non-red meat dish for picky eater?

[Anonymous]

Help. We have fallen into a rut of eating a ton of red meat because my picky tween likes it. I need some chicken, fish and vegetarian options! He seems to like the plainness of meat (steak) but also savory dishes (meatloaf and bolognese). I’m not that worried about his health - it’s more for me because I don’t want to have red meat 5x/week!

He rejects a lot of the conventional kid ideas (eg quesadilla).

I’m a pretty good cook and willing to invest time, but something like a veggie lasagna is probably not realistic for weeknights unless you have some kind of magic easy recipe …

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Help. We have fallen into a rut of eating a ton of red meat because my picky tween likes it. I need some chicken, fish and vegetarian options! He seems to like the plainness of meat (steak) but also savory dishes (meatloaf and bolognese). I’m not that worried about his health - it’s more for me because I don’t want to have red meat 5x/week!

He rejects a lot of the conventional kid ideas (eg quesadilla).

I’m a pretty good cook and willing to invest time, but something like a veggie lasagna is probably not realistic for weeknights unless you have some kind of magic easy recipe …

I should add, his pickiness is super frustrating because I’ll make something I know tastes good (like chicken drumsticks) and he rejects it. So I wonder if there are texture issues with things like chicken skin? He was the typical toddler that ate everything, what happened!!!

[Anonymous]

To start with, can you just replace ground beef with ground turkey?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Help. We have fallen into a rut of eating a ton of red meat because my picky tween likes it. I need some chicken, fish and vegetarian options! He seems to like the plainness of meat (steak) but also savory dishes (meatloaf and bolognese). I’m not that worried about his health - it’s more for me because I don’t want to have red meat 5x/week!

He rejects a lot of the conventional kid ideas (eg quesadilla).

I’m a pretty good cook and willing to invest time, but something like a veggie lasagna is probably not realistic for weeknights unless you have some kind of magic easy recipe …

I should add, his pickiness is super frustrating because I’ll make something I know tastes good (like chicken drumsticks) and he rejects it. So I wonder if there are texture issues with things like chicken skin? He was the typical toddler that ate everything, what happened!!!

I hate chicken drumsticks personally, specifically due to the texture. Also prefer chicken breast texture and flavor to thigh meat. And no, don't like chicken skin unless really crispy and then in small doses like buffalo wings. I know that's odd to some folks.

Can you not make some of the same things but with ground turkey, chicken, etc? Meatloaf, burgers, meat sauce, etc?

[Anonymous]

Also what about something like grilled tuna steaks?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Help. We have fallen into a rut of eating a ton of red meat because my picky tween likes it. I need some chicken, fish and vegetarian options! He seems to like the plainness of meat (steak) but also savory dishes (meatloaf and bolognese). I’m not that worried about his health - it’s more for me because I don’t want to have red meat 5x/week!

He rejects a lot of the conventional kid ideas (eg quesadilla).

I’m a pretty good cook and willing to invest time, but something like a veggie lasagna is probably not realistic for weeknights unless you have some kind of magic easy recipe …

I should add, his pickiness is super frustrating because I’ll make something I know tastes good (like chicken drumsticks) and he rejects it. So I wonder if there are texture issues with things like chicken skin? He was the typical toddler that ate everything, what happened!!!

I hate chicken drumsticks personally, specifically due to the texture. Also prefer chicken breast texture and flavor to thigh meat. And no, don't like chicken skin unless really crispy and then in small doses like buffalo wings. I know that's odd to some folks.

Can you not make some of the same things but with ground turkey, chicken, etc? Meatloaf, burgers, meat sauce, etc?

Yeah, that's fairly odd to most people because white chicken meat is almost invariably dry and nothing like red meat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Help. We have fallen into a rut of eating a ton of red meat because my picky tween likes it. I need some chicken, fish and vegetarian options! He seems to like the plainness of meat (steak) but also savory dishes (meatloaf and bolognese). I’m not that worried about his health - it’s more for me because I don’t want to have red meat 5x/week!

He rejects a lot of the conventional kid ideas (eg quesadilla).

