I know a lot of you have suddenly found yourself at home with your kids all day long and are struggling to prepare kid-friendly meals three times a day. That’s why I decided to round up 25 Easy Kid-Friendly Vegan Recipes, ranging from breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert ideas!
Kid-Friendly Vegan Breakfast Recipes
1. PB&J Berry Banana Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
A peanut butter and jelly sandwich, all grown up and made grain-free. Loved by kids and adults alike! Sweet enough for dessert but healthy enough for breakfast :)
This is the 4th recipe in this blog post, which contains 5 stuffed sweet potato ideas (I think all of them are quite kid-friendly).
2. Pumpkin Sheet Pancakes
Light and fluffy vegan pancakes in a fraction of the time and effort as traditional pancakes! These vegan pumpkin sheet pancakes allow you to make pancakes for the family without standing in front of the oven all morning. And what kids don’t love pancakes??
3. Chocolate Sweet Potato Milkshake
A chocolate milkshake that’s just as thick and creamy as the classic but packed with nutrients so you can feel good about serving your kiddos a milkshake for breakfast.
Made extra creamy with sweet potatoes, frozen bananas, and raw cacao powder, this is a high-fiber milkshake that the whole family can feel good about!
4. Vegan Breakfast Quesadillas
Indulgent vegan quesadillas packed with a hearty tofu scramble, a chewy mushroom bacon, lots of vegan cheese, and served with an easy avocado salsa! The perfect way to wow anyone at the breakfast table.
While most kids do like bacon, if you’re hesitant they won’t go for the shiitake bacon, you can either (a) not make it at all, (b) serve it on the side, or (c) put the “bacon” on only half of the quesadillas and let them decide what they like.
And if you’re making the homemade avocado salsa, omit the jalapeño pepper or use a store-bought mild salsa.
5. Healthy Breakfast Cookies
These Vegan Breakfast Cookies are healthy enough to eat for breakfast or sweet enough for dessert! Made with oats, seeds, and almond butter and exclusively pantry ingredients, these cookies are deceptively delicious and are vegan, gluten-free, oil-free, refined sugar-free, and soy-free!
So when you’re little ones ask for cookies but you want to keep it healthy, bake these easy cookies with them!
6. Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal (Instant Pot recipe)
This is the perfect weekday breakfast for busy families. It requires zero hands-on cooking so you can get your kids (and yourself) ready for the day and prep breakfast at the same time (the Instant Pot does all the work for you).
Easy, budget-friendly, and delicious (everyone loves peanut butter and bananas, right??).
7. Vegan French Toast with Berry Compote
All you need are a few simple ingredients to make this vegan French Toast, which includes two vegan superstar ingredients that give it the traditional eggy-like flavor without any eggs. Serve plain with pure maple syrup, or make an easy berry compote with frozen or fresh compote.
Kid-Friendly Vegan Lunch and Dinner Recipes
8. Creamy Pantry Pasta
This 10-Ingredient Creamy Vegan Pantry Pasta is made with just a handful of everyday pantry staples and is an excellent option for an easy weeknight dinner. It’s creamy, cheesy, and smoky and indulgent yet healthy family-friendly meal.
If your kids aren’t into smoky flavors, just omit the smoky paprika or substitute it with regular paprika.
9. Vegan Tuna Salad Sandwich
This Vegan Tuna Salad Sandwich is made with chickpeas and hearts of palm, seasoned with dulse flakes for a taste of the ocean, and finished with classic American ingredients like sweet pickle relish. It’s the new “I can’t believe it’s not tuna!”
If your kids are into tuna sandwiches, they’re going to LOVE this vegan version.
10. Creamy Pumpkin Mac and Cheese
The BEST vegan mac and cheese you (or your kids) will ever taste! Made with wholesome ingredients like roasted pumpkin and cashews, but super creamy and indulgent, so you can feel good about serving your kids mac and cheese for dinner.
11. Creamy Vegan Cauliflower Soup with Sausage and Kale
This soup is the perfect weeknight dinner for the whole family. Hearty yet wholesome and made with just 10 ingredients, it’s a soup with bits of vegan sausage that makes for the ultimate comfort food! Instant Pot instructions included.
If your kids aren’t able to eat spicy food, make sure to not use a spicy vegan sausage and omit the red pepper flakes. Also, I recommend chopping up the kale very finely so that your kids don’t pick out a piece of kale and say “I HATE kale!”
