20 Easy Mother's Day Recipes That Kids Can (Mostly) Make

Easy Mother's Day Recipes for Breakfast, Dinner, and Desserts

Written by
Cathy Jacobs
A freelance journalist and avid home cook, Cathy Jacobs has more than 10 years of food writing experience, with a focus on curating approachable menus and recipe collections.
Learn about The Spruce Eats' Editorial Process
Cathy Jacobs
Updated 04/19/21
Overnight French Toast Casserole

The Spruce/Julia Hartbeck

Want to spoil mom on Mother's Day? Make it an occasion to remember by treating her to a homemade meal made by her favorite people in the world — her kids. We've collected the best Mother's Day recipes that kids can make (mostly) themselves, with just a little bit of grown-up help. You'll find simply delicious ideas here for building a Mother's Day brunch, making tea-time snacks, or pulling off a full Mom's Day dinner, with dessert included.

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  • 01 of 20

    Strawberries and Cream Muffins

    Strawberries and Cream Muffins

    The Spruce/Diana Rattray

    Jam-packed with juicy, fresh berries, with a crisp, golden streusal topping, these strawberries and cream muffins are as pretty as they are delicious. The muffin batter is very simple to mix up in a bowl, and even the youngest kids can have fun using their hands to combine the topping ingredients. Older kids can learn to scoop the batter neatly into muffin tins, and place them into the oven to bake.

  • 02 of 20

    Easy Fluffy Pancakes

    Easy Fluffy Pancakes

    The Spruce

    Kids love to help with making pancakes, and these fluffy flapjacks are a wonderful breakfast treat for mom's special day. Get small hands involved in stirring together the simple batter, which can be tweaked with chocolate chips, blueberries, and other add-ins. Let kids have a say in the toppings too, whether that is maple syrup, sliced bananas and nutella, fresh berries, or whipped cream.

  • 03 of 20

    Overnight French Toast Casserole

    Overnight French Toast Casserole

    The Spruce/Julia Hartbeck

    Treat mom to a breakfast in bed she'll always remember with our convenient French toast casserole. Let little tots arrange the bread slices in a casserole dish, while older kids whisk together the simple, eggy topping for pouring over. In the morning, the whole family (minus mom) can watch the baking dish go into the oven, for serving hot with maple syrup and an optional sprinkling of icing sugar.

  • 04 of 20

    Strawberry Smoothie

    Strawberry Smoothie

    The Spruce Eats

    Use a mixture of fresh and frozen berries to make this fabulous strawberry smoothie that needs just a handful of ingredients. It's a yummy, fruity, creamy, nutritious breakfast or snack for mom in a single glass, with a pretty pink color that she is sure to love. Even tiny tots can help out by adding the pre-measured ingredients to the blender container, though an adult should do the actual blending.

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  • 05 of 20

    Vegetarian Omelet With Bell Peppers

    Vegetarian Omelet With Bell Peppers

    The Spruce/Ahlam Raffii

    Omelets are a great one-dish meal for Mother's Day breakfast, and are easy to make vegetarian. Kids can break the eggs and whisk them with water while an adult chops the veggies, and preheats the skillet for cooking up this colorful, tender, good-for-mom vegetable omelet. You can let kids try flipping one side of the omelet over the over too, if you don't care about perfection!

  • 06 of 20

    Fruit Scones

    Fruit Scones

    The Spruce/Maxwell Cozzi

    Scones may conjure fancy visions of high tea, but they are surprisingly easy to make at home, for a tasty snack at any time of day. These delicious fruit scones use basic pantry ingredients, including raisins for chew, and bake up in a mere 15 minutes. Ask kids to help by using their fingers to rub cold butter into the flour mixture, and brushing the kneaded dough with egg wash for the oven.

  • 07 of 20

    Leftover Turkey Salad Lettuce Wraps

    Leftover Turkey Salad Lettuce Wraps

    The Spruce/Anfisa Strizh

    Not only is this healthful, no-cook luncheon treat or afternoon snack a clever way to use up leftover turkey or chicken salad from the fridge — it is also fun for kids to assemble. All you need are fresh, crispy, washed butter lettuce leaves, sharp cheddar cheese shreds, and homemade cranberry-mustard (or make it even easier and use canned cranberry sauce).

  • 08 of 20

    Heart-Shaped Egg-in-a-Hole

    Heart-Shaped Egg-in-a-Hole

    The Spruce/Leah Maroney

    This cool and creamy pistachio pudding recipe works as either a side dish or a dessert. Either way, Watergate salad is delicious and this is definitely one of those Mother's Day recipes that's easy enough for the kids to make all by themselves.

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  • 09 of 20

    Japanese Rice Balls (Onigiri)

    Japanese Rice Balls (Onigiri)

    The Spruce

    If mom is a sushi rice fan, she's sure to enjoy this creative snack idea. Chewy, seasoned onigiri, or rice balls, are a bento box favorite that are a joy to make and eat. Form an assembly line at the kitchen table or counter, and let kids shape the cooked rice into tightly-packed balls. These can then be passed off to an adult (or a teenager), for adding the optional nori strip.

