Getting kids involved in family meals isn’t always easy!
Finding recipes that are simple enough for children, safe to prepare, and still delicious enough that everyone actually wants to eat them can feel like a challenge.
Cooking has always been an important life skill in our family. We start with simple chores when our kids are toddlers, and as they grow, each child is assigned one evening a week to help prepare dinner. By around age 16, I expect them to be able to cook an entire meal independently.
That’s why I was excited when Raddish Kids invited us to try one of their monthly cooking subscription boxes. I wanted to see whether it truly helped kids gain confidence in the kitchen—or whether it was just another subscription.
Here’s what we thought!
Disclosure: Raddish Kids provided us with a complimentary subscription box for review. As always, all opinions are my own.
Our Quick Review: Raddish Kids
Best for: families with kids ages 4–14 who want to cook together
Works well for:
- beginning cooks
- grandparents
- family bonding
- kids who enjoy hands-on learning
- homeschool families
Pros
✔ Kid-friendly picture-based instructions
✔ Quality recipe cards
✔ Encourages independence
✔ Introduces new foods
✔ Includes a fun kitchen tool
✔ Interactive online recipe library
Cons
✘ Ingredients aren’t included
✘ Younger children still need a lot of adult help
✘ Monthly cost may not fit every budget
What is Raddish Kids?
Raddish Kids is a monthly subscription cooking box for kids. Each month the family receives high quality, chef-designed recipes perfectly suited for kids!
What’s included in the box?
Each monthly box includes:
- Four illustrated recipe cards
- A high-quality kitchen tool
- Collectible culinary skill cards
- Conversation starters and activities
- Access to the Raddish Plus digital recipe library with more than 400 kid-friendly recipes
The monthly boxes arrive (to much excitement!) with bright, kid-friendly recipe cards that clearly explain the ingredients and instructions in terms a child can easily understand.
They also get a new kitchen tool each month – something that corresponds to the recipes included. Over the course of several months, kids build their own collection of kitchen tools.
All kits also come with Raddish Plus – a digital, interactive recipe library of over 400+ specially curated recipes for kids, so the family can continue making amazing dishes in-between receiving the box!
What age are Raddish Kids kits for?
The original Raddish Kids cooking subscription box is for ages 4-14. But they have other options that are geared for slightly older kids, from 6-14 or 8-14 years old, depending on the kit you choose.
What Raddish Kids cooking boxes are available?
For our collaboration, I opted for the original flagship cooking kit that focuses on dinner menu items. But they have several other cooking and baking kits available, depending on the interest and needs of your family:
- Global Cooking Subscription Box – explores cuisine from around the world, to expand cultural awareness and appreciation (ages 6-14)
- Baking Subscription Box (ages 8-14) for tweens and teens focusing on desserts, sweet treats, and creative baking projects
- Seasonal Themes such as edible engineering featuring STEM science and math, or Citrus Celebration
- Single Kits such as a slumber party cooking kit or a picnic cooking kit
How we used our Raddish Kids recipe box
My kids were super excited to get cooking! We decided to make all four recipes in one night for a full course meal since the included recipes represented a main dish, two side dishes, and dessert!
But in hindsight that was a bit too ambitious – totally doable for mom alone, but a lot for my budding little chefs. Oops! So next time, I’m thinking it would be better to spread out the Raddish Kids recipes over several meals. Live and learn!
What We Cooked with our Raddish Kids original cooking subscription box:
Recipe 1: Lemon Pepper Chicken
What my kids thought:
Yum! This dish was a big hit. Everyone in the family loved it and it was easy to make. All the ingredients were pantry staples – nothing strange or out of the ordinary. It was such a great recipe that it may just go into the future meal rotation!
Culinary Skill: Pounding Meat
The featured culinary skill gets an in-depth explanation on the back of the recipe card with all sorts of tips and tricks for success. My kids really enjoyed pounding the chicken! This was definitely one of their favorite parts of cooking dinner!
Recipe 2: Parmesan Umami Noodles
What my kids thought:
These were delicious! Creamy, cheesy, and flavorful. The word “umami” was new to us. Who knew there was another flavor besides sweet, sour, salty, and bitter? The recipe card explained the new vocabulary word in detail, so we enjoyed learning something new. The kids were surprised at the texture of the mushrooms and enjoyed chopping them using their kid-safe knives.
One of my daughters immediately wrinkled her nose when she saw mushrooms listed in the ingredient list. Normally she would have refused to even taste them. But she really enjoyed getting to explore them and chop them – which made her feel more comfortable. Because she had made the meal herself, she was much more willing to give them a try. Although I’m pretty sure she mostly still ate around them, I loved seeing that little boost of confidence and willingness to explore new foods!
Culinary Skill: Cooking Perfect Pasta
The recipe card explained the stages of boiling water – from quiver, to simmer, to boil, and walked the kids step-by-step through the process to achieve perfect pasta!
Recipe 3: Vinaigrette Dressing
The DIY Vinaigrette card was an experiment card that walked kids through building a base, adding flavor, then seasoning to taste. The fun thing about it is that the card has multiple different suggestions for achieving different combinations. It’s fun to see how chefs alter recipes and experiment to get the perfect taste.
What my kids thought:
We actually ran out of time on this one and ended up subbing salad dressing from the refrigerator. But we will add it in for future dinners! I love the idea of making taste testing a game and utilizing the senses to get it right. Fun!
Culinary Skill: Season to Taste
Experiment to season to your own preferences!
Recipe 4: Salted Chocolate Chip Cookies
What my kids thought:
Huge kid favorite – and won a big compliment from my husband as well. These were honestly some of the best homemade chocolate chop cookies we’ve ever made. Seriously.
