"Build Your Own" Meals Kids Love: Burrito Bar

Making a Burrito Bar is another great way to involve your kids in meal preparation and to get them to try out new foods. See my posting "Build Your Own" Meals Kids Love: Pizza Please for more about the benefits of Build Your Own dinner themes.

Building a Burrito Bar is quick and easy, serves double duty as a late afternoon activity and dinner preparation, and is a great way to add variety to your kids’ diets. All you need to have on hand for this dinner is some flour or whole wheat tortillas and a little imagination. As for the fillings, the sky’s the limit!

Here are the basic fillings to start with:

• Beans (black, pinto, kidney, or white).
• Cheese (shredded cheddar, monterey jack, or whatever kind your kid likes).
• Rice (white or brown).
• Tomatoes, chopped.
• Avocado, cubed.
• Guacamole. For a quick homemade guacamole, I smash the avocados and add finely chopped tomato, a little finely chopped onion, finely chopped cilantro, a dash of cumin, and salt and pepper, to taste. This is something that is fun to make with kids -- they’ll love scooping out and smashing the avocado and can mix the rest of the ingredients together. Something to keep them busy while you’re prepping the other ingredients!
• Salsa (from a jar, or homemade). For a quick and easy salsa, simply chop and combine: one tomato, 1/2 small onion, cilantro, salt and pepper to taste.
• Sour cream.
• Meat (cooked chicken, beef, or pork). Adding a little garlic and/or cumin while the meat is cooking can add a little flavor.

Additional filling ideas:

• Scallions, chopped.
• Lettuce, shredded or torn apart. Kids can help tear apart the lettuce.
• Grilled vegetables.
• Scrambled or hard-boiled eggs, chopped.
• Sliced turkey, chopped.
• Shrimp.
• Cream cheese.
• Pineapple or pineapple salsa.
• Mango salsa.

Tips for a successful, kid-friendly burrito bar:

• Serve each item in a small bowl, with a serving spoon.
• Ask your kids what they’d like to add to the burrito bar. Their ideas might surprise you and result in some delicious combinations you may not have thought of.
• Help kids roll the burrito and fold the tortilla along the bottom so the filling doesn’t fall out.
• Don't shy away from experimenting with new ingredients. You never know what your kids might try to like, and you can always throw the leftovers into a salad or your own burrito!