Milk Kefir in Meals Kids will Eat

You can make meals with milk kefir that your kids will eat. Feel proud serving healthy, delicious meals from smoothies to savory dishes.

My children have been raised eating all the things – from beans and lentils to green leafy veggies – and liking it. Last year I decided to add milk kefir to our family meals. Then we moved and life got busy (plus I lived without a kitchen sink for 9 months!) so I stopped the kefir. Since I’ve picked it back up again, I am finding all the ways to include kefir in our diet so we can reap the nutritional benefits.

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Milk Kefir in Meals for Kids to Eat

I know there are many online articles and books you can find to teach you how to make kefir grains and keep them happy. Maybe one day I’ll write about how easy it is to keep your kefir grains, but the purpose of this journal entry is for me to share how I use milk kefir in meals that my family eats and enjoys, even my kids! You really can make meals with milk kefir that kids will eat. Most of the time, my children don’t even know I’ve added kefir unless they see it added it while cooking.

Nutrition Comparison – Milk Kefir and Greek Yogurt

Before I make a list to compare the nutrition facts label, it is helpful to know that milk kefir reminds me of a thin, tangy yogurt. I tend to use my milk kefir before it gets as thick as Greek yogurt. Because they’re similar in composition (milk, pectin, live cultures aka probiotics), I wanted to see how similar they are in their nutrition as well. I compared my favorite greek brand yogurt with a milk kefir. Since I’ve never purchased milk kefir, only made it myself, I chose at random and used Lifeway Whole Milk Kefir. Greek yogurt and milk kefir are very similar as far as nutrition facts label, with similar sugar, fat, and protein.

The main difference is in the cultures present in the two. Milk kefir is more likely to have a much broader variety of probiotics present. Yogurt that is mass-produced for the store and has a handful of the same probiotics. Kefir has two benefits over yogurt. First, they have more variety of bacteria where yogurt has the same set of bacteria in every batch. Kefir also is known to have a larger number of active probiotics¹. Knowing this, I still use plain Greek yogurt when cooking for others and buy my no-sugar-added greek yogurts in individual serving sizes for easy and quick lunches for my family. However, I mostly use kefir for all my smoothies and savory meals now.

Milk Kefir in Smoothies

Have you ever used milk kefir in smoothies? I received my kefir grains from my cousin, who taught me how to make an easy daily smoothie with kefir. Although I don’t use protein powder or even make my smoothies daily like she does, I do use milk kefir as a base for fruit smoothies for my young family. It’s easy to make and I use all my favorite healthy add-ins. My kids eat these smoothies with kefir and like to guess what ingredients I’ve put in the latest smoothie.

Easy Kefir-based Smoothie:
1-2 jars (approx 1 cup/jar) of kefir
1-2 cups frozen fruit mix
1 frozen (or fresh) banana, if I have one on hand
1-2 Tbsp chia seeds
1 Tbsp cinnamon

Sometimes I add spinach or kale. Sometimes I use only fresh fruit. Sometimes I add magnesium powder (especially if my children have been complaining of growing pains). Sometimes I use flax seed instead of, or in addition to, chia seeds. 

I hope you get the idea that you should  use whatever ingredients you have on hand and love in your smoothie.

Milk Kefir in Savory Meals that Kids will Eat

Milk kefir is an easy fit for smoothies, but sometimes I don’t want a smoothie. If I don’t make a smoothie for a few days, I end up with a backup of milk kefir. I refuse to throw any kefir away, especially since I’ve worked (or at least the bacteria has) to make it extra healthy. Since it is similar to yogurt, I experimented using milk kefir in place of milk or yogurt in my meals. I have now used milk kefir in so many different types of meals. Here’s a quick list to get your creative juices flowing:

• Macaroni and Cheese
  • Use in place of the milk (or yogurt).
• Tomato Soup – This is my homemade Tomato Soup Recipe and I know you’ll love how easy it is!
  • Use in place of any cream you might add — this meal is my personal favorite use of kefir!!
• Cheesy Broccoli and Rice
  • I use this recipe as a base but add more veggies. I also switch steps 3 and 4, adding my veggies and saving the milk kefir and butter to be added in at the last after I’ve taken my dutch oven off the stove.
• Lentil Tacos
  • I add it in with the lentils, although last time I added the whole cup of kefir and it was too much. Note to self for next time: Start with half a cup of kefir to 1.5-2 cups of lentils and see how you like it. I’d definitely make sure it’s a thicker kefir too.
• Almond Whole Wheat Pancakes
  • I used this in place of the milk for the pancakes, although I will say it was a much thicker (too thick) pancake than usual. I’m going to try this again next time with half kefir, half milk to see if it works better. We ate the pancakes and they had a good taste (all thumbs up from my kids), but I’ll wait until I’ve perfected the recipe to share it with you all.

In case you’re wondering, my kids will eat all these meals with the milk kefir and, in the rare case they don’t love the food, they at least can’t tell there is kefir in it. What are your favorite meals that I should experiment adding milk kefir into? Tell me in the comments at the end of this journal entry!