  • 10 of 20

    Salmon and Cream Cheese Tea Sandwiches

    Salmon and Cream Cheese Tea Sandwiches

    The Spruce/Diana Chistruga

    Create a fun afternoon snack for mom with a pot of her favorite tea, and these delectable finger sandwiches. Kids can use a blunt knife to spread bread slices with cream cheese, and pile smoked salmon strips on top. All their adult helper needs to do is to cut off the crusts, slice the sandwiches into quarters, and find a platter for serving the savory squares.

  • 11 of 20

    Chicken Alfredo Casserole

    Chicken Alfredo Casserole

    The Spruce/Diana Chistruga

    If your kids want to try their hands at cooking Mother's Day dinner, this is a great one-dish casserole to try. It is a cinch to assemble for the oven with pre-cooked pasta, diced cooked chicken, jarred Alfredo sauce, a little milk, and grated Parmesan cheese. Provide kids the components for pouring into a prepared baking dish, which an adult can pop into the oven.

  • 12 of 20

    Pesto Salmon Pasta

    Pesto Salmon Pasta

    The Spruce

    Start with pre-cooked salmon, and store-bought pesto sauce, for this easy and elegant seafood pasta dish that makes an ideal Mother's Day supper. Let kids use a long pair of tongs to toss the cooked pasta noodles with the reserved salmon and sauce. They can also sprinkle on a garnish of Parmesan cheese, and add a few grinds of black pepper to the pasta bowls for serving.

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  • 13 of 20

    30-Minute Mexican Enchiladas

    30 Minute Mexican Enchiladas

    The Spruce

    For moms who love Mexican flavors, you can't go wrong with our easy, cheesy enchiladas. You need only 30 minutes, and 6 easy ingredients, to make them for Mother's Day dinner. With just one baking dish, clean-up will be a breeze, too. Ask kids for help with the assembly, from spreading sauce on the tortillas, to rolling them up, and sprinkling on the cheese.

  • 14 of 20

    Baked Teriyaki Salmon

    Baked Teriyaki Salmon

    Leah Maroney

    Help the kids to wow mom with a special-day supper of baked teriyaki salmon. Our quick and easy version tastes just like the popular Japanese restaurant dish, but cooks up easily in less than 20 minutes. Let kids mix together the marinade for soaking the salmon, before an adult does the oven-baking. Make a pot of rice to serve it with, allowing kids to garnish the baked fish with sesame seeds or scallions.

  • 15 of 20

    Easy Italian-Style Baked Chicken

    Easy Italian-Style Baked Chicken

    The Spruce/Julia Hartbeck

    Easy and delicious Italian chicken is a real dinner winner. It's also a great opportunity to teach children about proper hygiene practices when handling raw chicken. Here, boneless skinless chicken breasts are dredged in Parmesan-boosted breadcrumbs, before baking to perfection in the oven. Serve with a side salad, or a pile of pesto pasta, for a classic Mother's Day dinner.

  • 16 of 20

    Vegan Artichoke and Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta

    Vegan Artichoke and Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta

    The Spruce

    Our appetizing bow-tie pasta dinner with sun-dried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, black olives, and chopped fresh basil is so tasty, it's hard to believe you can throw it together in 20 minutes, with just a few ingredients. Teach older children how to make this nutritious, Italian-style vegan and vegetarian dish for an easy family dinner anytime.

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  • 17 of 20

    Classic Lobster Salad

    Boiled lobster salad recipe

    The Spruce / Diana Chistruga

    This ritzy salad is easy for kids and adults alike thanks to pre-cooked lobster meat. Ripping up lettuce leaves, and sending them through a salad spinner, is such good fun, it hardly counts as a kitchen chore. Kids can also help to measure out and stir together the salad, then choose which accoutrements to pair it with.

  • 18 of 20

    Apple Dump Cake

    Apple Dump Cake

    The Spruce

    With sweet apple chunks nestled in a tender, buttery crumb, and a taste like apple pie, our delicious apple dump cake is a great recipe for beginner bakers to try. An adult can pre-measure the ingredients, and chop the fruit, while kids get the prize jobs of dumping the ingredients into the baking dish, and serving it to mom.

  • 19 of 20

    Easy Chocolate Saucepan Brownies

    Easy Chocolate Saucepan Brownies

    The Spruce/Diana Rattray

    You need just 10 minutes, and fewer than 10 ingredients, to make these easy chocolate brownies that start out on the stove-top, and finish in the oven. Place a stool in front of the stove, and help younger kids to carefully stir the ingredients as they come together. A grown-up can pour the hot batter into a pan, and place it in the oven to finish baking.

  • 20 of 20

    Banana Split

    The Perfect Banana Split

    The Spruce

    Banana splits are nostalgic treats, and perfect for making with your kids. You can set up a dessert-making station on the kitchen counter or table, with split bananas, vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate ice cream, and toppings such as whipped cream, nuts, and maraschino cherries, so kids can put together individual servings.