Potatoes are one of our favorite things to eat and I know they're a lot of your favorites too. I've put together here a list of the most popular easy potato recipes for kids here on the site so you can get some ideas to get the kids interested!
Kid Friendly Potato Recipes
Who doesn't love the humble potato? They're filling, they're cheap and they have a host of health benefits too. Potatoes are one of the most widely used foods in fast food places we used to go to and they were some of the most missed 'things' when we started eating Clean.
But! There's no need to scrap potatoes and there are a whole load of ways to get some good home cooked potato recipes on the table. Most of them don't take too long and are a far better option than the deep fried, salt drenched potato sides we used to buy with alarming regularity.
I tend not to peel potatoes anymore unless I'm making mashed potato, I prefer to leave the skins on as there are nutrients we want in the skin however, if your kids are really potato skin adverse (mine were to start with!) then it's no big deal to peel them. Getting the kids used to home cooked potato dishes is more important to start with than anything else. Once they're happy with the home cooked version of their favorites, then you can start moving it up a notch and not peeling :)
I've added the ingredients and recipes in here but click through for the whole recipe post.
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Why Get The Kids Eating Potatoes?
Potatoes, as well as being cheap and easy are one vegetable most kids will eat if it's cooked the right way. From a deliciously soft baked potato to some crispy cubed parmesan Parmentiers, most kids have at least one type of potato dish they'll eat. And this is good news: While the aim is of course to get them eating a whole variety of vegetables as I discovered, you have to start somewhere. And the good old potato is as good a place to start as any!
Being made up almost entirely of carbs means they're usually a side dish simply because I want the kids to fill up on other vegetables as well as potatoes (and mine go for the potatoes first). Unless we're having baked potatoes and then they're the main event! But even then I serve it with a fresh green salad or something along those lines.
Potatoes being grown all over the world makes them super appealing and means you can always buy local. The whole low carb movement has seen them drop in popularity a little thankfully, kids are bucking this trend and the potato is America's most widely grown vegetable crop. Although I'm sure most of that goes to fast food places :)
So what's good about potatoes? Well they contain these for starters:
- Vitamin C
- Potassium
- Carbohydrates
- Protein
- Fibre
- Vitamin B6
- Iron
Clean Eating Potato Sides
Here's the list in no particular order of our best Clean eating eating potato recipes for kids. And adult too, obviously :)
Three Ingredient Creamy Potato Bake
Ingredients
- 2 lb potatoes peeled, finely sliced
- 1½ cups fresh cream 350ml
- 1 tbsp vegetable stock powdered
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400F / 180C
- Peel and finely slice your potatoes
- Lay them in a large oven proof dish
- Mix together cream and vegetable stock and pour over the potatoes
- Bake for 40 minutes until potatoes are golden on the top
- Remove from the oven and allow to rest for a few minutes before serving
- The cream will thicken on standing
Loaded Mashed Potato Fritters
Ingredients
- 2 cups cooked mashed potato
- ½ cup grated cheese
- ⅔ cup flour
- 2 eggs lightly beaten
- 1 teaspoon salt
- pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoons chopped chives or spring onion
- olive oil or butter for frying
Instructions
- Mix all ingredients together
- Heat up a non stick fry pan on high
- Add oil or butter.
- Spoon around 2 tablespoons of mash mixture for each fritter
- Fry for about 1 min or until golden brown, then turn over with spatula. NOTE: You can make them as bigger or smaller. I try and make 12 to a batch
- Cook in batches of 4 at a time
- Serve immediately with sour cream on the side
Fried Potatoes With Bacon
Ingredients
- 4 Large Potatoes Peeled
- 4 tbsp Olive oil half for bacon / half for potatoes
- 4 Rashers Smoked bacon sliced
- 1 Large Onion thinly sliced, optional
- Salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Put a pan of water on the cooker top to boil while you peel and slice the potatoes
- Add your sliced potatoes to the boiling water and cook for 6-8 minutes until tender but not crumbling. Drain the potatoes once they're tender.
