Kid-Friendly Cabin Fare

Fun cabin food your children & grandkids will love to eat – and help make!

Written by Emily Hare

Photo: Daria Obymaha / Pexels

Cabin food should always be fun, fuss-free and crowd-pleasing, especially when kids (or grandkids) are visiting. It’s important to find recipes that the youngest generation will love to eat and drink (and can also help make).

Besides creating lasting memories and bonds, cooking with your kids or grandkids can also teach them useful life skills. Best of all, kids are more likely to taste and eat meals that they have a hand in making. Say buh-bye to picky eaters!

The cabin is a great place to encourage kids to get involved in meal prep. There’s no schedule, so small fingers can take their time chopping, mixing, arranging and more. Plus, the cabin is a place where the rules tend to be relaxed, giving kids more freedom to experiment with different ingredients and methods.

Younger kids can watch what you're doing and help out with small tasks, like stirring something or setting the table. Older kids can be taught how to crack eggs, measure ingredients or even use the grill (with some supervision).

The recipes reprinted here have few ingredients, but they’re big on flavor. They’re also versatile and can be adapted to the tastes of each individual child (without turning the adults into short-order cooks, thank you).

Pizza is a universal kid favorite, isn’t it? I still recall nights from my childhood when we made pizza as a family. We’d roll out bread dough onto pans, making one pie for the adults and another for the kids. The pizza pockets shown here are even better because each kid can stuff a pocket or two with his or her desired toppings.

The same is true of the sausage and veggie skewers. Kids will enjoy threading on their favorite meats and/or veggies. You can even sneak in a little education by encouraging them to make colorful patterns with the kebab ingredients.

Finally, it’s not cabin happy hour without some refreshing cocktails (or mocktails, for those underage). These two are both delicious and family-friendly. Adults will also love them, with or without a little shot of something extra!