Child friendly BBQ ideas – Food For Kids Podcast episode 25

Joanne Roach (00:13)

Hello and welcome to the Food for Kids podcast, I'm Joanne from the Foodies. In today's episode I'm going to run through some child-friendly barbecue ideas for these last few weeks of the summer holidays and into the warm September weekends.

In the UK, having a barbecue really can feel like such a treat. When you're imagining it, it's got this relaxed vibe, the sun's out, your friends or family are round there's the smell of the grill and some cold drinks and everyone's enjoying cooking and eating in the open air with some food that's different from the everyday grind.

But if you've ever hosted a barbecue with children in the mix, you'll know that that dreamy barbecue vibe can very quickly slip into stress if kids don't want to eat what you're making, but you don't want to water down the fun for the grown-ups.

So if you're the one organising the food, it's really easy to get caught up worrying about what the kids will actually eat, how they'll cope with waiting for food, and then how to make it feel special without jumping through loads of hoops to please everyone and ending up hating it yourself.

Today I want to share some ideas for making barbecues with kids a bit more fun and relaxed so you can make sure that they're happy without needing to do a whole separate kids' menu.

Before I get onto the practical ideas, I just want to say that it's absolutely okay if your kids don't end up eating a lot at a barbecue, if they don't end up trying lots of new things, or they end up eating the same food as they would have if you'd cooked it in the kitchen.

As long as they don't feel under pressure, they'll still get the experience of eating outdoors and the fun vibe and over time this will help them to believe that a barbecue is a safe place for them.

So start by taking the pressure off in your head about whether or not a barbecue will be "successful" with your kids. A barbecue can actually be quite a lot for young children. The food's very different to what they usually see. There are all sorts of smells and textures going on. There's people milling about. There's weather and insects and noise and lots of different things happening all at once.

For some children that novelty is brilliant. They'll dive in and try all sorts of things that they might turn their nose up if it was at the dining room table. But for others, especially if they're anxious or cautious with food, it can all be bit overwhelming. So just remember that the end goal is for them to join in, not specifically to get them to eat something new. It's absolutely fine to put out some things that are familiar to your child alongside the barbecue food. That way they have a safety net. If all they eat is a bread roll or some cucumber sticks, that's OK. They can still be part of the gathering and you don't have to start battling them into trying new foods when the whole atmosphere is already busy and noisy for them and for you.

The nice thing about a barbecue is it doesn't need to be a restaurant style meal where everyone is served the perfect individual plate of food. It's much more about sharing, letting people graze and creating little moments of choice.

The really great thing for children if you can take the pressure off yourself is that the barbecue is a great opportunity to exercise some freedom. It's not like dinner time where they have to have one big portion of food. Instead they can try small bits, wander off, come back and build their own plate as they feel comfortable. Even if you do have one main sitting of food where everyone's sitting around, if you have a relaxed approach to letting people come back for seconds and more throughout the barbecue, it means they can afford to eat only a little bit at the main sitting, then go off and play, clear their mind, but then come back and pick up more when they want to.

So that's the overall message of how to set things up. Provide a couple of safe and comfortable foods alongside the new ones, allow some play or even set up play activities to do while the food is cooking or in between visits to get food. Allow plenty of grazing, and honestly, just stop thinking about what they're eating and enjoy everyone making their own choices, both children and grownups.

But now let's move on to some of the actual food ideas for a child-friendly barbecue spread. When we think of barbecues, we think of the classics, burgers, hot dogs and marinated meat. Of those, burgers and hot dogs are often quite easy to make child-friendly. The simplest way is to have a topping station and allow everyone to build their own burger or hot dog. If there are some fried onions, pickles, mustards and salad-y bits for the more adventurous people, and some burger cheese, mayo and ketchup for the less adventurous, then everyone can have the exact burger or hot dog that they want.

It can be a lot of fun and sometimes children will add something to theirs because they see a friend or an older cousin that they admire putting something onto theirs. Another way to make burgers and hot dogs more child-friendly is to shrink them a bit either by making those little slider burgers when the mini buns are available in the shops or by just halving a burger or a hot dog into two portions and letting them have one at a time so then they can have it in their hand and wander around and not have it on a plate which feels more outdoorsy. The size is less overwhelming. And also if it is on the plate, they might have room to consider picking at some other foods because they haven't filled up with a large burger.

