Our 3 Go-To Plant Based Recipes for Kids
Easy & Tasty Plant Based Recipes for Kids
If you’re looking for easy plant based recipes that the whole family will love, you’ve come to the right place. With two young kids, we don’t have the time to make anything too complicated in the evenings. So here are the 3 easy meals we’ve been making over and over for years (that the kids love, too!)
Table of Contents
Gluten Free, Vegetarian, Etc Customizations
These vegan recipes work great as a base on their own, and we are also always changing them up too.
They can all be easily adjusted to meet your family’s dietary needs. My husband is a vegetarian, and I’m on/off with eating dairy. Love cheese? Add it! Gluten free? Swap the pasta for a gluten free option. Want more protein? Add an egg to the stir fry, or add some sustainably-farmed meat to the buddha bowls.
Shop This Cookware
Before we get into the recipes, I wanted to share where you can grab this gorgeous cookware by Great Jones Goods. All the details can be found in this post.
(Recipe 1) One-Pot Pasta Bake
This dish is my husbands favorite of them all!
We love making some variation of this One-Pot Pasta Recipe.
Omit the parmesan cheese at the end (or swap it for a plant-based alternative) and the meal instantly becomes vegan.
This recipe is delicious exactly how it is! But here’s how I like to customize it:
Prep & Cooking Tips
- The recipe calls for 2 cloves of garlic. I use 5. At least 5.
- We also add lots of fresh chopped basil
- We use less red pepper flakes, so it’s not too spicy for the kids.
- For the pot, use a cast iron dutch oven – it goes straight from the stove top into the oven
- First, sauté the onion and garlic in the dutch oven until fragrant, before adding the rest of the ingredients.
- When the pasta is done cooking, top it with dairy-free (or regular) cheese and bake/broil it in the oven, uncovered for 5-10 minutes. Until the top is nice and melted.
- My favorite dairy-free cheeses to top this dish with are Violife cheddar shreds, Violife mozzarella shreds, Follow Your Heart parmesan.
(Recipe 2) Tex-Mex Buddha Bowls
Buddha bowls are a staple in our home. They can take on many different forms, and are easy to customize depending on what your kids like! I love a Tex-Mex vibe to my bowls, and my kids do too. But we usually just make them with whatever veggies we have leftover in the fridge!
You don’t really need a recipe for Buddha Bowls. It’s just rice, beans, vegetables and sauce.
If you want a recipe to follow, try this one: Mexican-Inspired Vegan Buddha Bowl Recipe.
And here is how I made mine today:
Ingredients
- Brown Rice
- Black Beans
- Sweet Potatoes
- Spinach (I forgot to add this before taking the photos, whoops)
- Red Onion
- Red Peppers
- Corn
- Avocado
- I made my own tahini-based sauce by Happy Kitchen
Prep & Cooking Tips
Fool-proof brown rice:
Rinse the rice first. Then add 2 parts water / 1 part rice to a pot with a tablespoon of olive oil. Bring to a boil, then cover & reduce to a simmer for 40-ish min (until water is absorbed). Let sit covered for 10 min, then fluff with fork.
Sweet Potatoes:
I like to chop into small cubes, toss in olive oil, salt and pepper and sauté in a nonstick skillet for 10-15 minutes (until tender). Easy peasy!
Black Beans:
Always rinse them first. Then I usually just heat them up in a small saucepan. If I have a few extra minutes, I’ll sauté onion and garlic first then add the beans to that.
Other Ingredients We Love in Buddha Bowls
Protein:
Tofu, Chickpeas, Pinto Beans, Hummus
Buffalo Cauliflower (not quick to make, but so dang good)
Vegetables:
Broccoli, bell peppers, cauliflower, cucumber, literally any vegetables
Sauce:
If you’re short on time and don’t want to do a homemade sauce, Primal Kitchen make really yummy vegan sauces you can buy at the grocery store. I love the ranch and the buffalo.
(Recipe 3) Tofu + Vegetable Stir Fry
It doesn’t get any easier than this right here! Simple and tasty. It’s our family’s go-to recipe; we make it ALL the time. I don’t have a recipe, so I’ll share how I prepare it.
There are 3 parts, and here is everything you’ll need:
Ingredients
- Rice
- Bag of frozen stir-fry vegetables
- 14oz block extra firm Tofu (or whatever protein you want!)
- Sesame Oil
- Soy Sauce
Prep & Cooking Tips
Rice:
Follow package instructions and make 1-2 cups. (Meal prep a big batch of rice at the start of the week so you don’t have to keep making it every night!)
Frozen Stir-Fry Vegetables:
Heat some coconut oil in a skillet, add the vegetables straight from the bag, cover to let them steam a bit, then sauté til they’re cooked. Season with salt pepper and garlic powder. That’s it!
Pan-Fried Tofu:
Drain tofu block well, cut into cubes, and pat dry. Add to a skillet with olive oil on medium heat and flip every few minutes until browned. Add a tablespoon each of soy sauce and sesame oil somewhere in the middle there too!
Thank you for reading!
Hope you love these kid friendly vegan recipes & that you found it helpful as you hunt for your own go-to meals for your family.
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Hi, I'm Teresa!
Thank you for taking the time to read my little space on the internet. I’m a digital creator, blogger & environmental advocate.
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