- In a large frying pan, fry the bacon and onions in half the Olive oil until the onions are soft and the bacon is crispy. Once they're cooked, take them off the heat , transfer to another dish and put them to one side
- Add the rest of the Olive oil to the same frying pan you cooked the onions and bacon in and add the potatoes. Lay the potatoes in the pan fairly flat, you want them to be able to touch the pan so they can fry properly. Do this in two batches if needed
- Once the potatoes are golden and crunchy looking, transfer them to a serving dish. Pop the onions and bacon back into the pan to reheat them again slightly and add to the top of the potatoes.
- Serve!
The Crispiest Roast Potatoes
Ingredients
- 2 lb Potatoes general purpose or Floury - peeled, chopped into 1 inch pieces
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- ½ tbsp dried rosemary
- ½ tbsp butter
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400F / 200C
- Peel and wash your potatoes. Cut them into the size you'd like. I tend to quarter medium potatoes and half the smaller ones.
- Bring a large pot of water to the boil, add 1 teaspoon salt. Boil water enough water to cover the potatoes (about 1 - 2 inches higher than the potatoes).
- Salt the water. ½ teaspoon per litre of water. This will be drained later.
- Once your water is boiling, add your peeled and chopped potatoes to the pot. Boil for 8 minutes until tender (test by putting a fork through them).
- Use a colander to drain your potatoes. While in the colander, give the potatoes a little shake - you want to roughen up the edges of the potatoes without breaking them into little bits. So don't go crazy shaking them up. Just a little shake. Set aside to give the potatoes time to dry completely as the water evaporates from their surface.
- While the potatoes are boiling, pop the baking tray in the hot oven for a couple minutes.
- Use oven gloves to remove the hot tray from the oven and lay your cooked, roughed up potatoes on the tray. Pour the olive oil over the top of them, season with salt and pepper and place them in the oven. Make sure that you don't overcrowd your potatoes on the pan.
- Bake for 20 minutes until the undersides of the potatoes start to golden. Use tongs to flip carefully and return to oven for an additional 20 minutes.
- In a small bowl melt butter and rosemary together. In the final 5 minutes of cooking your potatoes, pour the butter and rosemary over the top of your potatoes.
- Serve whilst hot.
Parmesan Parmentiers
Ingredients
- 6 Meduim sized floury potatoes
- Olive oil - I use an oil spray dispenser like this one
- 2 tablespoon Cornmeal - this is the one I use
- 2 Handfuls of Parmesan
- Salt & Pepper to season (as you prefer)
Process
- Peel your potatoes, then cut them into 1 inch cubes - don't worry about the uneven edges of the potato, these can be some of the crispiest bits!
- Put your cubed potatoes into a bowl and spray 5-6 sprays of Olive Oil
- Mix the potatoes into the oil so all the potatoes are covered in oil
- Add your Cornmeal. You want every side if every potato to be coated. It's fine if it's not totally evenly spread, or if the oil makes some of the cornmeal clumpy
- Oil a baking tray and put your potatoes on it. Spread them out as much as you can. They need direct heat to crisp up so don't have them piled on top of each other!
- Put into a hot oven. Your oven should be 200/390. The insides cook fast as they're small
- Take your potatoes out after 15 minutes and toss them around the baking tray. Spray a little more oil, then return to the oven for 15 minutes. Keep an eye on them, all ovens are different. Take them out when they've turned a golden brown.
- Add Parmesan liberally to hot Parmentiers and let it melt
- Enjoy!
