Preparing food together is an excellent way to spend quality time with loved ones. It is a fun and interactive activity that encourages communication, cooperation, and creativity. Cooking together allows family members to bond over a shared interest and create positive memories. It also helps everyone feel more confident in the kitchen and can help make meal planning and prepping easier with everyone involved.

Benefits of Family Cooking:

Improves Nutrition

Getting the whole family involved can help everyone be on the same page with the meal planning and prepping each week. This might decrease the number of times you eat out and help you have more balanced healthy meals at home.

Helps Children get Comfortable in the Kitchen

Teaching your children to cook not only exposes them to a fun hobby they can enjoy but exposes them to a skill they will utilize for the rest of their lives. Many parents worry about the risk involved with all the sharp objects in the kitchen, but there are several tasks that are safe for kids such as measuring to help with their math skills, stirring, rolling, helping to read the recipe, etc. There are also many great children’s kitchen tools out there to help them stay safe while learning proper cutting, cooking, and baking skills.

Unifies the Family

Cooking together allows family members to communicate, cooperate, and express their creativity. It also promotes a sense of belonging and strengthens family ties.

Helps you Experiment with New Foods Together

It can be hard to get out of your comfort zone to try new foods, but when your whole family is there to back you up, it makes it a little easier. Make it fun and experiment with trying one new vegetable or fruit each week, one new recipe each week, etc.

Helps with Picky Eaters

If you have picky eaters in your family, cooking together can be a wonderful way to encourage them to try new foods. Involving them in cooking may make them more willing to taste something they might otherwise refuse. Additionally, this activity can be a way to introduce new foods in a fun and nonthreatening way. Try incorporating new ingredients into your meals and ask your picky eaters to help prepare them.

Increases Confidence in the Kitchen

Start simple and take a step at a time. Most of us aren’t chefs, so we don’t want to make this activity stressful; have fun and make a mess! Little by little you will start to gain confidence in the kitchen and want to try more: there is endless fun to be had in the kitchen!

Find some new family recipe ideas here.

Thinking of trying a cooking class as a family? There are many fun resources both in-person and online that could be a great start to family cooking. Check out some of the following:

ChopChop Cooking Club

Rad-dish Cooking Club

Sur La Table In Person Classes
 

Join OSU Health Coach Lindsay Atwood RD, LD, for the four-week series "Family Fun in the Kitchen" starting July 9 at 5:30 p.m. During the 30-minute sessions, she will help you come up with a personalized plan for your family in the kitchen. You will learn how to be supportive and get tips on organizing as a family so you can start meal planning and prepping together. Everyone can have an important role in the kitchen and do hands-on cooking demos with the guidance of Lindsay cooking with you. Register here or visit Link to Health to learn more.