Recommended Kids’ Cookbooks

 

 

Created by the founder of ChopChop, a James Beard Award–winning cooking magazine for families, this beautifully photographed cookbook offers recipes that are nutritious, cross-cultural, fun and flexible, offering lots of variations on everyday staples such as sandwiches and smoothies.

What to Make: Crazy-Good Buttermilk Biscuits, Fruit and Nut Energy Bars, Fish Tacos with Purple Cabbage Slaw, Cucumber Tsatsiki

 

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Gleeson, author of the original Forest Feast cookbook and a blog by the same name, offers colorful, simple vegetarian recipes based on the premise that “eating the rainbow just makes things more fun.”  Watercolor illustrations and photographs of kids cooking and enjoying food outdoors make this book as delightful to read as it is to cook from.

What to Make: Butternut Quesadillas, Carrot and Zucchini Ribbon Pasta, Sweet Potato Pizza, Pear Galette, Plum Tartlets, Pomegranate Cider

 

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This book assumes a sophisticated vegan palate, but it sure is fun. Roth, an artist, designer and activist, offers illustrated recipes that are bursting with color and accented with goofy animal characters and fun facts about food and the planet.

What to Make: 5-Minute Tomato Sauce, Dewdrop Chia Lemonade, Red Balloon (goji berry) Tea, Cashew Cream Cheese, Granola Crumble, Cheezy Kale Chips

 

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This book isn’t just for kids, but its central theme—all families crave rituals and food is the heart of these rituals—appeals to adults and kids alike. You’ll find show-stopping recipes for your Thanksgiving dinners, New Year’s Eve feasts and birthday breakfasts, but also simpler recipes for more ordinary occasions like soothing mashed potatoes to make for kids following brutal braces-tightening sessions. The book’s mini-guide for kids’ birthday parties is fantastic. Readers who enjoy Rosentrach’s best-selling cookbook Dinner: A Love Story (HarperCollins) and blog by the same name will love this book.

What to Make: Cider-Braised Pork Meatballs with Creamy Polenta, Picnic Chicken, Vegetarian Sub, Broccolini-Chickpea Pizza, Dill Pickled Vegetables, Brown Butter Apple Pie

 

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The recipes in this inviting book are organized by 10 skills such as using knives, peeling and grating, grilling, roasting and baking. In the chapter on mashing and puréeing, for example, kids learn to make hummus, guacamole, twice-baked potatoes and strawberry-banana smoothies. Sweetser’s instructions are crystal clear and enhanced by colorful, detailed drawings.

What to Make: Minestrone Soup, Pork Kebabs with Mint & Cucumber Yogurt Dip, Stir-Fried Chicken with Cashews, Steamed Asian Dumplings, Carrot & Pecan Muffins, Chocolate Mousse

 

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by Mollie Katzen (Tricycle)

Published in 1994, there’s a reason this book is a classic. Mollie Katzen, best known for her Moosewood Cookbook, co-authored the perfect starter cookbook for the youngest chefs (ages 3 and up). Each recipe appears twice: step-by-step illustrations for the kids and text for the adults.

What to Make: Bagel Faces, Quesadillas, Number Salad, Carrot Pennies, Hide-and-Seek Muffins, Chocolate-Banana Shake