Tender meatballs are an excellent dish that can be given even to a very small child. If you cook them from low-fat mincemeat and do not use sharp and spicy additives, you get healthy protein-rich foods. As a rule, they are made in this case from chicken or turkey, but the addition of beef and even lean pork is also possible. So what kind of meatballs for children can you cook at home?
Pork option
As noted above, this meat is rarely used for cooking meatballs for children. But this dish is some exception, as it has a delicate taste and texture. For him you will need:
- 750 grams of minced pork minced meat;
- 1 egg
- half a glass of breadcrumbs;
- half a glass of milk;
- half a glass of chopped onion;
- 1.5 h salts;
- 1/2 tablespoon marjoram;
- 2 tablespoons flour;
- 4 tablespoons of vegetable oil;
- 1 cup of meat or chicken low-fat broth;
- 1 glass of water;
- 3/4 cup sour cream;
- half a glass of milk.
How to cook it?
Preheat the oven to 190 degrees. In a large bowl, mix the minced meat, egg, breadcrumbs, milk, onion, salt and marjoram. Form into small balls of equal size. Fold them in a deep baking dish. Mix them in it with flour, broth, water, sour cream and milk. Bring to a boil on the stove and cook for 2 minutes. Then remove from heat, transfer to oven and bake for 50 minutes. Garnish with cheese and parsley and serve.
Beef Option
Meatballs for a child are an ideal dish, and there are several explanations for this. Firstly, they are very versatile. You can add everything you want to them, including hiding a lot of healthy vegetables that children don’t like so much. Secondly, they are very easy to prepare. The concept is very simple: just put all the ingredients in a bowl, mix, create tiny balls with your hands and bake or cook. And even if they turn out not quite round, it’s not scary.
Among other things, meatballs are perfectly frozen. Thus, you can safely double the number of products for the recipe, cook a large number of meat balls, cook some at once, and put the rest in the freezer. This is especially true if you make meatballs for children up to a year, and for one meal you need a very small amount of food. When you need to cook the next batch, just take them out of the freezer and start cooking or baking as usual, only 6-8 minutes longer.
For the beef option you will need the following:
- 500 grams of minced beef;
- 900 grams of boiled quinoa;
- 1 large apple;
- 2 tablespoons of tomato paste without salt;
- 1 egg
- 3 tablespoons of olive oil.
How to cook ground beef and quinoa meatballs?
Beef meatballs for a child are prepared like this. Preheat the oven to 180 ° C. Place all the ingredients in a large bowl in the order you prefer. Scoop a small part of the mixture with a tablespoon and blind the ball with your hands. Repeat this process with the rest of the minced meat. Place prepared meatballs on parchment paper on a baking sheet. Pour some olive oil on them. Bake for thirty minutes. You can also slightly modify this recipe for meatballs for children and cook them on the stove. To do this, put them in boiling water and cook for 30-40 minutes.
Chicken Meatballs with Vegetables
If you are preparing meatballs for children 2 years of age and older, you can start to gradually add various mild seasonings and other additives to them to start developing your child’s taste buds. For example, initially you make children's meatballs from a mixture of different vegetables, minced chicken, boiled rice and eggs. Then you can add a pinch of cumin to this mixture. If your child likes it, you can put a pinch of turmeric in the next batch. These are useful spices that increase immunity, so it’s worth starting to give them to children from an early age.
Chicken meatballs for children, the recipe of which is listed below, are so universal that you can add almost everything to it. For example, some apple sauce or grated cheese. So, for the base course you will need:
- 300 grams of minced chicken;
- half a glass of children's rice flakes or boiled very soft rice;
- half a glass of finely chopped mixed vegetables (pre-boil them and chop finely);
- 2-4 tablespoons of applesauce or other baby fruit puree;
- 1 egg yolk, slightly beaten.
How to make this dish of minced chicken?
Just mix all the components and form into even balls. Bring a pot of water to a boil and place your billets there. How to cook meatballs for a child? Since you use minced chicken in this recipe, and all other components are ready to eat (with the exception of egg yolk), you will need about twenty minutes.
It is worth noting that it is recommended to use exactly the yolk, and not the whole egg, since young children may experience an allergy to egg white. If you make meatballs for a 1 year old child, you can add any cereal for baby food, including oatmeal, to the minced meat.
