Today I want to show you how to make a delicious taco recipe for kids and families to share together. These chicken tacos are perfect for a Taco Tuesday, and are super inclusive. This kid-friendly taco recipe is gluten free, top 9 free, top 14 free, GERD friendly, and so much more.
This easy chicken taco recipe is such a great meal for little hands and big hands to cook together, so get your little one involved if possible. I’ll also be sharing tips below on selective/picky eating. Now, let’s get to work 🙂
Allergy Status
Free From: Wheat/Gluten, Dairy, Egg, Soy, Tree Nut (including Coconut), Peanut, Fish, Shellfish, Sesame, Top 9 Allergens, Top 14 Allergens, Alliums, Avocado, Banana, Beans & Lentils, Berries, Buckwheat, Cane/Refined Sugar, Celery, Cinnamon, Citrus, Cruciferous, Garlic, Legume, Lupin, Mushroom, Mustard, Nightshade, Oat, Onion, Pea & Pea Protein, Potato (Nightshade Variety), Red Meat, Rice, Seeds, Squash & Gourd, Stone Fruits, Strawberry, Sweet Potato & Yam, Tapioca/Cassava/Yuca/Manioc, Tomato, Yeast
Friendly To: AIP Paleo, GERD, Paleo
Compatible With: GAPs, SCD
GAPs & SCD: Use your favourite granulated sweetener in place of the maple sugar. You can also reduce this amount, or leave it out all together.
Cook Time: 20 – 25 Minutes
Tools
Here’s what you’ll need to make this taco recipe for kids:
- Knife (my current fave knives)
- Cutting Board
- Vegetable Peeler (this is the one I have)
- Box Grater (this is one of several that I have)
- Wooden Spoon for Cooking
- Deep/Large Skillet
Ingredients for This Taco Recipe for Kids
Part 1 Ingredients
- 3 TBSP Oil of Choice for Cooking (I use EVOO)
- 220g Organic Apple (8 ounces), diced small
- 200g Organic Carrots (7 ounces), shredded
Part 2 Ingredients
- 1.1KG Organic Ground Chicken Thigh (40 ounces/2.5lbs)
- 4 TBSP Organic Maple Sugar
- 112mL Organic Chicken Broth/Stock (4 ounces)
- 3 TBSP Organic Dried Spinach
- 3 tsp Sea Salt
Helpful & Important Ingredient Notes
Oil: I use organic extra virgin olive oil, but you can use any cooking oil you enjoy.
Apple: Use a sweeter apple variety such as Fuji or gala. You’ll want to avoid green apples given how sour they can be. When dicing, discard (or eat) the pieces that are mostly apple skin.
Carrots: If you’re out of carrots, or don’t like them, you can use shredded zucchini (courgette).
Chicken: I usually grind chicken at home with my stand mixer meat grinder attachment. This allows me to use organic chicken thigh from Costco (very well priced), which is a more flavourful cut of meat.
If you want to do something similar, I suggest grinding 4.5 – 9KG/10 – 20 pounds at a time, and freezing in 900g/2 pound increments so future recipes come together easily. Some store sell ground chicken in the fresh meat area whilst others sell it in the freezer section.
Maple Sugar: This is a granulated sweetener and can be swapped for other granulated sweeteners including organic coconut sugar, organic date sugar, and organic light brown sugar.
Stock/Broth: I use a homemade stock since store bought isn’t an option. If you’re in the same boat, make a huge batch every month or so, and use 32 ounce deli containers to store leftovers in your freezer. This makes future recipes a lot easier.
Spinach: If you can’t find, or can’t have dried spinach, use dried parsley instead. Here’s an example of dried spinach.
Taco Recipe Directions
Once you have your apples and carrots ready, heat a large/deep non-stick pan on medium-high heat. Add your cooking oil and once it’s hot, add the apples and carrots (Part 1 Ingredients). Mix together and cook for 10 minutes.
Next, add your Part 2 Ingredients. Break the chicken into small pieces as it cooks. As you break it down into smaller pieces, you’ll also naturally distribute the salt and mix the ingredients together very well.
Depending on the eye power of your stove (usually each one is different), your cook time with the chicken will be 10 – 15 minutes, making the total cook time 20 – 25 minutes.
That’s it! Serve this mix on top of tortillas along with any other taco toppings you enjoy.
Taco Meat Storage
Once you’ve made this simple taco recipe, you’ve got a couple of storage options. You can store leftovers in the fridge for up to 5 days (leftover tacos are great in lunch boxes). Alternatively, you can freeze leftover taco meat mix. Choose an airtight container that makes sense for your household (individual container, container for the whole family, etc.).
