How to Get your Kids to Eat their Veggies

How do you get your kids to eat what’s good for them? Vegetables not only pack a lot of vitamins but also plenty of complex carbs that prevent the spiking of the blood sugar, and they keep them fuller longer. Sadly, veggies are a major miss in many kids’ diets, and they need at least 3-5 servings a day. There are products on the market that include veggies in kids’ favorites like mac & cheese or ravioli (Kidfresh, for example), but there are many other ways to create meals at home that include veggies and get your kids to eat them. Read on for 10 great tips on how to get your kids to eat their veggies.

Blend, Soup & Dip

Why is ketchup such a popular condiment with kids? It’s sweet, it’s salty, it’s bright red and, most importantly, it’s fun to dip. And kids LOVE to dip, all experts agree. If you are having trouble with your kids eating solid vegetables, then turn them into a terrific sauce or dip. I am not suggesting the French level of sauces (though why not if you have the time?), I am purely advocating for 3 simple steps. Step 1: Chop desired vegetables. Step 2: Add in the liquid (chicken or veggie stock, water, oil, etc.) and seasonings. Step 3: Blend. Toast some pita triangles and they will love the dip experience. Later on, try adding some simple veggies to dip in – carrots, celery, cauliflower florets are all good choices. Another way to get your veggies in a blended form is by turning them into a soup, which most kids love (it’s liquid after all). Use the same 3 steps above, but cook your veggies first. Start with one vegetable soup, and once you see the vegetables your kids enjoy more, mix in a few varieties. “Add canned pumpkin or canned sweet potato puree (both high in fiber and loaded with vitamin A and other carotenoids) to soups, baked goods and pancakes,” suggests Dr. Ann G. Kulze, M.D., nationally recognized nutrition expert, mother of 4, family physician and best-selling author. “I always add canned pumpkin to my corn bread! Sweet potato puree is yummy blended with plain or vanilla yogurt.” Rachael Lipson, a mom of two young children, adds pureed veggies to tomato sauce, smoothies and mac & cheese.

If you’re not in the mood for making your own, try hummus, any of the low-fat dressings (ranch, italian, thousand island), cream cheese, yogurt or nut butters.

Make it Fun

This is not my last resort – this should be a given. You can draw a smiley face with peas. Broccoli is an easy look-alike for trees, and if you really want to get crafty, make a bridge out of chopped cooked carrots and celery. I can’t guarantee your kids will eat these veggies, but I can promise you they will touch them, which is the first step. As with anything you do at the dinner table – persistence is the key, so offer your veggies day in and day out, and eventually you will see them nibbling on some.

Mark Spielmann, RD, LDN, a Pediatric Dietitian and Nutrition Manager at La Rabida Children’s Hospital in Chicago, has plenty of suggestions to make eating veggies more fun for kids. “Dress up cucumber slices  by making faces (chunks of cherry tomato for eyes and a sliver of raw carrot for a mouth).  You can also cut cucumber slices into shapes:  circles, squares, stars, etc.  Small cookie cutters can help make this chore quick and easy.” Mark suggests creating fun names for your veggies, like Boing Boing Broccoli, Cool Crispy Carrots, Ten Ton Tomatoes. His other clever idea is to have your child invite guests while trying veggies: “His or her favorite stuffed animals or toys may be fed the different veggies while they’re ending up in your child’s mouth.”

Elizabeth Pantley, author of The No Cry Picky Eater Solution (www.nocrysolution.com), recommends you get artistic: “It can be fun to serve vegetables in interesting containers or arranged colorfully in patterns or shapes”.

Keep some Crunch

Is it the sound or the feel of the crunch that makes it so much fun for kids? “Kids prefer crunchy to mushy”, says Mark Spielmann: “Serve vegetables raw”. One of the all-time favorites among many nutritionists is celery sticks with peanut butter. I have to replace peanut butter, due to our allergies, but fat-free cream cheese or soynut butter make fine substitutes. Add in a few raisins for eyes and you got cute and nutritious little caterpillars. Shredded veggies in recipes can also provide the much needed crunch.

Snack when Hungry

Hungry kids will eat what they are offered. So try substituting your typical goldfish or animal crackers for some chopped veggies (with dip if possible). When choices are limited, kids may try the veggies on the plate. This is the oldest trick in the book and applies to adults as well – take out the junk food out of your house and stock up on fruits and veggies and you will only be able to eat the good stuff, because that’s all that is available. Over time this will be second nature. Dr. Ann Kulze, is fully on board to use this hunger to the parent’s advantage: “Prior to dinner, serve an appetizer of colorful veggies (carrots, cucumbers, red bell peppers, yellow bell peppers, etc.) with a healthy dip (hummus, mustard, low-fat dressing).  Children are typically hungry prior to dinner and are more apt to consume veggies in this context.  Additionally, color and variety stimulate eating behaviors which further leverage this useful nutritional strategy.”

Mix with Favorite Foods

If kids don’t accept veggies, go ahead and sneak them in. Mix in the vegetables with pasta, pizza, meat/turkey/chicken patties, meatloaf, etc, and add in as much as you can. Books like the Sneaky Chef series focus on strategies like this.

Using baby food to mix with the familiar foods makes it even easier. Of course, I always gravitate to organic and natural baby food companies, such as Nurturme.com. Their Froggy Pasta recipe not only has the incredibly fun green color but also features iron-rich peas. Simply add the pea baby food jar to the bowl of prepared spaghetti and mix well. What gives this approach an extra bonus from me is the ability to find another use for baby food you may have from a younger child and the time you save by avoiding your own blending.

It also matters which veggies you are offering to your tot. “Exploit their inherent sweet tooth”, says Dr. Ann Kulze, “Offer the sweeter varieties – baby peas, carrots, sweet potatoes, red/yellow bell pepper strips, cherry tomatoes and sugar snap peas”.

