Weekly meal plan for cooking with kids: 7 days and easy autumn recipes

Who is this meal plan for, and who is it not for?

Who it is for. Families with healthy children aged 3 to 12 who want to plan the week and involve their children in the kitchen. Portions can be adjusted to each child’s appetite, and there is no need to weigh anything. See “Sugar in childhood”.

Who it is not for. It is not designed for children with food allergies, coeliac disease, type 1 diabetes or kidney disease. Nor is it intended for a child with an eating disorder or who eats very few different foods. In those cases, the meal plan should be set by their paediatric team with a dietitian, and, if the child has an eating disorder, child and adolescent mental health professionals as well. This meal plan is also not for children under 3, who need guidance from their paediatrician. For more detail by age group, see the weekly meal plan for children.

7-day weekly meal plan for cooking with children

Day	Breakfast	Mid-morning snack	Lunch	Afternoon snack	Dinner
Monday	Milk · wholemeal bread with tomato and olive oil · mandarin	Banana	Lentil stew with carrot and pumpkin · wholemeal bread · plain yoghurt	Plain yoghurt with grated apple and cinnamon	★ Potato and courgette omelette · tomato salad · pear
Tuesday	Plain yoghurt with oat flakes and chopped pear	Small wholemeal bread roll with soft cheese	★ Homemade oven-baked chicken meatballs with tomato sauce · rice · mandarin	Wholemeal bread with 100% peanut butter · grapes	Courgette and leek soup · oven-baked hake · wholemeal bread · kiwi
Wednesday	Milk · wholemeal toast with avocado	Apple	Wholemeal macaroni with broccoli and tuna · salad to share · plain yoghurt	★ Autumn fruit kebabs with yoghurt for dipping	Oven-baked breaded cod · sweet potato mash · green salad · mandarin
Thursday	Plain yoghurt with banana and oats	Small wholemeal bread roll with omelette	Chickpea stew with spinach and boiled egg · orange	Milk · wholemeal bread with tomato	★ Sweet potato pizza with mushroom, tomato and cheese · lettuce and carrot salad · plain yoghurt
Friday	Milk · wholemeal toast with soft cheese and tomato	Pear	★ Homemade oven-baked beef and carrot burgers · roast potatoes · salad	Plain yoghurt with mandarin	Vegetable soup · grilled salmon · wholemeal bread · apple
Saturday	★ Pumpkin pancakes with soft cheese and kiwi	Apple	White bean stew with leek, carrot and green beans · wholemeal bread · grapes	Plain yoghurt with ground walnuts	Warm potato, green bean and egg salad · wholemeal bread · mandarin
Sunday	Milk · wholemeal bread with olive oil and tomato	Banana	Oven-baked rice with chicken and vegetables · salad · persimmon	★ Chestnut and chocolate lollipops with apple and persimmon compote	Pumpkin and carrot soup · scrambled eggs with mushrooms · wholemeal bread · pear

Each lunch and dinner follows the plate method, with vegetables, a protein food and a grain or starchy vegetable. The meal marked ★ is the one you cook together that day. There are pulses on three days and fish four times, and fruit and plain yoghurt are the usual dessert.

The week leaves out pastries, sugary cereals, juice, soft drinks, industrially breaded foods and everyday processed meats. They are not missed because each place has its own dish. There are homemade pancakes, fruit to bite into, homemade oven-baked breaded food, and soft cheese, egg or hummus in the sandwich. Cinnamon, ripe fruit and pure cocoa are enough to sweeten things, while herbs, garlic and lemon add flavour without reaching for the salt shaker.

If your family does not have cow’s milk, you can use a soy drink or a plant-based drink with at least 3% protein; check the label . Instead of cheese, choose a vegan one made from nuts or pulses and without coconut fat. Bear in mind that soy and nuts are allergens.

Weekly shopping list

Calculated for two adults and two children. If there are more or fewer of you at home, adjust mainly the fruit, vegetables and bread.

