Getting your little one’s to love veggies!
“How can I encourage my little one to eat veggies?!” This has to be one of the questions I’m asked most often! If your little one won’t eat their veggies, you’re not alone! Some kids love them but others just aren’t interested!
There is no “perfect” vegetable that provides all of the vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, and enzymes needed for a growing toddler therefore variety is key! The more variety the better! Making small changes and adding veg in different ways can really add up over the course of a day.
If you’re struggling with veggie intake, I’ve put together a list of my top tips to encourage your little ones to try a variety of vegetables in a fun and engaging way. Being consistent and persistent is key, some children need over 15 exposures to a food before even trying it!
Top tips to get your little one’s eating more vegetables:
- Lead by example! Role model eating and enjoying vegetables. Watching you enjoy food at mealtimes is powerful and encouraging.
- Get them involved with the shopping! It’s a great opportunity to talk about different vegetables and perhaps let them pick one they’d like to try.
- Serve new vegetables/vegetables they don’t enjoy alongside favourite and familiar foods, without any pressure. Keep the serving small as you don’t want to overwhelm them.
- Add flavour! Roasting vegetables with simple spices and adding them to pasta/curries can make a difference.
- Use cutters to make veggies fun! New and interesting shapes can really spark their interest!
- Get your little ones in the kitchen! Even touching, smelling and playing with vegetables counts as an exposure.
- Don’t give up! It took over a year for my son to enjoy cauliflower, I offered it every week, in a variety of ways.
- Experiment with colour and texture. You may find they prefer steamed veggies over roasted or are more willing to try red peppers as opposed to green! My son’s favourite colour is red and he’ll always try something that is red!
- Give them a choice! Kids feel so empowered when they have a say! For example, asking would you like carrot or peas with dinner. Or letting them pick what veggies they’d like on their pizza.
- If you little ones enjoys dips, serve veggies alongside for dipping and dunking.
Here are 2 of our favourite veggie loaded recipes which are sure to tantalise little taste buds!
Carrot Cake Bliss Balls
Fudgy, delicious and sweetened only with dates! My son’s favourite vegetable is carrots, so it was only a matter of time until we incorporated them into bliss balls! The almond flour adds healthy fats, protein and Vitamin E and the carrots are loaded up with Vitamin A. These are perfect for snack time or in lunchboxes.
Veggie Fritters
Here is a fast, easy and toddler friendly lunch/dinner idea. There is protein from the cheese and egg, a plethora of vitamins and minerals from the veg and egg and they taste delicious! I like to serve these alongside fruit/veg and diced avocado. They also work great with dips like hummus and guacamole.
You can check out my eBooks here that focus on wholesome and nourishing food for the family that is easy to make and bursting with flavour to tantalize those little taste buds.
-Shikha
