Best vegetable options/recipes for picky toddler

[Anonymous]

My 3 year old won’t eat most vegetables, even ones that most kids like such as cucumber sticks, carrot sticks, and cherry tomatoes.

Any preparations/recipes that work for picky eaters? Roast broccoli with a lot of Parmesan is a hit- I’m wondering if there are more like that. TIA.

[Anonymous]

Here are some things you can try:

chopped broccoli with scrambled eggs and maybe cheese
mac and cheese (I use Kraft) with broccoli, carrots, and cauliflower blend mixed in
ramen with sugar snap peas (sometimes they’re stringy, might be a choking hazard?), and or Stir-fry/Asian vegetable blend
zoodles with alfredo or other favorite spaghetti sauce
vegetable soup
acorn squash stuffed with butter and brown sugar
grilled cheese with sliced fresh tomato or unsalted petite diced canned tomatoes, you can put a little spinach inside the sandwich
brussel sprouts (maybe topped with a little olive oil or brussel sprouts) - call them “baby cabbages”
chicken apple sausage sauteed with cabbage, tart apples, onion is optional,
green bean casserole - keep it simple, just drained canned green beans, cream of mushroom soup, and fried onions on top
stir V8 into refried beans and make burritos

Generally speaking, adding a little bit of fat to vegetables (olive oil, butter, bacon, ranch) makes a huge difference

You might try to recruit your pediatrician:

Once during a check-up, the pediatrician asked if my kids were eating their vegetables? I explained that we followed the one-bite rule and that they ate a lot of fruit.

He exclaimed in a shocked voice that one bite wasn't nearly enough, that they should be eating a bite for every year old they were.

That night I dished out the vegetable servings according to their ages, reminding them what the doctor had said. Whereas before there had been regular struggles to get them to eat the one bite, they resigned themselves to eating the larger portions, and I never had another argument about them eating their vegetables.

[Anonymous]

At that age, I steamed frozen veggies, added butter, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, and basil. These were the flavors (other than butter) I put in spaghetti sauce which my kids liked. So, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, green beans, peas, corn all worked this way. Hint, do not skimp on the butter early on. My kids loved things with butter on it.

[Anonymous]

What about the opposite of crunchy raw veggies, like canned green beans, peas, corn? Buy the no salt or less salt varieties. Parmesan cheese on the green beans. Peas mixed with pasta and feta or parmesan.

My kids are older and still don't like the squirt of cherry or grape tomatoes. Roasted broccoli, squash, sweet potato, brussels sprouts always go over better than raw veggies except for with my one kid who likes ranch and will eat raw carrot sticks with that.

[Anonymous]

Cucumber and tomatoes are fruits. How do people not know that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Cucumber and tomatoes are fruits. How do people not know that?

Sure, as are squash, eggplant, bell peppers, and probably others that aren’t coming immediately to mind, but I’m sure you knew that. Regardless of the fact that they have seeds, they provide many important vitamins, minerals, flavonoids, etc. Fruits and vegetables share many of the same types of nutrients, in various proportions. While botanists may find it useful to distinguish the categories by plant part, the general populace generally finds the savory/sweet distinction to be more relevant. For parents trying to provide nutrition to their kids, the most relevant distinction would seem to be healthy things that my kid wants to eat, vs. healthy things my kid doesn’t want to eat.

Now corn, I think, should really be considered a grain instead of a vegetable, but technically I guess it qualifies as a fruit as well.

[Anonymous]

Serve plenty of fruit - it gets the job done!

Then just make the vegetable option super easy. I usually pop a small amount of frozen vegetable in the microwave and put it on the plate. They eat it probably more than half the time but definitely not all the time.

Corn, peas, carrots, easy stuff. They love carrots. One loves tomatoes.

Also, sweet potato fries are a great, nutritious option they love.

[Anonymous]

Spinach is easy to add to lots of dishes.

[Anonymous]

Honestly, just expose them to the same vegetables you eat over and over. It can take a lot of attempts for them to even try one or eat one. Don't make a big deal about it, but don't leave them off their plate either if they go untouched. You can try asking them questions like 'Do you want to try the broccoli or the carrots tonight?' which will probably lead them to choose one.

[Anonymous]

What helped most in our house was enlisting their help with meal planning and cooking/prep.

If they had a hand in it, they were far more likely to try it. And agree that repeated exposure helped. We do insist that you have to try something before you can say you don’t like it. And trying a raw carrot does not count as having tried roasted ones, for example.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What helped most in our house was enlisting their help with meal planning and cooking/prep.

If they had a hand in it, they were far more likely to try it. And agree that repeated exposure helped. We do insist that you have to try something before you can say you don’t like it. And trying a raw carrot does not count as having tried roasted ones, for example.

+1. And if they happen to be helping prep vegetables and see you sneak a sample of food, then they'll copy and sneak a sample of food. So, I remember having the kids washing carrots in the collender (essentially playing in the water in the sink) while I would then cut and prep them on the cutting board next to them. Then I would cut a piece of carrot and take a bite. My kids then asked to have a bite, too. Then at the table, you say "Johnny helped me make the carrots, aren't they good?" and they'll be more likely to taste a bite of the finished product that they already ate while prepping.

[Anonymous]

Mix peas into mac and cheese
Add chopped spinach to pizza or pasta sauce
Cauliflower with Parmesan
These are good and other vegetables can be used
https://www.skinnytaste.com/zucchini-tots/

[Anonymous]

I would try roasting other vegetables, cause let's face it, roasting makes them all delicious! You can keep it simple with a bit of oil, salt and pepper or get more adventurous with garlic, fresh or dried herbs, finish with a bit of cheese, etc.

Grilling is also another great option.

[Anonymous]

Frozen peas, frozen pepper slices.

[Anonymous]

just commiseration because one way to make veggies more tolerable for most kids is to add cheese and my kid cant tolerate dairy.

zucchini bread
spinach mixed into the meat sauce in pasta
carrots