What sort of things can your 8 year old cook?

[ThisShitsBananas]

My 8 year old loves cooking, so I’m trying to think of more technical things she can do as she likes getting stuck in and using her hands for things and building meals. Today she made meatballs and spaghetti for example.

Shes done lasagne, she can make a cake entirely by herself, she makes the dumplings for the stew, she’s made bread. Just looking for more some easy and fun recipes that your kids of similar ages make that I can show her.

Your 8 year old can cook more meals than me. If she can make lasagna I think most recipes will be doable

My DD2 toasted croissants and filled them with Nutella and banana this weekend. I thought it sounded utterly repulsive, but I have to say that it was actually very good.

She's 9... and I'm not sure that counts as cooking, haha. Seriously, though, she likes food and can do quite a lot of food prep, but she's not into the idea of actual cooking. Too much waiting around involved, I suspect!

My 8 yo can bake a cake (I can't!) she makes a mean lemon drizzle
Your 8 yo can cook more meals than me

Her dads a chef to be fair! She’s inherited his love of food. But obviously due to his job he’s not around much tk actually cook with her.

We do lots of things together like pizza, scones, biscuits, cake etc but on her own my 8 year old can pretty much do cereal, sandwiches and toast.

Dry cheerios!

Do you let her actually cook at the stove? My 8yo likes the idea of cooking, but I'm nervous of letting him near the gas hob. He mainly constructs dinners - e.g. kebabs, nachos, pizza, and then I put it in the oven.

There's a website called Food a fact of life. It's made for education but under the recipe section you can search by various terms like ingredient, age, cooking skill etc. It's fab.

Mine like help making the yorkshire pudding batter or pancake batter. (I still do the bits involving hot oil for yorkshire puddings, but they can make a pancake)

The first meal they learnt was chilli.

Pizza is another obvious one

They can prepare salad and vegetables as well.

Elder DD (11yo) just Learnt a pasta in cream cheese sauce at school which is very straight forward.

Mine are older now but could do omelettes, Welsh rarebit, scones.

My DS is 10 now but I started teaching him to cook when he was about 6 like my mum / nana taught me

by 8 he could make

• omelettes
• homemade pizza
• lasagne
• spaghetti bolognase
• chicken & ricotta Cannelloni
• stir fry
• beef stew and dumplings
• chicken fajitas
• chilli
• apple crumble
• bake cakes / brownies etc

he could also follow recipes so could make
more things from those.

Maybe get her a children’s cookbook or one for aimed at students or beginners for some ideas

@MerylSqueak that’s a great website, just had a look, thank you!

How about breakfast food? Porridge, omelette, pancakes.

Why don't you take her to a book shop and let her choose a book to cook from? There are obviously books aimed at kids, but maybe she's beyond that now? If you're willing to be her sous chef, I'm sure she'd be fine with whatever appeals. Sounds like she's got a real gift to me.

Mine bakes loads (she’s 9 and lives by Mary berry / Nadia cook books), she made sticky toffee pudding and sauce at weekend. It was brilliant.

Lots of cakes, Victoria sponge, carrot cake, biscuits, cake pops, crumble and treacle sponge also brilliant.

Light dinners like scrambled eggs, sausages, soups, pasta with sauce.

Home made pancakes, crumpets.

She’s just started bigger dinners like lasagna, helping with roast dinners, making pies.

She has been cooking with me since she was about 3 though so is very confident in the kitchen. I literally put stuff in the oven and leave her to it.

8 year old does lasagne, pancakes, mince pies at Christmas, chilli and quorn curry, Victoria sponge. he is extremely good at getting the measurements correct when weighing out (unlike me who gets it ‘close enough’)😆

we have a Jack Monroe basic cooking book and a Jamie Oliver 5 ingredients one. Those are both really good for not being complex but actually making either good food

That's so good!

DS enjoys making biscuits, scones, cheesecakes (Jane's patisserie), soups, pancakes, casseroles and pizza.

I was your daughter.

At 8 I could cook:

quiche Lorraine (made the pastry)
chilli / bolognaise
Omelettes / scrambled egg / full English
Victoria sponge
Fish cakes (the white fish would be leftovers but I’d cook the potatoes, make the crumb crust etc)
A proper French dressing (my dad taught me at a young age. Said it was the perfect ‘can I help?’ guest offering; assists, add to the food but takes nothing away from the hosts and the main event. He was not wrong).
Roast potatoes (my parents hated them. I did not. Learnt how to satisfy the need as a kid)
Chicken casserole (how to sweat veg etc)
Chicken soup (as above but blended!)
Chapati (went to a v multi cultural school)

Still love to cook today.

Oh! And puddings!

Proper Rice Pudding
Crumbles (obvs)
Summer pudding
Bread & Butter pudding (look up Dehlia’s chocolate version)
Trifle
Cheesecakes
Meringues (surprisingly easy with an electric whisk and can become Eaton Mess if needs be…)

Sauces? Although if she's done lasagne from scratch then that covers bechamel. Easy things to grill or fry would increase her repertoire and get her used to being safe around heat. Pancakes or French toast, maybe? Melting chocolate over a pan of boiling water. Various types of eggs.

My 7 1/2 year old can do cereal and that's it! She can help me make a cake, too a pizza etc but that's it.

Nothing apart from toast. And even then they make a hell of a mess.

My 9 year old makes himself

Omelettes
Boiled eggs

The following in the air fryer
Homemade chicken nuggets/Pringles coated chicken
Chips (chops up potatoes)
Jacket potatoes

Then in the microwave mug cakes and macaroni cheese in a mug.

In Minecraft and Zelda just about anything, IRL not really cooking at all as such 😁

🙌 same here