Hooked on Seafood - Big Y® World Class Market®

Getting Kids to Enjoy Seafood
The reasons for serving seafood to your family are many. Of course it’s delicious. But it’s also an excellent lowfat source of protein, it provides an abundance of healthy omega-3s and it supplies essential vitamins and minerals. But when it comes to kids, seafood can be a tough sell. There’s no reason it has to stay that way, though! All you need is a little kitchen craftiness, a few solid recipes and a variety of fresh seafood from the Big Y Seafood Department. Follow our tips and your children will have their sea legs in no time.

Keep it mild. Strong-tasting seafood can be an acquired taste even for adults. Instead of presenting them with a swordfish steak and hoping for the best, start with mild-tasting fish. Delicate, white-fleshed fish are good options: flounder, sea bass, grouper or cod, for example.

Use kid-friendly techniques. Save your whole grilled fish, with its head, tail and scales, for an adults-only dinner party. Consider breading and baking fish fillets for your family instead. Your kids are more likely to sample seafood if it looks somewhat familiar — like chicken tenders, perhaps? Take an inexpensive fish like tilapia, dip it in milk to minimize the fishy taste, then dip it in beaten egg, coat in breadcrumbs mixed with a bit of dried parsley and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese before baking. Sure, there’s a bit of trickery involved. But it’s delicious trickery.

Let them choose their condiments. Lemon juice and tartar sauce might not be that appealing to children. Kids are, however, notorious eaters of ketchup and ranch dressing. Of course you would never dream of dunking your cod in ketchup (or ranch or honey mustard or whatever they decide they like the best) - but if it appeals to the youngest at your table, look the other way as they happily dip and eat.

Get them involved in the process. Start at the store, inviting them to help you choose which type of seafood to try for dinner that night. Let them help you select a recipe, sprinkle the seasonings, mix the marinades, coat fillets with breading. Let them garnish the plates before serving. When they help, they might just get a little bit excited about the meal to come.

Mix it up. Take some of your favorite recipes
and add a bit of seafood. Try fish tacos, add some shrimp to your spaghetti, toss some tuna in with your macaroni and cheese. Adding a seafood to familiar favorites will make
it seem less daunting to try. Here are a couple of kid-friendly favorites
to get you started!

Oven-Baked Fish Nuggets

Big Y is proud to be part of the sustainable fishing method known as “long line caught.” Look for the logo in our Seafood Department for quality fresh fish with superior flavor.

Shrimp Tacos with Salsa Verde