Clean Plate Club: 20 Pescatarian Recipes Your Kids Will Love

Hey there, Seafoodies!

Roll out the red carpet—it’s time for the first-ever Clean Plate Awards. The judging panel is the toughest in the business (ages three through sixteen and wildly opinionated), the scoring is refreshingly simple (an empty plate wins) and the 20 nominees are pescatarian recipes built for real family tables. Cameras, forks, action—and yes, the dress code is pajamas (or whatever you can get them to keep on long enough to finish dinner).

The ceremony comes with a real reason to care. Kids benefit from seafood just as much as grown-ups do—omega-3s support developing brains and eyes, and the protein, vitamin D and vitamin B-12 keep growing bodies fueled through soccer practice and spelling tests. Current guidance suggests 3–5 ounces of seafood per week for children under 6 and 4–6 ounces for ages 6–8. And, seafood can join the menu as early as six months. Hitting those numbers gets a whole lot easier when the seafood shows up as nuggets, pizza, mac ‘n’ cheese and quesadillas—the dishes kids already vote for with their forks.

That’s the strategy behind every nominee below. Each one borrows a shape and flavor kids already trust—something handheld, something crunchy, something cheesy—and slides the seafood right into the starring role. Canned tuna and salmon carry several of these, which means the pantry gets an award, too, and the air fryer takes home more trophies than any other appliance in the house. From Best Ensemble Cast to Lifetime Achievement in Comfort Food—bonus points go to any recipe the judges help assemble, because a kid who builds their own nachos, folds their own quesadilla or tops their own pizza tends to eat the results with far less negotiation.

A note for households with cautious eaters on the panel: mild white fish, shrimp and canned tuna are the friendliest first nominees, a dipping sauce boosts approval ratings across every age bracket and small portions alongside a known favorite lower the stakes considerably. Serve the same dish twice in a couple of weeks and watch the score climb. Best of all, every recipe here feeds the whole family from one pan or pot, so the grown-ups eat the same dinner as the judges and nobody is running a two-menu restaurant on a Tuesday night.

Read through, cast your votes at the dinner table and prepare an acceptance speech for the moment somebody asks for seconds. The envelope, please—and we’d advise keeping the trophy case stocked, because a few of these will be requested weekly.

Cue the applause!

Lemon-Pepper Salmon Burgers — Winner: Best Pantry Debut

A can or pouch of salmon steps into the spotlight and turns out to be a natural when it comes to the clean plate club. Lemon and pepper keep the flavor of these burgers bright when mixed with a little mayo, Dijon mustard, dried dill weed and some panko.

Mediterranean Tuna Pizza — Winner: Most Improved Pizza Pie

Pizza night is a tradition in the Dish on Fish kitchen! This one leans heavily on pantry staples such as canned tuna and Kalamata olives, but also leaves plenty of room for improvisation, so you can use whatever veggies and cheeses your kids already like.