I’m a pretty good cook and willing to invest time, but something like a veggie lasagna is probably not realistic for weeknights unless you have some kind of magic easy recipe …

I should add, his pickiness is super frustrating because I’ll make something I know tastes good (like chicken drumsticks) and he rejects it. So I wonder if there are texture issues with things like chicken skin? He was the typical toddler that ate everything, what happened!!!

I hate chicken drumsticks personally, specifically due to the texture. Also prefer chicken breast texture and flavor to thigh meat. And no, don't like chicken skin unless really crispy and then in small doses like buffalo wings. I know that's odd to some folks.

Can you not make some of the same things but with ground turkey, chicken, etc? Meatloaf, burgers, meat sauce, etc?

Ok this is where I fess up to my own weird issue: I think ground turkey and chicken are gross. I know its not rational but I had a relative who got permanently disabled by salmonella from chicken, so ground poultry with all the handling skeeves me out. I did make a turkey chili once and it just tasted off to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Help. We have fallen into a rut of eating a ton of red meat because my picky tween likes it. I need some chicken, fish and vegetarian options! He seems to like the plainness of meat (steak) but also savory dishes (meatloaf and bolognese). I’m not that worried about his health - it’s more for me because I don’t want to have red meat 5x/week!

He rejects a lot of the conventional kid ideas (eg quesadilla).

I’m a pretty good cook and willing to invest time, but something like a veggie lasagna is probably not realistic for weeknights unless you have some kind of magic easy recipe …

I should add, his pickiness is super frustrating because I’ll make something I know tastes good (like chicken drumsticks) and he rejects it. So I wonder if there are texture issues with things like chicken skin? He was the typical toddler that ate everything, what happened!!!

I hate chicken drumsticks personally, specifically due to the texture. Also prefer chicken breast texture and flavor to thigh meat. And no, don't like chicken skin unless really crispy and then in small doses like buffalo wings. I know that's odd to some folks.

Can you not make some of the same things but with ground turkey, chicken, etc? Meatloaf, burgers, meat sauce, etc?

Yeah, that's fairly odd to most people because white chicken meat is almost invariably dry and nothing like red meat.

OP here. I think it kind of makes sense. Dark meat has a gamier flavor. Of course he’ll eat a deep fried drumstick from Popeyes …

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Also what about something like grilled tuna steaks?

yeah I think a very simple non-fishy fish might be worth trying

[Anonymous]

There's no one food that picky eaters will all like. My very picky kid likes tuna and tofu. But would never touch a burger or chicken nugget. Go figure.

Pick a protein like chicken as add flavors he already likes - BBQ chicken, chicken Parm, stir fry sauces etc.

[Anonymous]

Try something like sheet pan chicken breasts with roasted potatoes and vegetables. It has the same plain-ness as a steak, and if you toss with butter/herbs, might hit the same flavor spot.

[Anonymous]

Shrimp and grits

[Anonymous]

I'm a very picky eater and would hate ground turkey - I tried it once and found it ... gummy? Really hated it.

I like all sorts of chicken - chicken parm, baked chicken cutlets, stir-fry marinated chicken with veggies and rice, etc. I like stir fry shrimp with garlic and butter over spaghetti, black cod, marinated salmon. Also like baked Italian dishes - stuffed shells, baked ziti, manicotti, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Help. We have fallen into a rut of eating a ton of red meat because my picky tween likes it. I need some chicken, fish and vegetarian options! He seems to like the plainness of meat (steak) but also savory dishes (meatloaf and bolognese). I’m not that worried about his health - it’s more for me because I don’t want to have red meat 5x/week!

He rejects a lot of the conventional kid ideas (eg quesadilla).

I’m a pretty good cook and willing to invest time, but something like a veggie lasagna is probably not realistic for weeknights unless you have some kind of magic easy recipe …

I should add, his pickiness is super frustrating because I’ll make something I know tastes good (like chicken drumsticks) and he rejects it. So I wonder if there are texture issues with things like chicken skin? He was the typical toddler that ate everything, what happened!!!

I think quite a few people dislike drumsticks. If I have to eat dark meat, which I don’t care for, I would much rather have chicken thighs. But if he’s picky in general maybe try chicken breasts.

[Anonymous]

Why are you catering to him at all? Especially if you’re worried about your own health? If he doesn’t like what you make for dinner, he can get a bowl of cereal or make a pbj. He’s dictating steak 5 times per week because you’re letting him.