While some kids love broccoli, beans and avocado, others turn green at the thought of eating them. So how do you get your toddler to eat more fruit and vegetables if they’re just not so keen on them? Here are a few smart ways:
Presentation
Cucumber slices, baby tomatoes and blueberries can easily be arranged to look like a smiley face or a caterpillar, which may make them more appealing to a fussy eater.
Preparation
Try serving different veggies steamed, stir fried, boiled, oven roasted, or air fried until crisp – keep trying different cooking methods as you never know what they might like!
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Appearance and texture
If your toddler doesn’t like zucchini, try making zoodles and smothering them in a fresh tomato sauce. Carrots are a lot more fun once they’ve come out of a spiraliser and steamed butternut is instantly tastier when it has been shaped by a cookie cutter. Be creative!
Dip it
Carrot batons, green beans and mini corn will go down better if they’re served with a fun dip or sauce – try cheese, hummus, bean dip or guacamole.
Let them choose
When you go grocery shopping, ask your toddler to select a new vegetable to try from the fresh produce section, and get them involved in prepping and cooking it. Kids are far more likely to eat something if they’ve had a hand in making it.
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Hide it
If you have a seriously picky eater, you may need to try slightly sneaky tactics to get them to eat their veg. Luckily, there are so many ways to add an extra layer of flavour and nutrition to meals that kids will enjoy; diced carrots are an easy addition to pasta sauces, mushrooms can be thrown in with mince and you can add grated veggies or diced fruit to muffins.
This article was originally written for Squish.
