How to Make Vegetables More Appealing to Kids

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methods

1Starting with Kid-Friendly Vegetables

2Cooking Simply

3Disguising Vegetables

4Getting the Kids Involved in Adding More Veggies

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Tips and Warnings

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Have you ever tried to offer your kids fruit and vegetables, and they just say no? By choosing kid-friendly vegetables, cooking simply, and disguising vegetables, you can help your kids get the nutrition they need.

Steps

Method 1

Method 1 of 4:

Starting with Kid-Friendly Vegetables

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   Choose sweeter vegetables. Vegetables like carrots, peas and sweet potatoes offer a sweeter flavor than many of the vegetables children sometimes refuse to touch (like broccoli and brussels sprouts). As children are genetically driven to eat sweeter foods, it makes sense to start with the sweetest vegetables. You can even make them sweeter by adding a honey glaze for carrots, or maple syrup and brown sugar for sweet potatoes.
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   Choose non-leafy vegetables. Children are also genetically driven to avoid the veggies that look the most like leafy plants. Cutting, dicing, and blending can help disguise the leafiness, but starting with butternut squash or sweet peas may help get the ball rolling.
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   Introduce bitter vegetables slowly. Many people have a higher sensitivity to bitterness than others. This is especially true in children, and this sensitivity tends to decrease with age. So, by starting kids with kid-friendly vegetables, and slowly introducing the more difficult ones can get the child interested (especially if you make it a point to show them your enjoyment of the vegetables).
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Method 2

Method 2 of 4:

Cooking Simply

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   Don’t mix a ton of vegetables together in a single dish. Starting simply by having no more than one or two veggies in a single dish will make the veggies more appealing. Slowly introduce dishes that are more complex. For instance, if you know that your child likes broccoli, you can mix it with a smooth pasta sauce and pasta to make a more balanced meal. Don't try adding roasted peppers if you know your child doesn't like it. The sauce may not completely cover the taste or texture.
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   Use only completely disguised/blended veggies in soft or liquid dishes. While disguising vegetables can be a real solution, be careful not to hide crunchy, flavorful vegetables that a kid professes a dislike to in a soft dish like stuffing. While they may be perfectly willing to eat the stuffing, for instance, chomping down on an onion may make them pause before eating the dish again. The same thing goes with sauces and salsa. Any professed dislike for a vegetable due to texture that is not properly blended will likely cause a similar reaction to eating the vegetable alone.
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   Add veggies with unusual textures slowly. Kids are more sensitive to textures in foods than adults. Whether it’s sliminess or a “wet-crunch,” kids (and adults) can be sensitive to food textures. Going with soft, but not slimy, or pleasantly crisp vegetables (like carrots), can make eating vegetables fun for kids.
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   Add a simple flavor enhancer that kids love. Adding lemon juice or cheese to broccoli can help make the veggies more appealing. Honey or maple syrup can make cooked carrots more appetizing. In any case, they will be more likely to try veggies topped with flavors they love.

   • Dips can be a great way to get kids to eat fresh crunchy veggies such as carrots or celery. Ranch dressing works especially well. Plain hummus can also make a great dip that is both kid-friendly and nutritious.
   • Peanut butter is also useful in getting kids to eat more veggies. Carrots and peanut butter can be a tasty treat.
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Method 3

Method 3 of 4:

Disguising Vegetables

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   Bake a vegetable-based bread. Not only is this tasty, if you use fresh vegetables, it’s packing a nutritious punch. If your recipe is too-carb heavy, this might need to be an occasional, rather than regular, snack. However, sweet potato bread is a great way for kids to get a lot of needed nutrients.
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   Make a sweet, but vegetable-containing smoothie. With the right proportions, you can use this to include some of the trickier vegetables in your kids’ diets. Spinach and kale are pretty easy to include. It’s important to have enough sweet fruits or honey to balance the bitterness of the greens. However, it will be harder to mask veggies with strong flavors such as onions and garlic.
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   Cook a completely blended soup. A lot of kids struggle with texture as well as flavor. By blending veggies that kids normally don’t like because of texture, you can incorporate it with flavors the kid does like. Sometimes it’s only the texture that’s the problem, and so kids will often eat the vegetable in another form that they won’t touch its raw or unblended form.
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   Buy products that do the disguising for you. From smoothies to chips to popcorn and pasta, companies are trying to make traditional snacks healthier. While products that rely on processed or dehydrated vegetables shouldn’t replace fresh vegetables, they can help augment veggie-poor diets. You can even try vegan versions of typically meat or dairy type products, as they often contain a lot of vegetables (check the label, though, because many of these products contain a lot of corn or soy).

