Today I’m re-sharing one of the very first recipes in my easy recipes for kids series – a really easy homemade burgers recipe. Small Child has made burgers several times since and I thought it was about time I updated the photography for this recipe from my early blogging days, although I had to keep the photos of my very cute 5 year old Small Child, he’s getting bigger and bigger by the day!
This is a simple burger recipe that I use regularly for family dinners, and I thought it would be a real challenge for Small Child. I remember the first time that he made them I was pleasantly surprised at how well he did with this recipe; apart from grilling the burgers, he followed the recipe from start to finish with no real help from me. For me, this truly proves my belief that everyone can cook if they are willing to give it a try; if a five year old can do it, then anyone can!
I’ve attached a PDF copy of the recipe at the end of this post for you to print out if you would like to try challenging your own ‘Small Child’ to give it a go. I’ve also outlined the recipe below, feel free to adapt it to suit your needs.
Easy Homemade Burgers
Ingredients
- 500g Minced Beef
- 3 Spring Onions
- 2 Cloves Garlic
- 1 tsp Paprika
- 1 tsp Dried Parsley
- Black Pepper
Method
Wash the spring onions. Chop them into small pieces with scissors. Discard the roots.
Peel and crush the garlic. We have a cool little gadget for crushing the garlic that Small Child loves using – you pop the peeled garlic inside and twist it around to crush it before tipping it out. As you can see, I allowed Small Child to use a small paring knife to trim the ends off the garlic cloves before peeling them. You should use your knowledge of your own child to decide when they are ready to use a sharp knife – I believe that my son is now mature and sensible enough to learn how to use a sharp knife under close supervision, we have had many discussions about how to use it properly, taking care to keep our fingers out of the way etc, and knives are kept out of reach when we aren’t actively using them.
Put all the ingredients into a bowl and mix them together with your hands. The mixing and squishing is great fun!
Split the mixture into 4 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a ball and squash them to make burger shapes. We used a burger press to shape the burgers, but they can just as easily be done by hand. As you can see, I do like my kitchen gadgets!
Grill the burgers for about 15 minutes, turning once. I carried out the actual grilling of the burgers, but older children could probably do this themselves too, depending on the child.
We served the burgers up in crusty bread buns, with cheese, sauces, and salad vegetables to choose from. Small Child chose lettuce, cucumber, cheese and tomato ketchup to go in his, and assembled it himself. We also had some simple homemade oven baked potato wedges on the side, also made by Small Child (you can find the recipe here: Easy Potato Wedges Recipe).
It was an absolutely delicious meal, and Small Child was extremely proud of himself for ‘making dinner’. I felt very proud of him myself; I thought he did so well! Just reading the recipe was a thing to be proud of in itself, considering that six months before he barely knew any letters in the alphabet. I’m constantly amazed by how quickly children learn and grow, watching him develop is one of my favourite parts of being a parent.
If you’d like to print off a child-friendly copy of this recipe for yourself, click on the photo below to download the PDF file, or click here if that doesn’t work for any reason. Do comment and let me know if you try it!
If you’d like more child friendly recipes like this one, be sure to check out the rest of my easy recipes for kids section, and you could pop over and follow my Cooking with Kids Pinterest board too!
Grace
Really easy homemade burgers recipe - so easy a child can make them - with free child friendly printable recipe sheet.
- 500 g Minced Beef
- 3 Spring Onions
- 2 Cloves Garlic
- 1 tsp Paprika
- 1 tsp Dried Parsley
- Black Pepper
- Wash the spring onions. Chop them into small pieces with scissors. Discard the roots.
Peel and crush the garlic. We have a cool little gadget for crushing the garlic that Small Child loves using - you pop the peeled garlic inside and twist it around to crush it before tipping it out.
- Put all the ingredients into a bowl and mix them together with your hands. The mixing and squishing is great fun!
Split the mixture into 4 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a ball and squash them to make burger shapes. We used a burger press to shape the burgers, but they can just as easily be done by hand.
Grill the burgers for about 15 minutes, turning once., then serve.
Grace says
Thanks Sylke, I think I went a bit overboard in the explaining of germs in raw meat – Small Child needed persuading to touch it at all for fear of them! Luckily he got over it, but he couldn’t wait to wash his hands when he’d finished!
Diana Rambles says
He’s adorable!! What a great cook!
Grace says
Thanks very much, I think so, obviously! 🙂
Honey says
They look fabulous! Well done to little man!! x
Chelsea @ Life With My Littles says
He looks so proud of himself! And this would be so fun!!! Thanks for sharing!
Simone says
Such a great accomplishment! He should feel very proud. The burgers look so tasty. 🙂
Grace says
Thank you! Cooking can be such a great confidence builder, he was very proud of himself 🙂
Kylie says
Yum! We love making burgers and both kids have used knives, we use the kid safe ones that they can’t sever fingers with.
Grace says
Thank you! Burgers really are a great recipe to make with kids aren’t they 🙂
Jade Wilson says
Ooh these look SO yummy! I just really wish my eldest wasn’t so fussy.. might just have to make them for myself instead.
Grace says
Thank you! Definitely worth making them for yourself, they’re great for popping in the freezer for when you need a quick meal too 🙂