4 International Breakfast Ideas that Kids Cannot Resist

So what's for breakfast today? Are you giving your kids grilled sausages, bread with chocolate sprinkles, fried flatbreads or miso soup? Up your daily breakfast game and add some pizzaz to your morning routine – after all, "breakfast is where happiness begins, one bite at a time" (unknown).

A ubiquitous snack in many South American countries is the arepa flatbread; it looks like a blini but is made from a ground maize flour called masarepa. Kids love them as they're crispy on the outside yet gooey in the middle, and they can be eaten fried with all manner of delicious fillings like cream cheese, fried plantain or maple syrup, as well as savoury options. Another choice is to wrap eggs into the dough and fry the mix for a satisfying breakfast full of protein and fibre. Arepas are most popular as a breakfast dish, but double just as well as a quick bite for lunch or supper. Here's a recipe for 4.
 

Ingredients:

• 200g masarepa flour (available at most large supermarkets)
• 0.5 teaspoon salt
• 240ml tepid water

Method:

1. Add the ingredients to a bowl and mix. 
2. Knead the dough until smooth and form it into a ball.
3. Cut the dough ball into 4 pieces.
4. Roll each one into a smaller ball, then press into a flat disc about 1.5cm thick and 10cm wide. 
5. Add the olive oil to a heated frying pan and cook for 5 minutes on each side until golden.
6. Serve with your favourite filling.

Top tip: Masarepa flour is naturally gluten-free, making arepas a perfect breakfast dish for coeliac kids. 

Breakfasts vary enormously from country to country – even in Europe – so there's plenty of inspiration if you're looking for new dishes to tempt the kids. Roughly speaking, the further north you go, the heavier the morning meal. Sugary, cinnamon-dusted fried churros pastries dipped in chocolate are popular in Spain; in France and Italy, breakfast usually comprises a croissant or toast, pastries and steaming mugs of hot chocolate; and Germany often favours buffet-style platters of charcuterie and cheese, which pack a nutritional punch full of protein, vitamins and minerals. The UK is the home of the 'Full English', a protein-laden feast of sausages, bacon, eggs, mushrooms and tomatoes most often eaten at the weekend. But if you're looking for a treat among international breakfast ideas for your kids, take your cue from The Netherlands, where generations of youngsters have grown up eating chocolate sprinkles called hagelslag on buttered bread. This is one dish that kids will be very keen to make for themselves!
 

Churros (serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 150g plain flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• Pinch of salt
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 250ml boiling water
• 55 g caster sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Method:

1. Mix flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl.
2. Add oil and water. Mix until just combined.
3. Transfer dough into a piping bag with an 8mm star tip nozzle. If you don’t have a piping bag, use a spoon to make round donuts instead.
4. Pipe (make them any length you like!) into hot oil and fry for around 3 minutes or until crisp and golden. 
5. Drain on a paper towel.
6. Combine sugar and cinnamon. Roll churros in the cinnamon sugar and serve warm.

In accordance with Japan's culinary culture, all meals should be balanced by taste, colour and texture, as well as nutritionally. A traditional kid's breakfast looks very different from other international breakfast ideas: umami-flavoured miso soup and steamed white rice are the popular basics, often served with side dishes of tofu, pickled vegetables and proteins like grilled fish or omelette. Make the meal fun for your kids by introducing chopsticks into the mix.

You can buy miso soup in most supermarkets; give it a try as it's exceptionally high in vitamins and probiotics – vital for a healthy gut.

Top tip: Miso paste is made from soya beans and is also high in sodium; for this reason it's best for children aged over 3 and over. 
 

Japanese rolled omelette (serves 4)
Ingredients:

• 4 large eggs 
• 0.5 teaspoon sugar
• 0.5 teaspoon light soy sauce
• Pinch of salt
• 1 tablespoon water

Method:

1. Combine all the ingredients gently as you want to introduce as little air as possible.
2. Drizzle a non-stick pan with vegetable oil. When it’s hot, pour a thin layer of egg into the pan.
3. When the egg is just set, roll it up starting from the end closest to you.
4. Remove to a plate and repeat with the remaining egg mixture. 
5. To make thicker omelettes, put a finished one on top of a new layer and roll them together.
6. Trim your omelettes and cut into 2-cm pieces to serve.

A classic breakfast in north African and Middle Eastern cuisine, shakshuka – the word means 'shaken up' in Arabic – is a warming, tempting dish of poached eggs in a rich tomato sauce spiced with cumin, paprika and mild chilli flakes; kids can't resist dunking hunks of bread into the mix. Although it's one of the easiest dishes to make among our international breakfast ideas, shakshuka deserves to be enjoyed together with family, so serve it for weekend brunches when everyone can sit down together. The recipe below feeds 4.
 

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 chopped red onions
• 1 deseeded, chopped red chilli
• 1 sliced garlic clove
• chopped coriander stalks and leaves
• 2 tins tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon caster sugar
• 4 eggs

Method:

1. Heat the oil in a frying pan, then fry the red onions, garlic, chilli flakes and coriander stalks for 5 minutes. 
2. Add the tinned tomatoes and caster sugar, then cook for 8-10 minutes until thick.
3. Make 4 dips in the sauce and add the eggs. Cover the pan and cook for about 6-8 minutes until the eggs are to your taste – don't let them go too hard.
4. Sprinkle with coriander leaves and serve with sourdough bread or pitta.

Top tip: Any leftovers can be frozen for a month.

Cut down your food waste with the following suggestions:

1. Always check what you already have in the fridge or cupboards to prevent repeat buying.
2. Source seasonal local ingredients wherever possible.
3. Draw up a weekly breakfast shopping plan and stick to it to avoid impulse buys that could go to waste.
4. Chill your breakfast foods to keep them fresher for longer.
5. Make muesli when you have time at the weekend – then just add milk for instant breakfasts during the week.
6. Hard-boil a dozen eggs – they'll keep for up to 7 days in the fridge.
7. Plan your portions carefully to avoid unnecessary food waste.
8. Freeze leftovers in portion-sized containers so you can defrost only what you need.
9. Get creative with leftovers; use mushy bananas to make pancakes or make a marinade with plain yoghurt.
10. If you really can't reuse any leftover breakfast food, put it outside for the birds or compost it. 

Trying out some of these international breakfast ideas for your children gives them the opportunity to learn about other cuisines and cultures for when you travel on family holidays… And who knows, it might inspire your family to try something new as well.