The Best Instant Pot & Air Fryer Recipes To Make With Your Children During School Holidays
The Best Half Term Recipes To Make In Your Instant Pot & Air Fryer During School Holidays
As a nutritionist, I understand the importance of providing children with nutritious, balanced meals that are also appealing and easy to prepare. During school holidays, it’s a great opportunity to introduce fun and healthy recipes using your Instant Pot and your air fryer. Here are some of my top picks. They’re easy enough for children to prepare, with some adult supervision for younger children and they’re ideal for giving your child more confidence with cooking from scratch :
Instant Pot Recipes
- Instant Pot Base Risotto – Recipe
- Nutritional Benefits: A source of carbohydrates, fibre and several important minerals, including manganese, copper, and phosphorus. Using a homemade or made-from-scratch (but shop-bought) vegetable stock or stock paste provides both vitamins and minerals.
- Recipe: The Instant Pot will give your child the confidence to make their first risotto. Rather than having to stand over the hob stirring on repeat, which many children will soon get bored with, they can achieve fantastic results by cooking this risotto at high pressure for just 6 minutes. No stirring during cooking is required.
- Instant Pot Summer Greens Soup – Recipe
- Nutritional Benefits: An antioxidant-rich soup and a wonderful way to encourage children try different green vegetables.
- Recipe: Don’t be fooled by the word ‘summer’. This recipe is great all year round. It simply brings the taste of summer thanks to the peas and mint.
- Instant Pot Chipotle Chicken Rice Bowl – Recipe
- Nutritional Benefits: A fun and flavourful way to introduce children to a little kick of spice (but not too much) yet also a great way to encourage them to try chicken, a lean protein source, in different ways.
- Recipe: This dish combines pull apart chicken with fluffy rice, black beans, fresh veggies, and a touch of zesty lime.
Air Fryer Recipes
- Air Fryer Roasted Butternut Squash Soup – Recipe
- Nutritional Benefits: A source of beta-carotene and complex carbohydrates roasted butternut squash adds great flavour and sweetness to this protein-rich soup.
- Recipe: Using the air fryer to roast the squash and onions means you get great results, quickly. This recipe simply blends roasted vegetables with the other ingredients so it’s extremely rewarding for children in terms of a great result from not a huge amount of effort.
- Air Fryer Homemade Granola – Recipe
- Nutritional Benefits: A source of complex carbohydrates and lower in sugar than shop-bought granolas. No nasty additives to worry about either.
- Recipe: Making your own granola means you get choose your favourite flavours and textures.
- Air Fryer Leftover Risotto Arancini – Recipe
- Nutritional Benefits: Arancini are delicious yet they’re traditionally prepared by deep fat frying. Air frying them still brings the benefits of a crispy outer without all that saturated fat.
- Recipe: A great way to use up leftover risotto from the Instant Pot recipe above.
Tips for Nutritious Meals for Children:
- Add Vegetables: Sneak in veggies wherever possible, like blending them into sauces or adding them to casseroles.
- Limit Added Sugars: opt for natural sweetness from fruits instead of sugary sauces and desserts.
These recipes are not only nutritious but also easy to prepare, making them the perfect half term recipes. Happy cooking!
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Happy cooking!