Try a Different Cooking Technique

Just like some adults may love sushi and others only eat their fish cooked, kids’ palates will respond to different cooking styles. Some may prefer the blander taste of steamed foods, while other will enjoy the crispness of a grilled vegetable, and yet some may like something fried (zucchini is perfect for this). As you try to offer the same vegetable a number of times, try it with a different cooking method. Dr. Ann Kulze is big on roasting veggies as a tasty way to get lots of veggies in your kids: “Roasting is arguably the healthiest and tastiest way to prepare your veggies.  It preserves their nutrients while concentrating their natural sugars and flavors which make them particularly yummy to even the pickiest palates.  Roasting also dramatically shrinks them in size (because it removes their water), making it easier to consume more in 1 sitting.  Based on my years of culinary experience cooking regularly for a family of 6, the veggies that best lend themselves to roasting are cauliflower, broccoli, sweet potatoes, carrots, Brussels sprouts, asparagus, onions, and bell peppers.  Simply place your vegetables of choice on a baking sheet or casserole dish, drizzle or mist with extra-virgin olive oil, sprinkle with kosher salt, and roast at 375-400 degrees until lightly browned (about 15-20 minutes).”

Elizabeth Pantley insists we need to put vegetables on a pedestal: “While interesting recipes appear for main dishes, the vegetables are often steamed or boiled in a routinely boring presentation. Start treating vegetables as the star of the meal and your kids will too”.  Look for new veggie recipes and ideas, she recommends. “Try stir-frying a mix of veggies with olive oil to give them an attractive presentation and a unique flavor… mix two or even three kinds of vegetables together for a colorful dish”.

Get Them Involved

Even the most stubborn little ones will be tempted to eat what they had a hand in making. “Studies show that children are more apt to eat and enjoy food they have experienced with all of their senses”, says Dr. Ann Kulze. “Get your child involved in the preparation of meals”, says Mark Spielmann, “Kids love to be a part of a grown-up process, and they’re more inclined to eat the results if they helped make it”. I started with a simple home-made pizza – pre-made dough, my son’s washing and cutting tomatoes and sprinkling spices to help me make the pizza sauce, and then a sprinkle of cheese and patiently waiting for the pizza to be done. Granted, it was pizza, a kids’ all time favorite, but he was loving every bite because he made it.

Gardening with kids is a great first step before you even put food on the table. You can find a lot of great suggestions on starting your garden with your preschooler here.

Elizabeth Blessing, co-owner and chief nutritionist of Green B.E.A.N. Delivery (a company that delivers organic produce and natural groceries to Midwest consumers’ doors): “Grow some of your own food. It is amazing what kids will try if they are a part of the process. I have even seen kids try things because they harvested it themselves from a farm or garden”. My personal favorite to grow is bell peppers – fun growing process, colorful, crunchy, sweet – what more can I ask for?

Now if we take a few steps back, kids can also help you with the groceries and giving them an option to pick the veggies is another good way to get them interested. Rachael Lipson, a fellow mom, always brings her preschooler shopping with her to pick out the veggies.

Keep track of your Veggies

There is something special about calendars and journals that kids just love. So I think it’s a great idea to use this to track their veggie intake as a game. There is a free new iPhone app that’s helping kids get their daily recommended intake of fruits & veggies, by transforming the challenge into a fun – and educational – game. Employing game mechanics to motivate positive behavior change, Munch 5-a-Day is a free iPhone app launched by social well-being company MeYou Health that tracks your daily intake of fruits and vegetables, helps you set goals, and creates graphs to monitor your progress. Easy for kids to use, they simply tap on a vegetable or fruit after eating one, then earn silly badges like the Talking Tomato for munching their way to a nutritious diet. The app has helpful information relative to serving sizes for both adults and children, and you can adjust your goal higher so that you can work towards your goal as a family team.

You can also track the veggies with a simple calendar. Mark Spielmann says: “Add 1 new vegetable to a plate of familiar veggies.  Encourage your child to try the new vegetable and talk to you about it.  You can even keep a chart of new veggies and the child can put a happy face (or a star) on the foods they liked, and a sad face on the foods they didn’t like.  Try exotic veggies, like jicama sticks, orange peppers, brussels sprouts, or broccoflower”.

Keep Trying

We’ve heard this since our babies were trying the first spoonfuls of mushy foods – “try it X times and they will learn to like it”. As they get older and pickier, this advice still holds true. “Always offer veggies at every meal”, suggests Elizabeth Blessing of Grean B.E.A.N delivery. “Just because they don’t like it today doesn’t mean they won’t like it tomorrow. Never rule out a veggie as something a toddler or preschooler doesn’t like and stop serving it to them. Keep offering it, kids’ taste’s change.”

And what is better than repetition than doubling the effort each time? Author Elizabeth Pantley suggests this: “Routinely serve two vegetables at dinner so that you double the chance your child will eat at least one. Plus, seeing two vegetables will build an expectation that vegetables are important”. I absolutely agree with Pantley’s focus in her book: “If your child is a picky eater, keep the correct goal in mind. The objective is not to make your child eat more food but to be sure that food choices are healthy ones.”

Be an Example

Being a good role model is very important when it comes to parenting and eating veggies is no exception. “Kids learn their eating habits from their parents (or caregivers). If you aren’t eating vegetables, why and how would they?”, says Elizabeth Blessing, “Eat as many meals together as possible so your little one can watch you eat your vegetables. Try to make your meals very similar to your child’s. Even when your baby is first introduced to solids, your meals can be similar.” I really make an effort to have one menu for the entire family. Aside from avoiding being a short order cook, I like the sharing of a meal altogether. It gives us a better sense of family.