Simple And Delicious Broccoli Recipe For Kids

Broccoli has a strong flavour that young children don’t adjust to easily. But it is a wonderful vegetable loaded with so many nutrients that boosts healthy growth and development in kids. With a single dish made with broccoli, you can easily fulfil most of the kids’ nutritional requirements. This is what we are going to help you with here; finding a healthy, delicious broccoli recipe for kids – something that young children of all ages would love.  

Broccoli has an interesting history in India. It arrived in India in the 90s via Kenya through a Pune-based farmer Mr Jitendra Ladkat. He was the first farmer to grow it in India. With the help of greenhouse farming that he learned in Israel, he managed to cultivate it in his farm. At that time, broccoli was an exotic vegetable that only the elite had access to. But it is now easily available in most metro cities and you can order it online too.

Nutritional Facts of Broccoli

100 grams of raw broccoli contains 34 calories and offers the following:

Micronutrients: 

1. Vitamin A, C and K
2. Folate (vitamin B9)
3. Manganese, Iron, Potassium

Macronutrients:

1. Water – 89%
2. Proteins – 3 g
3. Carbohydrates – 6 g 
4. Fats – Minute quantities

Best Broccoli Recipe for Kids

Listed below are some of the best broccoli recipes that your kids will definitely enjoy:

1. Broccoli Stir Fry

In this broccoli recipe for kids, you first have to make the broccoli soft. Then you shallow fry it with a minimal amount of oil, herbs, and spices. This recipe uses a minimum amount of oil and spices. The cooking time is only about 30 minutes.

Ingredients:

1. Broccoli florets – 2 cups
2. Salt – as per taste
3. Ground black pepper – ½ tsp. (vary as per taste)
4. Oil – 1 tbsp.
5. Heeng (asafoetida) – a pinch
6. Curry leaves – 1 sprig
7. Grated ginger – 1 tsp
8. Grated garlic – 2 tsp
9. Chopped green coriander leaves – 1 tbsp
10. Fresh lemon juice – 1 tbsp

Method:

1. Wash the broccoli properly. Chop off the hard stems and cut the broccoli florets into small pieces for this broccoli recipe.
2. Microwave the broccoli florets till they are tender. If they are half done, do the rest of the cooking in the pan.
3. On a heated wok, add oil. When the oil gets hot, add curry leaves and asafoetida. When the leaves become crispy, add ginger and garlic.
4. A minute later, add the broccoli florets and salt, and stir. Keep stirring intermittently till the florets become tender.
5. Add ground black pepper and chopped green coriander leaves, and stir.
6. Add lemon juice before serving.

2. Grated Broccoli and Cauliflower

In this broccoli recipe, all you have to do is grate broccoli and cauliflower, and saute them with turmeric and salt. The cooking time is just 15 minutes.

Ingredients:

1. Broccoli washed, de-stemmed, and grated- 1 cup
2. Cauliflower washed, de-stemmed, and grated- 1 cup
3. Whole coriander seeds- 1 tsp.
4. Cooking oil- 1 tbsp.
5. Turmeric- ½ tsp.
6. Hing – a pinch
7. Salt – as per taste

Method:

1. In a heated wok, add cooking oil. When it becomes hot, add hing and coriander seeds. 
2. When the seeds splutter, add broccoli and cauliflower. Set the gas at medium. Stir well. 
3. Add turmeric and keep stirring intermittently. 
4. When the broccoli and cauliflower become tender, add salt and stir. A minute later, switch off the gas. Serve it with roti or bread. 

You can use the grated and sauteed broccoli with cauliflower to make many broccoli Indian recipes for toddlers. Stuffed parathas with minimal oil and sandwiches are some examples. Your toddler would love them, for sure. 

3. Pureed Broccoli with Mashed Potato

In this broccoli recipe for 1 year old kids, you need to mix steamed pureed broccoli with a boiled and mashed potato.

Ingredients:

1. Potato – 1 (boiled and mashed)
2. Broccoli – 1 cup
3. Salt – as per taste
4. Water or broth – 1/4 cup (or as per your choice)

Method:

1. Wash the broccoli properly. Cut off the hard stems, as they don’t become tender easily. 
2. Chop the broccoli florets into little pieces. 
3. Steam the broccoli florets.
4. Puree the steamed broccoli florets in a food processor with some water.
5. Take out the puree.  
6. Add a boiled and mashed potato to the broccoli puree and add salt. 

Alternatively, you can modify this broccoli recipe for kids. Just stop after steaming the broccoli and mix steamed broccoli florets with chopped pieces of the boiled potato. Add salt. The green colour of the broccoli florets might fascinate the baby. It will be a good BLW (Baby-led weaning) exercise.

Tips for Preparing Broccoli Recipes for Babies

Here are some tips that should be followed when trying out any broccoli recipe for toddler:

1. Keep some variety in your broccoli recipes otherwise kids would get bored and refuse to eat them.
2. Try to make the broccoli recipe for kids taste yummier by using ingredients like salt, spices, etc. in the right proportion  
3. Allow children to express their opinion about the broccoli dish. You will know how to make it as per their preferences next time. 
4. Give small quantities to prevent children from getting overwhelmed and refusing to eat.

Why Broccoli is Slightly Bitter

Broccoli’s bitter taste comes from plant compounds such as sinigrin, gluconapin, progoitrin and indole GSLs (glucobrassicin, neoglucobrassicin).

When you boil a broccoli, its bitterness is reduced, but beneficial effects are also reduced. But steaming and microwaving have no effect on these plant compounds. That’s why steaming and microwaving are the preferred methods of cooking broccoli. You have to be mindful of this fact when preparing a broccoli recipe for kids.

To counter the bitter taste, you can temper the dish with various ingredients like garlic, curry leaves, and tomatoes. You can even add lemon juice to the broccoli recipe. It is this tempering that transforms eating a broccoli dish into a wonderful experience for kids.

Conclusion

We hope you found the right broccoli recipe for kids to enjoy. Do write back with your comments. We look forward to reading them.