Grilled meats can sometimes be a bit less easy for children. Lots of children in normal circumstances find meat quite difficult because of the texture and the chewiness and when things are grilled it can often be more chewy and have strong flavours from sauces and the unfamiliar grilled char. It's definitely worth offering them to children to try and often children will like something like a chicken drumstick although for some kids the sinewy bits in a drumstick can be off-putting.

So if they're not likely to eat a portion of meat on a plate as it is you can make it more accessible by slicing it into small pieces and letting them eat it in a pita with either sauces they like or a crispy veg they like like iceberg lettuce or cucumber which can break up that strong coating and chewiness with some wet crispiness.

And simple skewers can work nicely too because kids often like the novelty of things being presented on a stick and you can mix a couple of pieces of meat in with things like vegetables that you know they like. If your child loves skewers but doesn't like cuts of meat there's nothing wrong with threading a couple of cooked nuggets onto a skewer with a vegetable that you know they like just so they can join in.

And for the grown-ups too, being able to pile their kebab food into a pita or a wrap for a fajita with something from a toppings bar is just as much fun. And flatbreads warmed on the grill are lovely too. There are loads of nice Middle Eastern-style ones in the supermarkets now and they griddle up really well.

If you have a BBQ safe pan or griddle sheet for smaller items so they don't fall through the bars, it does open up your choices quite a lot. Things like halloumi and marinated tofu can actually be a much easier texture for children than a steak or a pork chop, but they tend to break up on the bars and fall through. But you can cook them on a pan placed on the bars or on a griddle pan. Just make sure everybody knows not to touch it, including not touching the handle.

This is also a good way to cook a couple of safe foods for a very fussy child without making a big deal of going back into the house. For example, a few nuggets or mini meatballs on a pan can be their meat portion and then they can join in all the other toppings and sides with the grownups. Pans and sheet pans can also do roasted vegetables and things like mini veg fritters as well.

Mini pizzas are another fun thing that you don't necessarily associate with barbecues but can work quite well. You can use those cheap ready-made bases or just some supermarket flatbreads and children can add their toppings from the toppings and sides bar and then have some grated cheese on top if they want. If the base is robust it can cook on the bars and if not then on your metal sheet.

The real beauty of a barbecue for kids is that you can use the sides to fill them up and so their acceptance of the main components is much less important. Sides are a good place to also bring in some things that you know children will like without looking like you've changed the whole menu to fit around children's preferences. Great sides that lots of children like are corn on the cob, different kinds of pasta salad recipes and even pre-cooked mac and cheese, pre-cooked potato wedges, small potatoes cooked on the barbecue wrapped up in foil and then plain veggies like chopped cucumber, pepper, celery, carrot sticks and cherry tomatoes.

Not all sides need to be strictly compatible with the main event food. You can have cucumber chunks as well as slices to go on a burger bun. Or could have some crunchy veggies or crackers, breadsticks and dips just because they're fun to pick at and put on the plate. They don't have to be strictly side dish food to make the day more fun and give children more feeling of control and choice. The grown-ups might be putting the guac on their burger with a spicy sauce and the kids might only be dipping a cracker into ranch but that pack of dips is still earning its keep.

If you have a really picky eater make sure some of the items are still in the format they recognise. For example it's no good telling them there's going to be carrots which they like but it turns out that the carrots are grated with a peanut dressing. They'll be crushed if that feels too unusual and so a handful of carrot sticks on the side keeps everyone happy.

Don't forget fruit in the sides bar too. Watermelon chunks, strawberries and grapes can all sit alongside the savoury foods and feel like part of the spread. Instead of only providing a side salad, think of providing colour and freshness to offset the smokiness and greasiness.

As mentioned before, a topping station can be a bit of a life saver because for kids it turns prepping their own food into a fun activity and for the adults it means you don't have to be the one trying to remember who wants what on their burger. Most toppings can be prepped ahead, even up to the day before with lots of the foods. A bowl of grated cheese or cheese slices, shredded lettuce, tomato slices, pickles, cooked or raw onions are all great for burgers, hot dogs or pitas. If you're doing fajitas, maybe throw in some cooked peppers, which can also be cooked ahead, even roasted in the oven the day before. I'll put a list of all of these suggestions the show notes.

And then for sauces, there's the creamy ones like mayo and ranch, and then the rich ones like ketchup, burger relish, barbecue sauce and salsa, and don't forget the spicy ones. Have a spoon in any jar so they don't get mixed up, and have some extra spoons and a dish for dirty ones on the table so that when people do drop them or put them absentmindedly on their plate, you've got new spoons.

