The Great Bean Revolution: How to Get Your Kids Eating More Pulses

If you are a parent, you know the struggle. Getting kids to eat their greens is hard enough, but getting them to eat fibre-rich pulses can feel like an impossible task.

However, there is a quiet revolution happening in British kitchens, and it is one your family needs to join. With the rising cost of living, beans, lentils, and peas are becoming the ultimate super-ingredient. They are incredibly cheap, packed with protein and fibre, and, thanks to some clever culinary tricks, they can be hidden in plain sight.

Registered nutritionist Dr Lucy Williamson, author of Soil to Gut, calls pulses the ultimate soil-to-gut food. They do not just nourish our children’s growing bodies; they are better for the planet, too. But how do you get a picky eater to embrace the bean? Here are three easy recipes to start your family bean revolution.

1. Silky Smooth Hummus

Much cheaper and quicker to whizz up your own hummus! The ingredients are a perfect nutrition match.

Serves: 6 as a dip
Prep time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

• 400g cooked chickpeas

• 2 tbsp tahini

• 2 tbsp olive oil or a garlic-infused cold-pressed rapeseed oil

• Juice of 1 lemon and its zest

• 1 small clove garlic

• ½ tsp ground cumin

Method Drain the cooked beans from the jar or tin. (You may want to keep this aquafaba and use as you would egg white.) Choosing beans that have been jarred in their cooking stock brings wonderful extra flavour. No need to rinse the beans unless you are trying to reduce their prebiotic fibre to ease digestive symptoms.

Place all the ingredients together in a blender and whizz to a silky-smooth consistency. Using queen chickpeas helps with this. If using a garlic-infused oil, leave out the garlic clove.

To Serve: A fabulous dip for all the family; looks lovely with roasted chickpeas on top and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Or enjoy some Honest Bean Co, roasted fava beans sprinkled on top.

Nutrition: Like a marriage made in heaven, combining beans with sesame (tahini) gives complete plant protein and the lemon juice makes sure we can absorb their iron too! High in fibre and protein, a very healthy and sustaining snack or as part of a family plate of nibbles!

2. Thirty a Week Beef Bolognese and Herby Garlic Sourdough

This is a fabulous recipe for telling the story of eating plant-based! It uses climate-friendly, 100% grass-fed beef but has many fabulous plants in it too including, veg, spices, herbs and pulses. Keeping costs down? Bulking out this dish with protein-rich pulses makes this recipe go further! Add the sourdough and you are adding plenty of gut-healthy fibre.

Serves: 6
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 50 minutes

Ingredients

• 500g 100% grass-fed or pasture-fed beef

• 150g mixed dried lentils (I use split red lentils and whole coral lentils for variety)

• 1 tbsp cold-pressed rapeseed oil

• 1 large onion

• 2 garlic cloves

• 1 large carrot, grated

• 1 beetroot, skin-on, grated

• 1 red or yellow pepper, finely chopped

• 1 tbsp tomato purée

• 1 tbsp plain white or spelt flour

• 2 tins chopped tomatoes

• Herbs: fresh oregano and rosemary (really easy to grow outside or on a windowsill)

• Optional: a splash of red wine

• Salt and pepper to taste

For the bread:

• 6 slices sourdough

• 60g butter (room temperature)

• 2 garlic cloves, crushed

• 1 tsp of mixed dry herbs or fresh if you have

Method

1. Heat the cold-pressed rapeseed oil and sauté the chopped onion over a medium heat until they begin to go clear.

2. Add in the grated garlic and stir to combine.

3. Add the minced beef and cook until it begins to brown.

4. Add in the tomato purée, all the spices, lentils, grated carrots, beetroot and flour. Give everything a good stir then add the tinned tomatoes.

5. Bring to the boil and simmer on a low heat for about 45 minutes. You can also do this in a slow cooker on a lower heat for longer; let it cook while you get on with other things!

For the bread:

1. Oven Temp: 190 degrees (fan).

2. Mix the butter, crushed garlic and herbs.

3. Spread on both sides of all the bread slices, pressing them together as you go.

4. Wrap loosely in foil.

5. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Open up the foil and bake for a further 5 mins to crispen the edges.

To serve: Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve with garlic sourdough and a side salad.

3. Warming Bowl of Bean Chilli

Fabulous plant diversity for gut health packed with beans and pulses, a good source of protein and fibre while the spices and herbs all count towards your 30 a week!

Serves: 4
Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 20 mins (beans need soaking overnight)

Ingredients

• 150g mixed dried beans (e.g., Red Fox Carlin, yellow pea, or red kidney)

• 2 small red onions

• 4 garlic cloves

• 2 tins chopped tomatoes

• 2 red peppers

• 4 fresh chillies, chopped and seeds removed

• 1 bunch coriander

• 2 tsp dried coriander

• 2 tsp dried cumin

• 2 tsp smoked paprika

• Cold-pressed rapeseed oil

Method

1. Soak the dried beans in water overnight. The following day change the water and cook the beans according to instruction.

2. Thickly slice and grill the red peppers to blacken very slightly.

3. Slice one red onion and grate two garlic cloves. Sweat down in a pan with a splash of cold-pressed rapeseed oil on a low heat.

4. Add the tomatoes and 50ml of water to the onions. Add the cumin, smoked paprika and salt and pepper to taste.

5. Blend the fresh chillies with the coriander stalks, 2 garlic cloves and half the red pepper to make fresh chilli paste.

6. Season the sauce and add the fresh chilli paste. Add the cooked beans and check seasoning again. Slice the remaining red pepper and add in. You may like to add more cumin or paprika to taste.

7. Serve with chopped coriander leaves and a dollop of Greek yoghurt.

Quick Tips for the Picky Eater

• Do not call them beans: Sometimes, just changing the name helps. Call them Power Bites or Magic Lentils.

• Start small: You do not need to replace all the meat immediately. Start by swapping 25% of the mince in your shepherd’s pie or bolognese with lentils, and work your way up.

• Get them involved: Kids are much more likely to eat something they helped whizz up in the blender or stir into the pot.

Ready to start? Pick one of these recipes this weekend and see how the family reacts. It is a small change that makes a massive difference to your budget, your children’s health, and the future of our planet. For more nutritional advice and information on the links between our gut and the soil, visit lwnutrition.co.uk.

Ollēdi © 2026

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