Chicken and Spinach Option
Children, as a rule, love meatballs of any kind, so you can add any vegetables that the child hates, especially green ones. This recipe suggests adding healthy spinach to minced chicken. So you will need:
- 130 grams of young spinach;
- 2 tablespoons olive oil;
- zest of one lemon, very chopped;
- half a glass of breadcrumbs;
- ¾ tsp salts;
- 500 grams of minced chicken;
- tomato sauce (if you are preparing a dish for older children):
- 2 tablespoons olive oil;
- 1 onion, diced;
- 1 garlic clove minced in minced meat;
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste;
- 1 cup mashed tomatoes;
- ¼ cup of water.
How to cook spinach meatballs?
Preheat the oven to 200 ° C. Place spinach, olive oil and lemon zest in a food processor and mix until smooth. Transfer this mass to a bowl with minced chicken, bread crumbs and salt and mix until you get a single mass.
Using a tablespoon and hands, make balls the size of a walnut. Spread them in a deep baking dish, lightly oiled. If you are preparing meatballs for a 1 year old child, bake them for 25-30 minutes and do not add anything else. If you make dinner for older children, first bake the meat balls for five minutes, and then fill them with freshly prepared tomato sauce and bake for another 15 minutes.
How to make a sauce? Heat the olive oil in a deep skillet over low heat. Sauté the onion and garlic until tender, 3-4 minutes. Add tomato paste, mashed tomatoes and water and continue cooking for another 10-15 minutes, until the sauce decreases in volume and becomes thick.
Turkey Option
As noted above, minced meatballs for children can be made from a variety of meats. If you take a turkey, you will have a very juicy, tasty and light meat dish, without gluten and other possible allergens. So you will need:
- 500 grams of minced turkey;
- 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt;
- 1/2 teaspoon of cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon tea oregano;
- 2 cloves of garlic;
- 2 bunches of green onion, finely chopped.
How to Make Turkey Meatballs
If you are making this dish for a very young child, do not use any spices. Mix all the ingredients and form about 15 identical balls. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Put prepared meatballs for children there and cook for 10-15 minutes.
Lentil Option
Lentil and turkey meatballs are delicious and healthy. They are ideal for use in pure form or as a component for soup. Since this combination of foods contains a lot of fiber and protein, your child will feel full for a very long time. For this dish you will need:
- 3/4 cup green lentils;
- 2 glasses of water;
- 1 small carrot (about 100 grams);
- 1 small onion (about 70 grams);
- 1 large egg;
- 1/2 teaspoon of tea salt;
- 1/2 teaspoon dry thyme tea;
- half a glass of breadcrumbs;
- 500 grams of minced turkey.
Cooking Meatballs with Lentils
Combine lentils and water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat and let simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until all the water has evaporated and the lentils become soft and fully cooked. Let it cool.
Then warm the oven to 200 degrees. Coarsely chop the onions and carrots and put them in the bowl of the food processor. Grind until vegetables become almost pasta.
Transfer the vegetable mixture to a large bowl, add the egg, spices, bread crumbs and mix. Put the minced meat and chilled lentils there, mix thoroughly until everything is well combined.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Using a small scoop for ice cream, grab a small amount of a mixture of lentils and turkey at a time and crush with your hands to make small round meatballs. Place them on a baking sheet without touching. Bake for twenty minutes.
If you want to freeze these meatballs for children, cool them to room temperature, put them on a plate and place in the freezer for at least an hour. When each of them is frozen separately, transfer the meat balls into a bag and store in the freezer for up to three months.
Meatball Soup for Kids
Meatballs can be served as an independent dish, but you can use them as a main component for a light soup. Such a meal turns out to be completely dietary and ideal for feeding a child. For the simplest option, you will need the following:
- 3 tablespoons of sunflower or rapeseed oil;
- 2 cloves of garlic;
- 1 yellow onion;
- 3 carrots;
- 3 stalks of celery;
- minced meat from 1 chicken breast (about 400 grams);
- 6 glasses of chicken stock;
- 2 glasses of water;
- some branches of fresh dill.
- 3 large eggs;
- 1 tsp salt.
How to cook this first dish?
The recipe for meatball soup for kids is as follows. Chop the garlic and chop the onions, celery and carrots. Salt and lightly fry in vegetable oil until the onion is soft and transparent (about five minutes).