Culinary Skill: Dry Measuring Skills
Kids learned the correct way to measure dry ingredients and how to level the measuring cups. The recipe card also spotlighted the differences between table salt, kosher salt, and finishing salt.
Kids’ Review of Raddish Kids
The Raddish Kids cooking box was a big hit with my kids. They thought it was so much fun to read the recipes, find the ingredients, cut, measure, and pour. They felt very grown-up and special.
Each card also comes with educational culinary tips – which the kids enjoyed. One card helped us learn about the different types of chocolate (milk, semi-sweet, dark) and another explained the different kinds of salt (kosher, sea-salt, etc.). They found this interesting!
Overall, they had a ton of fun with mom in the kitchen! As we were eating our meal, one of my girls said, “Pinkies up everyone – this is a fancy dinner!”
If your kids love cooking, another fun free resource is the ABC Snacks Cookbook from All About Learning Press. It’s a great companion to the Raddish Kids box and is a fun way to add extra literacy practice for the preschool members of the house who want to cook, too!
Mom’s Thoughts about Raddish Kids
We’ve been making a big push lately as a family to eat healthy and be fit, including replacing many of our kitchen items for healthier options. I appreciated that the Raddish Kids recipes were not only delicious, but introduce nutritious, whole foods, too. This gave me a great opportunity to discuss healthy food choices with the kids and what goes into planning a meal!
Here are some other things I loved:
- Super easy – it took the prep out of the equation to have ready-to-go recipes that were already kid-approved and not too challenging for kids.
- Kid-friendly – bright, easy-to-read recipe cards meant my kids took ownership and felt like they were doing the cooking.
- Shopping List – the box comes with a dedicated shopping list for making all recipes included, which makes it a snap to prep.
- Cute kitchen tools – my kids really enjoyed the included kitchen tool and getting to use it specifically for these recipes.
- New vocabulary & new tastes – I liked the opportunity to introduce the kids to new words and slip in new foods that they agreed to taste (because it was in the recipe!)
- STEM and math skills – the kids got hands-on practice with measuring spoons and cups, and time management planning, too.
- Following directions – cooking reinforces the need to read, follow instructions, and proceed step-by-step – all great life skills for kids!
I also really liked that the Raddish Kids recipes included challenged me to get out of my regular recipe routine rut! As a mom it can be easy to fall into making the same meals on repeat. This shook things up – in a good way!
>>> Hey, do you love singing while you cook like we do? Try singing some of our Bible songs for kids as a family!
Benefits of a Cooking Subscription Boxes for Kids
Anyone these days can Pinterest or Google a new recipe, so why rely on a subscription cooking kit like Raddish Kids? There are several advantages for families compared to just sourcing a new recipe off the internet.
Cooking together offers so much more than a finished meal. Families can:
- Practice measuring and math skills
- Build reading comprehension by following recipes
- Learn kitchen safety
- Increase confidence
- Develop independence
- Build focus and concentration
- Expand food vocabulary
- Try new ingredients
- Strengthen family relationships
- Encourage healthy eating habits
- Be introduced to new culinary skills
Who is this for?
Raddish Kids subscription boxes are a great fit for you if you want:
- Ease of use (turn-key)
- Once a month done-for-you family cooking opportunities
- Exposure to new curated recipes
- High quality, chef-crafted recipes that work for kids
These kits would be a great fit for an on-going homeschool co-op, homeschool enrichment, or as part of a nutrition or home economics course – or just as a fun once-a-month family kitchen bonding activity. Cooking is a wonderful life skill that all kids need to become successful adults.
FAQ:
Do the boxes include ingredients?
No. Families purchase their own groceries, making it easy to accommodate allergies and dietary preferences.
Can younger siblings participate?
Absolutely! While younger children will need more help, many preschoolers enjoy washing vegetables, stirring, measuring, pouring, and decorating.
Is Raddish Kids good for homeschoolers?
Yes! It naturally combines practical life skills with reading, math, nutrition, science, and family time, making it a fun enrichment activity for homeschool families.
How long does each recipe take?
Each recipe card comes with an estimated time. Our meal cards projected 30-40 minutes each. However, with littles helping, we found it took just a tad bit longer than expected. Or maybe we’re just slow!
How much does Raddish Kids cost?
A one-month subscription costs $28.95 each month – but there’s a discount if you select a 6-month or 12-month subscription.
Plus, just for my readers, I’m sharing a generous discount code! Apply MAESTRA at check-out for $30 off any 6 or 12-month cooking or baking subscriptions! Enjoy!
Is Raddish Kids Worth It?
We genuinely enjoyed our evening cooking together with our Raddish Kids box. More than the recipes themselves, I loved watching my kids take ownership in the kitchen, practice real-life skills, and gain confidence preparing a meal for our family.
If you:
- Want kids to practice real-life skills
- Want consistency with kids cooking in the kitchen
- Are trying to promote independence
- Are looking for ways to create fun family memories
- Want turnkey, done-for-you recipes & ideas
👉 Then yes, the Raddish Kids Subscription is absolutely worth considering.
If you’re on a budget, it might not be the best option, but if you can swing the price, it definitely makes it easier to get kids and families cooking together in the kitchen consistently. Another possibility if the price point seems a bit high – you can use charter school, grant, ESA, or other instructional funds towards subscriptions! Yay!
If you’d like to try it yourself, don’t forget to use my exclusive code MAESTRA to save $30 on a 6- or 12-month cooking or baking subscription! Bon-Appetit!
