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For when you're all out of ideas: 25 women share their favourite quick meals for kids.

Every mum or dad has a quick and easy meal up their sleeve for their kids.

For the days when you're too exhausted to cook or simply don't have the time (or both), you can grab the ingredients out of the pantry and whip it up in no time.

But there's a good chance you've made this recipe one too many times and you're in need of some more options...

Watch: What life is like with and without kids. Post continues after video.


Video via Mamamia.

That's where we come in.

We asked our Mamamia community to share the go-to quick meals that their kids love, so you have future inspiration.

Here's what they told us.

1. "Pasta tuna mayo! Cook the pasta, drain. Add frozen peas and corn, then add a tin of tuna and mayo. It’s a winning dish here when I’m unorganised." - Laura.

2. "Sausages in bread!" - Gemma.

3. "Pizza toast! Pizza sauce, ham, cheese, pineapple on top of toast and then in the oven. I do this also with muffins. Kids love them!" - Peta.

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4. "A share platter - just cut up whatever you have in the fridge and pop it on a platter and let them choose what they want! When the kids were young, cooked plain pasta was always a winner to add to the platter too!" - Tamara.

5. "Fried rice. Diced bacon, egg, precooked rice and frozen mixed vegetables." - Allison.

6. "Precooked rice, add microwaved frozen spinach and white fish with carbonara jar sauce and dinner is ready in 15 minutes." - Cynthia.

7. "Breakfast for dinner, eg: cereal and yoghurt." - Joanne.

8. "Spaghetti and tuna. Cook the spaghetti, and dump a can of tuna (we prefer Serena basil or chilli) on top." - Kristi.

9. "Cheesy pasta (pasta with butter, cheese and garlic salt)." - Abigail. 

10. "Two-ingredient pizza dough (self-raising flour and natural yoghurt) with whatever is in the fridge, or pasta with tomato sauce. I always have little bags of pre-made tomato sauce in the freezer." - Kate.

11. "Dinosaur eggs - basically just scrambled eggs with ham, cheese and something green like spinach or shredded zucchini!" - Meg.

12. "Avocado toast with baked beans on top." - Eliza.

13. "Frozen battered fish with frozen veggies. Chuck the fish in the air fryer for 10 minutes and boil the veggies. Easy, quick and you can go and do other things while it cooks." - Krystal.

14. "My kids love the canned creamed corn with grated cheese and toast mixed through." - Meg.

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15. "Udon noodle soup. Soup concentrate, packet udon noodles, coleslaw pack and some cooked chicken. All in the pot and three minutes later it’s delicious! I water it down for the children and add Japanese chilli powder for us." - Emily.

The noodles and sauce. Image: Supplied. 

16. "Scramble some eggs, add bacon, add in microwavable rice, and you've got quick fried rice. You can add peas and corn or whatever you want too!" - Brass.

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17. "Toasted sandwiches!" - Jessica.

18. "My all-time fave is pasta (or rice), butter and cream cheese mixed through, cucumber (or peas) and sliced cheese on the side. Even quicker if you get the microwave rice or pasta - dinner in 10 minutes!" - Truan. 

19. "I keep frozen dumplings on hand and add to a broth made from chicken stock and soy sauce. Easy wonton soup my six-year-old loves and requests." - Claire.

20. "You can add most dips to cooked pasta for a quick meal. Chuck in some cooked chook and it’s even better." - Donna.

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21. "Tuna and corn pasta bake. White sauce. Tuna. Corn. Cheese. Pasta. Salt and pepper." - Mardi.

22. "Green monster pasta: boil about one cup of peas in chicken stock. Once tender, drain and blitz with some cream and parmesan. Serve with whatever shape pasta you have. Even the fussiest kid loves this and you can put cooked chicken or canned tuna through it as well." - Kim.

23. "Brown rice microwave cup, one-third avocado and canned tuna in olive oil. I call it deconstructed sushi and is completely portable as none of it needs to be kept in the fridge!" - Prudence.

24. "Pesto gnocchi - packet gnocchi, a jar of pesto, 150ml cooking cream. Heat through. Ready in 10 minutes. Add baby spinach stirred through and toasted pine nuts on top if you’re feeling fancy." - Jae.

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25. "Pea and corn fritters are always a hit with my two-year-old." - Jacqui.

What's your go-to quick meal for your kids? Let us know in the comments.

Read more Mamamia food content here:

Feature Image: Mamamia.

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