5 Easy Recipes to Introduce the 5 Taste Groups ⋆ Sugar, Spice and Glitter (2024)

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5 easy recipes to introduce the 5 taste groups: sweet, salty, bitter, sour and umami!

5 Easy Recipes to Introduce the 5 Taste Groups ⋆ Sugar, Spice and Glitter (1)

Long time readers know that I run a home daycare and one of the parts of my jobis sometimes helping introduce young toddlers to new foods, while ensuring that they are receiving adequate nutrition.

Something that is so important to me when starting toddlers on new foods is exposing them to a wide variety of flavours, scents, and textures. When it comes to flavour, sometimes the five taste groups get ignored, or one flavour gets a bit more attention than others. I wanted to share five quick & easy recipes to help you exposure your child to the five tastes (bitter, sweet, sour, salty, and umami) with foods they might actually enjoy!

5 Easy Recipes to Introduce the 5 Taste Groups ⋆ Sugar, Spice and Glitter (2)

Here are five easy recipes to help introduce your toddler to all five taste categories!

5 Easy Recipes to Introduce the 5 Taste Groups ⋆ Sugar, Spice and Glitter (3)

Sour: Lemon Pancakes

There are so many ways to introduce sour to your children, and lemons are incredibly versatile, too! I decided to opt for lemon pancakes because I know that my kids will gobble them up without a second thought!

Assemble,

  • 1cup pancake mix
  • 1/4 cup milk
  • 1/2 Tablespoon sugar
  • 1egg
  • 3 Tablespoons yogurt
  • 2teaspoons lemon juice

Whisk all ingredients together in a large bowl.

Heat a nonstick pan over medium heat and add 1/4 cup of pancake batter to the center of the pan. Cook for one to two minutes until the upper side of the pancake is covered in little air holes and the underside is golden brown, and flip. Cook for one to two minutes on the other side and then remove to a plate. Repeat with remaining batter.

5 Easy Recipes to Introduce the 5 Taste Groups ⋆ Sugar, Spice and Glitter (4)

Salty: Rice Congee

Rice Congee is the traditional first food of most Asian children. It’s kind of like a porridge made from rice and, just like porridge, you can mix lots of different foods into your congee to experiment with different flavours.

It might seem intimidating to introduce salty, or to add any additional salt to your child’s food. Just add a touch to introduce it – it may seem barely perceptible to your grown-up tastebuds but it will be more than enough for them.

Assemble:

  • 1/2 cup rice
  • 3-4 cups water
  • Half pinch salt

Bring water and rice to a boil in a pot, and then reduce heat and let simmer until all water is absorbed.

Take the rice off of the heat and mix in salt.

5 Easy Recipes to Introduce the 5 Taste Groups ⋆ Sugar, Spice and Glitter (5)

Umami: Mac & Cheese

Umami might sound a bit weird to you – it’s the taste associated with “meaty” flavours and things like cheese and tomatoes that don’t really fit in other categories.

Mac & Cheese is always a hit with kids and adding tomatoes you get two different umami flavours in one dish.

Assemble:

  • 1 cup cheese, shredded
  • 1/2 cup uncooked pasta
  • 1 1/2 cups milk
  • 1 Tablespoon flour
  • 2 tomatoes
  • 1 Tablespoon butter or oil

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain.

In a pot, melt the butter or oil over medium heat and add the flour. Allow it to brown a bit before stirring inthe milk, then the cheese. Mix in the pasta and then remove from heat.

Portion 1/2 cup of pasta into small ramekins for individual servings. You can add the tomatoes now or after baking.

Bake at 350F for 15 minutes.

5 Easy Recipes to Introduce the 5 Taste Groups ⋆ Sugar, Spice and Glitter (6)

Sweet: Berry Parfait

Berries are usually sweet enough on their own, but we added a touch of honey to make this parfait a special treat! We used yogurt to help get a bit more protein and it also serves as a clever way to add in a mix-in.

Assemble,

  • 1 teaspoonhoney
  • 1/2 cupyogurt
  • 1/3 cupberries

Simply stir the honey into the yogurt and top with berries.

5 Easy Recipes to Introduce the 5 Taste Groups ⋆ Sugar, Spice and Glitter (7)

Bitter: Spinach Sauce

You can make a simple spinach puree or a quick & easy (cheater) spinach dip to help introduce your child to the taste of bitter in a palatable way. I like to sauté & puree spinach and add it into foods they already like, like adding it on top of pasta!

Assemble:

  • 1 Tablespoon butter or oil
  • 2 generous cups spinach
  • 1 clove garlic, optional
  • 1/4 onion, optional

Heat the oil over medium heat in a frying pan, and add the spinach (and optional garlic & onions). Sauté until limp and dark green in colour.

Puree the spinach in a blender, add it to sour cream for a cheater spinach dip, or use it to top pizza or pasta.