Fruit and vegetables

• 1 small pumpkin (about 1.5 kg) and 2 medium sweet potatoes (about 800 g)
• 2 kg potatoes and 1 kg carrots
• 3 courgettes, 2 leeks, 1 broccoli and 400 g green beans
• 400 g fresh spinach or 1 bag frozen spinach
• 250 g mushrooms, 2 lettuces and 1 kg tomatoes
• 2 onions and 1 bulb of garlic
• 2 kg mandarins, 1 kg apples and 1 kg pears
• 1 kg bananas, 8 kiwis, 1 bunch of grapes, 6 ripe persimmons and 4 oranges
• 1 avocado
• 500 g chestnuts

Pulses, grains and bread

• 400 g dried lentils (or 2 jars cooked)
• 2 jars cooked chickpeas and 2 jars cooked white beans
• 500 g rice and 500 g wholemeal macaroni
• 500 g oat flakes and 500 g wholemeal flour
• 3 loaves of wholemeal bread (to slice and freeze) and breadcrumbs

Fishmonger and butcher

• 600 g hake, 600 g desalted cod fillets and 4 salmon fillets
• 500 g minced chicken breast for the meatballs and 500 g chicken thighs for the rice
• 500 g lean minced beef
• 30 eggs (two and a half dozen)
• 2 cans of tuna in water

Dairy

• 6 litres of milk
• 30 plain, unsweetened yoghurts
• 2 tubs of soft cheese and 150 g grated cheese for the pizza

Pantry

• Extra virgin olive oil
• 1 jar of crushed tomatoes and 1 jar of 100% peanut butter
• 100 g walnuts and 1 bar of dark chocolate with 80% cocoa
• 2 dates, 1 vanilla pod and 1 lemon
• Cinnamon, basil, oregano, sweet paprika and salt
• Blunt-ended wooden sticks

What can your child do in the kitchen at each age?

What a child can do depends more on their hand skills than on the recipe. A group of experts in cooking, nutrition and child development linked each cooking skill to a child’s motor development [1]. They proposed 32 skills across five age ranges, starting at age 2 [1]. The table follows this approach across three age ranges, always with an adult supervising.

Day · ★ dish	Ages 3 to 5	Ages 6 to 8	Ages 9 to 12
Monday · potato and courgette omelette	Wash the courgette and add the ingredients to the bowl	Crack and beat the eggs	Cut the potato with a kitchen knife and turn the omelette with help
Tuesday · chicken meatballs	Roll the mixture into balls	Mix the mixture and weigh the breadcrumbs	Prepare the tomato sauce on the hob, with an adult beside them
Wednesday · fruit kebabs	Peel mandarins and thread soft pieces onto blunt-ended sticks	Cut banana and kiwi with a table knife	Cut apple and pear and prepare the yoghurt for dipping
Thursday · sweet potato pizza	Spread the toppings over the dough	Roll out the dough on the baking tray and slice the mushrooms	Follow the whole recipe and turn on the oven with supervision
Friday · beef burgers	Add the grated carrot and knead with their hands	Grate the carrot and shape the burgers	Dress the salad and keep track of the oven time
Saturday · pumpkin pancakes	Add the flour and stir the batter	Measure the milk and whisk the mixture	Cook the pancakes in the frying pan with an adult beside them
Sunday · chestnut lollipops	Thread small pieces of peeled, cooled chestnut onto the stick	Peel the cooked chestnuts and coat them in chocolate	Melt the chocolate and prepare the compote

Two rules stay the same at every age. Do not taste mixture containing raw egg before it is cooked. An adult must always handle or supervise the oven, hob and sharp knives.

For children under 5, also take care with foods that are easy to choke on.

• Nuts, ground or as a spread. According to the Spanish Ministry of Health, do not give them whole before at least age 5 [2].
• Grapes, peeled and cut lengthways into quarters [3]
• Chestnuts, cooked and cut into small pieces

Three autumn recipes to cook with children

These are the ★ dishes for Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. In autumn, you will also find pomegranate, cauliflower, chard, spinach and mushrooms at the market.

Homemade sweet potato pizza (2 servings)

Ingredients. 300 g sweet potato, 1 egg, a pinch of salt and basil. For the topping: tomato, mushroom and cheese.

1. Preheat the oven to 180 °C.
2. Wash the sweet potato, make a few cuts in it and roast it in the oven or microwave. Cut it up and leave it to cool.
3. Blend it with the egg, salt and basil until you have a smooth dough.
4. Spread the dough thinly on baking paper and bake it for 15 minutes, using top and bottom heat, until golden.
5. Spread the tomato, mushroom and cheese on top, and bake for another 10 minutes.

