How to Read a Recipe

Kids Cooking Activities Ebooks

For kids who already know how to read, learning how to read a recipe is a little different and will require a little explaining on the adult's part.

Here are some key points to teaching kids to read recipes. We have included a recipe for an example to follow on how to read a recipe.

Power Strawberry Smoothie
Makes 2 servings
1 Cup milk
1 Tablespoon honey
1 1/2 Cups raspberries fresh or if frozen, thawed
1 1/2 Cups sliced bananas about 2 bananas
1 Cup raspberry yogurt
Fresh raspberries for topping, if desired

Pour milk, honey and yogurt into blender. Then add in raspberries and bananas. Blend several minutes until smooth. Top each glass with a fresh berry, if desired.
Approximate Prep time is 10 minutes.

Always read a recipe completely through before starting to prepare and cook. If you know how to read a recipe it will make your cooking experience easier. Make sure you have everything on hand and available. Reading through your recipe will also give you a chance to understand each step. Some times recipes can be confusing and trying to understand what to do in the middle of preparing may be difficult.

How to Read a Recipe:
Parts of a Recipe

Title: Power Strawberry Smoothie. The recipe begins with a title. This can be an explanation of the recipe you are making or a title that is just for fun. For example, Monkey drink could be the name of this recipe but it doesn't explain anything about the recipe except that it is a drink.

Servings. Sometimes recipes include a serving size. This will help in making a recipe to know how many people the recipe will serve or for baked goods, like cookies, it will help you know how many dozen the recipe should make. This is a guideline and is not always accurate. Some recipes don't include this information. In this recipe it tells you it Makes 2 servings.

List of ingredients.
1 Cup milk
1 Tablespoon honey
1 1/2 Cups raspberries fresh or if frozen, thawed
1 1/2 Cups sliced bananas about 2 bananas
1 Cup raspberry yogurt
Fresh raspberries for topping, if desired

There are some key factors you need to know about how to read a recipe in regards to the list of ingredients. A list of ingredients is usually included at the beginning of a recipe but sometimes ingredients are listed within the recipe itself. You'll need to teach kids about measurements, tablespoons, cups, etc. (or depending on where you live, Liters and milliliters.)

Sometimes directions are included within the list of ingredients. For example; 1 onion, chopped, would mean you would need to chop the onion before adding it to the recipe. In this recipe example, 1 1/2 cups raspberries fresh or if frozen, thawed, means you will need to make sure your raspberries are thawed before adding them into the recipe. 1 1/2 cups sliced bananas, means make sure you slice the bananas before adding them to the smoothie.

Another thing to look for in the list of ingredients is the word optional. Recipes sometimes include ingredients such as raisins or nuts that are not essential for the recipe but can be added in if desired. So, it will say 1 Cup raisins, optional. In this recipe example you will see fresh raspberries for topping, if desired. If desired or optional mean the same thing.

Some recipes will only have a "C" or a "T" or a "t" which would stand for cup, tablespoon, and teaspoon. So, if a recipe called for 1 C sugar and 1/2 t of salt, then you would know that it's calling for 1 cup of sugar and 1/2 teaspoon salt.

Directions. This will give you a step by step explanation of what needs to be done in the recipe. Read these carefully and follow accurately.
Pour milk, honey and yogurt into blender. Then add in raspberries and bananas. Blend several minutes until smooth. Top each glass with a fresh berry, if desired.

Time. There are two times included in a recipe. Prep time, that is how much time is estimated the recipe will take to prepare. Again this is just an estimate and may take a longer or shorter time depending on the chef's experience.

The other time included in a recipe is baking time. This is more accurate and should be followed. In this recipe, Approximate Prep time is 10 minutes. There is no cooking time as the recipe doesn't require baking.

Take me to Kids Cooking Lessons 4 on how to read a recipe.

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How to Read a Recipe

How to Read a Recipe: Parts of a Recipe

How to Read a Recipe:
Parts of a Recipe