With kids and university students alike headed back to school, finding recipes that work with your busy schedule can be challenging. Delicious as home-cooked meals are, they’re often time-consuming and not very convenient. Parents and university students alike can find themselves resorting to the classics, such as peanut butter and jelly sandwiches or simple spaghetti and meatballs, and getting sick of them fast. 

That’s why we’ve compiled a list of back to school recipe ideas for everything from breakfast to lunch to dinner to provide you with convenient variety. There’s no reason why you can’t enjoy delicious food on a busy schedule! Let’s dive into some back to school recipe ideas that kids and adults alike can enjoy.

Breakfast

Some people are early birds and are able to have proper breakfasts before heading to school, but for many, breakfast is a chaotic affair that often involves grabbing something quick before rushing out the door. These back to school recipe ideas are good for both those who have the time to sit and enjoy and for those who need something quick and easy.

#1. Fruit Bruschetta

Bruschetta in and of itself would be a good savory option for a quick breakfast, though it’s more commonly served as an appetizer. For a quick back to school recipe that caters to sweet tooths, toast some bread and spread it with some yogurt or nut butter, then top with your fruit of choice. Drizzle with honey and sprinkle with cinnamon for a special touch.

#2. Eggs In A Basket

Also known as Eggs in a Hole, this is fun and easy. You simply take a piece of bread and cut a hole into it. Then, after putting the bread in a pan, you crack an egg into said hole. You can season as desired, as well as put some cheese or meat into it. When the bread is crispy and the egg has reached your desired level of doneness, you can serve it up with some avocado or other greens for a refreshing addition. For a fun touch, you can use cookie cutters to make fun shapes in the toast.

#3. Overnight Oats

Are you always pressed for time in the morning? Overnight oats are a back to school recipe that you can grab and go, since you prepare them the night before and then can dig into in the morning. Each member of the family can customize their oats as they desire. You can get really creative with overnight oats, both with the type of milk you use and what you choose to mix into them.

Lunch

Sandwiches are quick and easy, but since they’re such a common back to school recipe, it can be easy to get sick of them. Here are 3 back to school recipes for lunch that add some variety to your routine and that you or your kids can enjoy over and over again.

#1. Tonkatsu Bento

Bento boxes are great for back to school, as they allow you to prepare a lunch that covers all the food groups. With the dividers, picky eaters don’t need to worry about different foods touching. Preparing some rice and some tonkatsu and then rounding out the bento box with some veggies and sauce makes for a delicious lunch that students of all ages can enjoy. If you can’t have pork, you can opt for another meat, such as chicken katsu. 

#2. Cachapas

These Venezuelan corn pancakes stuffed with cheese are a great lunch idea, especially when paired with cherry tomatoes and drizzled with hot sauce. They can also be served with avocado, salad, or meat to round out your lunch. There are different versions to try to keep lunch fresh.

#3. Stuffed Peppers

Colorful, fun, and so customizable, stuffed peppers are a wonderful back to school recipe idea, for both lunch and dinner. Ground meat spiced as you like combined with rice and cheese stuffed into bell peppers is a classic choice for this yummy lunch. 

Dinner

The school day is over (unless you’re a college student with evening classes), and you’ve got to come up with something for dinner. Here are some easy back to school recipe ideas for dinner.

#1. Chicken And Panzanella

You can cook the chicken yourself or you can pick a hot and ready one up from the store. Serve it up with some Panzanella salad for a delicious salad that helps to use up your bread that you worry may be going stale. Panzanella is a salad with soaked stale bread, tomatoes, onions, and other vegetables that you can dress with vinegar and olive oil for a delicious salad with a bit of crunch to it. 

#2. Cevapi With Ajvar

These savory sausages with a red pepper sauce served with flatbreads and onions are great, especially if you prepare the cevapi sausages the night before. It’s easy to put together, and since different Southeastern European countries have different ways of preparing cevapi, you can try out the different methods to mix it up. 