To reuse from frozen, thaw completely, then reheat in a little cooking oil in a pan. If you’d like to read more about freezing taco meat, this article outlines the methods.
Freezing leftover taco meat can be a real gift for future you. The next time you want tacos, you can grab a container from the freezer and you’ve got dinner in a jiffy. If you’re managing food allergies, I can’t stress enough the importance of building a freezer stock. Yes, it’s very helpful on a busy night, but it’s also a lifeline during an emergency, or a way you can quickly grab food for a last minute trip.
Fun Serving Ideas for Your Tacos
There are a lot of great ways you can serve this taco recipe for kids. Consider serving meals family style, where each component is on a plate or in a bowl, rather than pre-plating the meal. Serving meals family style is a great way to allow kids to take what they’d like, and also gives you another opportunity to model the behaviour. Here are some ideas for serving:
Have taco shells (hard shells aren’t the easiest of options for little kids), flour tortillas, tortilla chips or corn tortillas on the table.
Include a salsa on the dining table. Given the fruity nature of this taco recipe, you could go with a traditional tomato based salsa, or get a fruit based option such as mango salsa.
Have small containers of your favourite taco toppings (shredded cabbage, guacamole, etc.). If possible aim to have colorful toppings available. Not only are they visually appealing, but they’re also loaded with nutrients.
Make mini tacos together. Use a cookie cutter to shape regular tortillas into smaller tortillas (think 2″/5cm). Then, have fun with your kiddo building super mini tacos together.
Tips for the Pickiest Eaters
I won’t go too far down the rabbit hole with you on selective and picky eating. Instead here are a few tips, and things to remember.
It’s OK to have preferences. As adults, we all have food preferences, so it would be strange to think that little kids can’t have them as well. Allow your kiddos to have their preferences, because you and I wouldn’t want someone forcing us to eat something we really don’t want.
Keep introducing new foods and modeling the behaviour at the dinner table. When your child has this shared experience with you, they’re a lot more likely to copy what you’re doing and try the food.
Never force kids to eat a food. There’s a wide range of reasons a child may not take a bite, and one can be an undiagnosed food allergy. I’ve lived through this personally, and with one of my kids. When food is avoided, keep offering, but don’t take it personally if they never take a bite.
Serve foods you’re happy to serve, and have something your child enjoys on the table as well. In other words, if you don’t want your kiddo eating ultra processed foods, don’t serve them. If they’re not available, that’s just the way it is. I’m sure that may seem harsh to some, but ultimately, we as parents are in charge of what’s served, and our kids can decide if they’d like to eat it. Remember though, something they enjoy should be present, be it apple slices, homemade mashed potatoes, and so on. The goal isn’t to “starve them out”.
Get your child involved in the cooking process. When you do this, you can instill a lifelong love of coking into your kiddo. They can help with everyday cooking in lots of little ways, and you can read a lot more about it in this article.
When you have a meal with sauces, have your child help you “decorate” plates. This artistic expression can help some selective eaters get brave and try one of the ingredients they’re working with.
If you have bigger kids (3+), invest in tools such as kid safe knifes so they can be a chef too. Show them that cooking can be like a new adventure, that it’s fun, delicious, and so much more. Dance and sing together as you put together everyday meals and over time, your child will develop a love for cooking. Hopefully. I won’t mislead you. Some kids never take to it, no matter how fun you make the experience.
Make sure your child can SEE the food on the dining table. When you serve a meal family style at the table, if the food is in a wooden bowl, and your child is sitting low enough, they can’t see inside the bowl. If they can’t see it, it’s not a food exposure. The simple fix is to use clear bowls when serving foods. You can also purchase novelty tongs and novelty serving spoons to make the experience a little more fun.
Ultimately, feeding kids is a looonnnngggggggggggggggggggg game. Some kids will needs more help than others when it comes to building confidence in trying new foods, so don’t give up. Over time, it really does get better.
If you’re concerned about your child’s picky/selective eating, and you’re not sure if it’s normal or extreme, my friend Jennifer at Kids Eat in Color has a free picky eating quiz. Take it and see if you should be taking extra steps to help your kiddo thrive.
Helpful Articles
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Change it up
If you ask me, the best part about tacos is that you can add your own toppings, or completely jazz up a recipe so you don’t get stuck in a food rut. When you’re feeding kids, sometimes you want something that honestly, you know your kid just won’t eat. With that in mind, here are a few great ways you can jazz up this taco recipe for kids, for adults 🙂
Make Mini Pizzas
OK, this one is for kids and adults. However, by making mini pizzas, you can make something a little different for each person in your house. For example, maybe you use tomato sauce for your kiddo but a spicy BBQ sauce for yourself. Go wild with the idea and make all sorts of tasty pizza combinations.