My Family’s Transition from Traditional Milk-Based Products to Milk Kefir

Here’s a little background information that might be useful to you as a natural transition to milk kefir. Years ago, I started substituting greek yogurt in place of sour cream for a lot of my meals. Thanks to Annie’s for this idea. But why? You get the added benefits of the probiotics, with a similar texture and taste. Now instead of using greek yogurt in place of my milk in mac and cheese , I use kefir.

I have to share the craziest story ever. It was the first time using the kefir in place of greek yogurt in my mac and cheese. The cheesy sauce was runnier than usual, and definitely had the tangy taste of kefir. If I could taste it, I knew my children would be able to taste it as well. I prepared myself for a complete failure at meal time with thumbs down.

Background info: We watch way too many cooking shows when we're in hotels so my children give our meals ratings. Our family rating system:
👍 thumbs up - yum, make this again
   thumbs to the side - it's okay but don't make it again
👎 thumbs down - there is something off on this meal

To my complete surprise, my youngest got her bowl and devoured it. Without my prompting, she gave me a big thumbs up. My older two then ate their bowls and also gave it a thumbs up. The moral of this story, for me and for you, is you just might be surprised at what meals you and your children enjoy. Your kids (and you) will be able to find meals to eat, and even devour, that you make with milk kefir! Try something new today.

Greek Yogurt is still Good

Although my children still insist on using sour cream for baked potatoes, they use greek yogurt mixed with salsa for their nachos. There are still lots of meals I have yet to transition to kefir in place of the dairy. This is okay because I don’t think you and I have to use kefir in everything to still see nutritional benefits. In fact, I’m hesitant to switch from yogurt to kefir for my nachos. I enjoy a thick scoop of yogurt, as opposed to thin and tangy kefir, with salsa on my chips. P.S. for everyone (not) asking, here are my favorite multigrain chips to feed my family.

Introducing Kids to Milk Kefir in Meals they’ll eat

Get started using it in smoothies or in a meal where the flavor can be hidden as your taste buds adapt. All attempts are admirable. As I learned in dietetics classes, serve new foods to kids (including milk kefir) with at least one thing on the table that your children will eat. This could be rolls or somet type of grain along with their favorite fruit or veggie. They’ll make up for whatever they need in their next meal. Also, it often takes MORE than ten times for a new food to be accepted. This is as true for milk kefir as it is for tomatoes, so if your kids don’t like it the first time, just keep experimenting.

A few thoughts on Cooking with Kefir

Keeping Kefir Alive for Maximum Benefit

Because kefir is full of live cultures, it’s best to keep them alive until they get down into your gut. Heat, aka cooking food, kills the bad bacteria that is found in food. Sadly even the good bacteria, which kefir is full of, will be killed in the cooking process. I haven’t yet found research showing what temperature the bacteria in milk kefir dies. If you know or stumble upon this information, PLEASE share with me in the comments!

The good news is that even dead probiotics do a little something to improve your health. Do your best to add kefir last and make sure the savory dish isn’t piping hot when it is added. I tend to lose track of time when cooking (read: my children always need me most when I’m in the kitchen trying to prepare dinner) so the meals can get really hot if left longer than intended. Since we all struggle with this, my advice is to wait until the last step right before dishing up plates to add the kefir if possible. Another easy idea is to remove the pot from heat and stir it a little before adding the kefir.

The reviewed literature indicated that inactivated, killed or dead probiotic cells also possess functional properties but live cells are more efficacious. All live probiotic cultures are not equally efficacious, and accordingly, dead or inactivated cells did not demonstrate functional properties to extend health benefits to all diseases.

Source: Sarkar S (2018), “Whether viable and dead probiotic are equally efficacious?”. Nutrition & Food Science, Vol. 48 No. 2 pp. 285–300, doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/NFS-07-2017-0151

Kefir adds an Acidic Flavor to Foods

Have you ever read the book “Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat“? It’s another book I read for my Registered Dietitian continuing education credits. (I also read this book on fermenting, which I share about in this post, for RD CE’s.) In the first few pages of this book, and from the title itself, you learn that acid(s) in meals really elevate the flavor profile. Acid is specifically given the role of balancing the flavor profile of any dish. I’ve found this to be true in my own cooking, and my experience with milk kefir is no different. Milk kefir adds a bit of tang or sourness to a meal. This doesn’t sound desirable all by itself, but it makes for delicious food when mixed into a meal.

Just Get Started

My final thought on using milk kefir in meals is just try it. You will be scared and unsure how it tastes until you actually get a few kefir grains for yourself. You’ll never know how to use it unless you add a little bit to your meals. Why not make today the day you add milk kefir to your cooking repertoire? You won’t regret it – for your health or your pocketbook. It’s much cheaper than buying greek yogurt these days, with more benefits.

Keep Reading More…

If you loved this article, take a minute to read all about a few phrases in the Word of Wisdom that mention fermenting.

Check out this easy + delicious homemade tomato soup recipe. It was my first time adding kefir to a savory meal, and now I won’t eat it without milk kefir!

If you enjoy my thoughts on eating well, you’re probably interested in growing beautiful flowers too. Here’s an older journal entry on my experience growing sweet peas.