Creamy Mashed Potatoes With Leeks
Ingredients
- 12-15 Medium Potatoes Maris Piper, King Edward, Peeled, Chopped into ¾ inch chunks
- 4 Leeks Washed and sliced
- 4 tbsp Butter
- Salt and pepper To season
Instructions
- Put a large pan of water on the cooker top and bring to the boil
- Add the potatoes and boil until very soft, drain and put them back into the pan
- While the potatoes are cooking, add ½ tablespoon butter and pan fry the sliced leeks, moving them around the pan to stop them burning. If they start to catch, add a tablespoon of two of water and allow the water to simmer until it's gone. Fry the leeks until they're soft. Take off the heat and out to one side
- Add the rest of the butter to the potatoes and season well. Mash the potatoes until super smooth and creamy
- Gently fold the leeks into the potato
- Serve
Crunchy Potato Stacks
Ingredients
- 5-6 medium potatoes that fit the muffin tray Keep cutting until all your muffin holes are full past the top as the stack will shrink by about a quarter when cooked
- 3 tbsp Butter Melted
- Salt and Pepper
- ¼ Cup Grated Parmesan
- ½ teaspoon dried Rosemary
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180'C/ 350F
- Slice Potatoes and use your hands to coat with the melted butter. Add parmesan and mix until well coated. Add Salt and pepper.
- Stack in Muffin trays
- Bake for 25 - 30 minutes until crispy on top and cooked through the middle (stick a fork in one to make sure the potato is tender and cooked all the way through)
- Serve immediately.
Crispy Crushed Potatoes
Ingredients
- 3-4 Small Potatoes Per person, skin on, scrubbed
- 2 tbsp Olive oil Plus a little extra for baking
- Salt and pepper For seasoning
- Toppings Optional
Instructions
- Heat your oven to the maximum temperature it'll go (make sure it's very hot before you put the potatoes in)
- Line a baking sheet with foil and use a little olive oil to grease it. Put to one side
- Boil your small potatoes in a large pan of water, whole, until cooked through and soft
- Once the potatoes have boiled, drain them and put them back in the pan
- Add the olive oil to the whole potatoes and gently swirl the pan so the potatoes are fully covered with oil. Putting the oil on hot potatoes means it'll become runny and able to cover all the potatoes easily
- Put the whole potatoes on the baking sheet, spreading them out well and making sure they're not touching
- Using a potato masher or the back of a fork, gently crush each potato
- Spray a tiny bit more Olive oil into the potato where it's been crushed and bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes or until the edges are golden and crispy
- Serve immediately
Loaded Potato Balls
Ingredients
- 6 Large potatoes peeled and diced for mashing
- 2 Wholemeal rolls breadcrumbed
- ½ Cup Shredded parmesan
- 2 tbsp Flour for dusting
- 2 Eggs whisked for dipping
- 6 Rashers smoked bacon cut into small pieces
- 1 Cup Frozen cranberries
- ¼ Cup Maple syrup
- ¾ Cup Feta crumbled
- Salt & pepper
Instructions
- Cook and drain the potatoes, and season well, then mash whilst the potatoes are still hot
- Leave the potato to cool and then refrigerate for a couple of hours minimum, as the potato needs to be fridge cold for you to be able to work with it
- Heat the oven to 180/350
- Get a baking sheet and line with a non stick baking sheet, or foil, lightly oiled
- Make the potato balls to whatever size you like, and put them on a plate until all the potato has been rolled into balls
- Mix your breadcrumbs and shredded parmesan cheese and out into one bowl
- Put the whisked egg into another bowl
- Put the flour into another bowl
- One by one, dip the balls into the flour, then the egg, then the breadcrumbs, making sure they're each fully covered in crumb, then place them on the baking tray making sure they're not touching
- Once all the balls are coated with the parmesan crumb, put them into the oven for 20-25 minutes until they're golden and crispy. Take them out and out them to one side
- Put your cranberries and maple syrup into a small pan and heat in a low heat until the gently simmering. Using a fork, break the cranberries up and let simmer for 5 minutes. Then take the pan off the heat and let the cranberry sauce cool down
- Fry your bacon pieces until crispy
- Put your crispy potato balls onto a large plate, sprinkle the crispy bacon over them, dollop your homemade cranberry sauce around the plate and then crumble the Feta cheese over everything. The Feta will start to warm and melt over the hot bacon and potato
Shoestring Fries
Ingredients
- Waxy potatoes Enough for how ever many you're feeding. I use 1 potato per person
- 1 tbsp Olive oil Per 3 potatoes
Instructions
- Wash and dry your potatoes
- Heat the oven to 210/450
- To spiralize, you may have to cut the potatoes to make them fit. If like mine, your spiralizer is quite narrow, simply cut the potato until it fits into the spiralizer opening. Repeat until all your potatoes are shoestring fries!
