm evening snack for kids and adults alike.
Homemade Dairy-Free Hot Chocolate Recipe
14 – Chocolate Peanut Butter Smoothie Bowl
No need to cook if you don’t want to. Blend up lunch or dinner and top it off with something sweet and crunchy.
Chocolate Peanut Butter Smoothie Bowl
15 – Pumpkin Pie Spice Pancakes
Want a little autumn in your pancakes? Whisk in a shake of pumpkin pie spice. Serve a tall stack with a pat of vegan butter and a generous pour of maple syrup!
Pumpkin Pie Spice Oat Bran Pancakes
16 – Homemade Applesauce
This sweet treat is 100% plant-based using ingredients including crispy, red fuji apples, dates, and a dash of cinnamon. Have it warm or cold – the choice is theirs. Personally, I like to have it warm during the colder seasons and chilled during the summer.
3-Ingredient Plant-Based Applesauce
17 – Broccoli and Cheese
Broccoli and cheese used to be one of my favorite dishes to have growing up. My mother never held back from loading up my plate with the stuff. This was the type of dish I always wanted to see when someone would say, “eat your veggies!”
Vegan Cheese Sauce With Broccoli
18 – Crispy Roasted Potatoes
Oh damn. Do you hear that crunch? That’s the sounds of perfectly roasted breakfast potatoes. Looks like your tofu scramble and mushroom bacon has a friend to make breakfast complete.
How To Make Home Fries
19 – Meatless Bolognese Sauce
A plant-based take on the beloved meat sauce, we’re using mushrooms to achieve a meaty-texture and umami flavor. Use their favorite pasta sauce and hide the veggies! They don’t like a chunky pasta sauce? Blend it up.
Meatless Bolognese Sauce
Tried a dish from this 19 Kid-Friendly Plant-Based Recipes list?
Please leave a comment below, share it, rate it or tag a picture @plantbasedandbroke on Instagram and hashtag it #plantbasedandbroke. Show off that creation with us
Blistered Green Beans Recipe
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Delaney
Thank you so much this will help me with my vegan diet a lot!!
Na'Keia
Thank you so much for these recipes. My nine year old stated she wanted to go vegan along with me; now she is giving in to the pressure of outside family influence. Which is causing her to bark at the meals I have been preparing lately. Hopefully with some of these I can show her a plant based\vegan diet can be delicious to eat and fun to prepare.
Aly Michell
I hope she loves some of these recipes on this list! One of my favorite kid-friendly recipes that I love and my younger family members love is the vegan mac and cheese and mushroom bacon (good together too). I am sorry to hear she’s being pressured – I hope she can ignore the noise and eat what she enjoys.
Niderah
Looks very good I am 13 and want to have a great diet I will for sure try this❤️💕
Aly Michell
Hope you love the recipes! Some of my favorites in this list include the vegan mac & cheese and nuggets! Give them a try. 🙂