5 Tasty And Nutritious Lunch Box Recipes For Kids

Is making your kids eat healthy food a struggle? It’s disheartening to see when your kids’ food is still left in the lunch box and the fact that your kids aren’t getting any nutrients for their growth is worrisome. Apart from making it tasty, you have to make sure they are getting enough nutrients for healthy growth. You have to bring your cooking game up. Include lots of colours and textures to make it look appetizing and interesting. Try to include vegetables, proteins in every meal and add salad & fruits as a side dish for fibre. Also, the most important thing is to keep your kids' food fresh, get an insulated lunch box for that. Well, to help you ease a little with the struggle, here's a compilation of kid’s meal recipes from different YouTubers.

1)Oats Pancakes by Kanak’s kitchen

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup oats
• 1/2 cup fine semolina/suji
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 tsp lemon juice salt to taste
• 2 green chillies finely chopped
• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tbsp ginger finely chopped
• 1 onion finely chopped
• 1 small capsicum finely chopped
• 1 small carrot finely chopped
• 4-5 spinach leaves finely chopped
• 1 small tomato finely chopped some fresh coriander
• 1 tbsp oil/butter for cooking

Recipe

Grind a cup of oats in the blender for around 20-30 secs to make a fine powder. Take it in a bowl and mix it with ½ cup of fine semolina and add 1 cup of buttermilk and lemon juice to it. Give it a good stir and let it soak for 15-20mins, this way most of the moisture will be taken up by the oats and semolina which will make the pancake light and fluffy. Mix all the ingredients with a little water. It shouldn’t be runny but have a thick flowy consistency. Just before you cook it, put 1 tsp fruit salt or ENO into it and stir it lightly until it becomes frothy but don’t overmix it. Heat a non-stick pan and brush it lightly with some oil or butter and pour the prepared mixture onto it. Spread it nicely in a circular motion with the help of the back of a spoon and let it cook on one side for 1-2 mins. Flip it over to the other side and drizzle a little oil. Let it cook until it becomes golden brown on both sides and your oats pancake is ready.

2)Mini burgers by Food for foodies

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 medium boiled potato
• Cottage cheese (paneer) equivalent to the size of the medium potato
• 2-3 cloves of garlic
• 1 tsp lemon juice salt to taste
• Oil/ghee
• Butter
• Cheese slice
• Mini buns 

Recipe

Grate both the boiled potato and the cottage cheese in a bowl and then add grated garlic into it. Put salt and pepper according to your taste and mix it with the help of your hand. Heat a non-stick pan and put some ghee accordingly. Make cutlets out of the mixture and cook until it becomes crispy. Cut open the mini bun and warm it a little on the pan. After taking it down from the pan, apply a little butter on it, put the cutlet, put one-fourth of a cheese slice. Repeat the same for the rest of the buns and cutlets. Now your kid’s mini buns are ready.

3)Moong Handvo by Food for foodies

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup skinned green gram
• 1 Green Chilli (optional)
• Ginger
• Vegetables of your choice
• Mustard seeds
• Curry leaves
• Lemon
• Salt
• Ghee (clarified butter)
• Garam masala
• Eno/baking soda 

Recipe

Soak green gram overnight and wash it properly the next day until all the froth is washed off. Grind it in a blender along with green chilli (optional) and a little bit of ginger. The mixture should be of a cake batter consistency. Chop capsicum, tomatoes, onion or other vegetables you prefer. Add some salt and garam masala to the batter and mix it properly. Add eno/baking soda and lemon juice. Heat ghee on a pan and put mustard seeds and as soon as it crackles, add curry leaves into it. Now pour some batter into the pan, cover and cook it for 2-3 mins. After that scatter the chopped vegetables on top, add cheese and lastly pour the rest of the batter. Cover and cook it for 7 more minutes, then put some ghee on top, flip it over and cook it for 5 mins and it’s ready. Cut in slices and serve.

4)Veg pasta by Cook with Lachu

INGREDIENTS:

• Pasta-3/4cup
• Broccoli-1/2cup
• Potato-1/2cup
• Baby carrot-1
• Other vegetables of your choice
• Cheese (grated)- 3 tsp
• Tomato Ketchup- 1 tsp

Recipe

Take 3/4cup of water in a pan, put 3/4cup of pasta, 1/2cup cut potato, 1/2cup broccoli, 1 baby carrot chopped (you can add other vegetables if you like), add 1/2tsp salt (or according to your taste) and mix well. Cover and cook for 16 mins, then add 1tsp tomato ketchup. Add 3tsp of grated cheese and is ready to serve. It’s healthy, cheesy and tasty.

5)Paneer Pulao by Mom N Me

Recipe

Cook 1 cup rice in 2 cups of water, add 1 teaspoon salt and microwave for 15 minutes. ( you can cook normally too) Drain off excess water and cook. Heat a pan, add 1 tablespoon oil and golden roast or fry the paneer cubes. When it becomes golden brown, take it out in a bowl, add salt, red chilly(optional) and half lemon juice and marinate. Add 1 tablespoon butter to the pan, add cloves, cardamom, cinnamon, bay leaves and 1/2teaspoon cumin seeds and roast for 30 secs. Now add onion, capsicum and mix well. Add green peas (you can add other veggies as well) and cook for 5 mins until it becomes soft. Now add rice, paneer and cover, cook for 2-3 mins. Sprinkle some black pepper and it’s ready to serve.

We hope these recipes will bring a smile to your kids and make you enjoy while preparing at the same time. Happy cooking!