If eating vegetables is one of your toddler’s least-favorite activities — right up there with sharing toys and taking "no" for an answer — consider this: One of the simplest ways to get your child interested in eating vegetables is to eat yours.
Not convinced it could be that easy? If you’ve ever caught your child "talking"on your phone or shuffling around in your shoes, you know that toddlers like to do what you do. So if you’re eating veggies with gusto, there’s a good chance your little copycat will eventually take notice — and maybe even take a bite.
Don’t get frustrated, though, if she doesn’t dig in immediately. Count on at least 10 exposures before she ventures a nibble of the food. Then continue offering tries so she can acquire a taste for it.
Until then, if you’re worried your toddler is missing out on nutrients, get creative with what's on the menu. To that end, here are some strategic ways to get your toddler to eat the veggies on her plate while she’s still developing her palate.
Best vegetables for toddlers and young kids
All vegetables are great options for kids, and some of the best veggies for young eaters are chock-full of fiber, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Bonus: Many of these foods don’t have a super strong flavor — perfect for picky eaters. Here are a few to serve up:
- Broccoli
- Carrots
- Cauliflower
- Celery
- Cucumber
- Squash
- Sweet peppers
- Sweet potatoes
- Tomatoes
Healthy vegetable recipes for toddlers and kids
Try these veggie-packed meal ideas for picky eaters:
- Cucumber snakes: Cut three cucumber slices in half to make six half-moon shapes. Arrange the slices to create a "snake" body and add a slice of shredded carrot to create a tongue.
- Veggie pizzas: Top a mini cauliflower pizza crust with tomato sauce and shredded cheese, then sprinkle on sliced red and yellow bell peppers, mushrooms and broccoli.
- Ants on a log: Put 1 tablespoon of peanut butter on a celery stick.
- Potato face: Cook a baked potato or sweet potato and let your child "decorate" it with vegetables of her own choosing — cherry tomatoes for lips, broccoli for earrings and olives for eyes (and a little shredded cheese for hair).
- Vegetable caterpillars: Alternate different-colored chunks of cooked vegetables — zucchini, cucumber, bell peppers and squash — in a row. Or, make a rainbow-colored caterpillar by adding hunks of cherry tomatoes and purple beets.
- Veggie quesadillas: Pile sliced bell peppers, cooked black beans, carrots and shredded cheese onto one half of a tortilla. Fold the tortilla over, and cook on each side for a few minutes until slightly browned.
How to get your picky toddler or child to eat vegetables
If your toddler turns up her tiny nose at vegetables, try using these tips to boost her interest.
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- Involve your child in the prep work. The more you expose your child to vegetables, the more excited she’s likely to be about them. Recruit her help when you’re shopping for vegetables (or growing them in the garden), washing them in the kitchen sink or sprinkling them into salads and pastas.
- Add veggie purées to kid-friendly meals. Puréed vegetables can easily mix into mainstay meals. For instance: Stir cauliflower or yellow squash purée into mac 'n cheese or pizza sauces, or tuck it in between lasagna layers. You can even come up with fun new name, like "superhero sauce."
- Get inspired by stories. Scramble puréed broccoli into eggs for some "green eggs" with her ham or serve up "Hungry Caterpillar" tortilla rollups.
- Make veggie patties. Substitute hamburgers for veggie burgers made in part with diced veggies — it really counts as a vegetable! Or, you could shred zucchini, beets or carrots and mix them into meat loaf, meatballs and burgers.
- Trade pasta for vegetables. Instead of noodles, serve up spaghetti squash and top with a healthy sauce. Or, if you have a spiralizer, you can make zucchini, cucumber, beet or sweet potato noodles. (Never underestimate the appeal of fun colors!)
- Trick out your tacos. Trade taco meat for packaged veggie crumbles. Your whole family may not be able to tell the difference.
- Bury veggies in baked goods. It may seem like a mismatch, but you can slip a bushel of veggies into sweets with good results: Substitute white-bean purée for some of the butter in cookie recipes; bake a package of puréed frozen spinach into brownie mix (honestly, it tastes good!); add shredded zucchini or carrots to sweet muffins and breads; mix beets in chocolate cake or puréed carrots and squash in yellow cakes; or whisk pumpkin into pancake batter.
- Make food art. Ants on a log. Cucumber snakes. Banana trees. Shaping foods into fun "food art" can pique your child’s interest in eating. At this age, playing with your food is a good thing!
- Make a veggie-juice sipper. Add carrot juice to apple juice and serve it as is, or blend the mixture with ice to make a shake (add yogurt to turn it into a veggie-fruit smoothie).
- Make frozen pops. Even more fun: Pour the juices into ice-pop trays and freeze your own ice pops. Your toddler never has to know how healthy her icy treat truly is.
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