   • If you’re struggling to get your kids to eat vegetables, your kids might like veggie burgers. Veggies burgers are often made from rice, black beans, and other healthy vegetables. Check the label to make sure.
   • Your kids might enjoy fruit and veggie juices, or juice that contains both fruit and vegetables. Check the label to make sure the sugar content is not too high before implementing it regularly into your kids’ diets.
   • Many chip companies are now producing chips made with other vegetables than potatoes, including broccoli, beans and carrots. These chips are often quite tasty and can be paired with a nutritious veggie dip. Again, check the label to make sure the chips live up to their claims.
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   Include vegetables subtly in a recipe kids like. With meat and cheese dishes it can be easy to slip a vegetable into the mix and the kids be none-the-wiser. For instance, if you’re making a homemade pasta sauce, you can blend vegetables in with the tomatoes. Then your kids will enjoy the pasta and get the vitamins and minerals they need.
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   Make the vegetable look like something else. Sometimes, simply making the veggie look like some other yummy snack can make it more appealing. Whether you disguise cauliflower as mashed potatoes or carrots as fries, kids will likely find these versions more appealing than in other forms. And you may find a yummier alternative for yourself as well.
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Method 4

Method 4 of 4:

Getting the Kids Involved in Adding More Veggies

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   Grow a veggie garden with the kids. Growing a garden together can add physical activity as well as a feeling of investment in the vegetables your kids eat. Choose veggies you know they like, or have them pick out seeds or plants. With time and encouragement, kids may grow to like even more vegetables, as well as to appreciate the time growing, picking, and preparing the vegetables from your garden.

   • Some easy-to-grow veggies include peas, potatoes, and cabbage.
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   Bring the kids grocery shopping with you. Even if you don't have time for a garden, you can bring your kids to the grocery store. Let them pick out one or two vegetables that they think they will like. This will make your kids feel like they have some choice in the foods that get prepared at home.
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   Cook veggies with the kids. Cooking can make kids more invested in trying veggies, especially if they get to pick the recipes. Try to have several colorful cookbooks on hand with loads of easy veggie recipes. That way the kids will feel like they have lots of choices for healthy vegetable recipes they may like.
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   Keep trying. Although it may seem difficult to get kids to eat enough veggies, it's okay to keep trying. It may take 15-20 tries before a child will accept a new food. Don't worry if the progress is slow, or they only like a couple of veggies at first. Each vegetable added is a triumph, and with encouragement, they become a healthy eater as well.
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Tips

• Don’t force kids to try a food. This can cause stress for both parent and child, and may cause the child to be more reluctant to try new things later on.
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• If you're worried that your kid won't be getting enough of a certain nutrient because they won't eat a particular vegetable, research other sources for that nutrient. As a last resort, you can turn to vitamin supplements, with approval from your child’s pediatrician.
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• Talk to a doctor. Chances are that your doctor has been asked this question many of times. Your doctor might offer good tips and tricks to make sure your kid gets their healthy portion of vegetables and fruits every day.
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Warnings

• It’s important to know the difference between picky eating and problem eating. If your child will eat fewer than ten different foods, it might be time to see a doctor or mental health professional for evaluation.
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• While disguising vegetables is a good short-term solution for helping kids get the nutrition they need, your ultimate goal should be to help your children learn to like vegetables. Teach your kids about the different types of vegetables, and keep encouraging them to try them and learn to enjoy them. This will ultimately help them develop healthy eating habits for life.
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