Make it Spicy
There are quite a few ways you can make this taco spicy. You can add a traditional hot sauce or a spicy taco sauce on your serving to give yourself a real kick. You can also remove a portion of taco filling and add chili powder to it. If there’s leftovers, be sure to label the container as spicy. You can also add jalapeño jelly or fresh sliced spicy peppers to your tacos for a kick of spice.
Include Different Veggies
As you introduce different vegetables at home, include them in your taco filling. From bell peppers to baby spinach, this recipe is versatile and can take on a range of additional vegetables.
Add Beans
If you’re a fan of serving your tacos with black beans, pinto beans, or refried beans, add them! You can cook your beans in a small pot and pop them on your tortilla before adding the filling.
Make Burritos
You can purchase burrito tortillas and fill them with rice, beans, this taco filling, and a fruity salsa for a tasty weeknight dinner.
Create a Taco Salad
Start with a bed of chopped greens you enjoy, place the taco filling on top, then break crispy shells on top of the filling and eat it like a taco salad. You can also blitz a crunchy shell in your food processor to create bite sized shards of crispy taco shell. Be sure to add a sauce or dressing you enjoy, and consider a tomato based, green, or fruity salsa. Each one would be delicious.
More Taco Recipes
Here are a few more kid friendly and family friendly taco options to explore. They’re all gluten free and allergy friendly.
- Homemade Taco Seasoning (can be used for beef tacos,
- Taco Pot Pie Recipe (a family favorite around here)
- GF + Top 9 Free Lamb Tacos (a delicious quick weeknight meal)
- Top 9 + 14 Free Taco Pasta (a mega tasty, but simple meal to make)
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Answering Your Questions About This Taco Recipe for Kids
Could I use a pound of ground beef in place of the chicken?
No, you won’t be able to use a pound of ground beef, and that’s because this recipe calls for 2.5 pounds of ground chicken. You can however use 2.5 pounds of ground beef.
Now, if you only have a pound of meat, you’ll need to reduce the amount of the other ingredients. 1 pound is 40% of the original amount called for. You would use 40% of all of the other ingredients across the board to scale this recipe down.
If you do end up using ground beef, the overall cook time may be a little longer. Make sure your meat has cooked all the way through before serving. Also, if the fat content of your beef is on the high side, you may want to drain off the meat mixture a bit before serving.
Would this recipe taste good with cheddar cheese?
I don’t know that cheddar cheese is the best option for this recipe. However, apples + cheddar is a thing, so maybe. What I would do, if you have some cheddar cheese on hand, is to try a little and see what you think.
You don’t have to mix the cheese into the meat mix, and it can be served on the top, like a traditional taco. I’d personally think a mozzarella style cheese or something more mild would be a better fit.
However, I say all of that, but you have to remember this: I’m allergic to all of the food that I make for others. This isn’t a combo I’ve had my taste testers try, so I have to give you an answer based on what I know about the ingredients. I think some people would absolutely love the combo whilst others would say no thanks.
Is this a good recipe for lunch boxes?
Absolutely! So long as you like cold tacos, this would work wonderfully in a lunchbox. I’d put the taco meat in a little container and also pack any favourite toppings you have along with a tortilla or two.
You can have fun with this and make mini tacos with pancakes (pacos). This awesome pancake recipe would make for a great tortilla alternative.
Can I add onion and garlic to this recipe?
I think a little onion powder could work in this healthy taco recipe, but I wouldn’t add garlic powder. Apples and onions work well together whereas apples and garlic are more of a stretch. I’d hate to see you ruin great ingredients if the flavour isn’t what you were hoping for.
When using onion powder, I’d start with 1 teaspoon, and when the whole dish has cooked through, taste. Only add more if you really need it, but also keep in mind that this is designed to be a kid-friendly taco recipe. If your little one doesn’t like big onion flavours yet, don’t go overboard. Alternatively, remove a portion of meat for your kiddo, then have at it.
Could I swap the chicken for lean ground beef?
When making this easy meal, you could use lean ground beef instead of the chicken. The cook time may be a little longer, so keep that in mind. You’ll want to be sure that your lean ground beed has cooked all the way through before serving.
Would this recipe taste good with sour cream?
It it’s taco night and you want to put a little dollop of sour cream on top of this healthy taco recipe, I say go for it. I wouldn’t add a tonne though. Just a little spoon to add that cool and refreshing sensation.
