Some parents almost tear their hair out trying to get their little picky eater to consume his or her veggies. Most of the time without much success.
Don’t worry, most children will eventually outgrow their picky eating, but until then, a parent has to be smart and find some tricky ways to get kids to eat vegetables. Here are some cunning techniques that every parent can use to sneak vegetables into a kids menu.
How to Get Kids to Eat Vegetables
1. Blend Them into Smoothies
Kids love smoothies. A good smoothie
Here are some interesting combinations:
- Carrot, Gigner & Tumeric
- Avocado, Kale, Pineapple, and Coconut
- Berry, Beet, Mint, Lime, and Chia Seed
- Almond, Spinach and Banana
- Parsley, Kale, and Berry
2. Bake Them into Snacks
Someone once told me that the only limitation in my kitchen was my imagination.
So, who said that you can’t have zucchinis and carrots baked into cookies that your kids will love? Some vegetables can also be added to your pastries. Check out these healthy cookie recipes to get some ideas. For example, did you know you could make cookies from pumpkin puree? And it’s as yummi as your regular chocolate chip cookies.
3. Use Cheese as a Cover
It’s hard for a kid to say no to broccoli and cheese. Who knows what other vegetables cheese can cover up? Again be creative and apply cheese to some of the vegetables you want your child to eat.
4. Veggie-Scrambled Eggs
This, in fact, is a very healthy way of starting the day. You could have scrambled eggs for breakfast with veggies incorporated into it. A frittata or quiche could, for example, have spinach, mushroom or asparagus.
5. Tell The Kid to Help You Make a Personalized Vegetable Pizza
If the little one is involved in designing his or her own pizza, it is possible that they are also going to eat it. You could add bean sprouts, cherry tomatoes, peas, mushrooms, shredded carrots… Almost anything that comes to your mind! Great way to get kids to eat vegetables!
6. Mix them up with macaroni
You can always throw in some veggies in the good old mac ‘n’ cheese to get kids to eat vegetables. Even the sneakiest of kids won’t see this coming and they won’t even notice that something is different.
7. Puree
Most vegetables make great purees that can be hidden in your child’s favorite dish. Zucchini and carrot purees, for instance, are a terrific delight for kids, thanks to their sweet flavor. You can also add a little bit of brocoli to your mashed potatoes, it will still be very tasty, but this time also very healthy!
Do you have some neat trick on how to get kids to eat vegetables? Leave your tips and tricks in the comment section.
A lot of the same strategies even work for adults who aren’t super keen on eating all their veggies! 🙂
The cheese is a big winner here. I haven’t tried the smoothie route, but i should because that totally works for grown-ups!
It’s so true about cheese! My daughter loves broccoli, or so she thinks. What she loves is when broccoli is covered with cheese. She can give or take the broccoli!
I used to throw in pureed squash into mac and cheese. I think it’s a great dish.
My little one will eat a green smoothie all day long. She calls it ice cream!
I wish my little one would call a green smoothie ice cream :))
I’m doing the puree idea since my baby has recently started solids. These are great tips though, sometimes you just have to mix the veggies in something else they like to eat, until they get comfortable with the taste.
I love these tips! My little guy {2 years old} is known to be our picky eater!! I will definitely try a few of these!! Thanks! Coming from #MommyMoments Link Up!
I love the covering with cheese idea. My daughter is obsessed with cheese and it’s amazing what you can sneak underneath it before they notice!!
Thanks for linking up to Marvelous Monday on Smart Party Planning.
I used to keep a bag of chopped-up spinach in the freezer to toss into whatever – meat loaf, muffins, etc. Just a little bit (not enough to change the taste or the flavor) but if you do it regularly you’re eating more vegetables than you ordinarily would.
Great tips! I haven’t tried making my own smoothies or purees yet, but I give my two year old “special juice boxes”…which are actually baby food pouches that contain both fruits and veggies. She loves them and I love that she’s getting in some veggies that she normally wouldn’t eat!
Thank you for sharing with us at #MommyMeetupMondays!
Another good way is to have them help grow their own. Once they have a vest interest in it, they are more likely (and proud) to eat what THEY grew! Thanks for sharing on the (mis)Adventures Mondays Blog Hop. I can’t wait to see what you share this week!
Great ideas! I have photos of making boats out of sweet peppers for my granddaughter. She’s also loved our garden. Be sure to have a quick cleaning source, sometimes waiting is not an option for them. We Love vegetables.
Now….something to consider…..my cousin HATED veggies. She was reprimanded so many times for not eating them. As an adult, tests were run. She was allergic to many vegetables. Be aware, their bodies may be reacting to veggies. Just something to consider.
I know – we still must be really careful.. But when she doesn’t want to try it, then I need these simple ways to make her eat veggies!