Four tips for kids in the kitchen
Here at Cookery School, we love seeing kids in the kitchen! Cooking is such a great way to learn and encourage creativity – especially if there’s a delicious dish at the end.
If you have a curious and culinary-minded child, here are our top tips to get them cooking in the kitchen.
Use recipes that you know work
Do not be tempted to go online to find recipes as often, they haven’t been tested and can lead everyone down the wrong path! A cooking disaster can be a disheartening to kids and make them think they are bad cooks, when really, it’s the recipe’s fault! Therefore, when suggesting recipes for your child or teen, look for tried and true options from established cookbooks – or perhaps something you’ve made before! A good, clear recipe should make cooking fun and not such hard work.
Prepare accordingly
Before anyone starts cooking, check that you’ve got everything your child or teen needs to create their masterpiece by measuring everything out and placing it in front of them. It is such a pain when find that you are short of ingredients that you need. You then have to go out and buy them or leave them out and that can affect your final dish. To make this easier, try to use recipes that do not use too many ingredients.
Follow the recipe
Kids in the kitchen are bound for greater success if they follow recipes closely. Once they’ve repeated the same recipe a few times and feel comfortable making it, they can look to get creative. Nothing breeds success like success and if your child or teen can cook a few good things, they will feel proud of their achievements and want to cook more and more.
Start with the basics
While it may be tempting to start replicating Masterchef recipes, it’s best to build up to them. Find a few recipes that the kids love making and do them over and over. For example – if they’re big fans of pizza, the dough is easy to make and you can change the flavours by using loads of different toppings. Eggs are also good to use for quick and easy meals: if the kids are cooking an omelette, they can add different fillings, like cheese or herbs or any leftovers that are in the fridge.
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Should your child or teen be interested in developing their cooking skills further, enrol them in our Teen Cooking Camp! We’ll take them from baked beans to brilliance in just one week, giving them all the skills they need to continue cooking at home.