Advertisement
Home Inspire Me

5 top tips to get your teen cooking in the kitchen

Preparing a quick, nutritious meal can be tough task for adults, let alone kids.

It seems this is a skill that Kiwi kids don’t seem to be learning in school kitchens, as a Massey University study highlighted. Of all the food being prepared at school the majority weren’t main meals, with desserts and baked items making up 25 per cent.

Advertisement

The nationwide 2017 Maggi Pop Up Kitchen Showdown saw intermediate to high school age participants take on the challenge of creating what seems to have become a lost art – a healthy family meal.

A record turnout saw 520 teams made up of 1700 students take on the tricky task of cooking a vege-packed meal for a family of four that costs less than $20 – all in under 30 minutes.

The winners were Amy Xiong, 13, and Stephanie Chong, 12, from Bucklands Beach Intermediate with their satay udon chicken bowl creation.

Food coach and MasterChef New Zealand finalist Vanessa Baxter judged the finals and shared some of her best tips for getting kids involved with cooking at home.

Advertisement

The winning dish – satay udon chicken bowl full of broccolini, courgettes, shallots and bok choy.

Vanessa Baxter’s top tips for getting 11-16 year olds cooking

1. Talk about safety in the kitchen – including care with knives. Learning to use a knife is just as important as learning to drive or brushing your teeth. Show your child how to grip a knife. Get them to hold the knife at the top of the handle, closest to the blade. When cutting, encourage them to curl their fingers away from the knife (demonstrate a claw motion) and keep the vegetable on a flat board with a tea towel underneath it to keep it from moving around.

2. Read through the recipe, check the ingredients and stick to a budget. Encourage your kids to read the recipes to you and get them to help you check for ingredients in the cupboard. Involve them in writing a shopping list and let them guide you through the supermarket, finding their way around the aisles. Involving them at the very beginning stages boosts creativity and confidence.

Winners Amy Xiong, 13, and Stephanie Chong, 12.

Advertisement

3. Get creative with vegetables. If you spot some strange looking vegetable you don’t normally cook with, try it! Expanding the kid’s food vocabulary could entice them into becoming more interested in cooking and food. Then you can get them learning different ways of preparing them like chopping, peeling, grating, julienning or spiraling (or figuring it out together!).

4. Go through cookbooks and watch food shows with them. Getting children excited about food will likely see them getting into the kitchen. Get all your cookbooks together, sit down with your kids and flip through them and let them choose the recipes they like the look of.

5. Give them free reign and go with the flow! A brightly filled plate with a range of healthy vegetables is brilliant – even if it’s not presented quite the way you had in mind. Let go of the control. Once you have taught safety, give them the reigns in the kitchen and allow them to get creative and make something they can be proud of. If you keep the mood light-hearted you can make the kitchen a fun and rewarding experience for your child!

Advertisement

Feature image via: Getty Images

Related stories


Advertisement