Chicken Recipes You Can Make For Your Preschoolers' Baon

Chicken is one of the cheaper types of meat you might find in your local supermarket or wet market, and can easily be one of your child’s favorite kinds of meat to eat. After all, not many children will be able to resist drooling at the smell or sight of a crispy, juicy fried chicken!

And while it’s tempting to make their favorite fried chicken recipe to ensure they finish their baon when they finally head off to preschool or kindergarten, we all know it’s not the healthiest way to consume this otherwise nutritious meat. There’s lots of ways you can cook chicken, and the best part is that if your preschooler is a picky eater, there’s lots of ways you can incorporate vegetables into your chicken recipes, too!

What Are Benefits of Chicken Recipes For Your Preschooler’s Baon?

Aside from being relatively affordable, chicken is one of the easiest meats to prepare because unlike pork or beef, it becomes tender as soon as it is cooked — there is no need to spend extra minutes (or even hours) boiling it to make it soft enough for your young one to chew! This means that you can cut down on time when preparing your child’s baon for school.

Chicken is a kind of grow food, meaning of the three food groups (go, grow, and glow), it is considered to be rich in protein, which helps in the development of your child’s muscles, bones, and body organs. In particular, chicken is rich in vitamin B12 and choline, which not only helps muscle growth and strengthens bones; it also promotes brain development in children.

Make These Chicken Recipes For Your Child's Baon

We wouldn’t leave you hanging by giving you all these tips and then not giving recipe ideas, of course! Here are delicious and easy chicken recipes you can make — including tips for twists and tweaks!

1. Cereal Fried Chicken

Just because fried chicken isn’t the healthiest way to serve chicken doesn’t mean you can’t actually do it: it just means that it must be done in moderation. However, with the dawn of air fryers, there’s now an option to make “fried” chicken that uses less oil, and feels much less guilty to serve to our young schoolkids! This cereal-crusted fried chicken recipe can be pan-fried, or you can pop it in your air fryer at 180 degrees Celcius for 15-20 minutes — either way, because it’s coated in already-crunchy cereal, your children are sure to get a crispy bite.

Cereal Fried Chicken Recipe

• 4 100-gram fillets chicken (use chicken breast), skinless
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• Salt to taste
• black pepper to taste
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 2 cup rice flour
• 2 cups cornflakes, crushed
• vegetable oil to fry

Instructions for this Cereal-crusted Fried Chicken Recipe are at Yummy.ph.

2. Inasal Chicken Bites

Traditionally, Bacolod’s chicken inasal are skewered and grilled over charcoal. However, in this kid-friendly twist, we’ve chopped up some chicken, soaked them in a delicious inasal marinade, and grilled them (still on skewers) until they’re blistered on the outside and cooked through but juicy on the inside. The inasal chicken bites are then removed from the skewers so they’re ready to be packed into your kid’s favorite bento box, ready to be scarfed down at school.

Inasal Chicken Bites Recipe

• 3/4 kilo Chicken (use skinless chicken breast), sliced into 1-inch cubes
• 1/2 tablespoons ginger grated
• 1/4 teaspoon black peppercorns cracked
• 1/4 cup Calamansi Juice
• 2 tablespoons white vinegar
• 3/4 teaspoon Salt
• 1/2 tablespoon Achuete Powder (annatto powder)
• 12 pieces wooden skewers
• refined coconut oil for brushing

Instructions for this Inasal Chicken Bites Recipe are at Yummy.ph.

3. Chicken Adobo

It’s hard to think “chicken ulam” as a Filipino and not think of adobo. Here’s an easy chicken adobo recipe you can make, with a hearty twist to it: we’ve added potatoes! Not only do the potatoes soak up the sauce; they’re an extra source of carbohydrates, too. Got leftovers? You can turn them into these crispy chicken adobo flakes the next day!

Chicken Adobo With Potatoes Recipe

• 2 pieces chicken wings
• 2 pieces chicken thighs
• 2 pieces chicken legs
• 1/4 cup Soy Sauce
• 1/2 cup Vinegar
• 1/4 cup unsweetened pineapple juice
• 3-4 pieces laurel leaves
• 8 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns
• 2 medium potatoes, peeled and quartered
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 tablespoons fried garlic to serve
• 3/4 cup Oil for frying
• salt to taste
• ground black pepper to taste

Instructions for this Chicken Adobo Recipe with Potatoes are on Yummy.ph.

4. Homemade Chicken Nuggets

While there’s no shame in getting ready-to-eat food, there’s still a secure feeling in knowing exactly what goes in your child’s baon. That’s why we’re suggesting making this homemade chicken nuggets recipe! Aside from adding a cheesy twist to it for our cheese-loving preschoolers, one clever way to incorporate more veggies in their diet is by adding 1/4 to 1/3 cup of minced veggies like carrots or broccoli to the minced chicken meat before forming.