#3. Sheet Pan Sausage And Peppers 

For something you can just throw in the oven and call it good, you can’t go wrong with sausage and peppers. Some people like to throw some gnocchi or sauce in for an extra flair. You can opt for sausages made of different types of meat if you can’t have or simply don’t like pork. 

Kitchen Kneads can provide you with quality equipment and ingredients to assist you in your cooking ventures. If you’re looking to broaden your horizons, we also offer cooking classes where you can come learn about anything from bread baking to cookie decorating and more. Contact us for any questions about our products or cooking classes, and feel free to browse our site to find products that meet your needs. 

In our previous blog, 3 Essential Tips For Scratch Baking For Beginners, we touched on 3 essential tips to help you succeed in this delicious realm of baking from scratch. Scratch baking beginners and professionals alike know that there’s no shortage of things that can go wrong in a recipe and tricks you can use to make the entire baking process easier. We’re continuing our series of tips for scratch baking beginners with this blog that builds upon our previous 3 essential tips. Once you’ve read that, continue reading below to learn more of our must-know tips for scratch baking beginners that set you up for success in the kitchen. 

#1. Read Through The Recipe First

Recipes aren’t very interesting to read, but it’s absolutely essential that you read through the recipe before you get started, even if you have all of the ingredients. You could end up wasting ingredients if you don’t read the recipe first and it could not turn out how it’s supposed to. The last thing you want is to realize that your cookie dough is supposed to be refrigerated for several hours when you wanted them ready for an event in a couple of hours, or that you need a piece of equipment that you do not have. 

People who write recipes have probably tested them out time and time again in order to ensure that they come out right. If they notice easy mistakes that someone else might make when following their recipe, they will likely note them down to help you avoid them. Reading the recipe prior to attempting it also lets scratch baking beginners look up any baking terminology that they may not know so that they’re ready when they reach that part of the recipe.

#2. Get Your Recipes From A Trusted Source

Pinterest is a fantastic place to get inspiration for recipes and things to make. However, when looking for recipes, especially if you are a scratch baking beginner, you want to ensure that you get your recipes from a trusted source. Anyone can write a recipe and post it online, without even having tested it out! You want to look to known baking experts or to highly-rated cookbooks from places that test their recipes. 

Some of the ways you can tell whether or not a recipe is reliable include:

• It lists the ingredients in the order they are used.
• It tells you whether or not ingredients are optional.
• It lists the oven temperature at the top, so you can preheat your oven.
• It gives baking indicators. Not all ovens heat the same way and not everyone preps their recipe the same way. In addition to a baking time, your recipe should give you baking indicators such as ‘til golden or ‘til doubled. 

You don’t just want to look for good reviews. You also want to look for any common complaints. For instance, if multiple people are talking about how the bread didn’t rise, this could mean that they are all scratch baking beginners and made mistakes. It could also mean there is a problem with the recipe. The more reputable your source is, the more likely it is that your recipe will turn out, so long as you follow it properly.

#3. Avoid Substitutions The First Time Around

There are a lot of different substitutions you can make in the baking world. As a scratch baking beginner, you may be excited about substituting applesauce for butter or cocoa powder for flour. However, before you make any substitutions, follow the recipe exactly the first time around. Sometimes, messing with a recipe can cause problems, such as a cake that is too dry or brownies that are much too gooey. 

Recipes will sometimes list acceptable substitutions. If they don’t, as a scratch baking beginner, ensure that you get it right without any substitutions before you start getting creative with your recipes. 

Learn How To Bake At One Of Our Cooking Classes

Kitchen Kneads is here to help you on your baking journey with both our products and our cooking classes. Both scratch baking beginners and more experienced bakers enjoy learning new things, such as how to make macarons, how to decorate cookies, how to make a sourdough starter, and more. 

If you’re looking for baking equipment and ingredients, feel free to browse our website and contact us if you have any questions about our products or cooking classes. We are always happy to help anyone in their baking journey, whether you are a scratch baking beginner or a seasoned professional.