12. Green Goddess Grilled Cheese
With gooey vegan cheese and pesto lathered between crispy buttered bread, your kids won’t even notice that there are greens hiding in these decadent grilled cheeses. But omit the pickled jalapeños (I’ve been told kids don’t like spicy peppers)!
13. 15-Minute Creamy Avocado Pasta
What parent doesn’t appreciate a 15 minute meal? Quick, easy, and foolproof, this creamy avocado pasta is perfect for hectic weeknights. With just a few pantry staples and some ripe avocados, you can have dinner on the table in just 15 minutes.
Supplement with your kids’ favorite protein, like crispy beans or baked tofu.
14. Easy Vegan Tacos
Tacos are a perfect family-friendly meal because everyone, both young’n and old, loves tacos. These tacos are made with only pantry ingredients, but if you have extras like fresh cilantro, vegan cheese, or ingredients to make fresh salsa, feel free to jazz them up!
To make this recipe a bit more kid friendly, do the following:
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Use a mild-flavored salsa and serve it on the side
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Go easy on the chili powder in the Refried Beans
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Omit the jalapeño peppers in the in the Cashew Crema; if your kids can handle a little bit of heat, use 1 jalapeño pepper but remove all the seeds and membranes.
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If your child isn’t a big fan of smoke flavors, omit the smoked paprika or use regular paprika in the Cashew Crema.
15. Pumpkin Lasagna Soup (Instant Pot recipe)
If your kids like lasagna and creamy soup, they are going to love this creamy pumpkin lasagna soup (and so will you)!
It’s a marriage of lasagna and cozy pumpkin flavors, this soup is the ultimate comfort food in a bowl. And thanks to the Instant Pot, it’s incredibly simple and quick to make, so you can spend more time playing with your kids / cleaning up after them and less time in the kitchen.
16. One-Pot Vegan Chili Mac
One of the keys to making kid-friendly vegan recipes? Minimizing cleanup.
This protein-packed chili meets pasta is just the ticket! Easy and quick and made with simple ingredients, this is a perfect hearty weeknight-friendly and budget-friendly dinner! Easy to make gluten-free, soy-free, and oil-free.
To make this more kid-friendly:
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Substitute the tempeh with a half can of extra beans. Tempeh can be bitter for many palates.
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Go easy on the spices: cut the chili powder in half, omit the cayenne pepper, use regular paprika instead of smoked paprika, use less cumin, etc.
17. Burrito Bowl Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
If your kids enjoy burritos or burrito bowls (or Chipotle!), then it’s time to introduce them to this healthy homemade upgrade! Creamy black beans, a 5-minute salsa, guacamole, and pan-fried corn get stuffed into sweet potatoes for a healthy yet delicious spin on a burrito bowl!
To go easy on the spice, go easy on the chili powder in the pan-fried corn and omit the jalapeño in the guac.
18. Cashew Cream Pasta
Cashew cream is my favorite all-purpose condiment! Pair it with some cooked pasta and you have an easy, creamy, indulgent yet healthy pasta recipe! And what kid doesn’t like creamy pasta?
Add some cooked beans and whatever veggies you have on hand for a complete, balanced meal (and more importantly, a kid-friendly vegan recipe).
The Cashew Cream Pasta is “meal” #1” in this blog post.
19. The Best Vegan Mashed Potatoes
Are there any kids who don’t like mashed potatoes? If your kids go crazy for mashed potatoes like most kids, you have to try these mashed potatoes. Light and fluffy yet creamy, these vegan mashed potatoes are the best of both worlds.
Made with a flavor-packed miso butter, these mashed potatoes are irresistible for both kids and adults. And sure, mashed potatoes alone don’t qualify as “lunch” or “dinner,” but I think they still belong on this list :)
20. One-Pot Pumpkin Alfredo
Say goodbye to a sink full of dishes and hello to this one-pot pumpkin pasta (and what parent doesn’t like minimizing dishwashing?)! This is the creamiest pumpkin Alfredo pasta ever and a great, kid-friendly vegan recipe! This one-pot pumpkin pasta is like a fall hug in a bowl, with warming flavors of pumpkin and nutmeg and woodsy herbs like rosemary and sage.
Since kids can be a bit sensitive to garlic, I recommend using a bit less than the recipe calls for.