Homemade Chicken Nuggets Recipe

• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
• 2 chicken breast fillets, skins removed and cubed
• Salt to taste
• ground black pepper to taste
• Oil for frying

Instructions for this Homemade Chicken Nuggets Recipe are at Yummy.ph.

5. Chicken Barbecue

Just like the chicken inasal, you can easily make this easy Pinoy chicken barbecue recipe more kid- and baon-friendly by using chunks of chicken instead of the whole cut. We recommend using chicken thigh fillets so it stays juicier! Extra tip: it’s easier to grill the fillets whole, and then cut them up into chunks once they’re cooked.

Pinoy Chicken Barbecue Recipe

• 1 cup banana ketchup
• 2/3 cup soy Sauce
• 1 tablespoon liquid seasoning
• 1 head garlic minced
• 1/4 cup calamansi Juice
• 1/2 cup lemon-lime soda (7-up o Sprite)
• 1/2 teaspoon hot sauce
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• ground black pepper to taste
• 1 kilo chicken leg quarters

Instructions for this Pinoy Barbecue Recipe are at Yummy.ph.

6. Chicken Menudo

One of the many benefits of making this chicken menudo recipe (aside from it being a perfectly delectable ulam for baon) is that unlike its pork counterpart, it cooks pretty fast — because there’s no need to wait for the chicken to be tender! It’s simmered in a rich tomato sauce and can also be made more hearty with the addition of hot dog, carrots, and potatoes.

Chicken Menudo Recipe

• 2 tablespoons cooking oil
• 1 small onion chopped
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• 1 whole chicken cut into 8 pieces
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 3/4 cup tomato sauce
• 1 cup water
• 3 pieces dried bay leaf
• 1/4 kilo pig liver
• 3 medium potatoes, sliced into big chunks
• 1 medium carrot, sliced into big chunks
• 1 red bell pepper, sliced
• Salt to taste

Instructions for this Chicken Menudo Recipe are on Yummy.ph.

7. Chicken In Creamy Mushroom Sauce

If your child likes white sauces or gravy, then this is the chicken recipe for them. This chicken in creamy mushroom sauce is not only chockfull of mushrooms your child can munch on; you can even add chunks of cauliflower or kangkong!

Chicken In Creamy Mushroom Sauce Recipe

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon cooking oil
• 1 kilo chicken (use thigh or drumstick cuts)
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 cup button mushrooms, sliced
• Salt to taste
• Pepper to taste

Instructions for this Chicken In Creamy Mushroom Sauce Recipe are at Yummy.ph.

8. Sweet and Sour Chicken

This chicken meatballs recipe can be served in many different ways: as is with a dip, or simmered in a sweet and sour sauce! You can even pair it with other sauces, like the mushroom gravy one from the previous recipe. The best part is that they make a great make-ahead meal. There’s two ways to do this: by freezing the raw meatballs or freezing them cooked.

If you opt to freeze them raw, you’ll need to thaw them in room temperature before frying to ensure they’re cooked through and don’t splatter oil when they’re fried. On the other hand, you can cook the whole batch and freeze them as is, and simply reheat them straight from the freezer when you’re ready to serve them or pack them for your kid’s baon.

Sweet and Sour Chicken Recipe

For the chicken meatballs:

• 1 kilo ground chicken
• 1 medium red onion chopped
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt or to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper or to taste

For the sweet and sour sauce:

• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 2 medium red onions cut into quarters
• 2 medium red bell peppers sliced
• 1 medium carrot sliced
• 1 cup pineapple tidbits with juice
• 1 cup banana ketchup
• 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• Salt to taste
• ground black pepper to taste
• Oil as needed

Instructions for this Sweet and Sour Meatballs Recipe are at Yummy.ph.

9. Hainanese Chicken

Hainanese chicken recipes sound quite fancy, but we’ve got an easy way for you to make them — and you’ll end up with not only a deliciously steamed chicken dish for your preschooler’s baon; you’ll get a one-pot meal that includes rice, too!

Easy Rice Cooker Hainanese Chicken Recipe

• 4 pieces chicken (use drumsticks)
• 2 tablespoons sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• ½ chicken bouillon cube
• 2 cups water
• 1 cup rice
• water
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 1 thumb-sized ginger minced
• 2 teaspoons fish sauce (patis)

Instructions for this Rice Cooker Hainanese Chicken Recipe are at Yummy.ph.

10. Chicken Alfredo

We love a versatile dish, and this chicken alfredo recipe is exactly that! While it traditionally pairs with pasta, you can also make a version that goes well with (or on top of) rice. So whether your preschooler’s preferred go food is rice or pasta, there’s a creamy chicken alfredo version to go with it.

Chicken Alfredo Pasta Recipe

• 400 grams fettuccine
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 2 pieces chicken breast fillets cubed
• 5 large cloves garlic peeled, finely chopped
• 1/2 cube chicken bouillon or granules
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 cup all-purpose cream
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese grated
• 1/4 cup parsley finely chopped
• Salt to taste
• ground black pepper to taste

Instructions for this Chicken Alfredo Pasta Recipe are at Yummy.ph.