- Lay the raw fries on some kitchen paper and dry them as much as possible. You want to get as much of the water out of them as you can. Add the fries to a bowl
- In the bowl add the Olive oil and using your hands, mix the oil into the fries and make sure there's a thin coating on all the potato
- Lay the fries on a flat baking tray. You want to make sure they're not piled too high on top of each other, or they won't evenly cook. You may have to cook these in two batches, or use two trays in different shelves in the oven
- Cook for 10 minutes. Take the tray out and using a fork, gently turn the fries and put them back in the oven until golden brown
Clean Eating Hash Browns
Ingredients
- 4 Russet Potatoes, peeled and grated About 1 ½ cups grated
- ½ onion, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp chopped spring onion
- ¼ cup Flour I used Spelt Flour
- 1 Egg Free range
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp ground black pepper
Instructions
- Peel and grate your potatoes
- Rinse thoroughly and then squeeze out all the excess moisture. I use my colander for this job
- In a mixing bowl, add grated potato, flour, egg, salt and pepper
- Mix well until well combined
- Heat a pan to medium heat
- Add olive oil.Spoon in ¼ cup of potato mix into pan. It will look like a little potato pancake
- Repeat until mixture is finished. You should get 6 hash browns out of your mixture
- Cook for around 5 minutes until hash brown is golden underneath
- Turn over and cook the other side
- Remove from pan and lay on a paper towel to soak up any excess oil
- Serve immediately.
Notes
OPTIONAL: To make a cheesy version, add ¼ cup grated Parmesan to your mixture.
Perfect Baked Potatoes
Ingredients
- Good baking potatoes around 300g each I recommend russets but King Edward, Desiree, Maris Piper, Wilja, Golden Wonder and Cara are all good varieties here.
- Olive oil
- Sea salt
- Aluminium Foil not for the reason you think
- A regular ol' fork
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F / 180C
- Scrub your potatoes with a hard vegetable brush. These are one of those kitchen essentials that every home cook needs but doesn't know it till they try it. It becomes a regular cooking tool real quick. A good kitchen brush is great for prepping carrots, potatoes and all other root vegetables. If you grow your own vegetables and want to get your potatoes looking all clean and new like the ones in the store (btw nobody likes a mouthful of dirt when biting into their meal), then you need a good veggie scrubbing brush!
- Pat your potatoes dry with a paper towel or dish cloth.
- Line a oven tray with foil and place your potatoes on top. Sprinkle with olive oil and salt. Use your hands to rub the salt and oil all over your potatoes. Get them nicely covered. I use around ¼ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon oil per potato.
- Prick each potato 6 - 8 times with a fork. This allows air to escape while cooking.
- Then ... (and this is where the magic happens) ... Place your potatoes directly on the middle rack of your oven. not wrapped in foil. Not even on a baking tray. This helps them crisp all round.
- Pop that foil lined tray under on the bottom rack to catch any liquid escape from the baking potatoes.
- Bake for around 1 hour (see notes below).
Notes
To test whether the potato is done press it; it should feel soft under the skin and 'give' a little. You can put a fine skewer right through to the centre if you want to be sure. But once you've made these a couple of times, you will be able to give the potato a little squeeze and you'll know whether it's done. It will feel a little like a crispy stress ball.To serve (like they do at restaurants) make a cross cut in the top with a sharp knife and firmly squeeze your potato so it opens at all four points. Season with salt and pepper and put a knob of cold butter or sour cream in the middle.