If you're going to provide puddings, keep it simple. You can of course grill some fruit, pineapple, watermelon and peaches all griddle really well in chunky slices or bananas wrapped in foil are nice for some people, especially with some Nutella or marshmallows in there, although the soft texture is really off-putting to some people.

Don't overlook summer drinks too. They can be one of those little highlights that children seem to remember even if they don't drink them themselves. They remember them being out and being special and summery. So a jug of sparkling water with slices of orange or cucumber and it looks fancy or a few berries frozen into the ice cubes is really memorable or you can just freeze an orange, a lemon or a lime cut up into slices and use those instead of ice. If you can be arsed to do any of these things it somehow makes everything seem a little bit more colourful and these are the weird things that kids remember because it felt a bit fancy.

One way to make the day a bit less frantic is also to involve children in the preparation quite a while before the last minute prep starts. There are a few small jobs that are quite child-friendly, example threading fruit onto skewers, wrapping sweet corn or potatoes up in foil, slicing some simple things up, finding the sauces out from the fridge for you, grating a bit of cheese. Being part of the process makes them more likely to want to show off the things they made to the guests and possibly eat a little bit of it. And it also gives them a sense of pride when they see other people enjoying what they helped to make. Just one or two small jobs can make them really feel part of the event, like Chandler in Friends with his Cranberry Sauce.

And of course, the joy of a barbecue is that it's slower and more relaxed way of eating. There's waiting for food to be ready, there are pauses between batches of food, but often children can get restless and so expecting them to sit at the table in between is probably a hiding to nowhere. Thinking through a couple of low-key outdoor activities that are easy for them to drop when their burger is just done can be really helpful, for example a pot of bubbles, a water bowl with some cups and bath toys in it, or even just a shady spot with a blanket and a few books. The aim isn't to occupy them every second but just give them a chance to drift off but then dash back in all excited when their food's done.

I hope some of these ideas will be helpful. They're not rocket science obviously and you'll have done loads of them before, but this was just an attempt to round them up into one place. I will put some of the lists of main sides and sauces in the show notes to make it easier to think of things next time you're planning to have people over or even just have your own family hang out in the garden for dinner.

What I most wanted to get across is that it's good to remember that children see a barbecue slightly differently to how we as cooks and guests see it, and that making it feel like a free choice that is in their control can be the key to helping them relax and be more adventurous. And if they aren't feeling adventurous, and it really is just a couple of nuggets and cucumber in their fajita when everyone else is having marinated lamb and grilled peppers, does it matter? They're still having a fajita and they're still joining in and they're building their own meal just like everyone else, which means that barbecue was still a safe and fun place for them to be.

And hopefully you'll get to join in yourself and not be thinking about what everyone is eating but just focusing on a tasty plate for yourself. That way you're more likely to enjoy the day and isn't that the whole point of a barbecue? I'll be back with another episode on Monday and I hope to see you then and in the meantime whether you're having a barbecue this weekend or not, happy eating!

Chapters

00:00 Introduction

01:20 Barbecues can be hard for kids

03:46 BBQ mains for kids

07:09 BBQ sides for kids

08:42 BBQ toppings for kids

09:35 BBQ desserts for kids

09:53 BBQ drinks

10:24 Getting children involved in BBQ prep

11:01 BBQ activities for kids

11:38 Summary and outro

Mains ideas:

burgers, sliders, halved burgers all with PYO toppings

hot dogs, halved hot dogs with PYO toppings

drumsticks,

sliced meats (including nuggets if needed) for fajitas or pitas with own toppings

kebab skewers (including nuggets if needed) with favourite veggies

halloumi or marinated firm tofu in any of these formats

flatbread or easy base pizzas

mini meatballs in pitas

veggie fritters

Sides ideas:

corn

pasta salad

mac and cheese (make ahead)

wedges (cook ahead)

potatoes in foil

cucumber

peppers (either grilled or pre roasted for fajitas, or raw for crunch and dipping)

tomatoes

celery sticks

carrot sticks

crackers

breadsticks

dips

watermelon

pineapple

peaches

Toppings ideas

burger cheese

grated cheese

shredded lettuce

raw thin sliced red onion

cooked onions

pickles

tomato slices

guac

mayo

ranch

ketchup

bbq sauce

mustard

hot sauces