Beat eggs and vegetable oil in a small bowl. Add salt and minced chicken, mix very well. Lightly cool the cooked mixture, and then mold the balls from it.
In a large pot, add the broth, 2 cups of water and a little fresh dill. When the mixture reaches a boil, put the prepared minced balls into it . Leave them to boil for thirty minutes. Then put vegetables there and continue cooking for another 10-15 minutes. For very young children, vegetables can not be fried beforehand.
Rabbit Meatball Soup
No one can argue with the statement that rabbit meat is light and dietary. Therefore, soup for children with rabbit meatballs is an excellent choice. For him you will need:
- water - 2 liters;
- rabbit fillet - 400 grams;
- potatoes - 3 pieces;
- carrots - 1 piece;
- onion - 1 piece;
- parsley and dill;
- a handful of pasta;
- vegetable oil;
- salt.
How to make rabbit meatball soup?
Grind the meat fillet with a meat grinder. Place the minced meat in a bowl, put the salt and mix well. Form small meatballs.
Wash the potatoes, peel and cut into cubes. Pour water into a saucepan, heat it and bring to a boil. Put the potatoes. Then peel the carrots, grate and add to the soup.
After that, put the pasta in the pan and gently toss the meatballs. Bring to a boil and cook for 10-15 minutes. After that, remove from heat, add chopped greens and let stand under the lid.
Beef Meatball Chicken Soup
This delicious rich soup is quite suitable for the children's menu, since all its components can be called light. So you will need:
- 1.5 liters of chicken stock plus chicken from it;
- 200 grams of young spinach;
- 2 stalks of celery, diced;
- 1 cup carrots, in small cubes;
- half a medium onion, chopped finely;
- 3/4 cup pasta (raw), optional.
For meatballs:
- 500 grams of minced beef;
- 1 large egg;
- 1/4 cup grated parmesan;
- 1/3 cup breadcrumbs;
- 2 garlic cloves, minced in minced meat;
- 1/4 cup finely chopped onion;
- 1/2 tsp salts;
- 1/2 tsp dried parsley;
- 1/8 tsp black pepper.
Cooking Meatball and Spinach Soup
Boil the chicken in a large saucepan, remove the meat and strain one and a half liters of broth. Add all the vegetables to the boiling chicken stock and start cooking them.
At the same time, mix all the meatball ingredients well. Roll balls of about 2 cm in diameter from the minced meat and put them in a pot of vegetables. Cook for about thirty minutes. Then add the pasta if you decide to use them.
Grind about one glass of chicken (white or dark, depending on what you used to make the broth) and add it to the soup. Continue to heat at about ten minutes.
Green Bean and Pea Soup
This is another interesting recipe for meatball soup. You can vary the vegetables depending on what you have. For example, instead of green beans, put chopped fresh zucchini or corn. So you will need:
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil;
- 1 large onion, chopped;
- 1 large garlic clove, minced in minced meat;
- 1.5 liters of chicken stock or water;
- half a glass of unsalted tomato sauce;
- 200 grams of green beans, chopped;
- 2 large carrots, peeled and chopped;
- 1/3 cup raw white rice;
- 500 grams of minced turkey;
- 1/4 cup chopped parsley;
- 1 raw egg;
- one and a half tablespoons of tea salt;
- 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper;
- one and a half glasses of frozen or fresh green peas.
How to cook such a soup?
Heat the oil in a large dry pan, add onions and fry until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook another minute. Pour in the broth and tomato sauce. Bring to a boil and reduce heat. Put carrots and beans.
Prepare meatballs: mix rice with minced meat, add parsley, a raw egg, salt and pepper. Blind the round balls. Add the meatballs to the soup, let it boil, then put the peas. Cover and cook for about half an hour.
This soup can be varied as you wish. If you don’t have minced meat from turkey, you can use chicken or even beef. As noted above, a set of vegetables here can be anything. You can not add beans at all, but put zucchini, zucchini, peppers or corn, or any combination of these components. Regarding greens, everything also depends on your personal discretion. If your child does not like parsley, you can put dill in the soup. You can use both types of herbs if you want. If you cook this dish for a very small child (under 2 years old), do not pre-fry the onions.