Pumpkin pancakes or crêpes

Ingredients. 400 g pumpkin, cinnamon, 2 glasses of milk, 2 large eggs, 8 tablespoons of wholemeal flour, a pinch of salt and extra virgin olive oil.

1. Preheat the oven to 180 °C.
2. Peel the pumpkin, cut it into pieces, sprinkle with cinnamon and roast for 25 minutes.
3. Blend it with the remaining ingredients until smooth. Add more milk for crêpes and less for pancakes.
4. Cook them in a frying pan with a little oil.
5. Fill them with soft cheese and kiwi, apple compote or unsweetened nut butter.

Chestnut and chocolate lollipops with apple and persimmon compote

Ingredients. Chestnuts, 80% dark chocolate for melting and wooden sticks. For the compote: 2 ripe persimmons, 1 apple, half a vanilla pod, a few drops of lemon juice and 2 dates.

1. Cut a slit in the chestnuts and boil or roast them for about 20 minutes, until they open. Leave them to cool and peel them.
2. Melt the chocolate in a bain-marie or in the microwave.
3. Skewer each chestnut on a stick, dip it in the chocolate and leave it to cool on baking paper.
4. To make the compote, simmer the chopped persimmon and apple with the vanilla, lemon, chopped dates and a little water.
5. When they soften, blend everything.

How much should I put on the plate? The hand method

A child’s portions change a lot between ages 3 and 12, and from one day to the next. Instead of weighing food, use their own hand as a measure; it grows along with them .

• Vegetables, what fits in both hands cupped together
• Protein (fish, meat, egg, pulses), about the size of the palm of their hand
• Grain or starchy food (rice, pasta, potato, bread), their closed fist
• Oil, about the size of their thumb

This is a starting point. If they are hungry, they can have more vegetables, pulses or grains, and it is fine if they eat less one day. What matters is the overall pattern across the week.

Why does cooking with children work?

Food a child has handled becomes less unfamiliar.

A review of 28 studies involving children aged 5 to 12 found that taking part in meal preparation improves their attitudes towards healthy foods [4]. In many of those studies, it also improved what they ended up eating [4]. This does not happen on the first day, because it is another form of exposure.

Repeated exposure is the other key. In babies and children aged 4 to 24 months, trying a fruit or vegetable once a day for 8 to 10 days or more increases acceptance [5]. This has not been studied in the same way in older children, but offering the same food several times works at home at any age . That is why pumpkin appears several times during the week, in lentils, soup and pancakes.

The third reason is seasonality. Autumn fruit and vegetables are harvested when ripe, so they have more flavour, making it easier for a child to have them again. According to the WHO, children aged 2 to 5 should have at least 250 g of fruit and vegetables a day. For ages 6 to 9, the amount is 350 g, and from age 10 onwards, 400 g [6]. Free sugars, meaning added sugars and those in honey and juice, should remain below 10% of daily energy intake [6].

This meal plan only adds sugar in the dark chocolate for Sunday’s lollipops. The sweetness in the pancakes and compote comes from the pumpkin, persimmon, apple and dates.

What mistakes do we see in consultations?

Removing a food because a child has rejected it twice. Rejecting it several times is to be expected. Changing how you serve it is more helpful than insisting on the same dish.

Rewarding a child with dessert for finishing their vegetables. The sweet food becomes a reward, and the vegetables become the price they have to pay for it.

Correcting every move at the kitchen counter. It does not matter if the little ball is misshapen or the flour ends up on the floor. What counts is that they were there, with their hands in the mixture.

If you do not have time during the week

You do not have to cook together seven days a week. If weekdays are too busy, save the ★ dish for the weekend and use the time to prepare a few things in advance.

• Batch cook on Sunday. Roast the pumpkin and sweet potato for the week; they can be used for the pizza, pancakes, soup and mash.
• Freeze meatballs and burgers. If you make twice as much, you will have dinner sorted for the following week.
• Use tinned pulses. Rinse them under the tap and they are ready for a stew or burgers.
• Find two-minute tasks. Washing fruit, peeling the mandarins for dessert or dressing the salad also counts as cooking together.

If you are looking for a family meal plan that does not focus on cooking with children, see the healthy weekly meal plan for the whole family.