Great Recipes That Teens Can Make Themselves

Organising midweek meals can be a struggle, especially when your household has kids with different tastes and appetites.

These simple yet delicious meals are a fantastic way to get older kids involved in cooking, and develop their interest in food! We've included ideas for everyone, from spicy noodles to make-it-yourself pizza, so your teen can add cooking to their list of new skills they've developed during lockdown.

Whether they'd like to be able to decide and make their own meals, or simply make something tasty for the family, these recipes for teens are the perfect way to help them fall in love with cooking.

Top Tip: Why not add some extra nibbles to go with your dishes and put together a fun family picnic?

When it comes to cooking healthy at home, you can't go wrong with a stir-fry dish. Replace the prawns with any meat of your choice, or substitute with mock meat or tofu! Serves 2.

You will need:

100g noodles of your choice, cooked.

300g chopped vegetables (try pak choi, broccoli, spring onions, mushrooms or chopped peppers)

1 garlic clove, minced

100g cooked prawns

Half a thumb of ginger, finely chopped

2 tbsp. soy sauce

1 tbsp. sesame oil

Sesame seeds, to garnish.

Method: Heat a large frying pan or wok over medium heat, and add the oil. Fry the garlic and ginger for a minute or two, until fragrant but not brown. Add in the vegetables, and cook for a few minutes until tender. Then add in the prawns and soy sauce and stir for another minute. Lastly, add in the noodles and stir until everything is combined. Dish out into bowls, and sprinkle some sesame seeds on top. Serve with chopsticks.

The whole family will love this authentic and delicious recipe. It's a great way to encourage kids to try new flavours and is easy enough to make for a midweek meal.

Impress everyone (and yourself!) by making your dough from scratch using this simple recipe. You can use any toppings you like, but this recipe uses healthy veg to keep it balanced. Makes 4 pizzas.

You will need:

400g plain flour

4 tbsp olive oil

1 can of chopped tomatoes

1 tbsp tomato puree

A few leaves of fresh basil

1 packet of yeast

2 cloves of garlic, minced

2 balls mozzarella

1 bell pepper, chopped

150g mushrooms, sliced

Method: Preheat the oven to 220°C. Mix the flour and yeast in a large bowl. Make a well in the middle, and add half the olive oil and 200ml tepid water. Mix together to make a dough (add a little more flour if too sticky, or water if too dry). Tip onto a floured surface and knead. Once smooth, leave your dough to rest while you prepare the sauce. In a pan, heat the rest of the olive oil and sautee the garlic until fragrant. Add in the tomato puree and canned tomatoes, bring to the boil and simmer while you roll out the pizza dough. Go back to your dough, split into four, and roll out into four circles. Now blitz your sauce with a hand blender to make it smooth, and spoon out over your base. Shred your mozzarella over the bases, add your vegetables, then cook in the oven for 10-12 minutes, until crisp. Tear the fresh basil over the pizzas and enjoy!

Mac n' cheese might be the ultimate food for teenagers. Here, it's given a new healthy twist with the addition of cauliflower. Serves 4.

You will need:

250g macaroni pasta

1 tsp. of yellow mustard (English or Dijon mustard work great)

2 tbsp. plain flour

450ml milk

2 tbsp unsalted butter

1 head of cauliflower, chopped into chunks

150g cheddar cheese, grated

Salt and pepper

Method: Preheat the oven to 200°C. In a pan, melt the butter and stir in the flour. Slowly, start to add the milk, stirring constantly until you get a smooth sauce. Meanwhile, in a separate saucepan, cook the pasta in salted water according to the packet instructions, and add the cauliflower for the last 3-4 minutes. To your sauce, add most of the cheese and the mustard, and stir in. Drain the pasta and cauliflower and add to the cheese sauce. Put everything in an ovenproof dish, and bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes, until golden.

This super easy recipe looks impressive and has all the taste to back it up. Serves 2.

You will need:

2 salmon fillets

1 tsp chilli flakes

1 tsp paprika

The juice of 1 lime

Salt and pepper, to taste

30ml olive oil

200g broccoli washed and chopped

3 cloves garlic, crushed

Method: Preheat the oven to 200°C. Toss the broccoli in a roasting dish with the garlic, salt, pepper, and olive oil. Put in the oven to cook for 20 minutes. While the broccoli is cooking, put the salmon on a piece of tinfoil. Pour over the lime juice, and add the paprika, chilli and some salt and pepper to season. Wrap the foil loosely around the fish and cook in the oven on a baking tray for about 10 minutes. Once cooked, plate up your broccoli and salmon, and serve!

Easy, colourful and delicious, this Italian salad goes well as a starter, side, or by itself!

You will need:

2 ripe tomatoes

1 ball mozzarella, drained

Fresh basil

Balsamic glaze, to drizzle

Olive oil, to drizzle

Black Pepper

Method: Simply slice your mozzarella and tomato and lay out on a dish, alternating one mozzarella slice overlapping one tomato, etc. Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic glaze, tear over some basil and crack some pepper on top. Done!

Once you've learned how to make this basic sponge, there will be no limit to your creations!

You will need:

200g self-raising flour

200g caster sugar

30ml milk

1 tsp. baking powder

4 eggs

200g unsalted butter

For the filling:

170g smooth strawberry jam

140ml double cream

50g caster sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Method: Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease 2 identical cake tins. In a large bowl, mix the ingredients for the sponge. Beat together until a smooth batter is formed. Divide the batter into the tins, smooth and bake for around 20 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Leave to cool on a rack. For the filling, whip the double cream, sugar and vanilla extract. Spread jam over one side of the cake, and the cream on the other cake. Place together as you would a sandwich, and serve.

These easy recipes for teens use simple ingredients, but still pack a lot of taste: