Broad Beans
Broad beans are easy and quick to cook, and work just as well in pasta, risotto and soups as they do in salads or as a side dish in their own right. To make the most of their flavour, try pairing them with lemon or cheese or mint, all of which are delicious with them.
Nutrition
They’re rich in Vitamin A and some B’s like thiamine and riboflavin (B1 and B2) both of which help the body to release energy from food.
Shopping Guide
Try to get your broad beans as fresh as possible, the pods should be firm and crisp minding soft spots caused by pockets of air.
Storage
To store in their pods, keep in a perforated bag (or a bag that’s slightly open to allow airflow) for up to 5 days. Broad beans freeze well, too – just prep as below, then blanch in boiling water for 2-3 mins and spread out on a tray to freeze for a couple of hours, then keep in a freezer bag or container for up to 6 months.
Serving Suggestions
They are easy and quick to cook, and work just as well in pasta, risotto and soups as they do in salads or as a side dish in their own right.
Seasonality
Buying veg in season is not only great for the planet, it can be good for your wallet, too! Seasonal veg are often cheaper and frequently taste better, so can be a better time to try with a child as the often sweeter, riper taste is more enjoyable.
Coming In:
May
At Its Best:
June - September
Engage
Here are some of our favourite ways to engage kids with broad beans:
Arts & Crafts
Start simple with some non-food based engagement. This is especially helpful for a fussier child or those with sensitivities around food.
For broad beans, why not try painting a picture of them both in their pod and out of it? Or use colouring pencils or pens if they are happier with those.
Science
Science allows for curiosity, play and hands-on experiments. It helps kids to become fascinated with veg – how it looks, reacts, smells, cooks and more. Finding fun and simple experiments to allow kids to play with their veg makes them curious about it and helps them approach it in a positive way.
Why not try the classic school experiment of growing your own broad bean plant in a jar? Grab a clear jar and stuff in a few paper towels. Get a pack of broad beans seeds from a garden centre or online and pop a few studded around the jar on the outside of the kitchen roll, so you can see them as you turn the jar. Sprinkle the paper towel with a little water so it’s slightly damp. Keep in a sunny spot and check on it every day, adding a little extra water if it’s drying out, and after a few days you should see it the beans start to sprout! Once you have a decent-size seedling with some leaves starting to show, you can plant in compost in a pot and leave on a sunny windowsill, keeping the earth damp. You now have your own broad bean plant!
Sensory
Sensory exploration can be a wonderful introduction to physically interacting with veg. Turn it into a positive, pressure-free experience by starting off with the golden rules of “You don’t need to try and you don’t need to like.” Reassuring a child that, while they have a chance to taste a veg, they don’t have to, and are not expected to like it if they do, can make them more happy to engage with it.
Broad beans are perfect for exploring with touch and sight. Grab some broad bean pods, and describe them. What do they look like? What colours do you see? Does it look smooth or hard or bumpy or furry? Touch the pods and see if they felt like you thought they would. Open up the pods and pop out the beans. What do they look like? What colours do you see? Explore them through touch and see what they feel like. You could even put them in boiling water for 2-3 mins and let them cool down, then pop them out of the outer layer (double podding) – kids love the hands on process of this – and see how the colour changes!
Kids in the Kitchen
Children who help to prep and cook veg are more likely to eat it. If you feel your child is ready to help and could benefit from it, keep the stress and mess to a minimum by choosing one simple task for them to do as part of the prep, meaning they can be involved and feel like the recipe is in part ‘theirs’, but also not make the process too much longer or more complicated.
For a younger child, why not get them podding? Kids love this hands-on process. Show them how to open up the pods and take out the beans. If they want to keep going, you could even give them back to them after gently cooking and cooling them to “double pod” by slipping out of the outer, duller skins, to get to the bright bean inside!
For an older child, it could be a great opportunity to make their own side dish and teach how to boil carefully over a stove. Once the beans are podded, show them how to safely bring a pan of water to the boil and boil the beans for just a couple of mins. Double pod if you want to, then see if they want to make a dressing or sauce or tear some fresh herbs like mint to serve the beans with as a simple side for supper.
Use our Kitchen Ninja chart and videos to find simple ways for kids to help in the kitchen.
Your Food
Find your go-to meals in our family favourites section and see what veggies work best with them.
Find out how to add more veg to your suppers here.
Recipes
If You Like broad beans…Try
Does your child enjoy broad beans? That’s great! Broad beans are usually creamy and fairly sweet, so why not try a similar texture and/or taste…
Serving
The moments before food is offered can be a perfect opportunity for engagement that can help make it more likely a child will eat it!
The first thing to do is remove the pressure. If the veg doesn’t get eaten, it’s not the end of the world. There will be other days, other dinners, other chances. Fun is key here – try not to worry about mess, perfect table manners, or playing with food. Instead, focus on making the process of getting the food to the plates, readying the table, and the actual eating relaxed.
The best principles for success here are the Three Rs (role modelling, rewarding, re-offering) which you can read about here.
But there is one more way you can serve for success, and that is giving your child a role. You don’t have to do this every time, just encourage them in their strengths through it when you can.
Here are some of our favourite ideas:
Design a menu
Come up with a silly name or story for a dish
Help with making a meal plan and choosing veg for dinners or snacks
Help to serve up the meal on dishes, lay the table or create a centrepiece to be involved in the physical ‘serving up’ process
The Wonderful World of Veg
Check out our vegepedia. When to buy in-season. How to store them to keep for longer. How to engage children with each veg, and simple ideas of how to prepare and cook them for maximum taste and minimum waste. Select a veg…