5 Easy Recipes to Introduce the 5 Taste Groups ⋆ Sugar, Spice and Glitter (8)

These easy and delicious recipes are perfect for teaching your child about the five taste groups – no matter their age!

For more delicious, kid-friendly recipes, check out our or our Crockpot Chicken Parmesan Pasta.

5 Easy Recipes to Introduce the 5 Taste Groups ⋆ Sugar, Spice and Glitter (2024)

FAQs

What are examples of foods that represent the 5 tastes? ›

How Foods Fit the Five Tastes
  • BITTER – Kale, collards, mustard greens, parsley, endive, celery, arugula, grain beverage.
  • SALTY – Sea salt, tamari, miso, sea vegetables, sesame salt, umeboshi plum, pickles.
  • SWEET – Corn, cooked onions, squash, yams, cooked grains, cooked cabbage, carrots, parsnips, fruits.
Aug 14, 2015

What are the 5 simple tastes? ›

Human taste can be distilled down to the basic 5 taste qualities of sweet, sour, bitter, salty and umami or savory. Although the sense of taste has been viewed as a nutritional quality control mechanism, the human experience of ingesting food is the interaction of all 5 senses.

What are the 5 Flavour groups? ›

Sweet, salty, sour, bitter and umami are five taste elements that build our overall perception of flavour.

What are the 5 basic tastes a chef must know? ›

The five basic tastes—sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami—are messages that tell us something about what we put into our mouth, so we can decide whether it should be eaten.

What is an example of umami? ›

It's most commonly defined as “savoury”, but the characteristics of Umami can also be described as “meaty”, “complex” or even just “deliciousness”. We experience the fifth taste sensation of Umami on a daily basis – in fish, meat, tomatoes, cheese and soy sauce – even though we don't always consciously recognise it.

Is Potato a umami? ›

Potatoes aren't umami. Potatoes are starchy. That's a completely different taste profile entirely.

Is spice a taste? ›

Hot or spicy is not a taste

By the way: The sensation “spicy” is very often described as a taste. Strictly speaking, though, it is only a pain signal sent by nerves that pass on information about temperature and touch. Foods that are seasoned with chili powder activate “pain and heat” signals.

What are the different tastes for kids? ›

There are 4 basic flavours your children can learn and identify: sweet, salty, sour, and bitter. Scientists have long debated whether or not umami is also a flavor. It was eventually added as the 5th taste, described as a lasting, mild aftertaste that causes salivation.

What are the 5 flavors of taste? ›

Taste receptors in the mouth sense the five basic tastes: sweetness, sourness, saltiness, bitterness, and savoriness (also known as savory or umami). Scientific experiments have demonstrated that these five tastes exist and are distinct from one another.

Is there a 6th flavor? ›

Researchers say ammonium chloride is the new sixth basic taste. The sixth taste would add to the five basic tastes: sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami. Experts say the ability of a species to taste ammonium could be a survival mechanism.

Is spicy a flavor or pain? ›

Spice is not a “flavor” but rather a sensation. The sensation of spice comes from the chemical compound capsaicin, which is the substance that makes hot peppers hot. Capsaicin causes pain and triggers the body to think it's in danger.

What are the 5 S's of cooking? ›

Essential to the foundation of these principles are the five ingredients that serve as the building blocks of washoku,or Japanese cuisine. They're easily remembered by the five syllables: sa, shi, su, se, so. These translate to sugar (satō), salt (shio), vinegar (su), soy sauce (shōyu/seuyu), and miso (well…

What flavor is pepper? ›

Pungent, earthy, hot, woody, brash—pepper's distinct flavor somehow pairs well with just about any savory food, and some sweet ones, too. If salt helps bring out flavors, black pepper makes foods bolder versions of themselves.

What is the most pleasant taste? ›

Sweetness can be considered the most pleasant taste, signaling our brain that what we're eating is enjoyable and full of energy. Usually, sweetness comes from carbohydrates, especially simple sugars and starches that are present in fruits and vegetables - such as apples, berries, or oranges, for instance.

What food has umami flavor? ›

Generally, umami taste is common to foods that contain high levels of L-glutamate, IMP and GMP, most notably in fish, shellfish, cured meats, meat extracts, mushrooms, vegetables (e.g., ripe tomatoes, Chinese cabbage, spinach, celery, etc.), green tea, hydrolyzed vegetable protein, and fermented and aged products ...

What are the sensory food tastes? ›

The Gustatory Sensory System

The sense of taste and smell work together to detect chemicals in the air and in food. This detection allows us to determine if a food, a drink or something in the environment is safe or not. Our taste buds are located all over our mouth but are predominantly on the tongue.

What are the tastes of food items? ›

They are sour, sweet, salty, bitter, and umami. Each of these flavors can act on its own, but how they interact is essential to making food taste delicious.

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