Your Guide to Family-Friendly Dinners at Home and Away

All families know the feeling of having busy lives while trying to fit in precious family time and create memories. The best ideas for family-friendly dining should include everything you’re looking for, from quick budget recipes for weekdays to cooking with kids on special occasions. Of course, family-friendly dinners should be part of holidays and travels, too! Discover more about cooking and dining as a family.

Preparing family meals on a budget is about high-quality, healthy ingredients with good value. It’s also about making the most of ingredients, such as using up leftovers and not throwing away edible parts of food during prep. Some ideas for quick, healthy budget recipes include:

• Bean burgers using any combination of cannellini beans, red kidney beans, black beans, butter beans or chickpeas. Drain, dry, and mash the beans in a bowl, then add 1 tbsp of freshly chopped coriander, 1 beaten egg, a handful of fresh breadcrumbs, salt and pepper, and 4 finely chopped spring onions. Shape into burgers to entice younger kids, then brush with olive oil and grill until golden. The beans are a great source of protein and an affordable, healthy alternative to meat.
  
  
• Leftover curry using up any leftover vegetables, potatoes or protein in the fridge. Fry up any of these ingredients and add ground cumin, turmeric and garam masala, followed by tomato puree and Greek yoghurt for a simple curry sauce. Additionally, parts that often get thrown out, such as broccoli stalks, can be chopped up and included (simply slice off the outer skin and dice the stalk finely).
  
  
• Butternut squash soup using minimal, affordable ingredients to create a colourful, sweet soup that children will love. Sauté one cubed squash with butter and onions, then add 850ml of hot vegetable stock and boil until the ingredients are soft. Blend and top with crème fraîche for the perfect family-friendly dinner. 

Veg-based recipes are not only healthy and affordable, but they contribute to sustainability because the plant-focused diet tends to have a lower water, carbon and ecological footprint. Many families like to include meat-free nights in their routine while still enjoying meat as a treat. Some ideas for veggie recipes include:

• Sushi rolls using any finely chopped vegetables, sticky rice and nori seaweed. Mix the rice and vegetables in a bowl, then lay the mixture out across a length of dry nori seaweed, covering one half of the surface with half a centimetre thickness. Fold over the seaweed and roll, taking care to tuck in the ingredients.
  
  
• Spinach pizza using readymade dough from a store, plus ricotta and mozzarella along with the spinach. Have fun decorating the pizza as a family – and be sure to cover the spinach with the cheese to stop it burning!
  
  
• Salad faces using rice cakes, pancakes or circular bread as a base. Build up faces using halved cherry tomatoes, strips of cucumber, or any other salad items that can be used for making faces! Even older kids and adults will get into it once they start getting creative.

A special occasion is the perfect time to try cooking with kids, giving them the chance to both learn and have fun.

• Courgette (zucchini) bread builds this healthy squash into a seasonal treat that’s more like cake than bread – with all the joy that baking a cake as a family brings. Make a “cake” mix with all-purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder and eggs, together with sugar, salt and vanilla. Additional goodies can include cocoa powder and chocolate chip, or cinnamon for a Christmas taste. Grated courgette is also added into the mix, before everything is put into a greased loaf pan and baked for about an hour at 180°C.
  
  
• Special hot chocolate using refrigerated dark chocolate (70%), cocoa powder, cocoa vanilla essence, cream and milk. Blitz the dry ingredients with a pinch of salt, then add into a saucepan with the milk and cream. Heat over medium for around five minutes, whisking regularly, then pour into mugs.
  
  
• Homemade chicken nuggets – a healthier version of the much-loved party snack. In three different bowls, season half a cup of flour, one beaten egg, and half a cup of breadcrumbs with salt and black pepper. Chop a pound of chicken breast into nugget-sized pieces and coat them first in the flour mixture, then in the beaten egg, and finally in the breadcrumbs. Bake at 220°C for around 30 minutes, flipping halfway through.

When you’re away on holiday, eating healthy meals provides the whole family with energy for exploring. Choosing hotel restaurants for breakfast and family-friendly dinner is often a good way to ensure healthy meals, as you can stroll down from the comfort of your accommodation and browse the offerings to know exactly what you’re getting, rather than heading out and hoping to stumble across something that suits everyone. Larger hotels usually have expertise on dietary requirements, catering to vegetarian and vegan guests, as well as providing allergy-friendly and kid-friendly menu items. There are plenty of healthy options to select from at good buffets, like the dinner buffet at the Aroma restaurant in Novotel London West, which also has a children’s area during breakfast service.

If you plan to eat at your hotel some evenings and dine out at other times, discovering the variety of big city restaurants is an exciting part of a holiday. In London, you’ll find everything from kid-focused spots like Toconoco (28 Hertford Rd, London N1 5QT), a cafe with a playroom and home-style Japanese food, to Gordon Ramsay restaurants where kids eat free. Selected London restaurants offering such free eats for kids age 8 and under include Gordon Ramsay Bar & Grill (10-13 Grosvenor Square, Mayfair, London W1K 6JP) and Heddon Street Kitchen (3-9 Heddon St, London W1B 4BE).
 

Across the Channel in Paris, stop at a crêperie for savoury and sweet pancakes that are usually just the right size for young appetites. Breizh Café (109 Rue Vieille du Temple, 75003 Paris), is a Marais institution with a traditional menu, while Princess Crêpe (3 Rue des Ecouffes, 75004 Paris) has a whimsical pink interior. Also great for kids are weekend brunches like those at La Bossue (9 Rue Joseph de Maistre, 75018 Paris) and Café Mirabelle (16 Rue la Vacquerie, 75011 Paris), both of which are known for their seasonal, homemade cuisine. 

In Berlin, Schnitzelei Mitte (Chausseestr. 8, 10115 Berlin) is a relaxed, family-friendly spot serving up hearty traditional German dishes, but if your family would prefer smaller portions, Berliner Kartoffelhaus (Karl-Liebknecht-Str. 9, 10178 Berlin) also offers a kids’ menu. For a casual meal while the kids play, choose a cafe near a playground like RUDIMARIE+missismiller (Weichselstraße 35, 12045 Berlin, Germany) or better yet, one that features both indoor and outdoor fun like Café Kiezkind Berlin (Auf dem Helmholtzpl. 1, 10437 Berlin).
 

If you’re staying at Novotel Madrid Center, go rustic at Restaurante Filandón with its garden playground (Carr. de El Pardo a Fuencarral, Km. 1.9, Fuencarral-El Pardo, 28049 Madrid) or see superheroes on display at Comic Planet (Av. de Alberto de Alcocer, 5, Chamartín, 28036 Madrid).

Family dinners can be fun and healthy wherever you dine. Next time you sit down to dinner at home, why not plan an upcoming trip around the table!