Scratch baking is an incredibly rewarding hobby that provides you with delectable treats to enjoy after, such as homemade breads, cookies, cakes, and more. For those just starting out in the realm of scratch baking, it can also be incredibly overwhelming. Many people don’t realize just how precise and scientific baking can be and assume that it’s more like cooking, where you can eyeball measurements and season to taste. That’s why we’ve compiled 3 essential tips for scratch baking for beginners to set you up for success. 

What Is Scratch Baking?

If you’re wondering about scratch baking for beginners, you may also be wondering what scratch baking even is. Scratch baking refers to when you don’t use a mix to make your baked foods, but rather, make them “from scratch”. Now, we don’t mean you need to go and grow your own yeast, but rather, just the raw ingredients that you can pick up at any store, including here at Kitchen Kneads, and then combine in order to make your pastries or breads. 

There are both simple and complex recipes you can follow that vary from just throwing ingredients together and calling it good to being very specific and using molds in order to craft a beautiful end result. However, as we mentioned, scratch baking can be quite challenging if you’re not prepared for it. This can lead to issues like dry cakes, bread that you can’t get out of the pan, and more. 

Now that we’ve defined what scratch baking is, let’s dive into 3 of the essential tips you need to know about scratch baking for beginners. 

#1. Ensure That You Have The Right Ingredients

It’s quite common for people to pull up a recipe and get started on it before realizing that they don’t have everything they need for it. That’s why one of our top tips for scratch baking for beginners is to pre-read the recipe and ensure that you have everything that you need. It’s helpful to keep your pantry stocked with the staples and to go out and get any ingredients you don’t have before getting started on a recipe. 

Different recipes may need very specific ingredients, but in general, many call for similar ingredients. You’ll want to keep the following on hand:

• Butter
• Flour
• Sugar
• Salt
• Eggs
• Baking powder
• Baking soda
• Yeast
• Vanilla extract
• Cream

#2. Temperature Matters

One of the most important things to remember about scratch baking for beginners is how much temperature matters, for your ingredients, for your oven, and more. Many people assume that you can just turn the oven on as you throw your cake into it and that preheating doesn’t really matter that much. The same is true for the temperature of your ingredients. While some recipes will tell you the temperature that your ingredients should be, others assume that experienced bakers are using the recipe and can skip over the basics.

Thus, it’s important to remember when scratch baking for beginners that your ingredients are the right temperature and that you ensure to preheat your oven. You generally want your ingredients to be room temperature, unless stated otherwise. Too cold, and your baked goods can collapse in the oven. Too warm, and they won’t rise properly. You also want to steer clear of microwaving your butter, as this causes it to be uneven temperatures, and not mix properly. 

You want to ensure that you preheat your oven properly, so that the temperature is right when you put your goodies inside. That way, they’ll cook how they’re supposed to.

#3. Mind The Measurements

When people talk about tips for scratch baking for beginners, you’ll see measurements talked about a lot. That’s because they matter a lot! With cooking, you don’t need to worry so much about being exact, and many cooks take pride in their ability to eyeball measurements. However, measurements make all the difference when it comes to scratch baking for beginners. Too little sugar, and not only would your cake not be sweet enough, but it could also not be moist enough. Too much flour, and it could be too dense and dry.

It’s important to be exact to the measurements the recipe calls for. You can do this with a baking scale or with dry and liquid measuring cups (these are two different things!). Generally, scale measurements are more accurate, as it can be easy for measuring cups to get packed with a dry ingredient, causing there to be too much of it. 

Being mindful of measurements is one of the best tips we can give for scratch baking for beginners. It’s always a good idea to double check your measurements to ensure they’re correct and so that your recipe turns out the way it’s meant to.

Getting Started With Scratch Baking For Beginners

These are but 3 of the essential tips for scratch baking for beginners! Watch this space, as we’ll update it with more tips for scratch baking for beginners in the future to aid you on this journey!

Kitchen Kneads has many of the essentials you need for scratch baking for beginners, from ingredients to equipment. If you have any questions about any of our products, please don’t hesitate to contact us! We’re here to help.