Kid-Friendly Vegan Dessert Recipes
21. The Vegan Everything Cookie
These Vegan Everything Cookies are made with all the best cookie ingredients, like chocolate chunks, oats, nuts, and raisins. They’re perfectly chewy, indulgent, and irresistible! And while they’re indulgent, you can feel better knowing that you’re feeding your kiddos healthyish ingredients like coconut sugar, almond butter, and oats.
22. Easy Banana Bread
This is truly the Best Vegan Banana Bread you (or your kids will ever taste), and it is so easy to make that your kids can even help you make this recipe. With just 8 ingredients, it’s simple yet extremely delicious. Plus, it’s moist, tender, and light, not dense or dry.
23. Blueberry Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
A mashup of everyone’s favorite muffin flavors, these Blueberry Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins are such a delicious treat for adults and kids alike! They’re with wholesome ingredients like coconut yogurt, almond meal, and bananas and are refined sugar-free, so you don’t have to worry about over-hyper kids ;)
24. Peanut Butter Stuffed Chocolate Covered Dates
Finishing off this list with another easy, no-bake dessert you can make with your kids! This is a 5-minute dessert and one of my go-tos for everyday sweet treats. Sticky dates get even more delicious when stuffed with creamy peanut butter and coated in dark chocolate. A rich and scrumptious yet wholesome and nourishing dessert for the whole family!
25. No-Bake Cookie Dough Bars
Vegan No-Bake Cookie Dough Bars
Ingredients
- 1 packed cup of soft Medjool dates pitted*
- 2 3/4 cups rolled oats (~260-275g), certified gluten-free if needed**
- 1/4 cup smooth tahini (56g) (or almond butter or cashew butter)
- 4 1/2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 cup (170-180g) vegan chocolate chips, divided (I use these mini chocolate chips)
- 2 teaspoons refined coconut oil, melted (optional; omit to keep oil-free)
Instructions
- If the dates are not very soft, cover them with hot water for 5 minutes, then drain and pat dry.
- Place the oats in the bowl of the food processor and pulverize them until you have a fine oat flour. Alternatively, you can use store-bought oat flour. See note below.
- Add the pitted dates, tahini, maple syrup, vanilla, and salt to the oat flour. Blend until the mixture forms into a sticky dough (it should turn into a ball). If it feels dry, add a spoon of plant-based milk a teaspoon at a time until the dough just sticks together when pressed.
- Transfer the dough to a large bowl. Fold in 1/2 cup of the chocolate chips into the dough using a silicone spatula.1. Note: If the dough is too sticky to handle with your hands (this is more likely if your kitchen is warm), place the dough in the fridge for 20 minutes to firm it up a bit.
- Line a 8×4-inch (20×10 cm) or 9×5-inch loaf pan (23×13 cm) with parchment paper, letting the excess hang over the long sides to form a sling. Spread the dough out into the prepared pan and smooth the top out evenly, pressing all the way into corners using your fingers or a flat-bottomed steel cup to get the mixture even on top.
- Place the pan in the freezer for 30 minutes (or longer) to set. Once chilled, remove from the freezer and using the parchment paper as handles, lift the cookie dough out of the pan.
- Before removing from the freezer, melt the chocolate.1. Double boiler method: Add a few inches of water to a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Nestle a large heatproof glass bowl that sits on top of the saucepan without touching the water to create a double boiler. Once the water is simmering, add the vegan chocolate chips and coconut oil to the bowl. Whisk frequently with a spatula until the mixture is just melted.2. Microwave method: Add the chocolate and coconut oil to a microwave-safe bowl and microwave on high in 25 to 30-second intervals until the chocolate is almost melted (about 3 intervals). Use a spoon to stir the chocolate until it is melted.
- Drizzle the melted chocolate over the cold cookie dough and lightly sprinkle with flaky sea salt, if desired. If the chocolate doesn’t immediately harden, return it to the freezer for 5-10 minutes to set, then slice into 8 thick bars or into smaller squares. Store leftovers in the freezer (they’ll stay good for several weeks).
Notes
** If using store-bought oat flour, you’ll need slightly less than the amount of oats – about 2 1/4 cups oat flour.
Thank you for this incredible list! My kids are so excited to try a bit of everything. I have one who loves spicy and one not so keen so I love the tips to change things up.