Skip to main content

5 delicious ways to get your kids to eat their vegetables this summer

Ah, the famous table battles. Many parents have dealt with them and still wonder how to get kids to eat veggies. Sometimes you might think that doing every single chore around the house is easier than persuading your kid to eat vegetables. However, you stand with a long line of parents who have attempted to cook vegetables for kids. Believe it or not, even the dietary experts struggle with the same story.

However, hard times never last forever. So, here’s a short guide of five flavorful methods that’ll get your kids to eat more vegetables.

Mom and daughter making avocado toast
August de Richelieu

The camouflage option

Prepping vegetables for kids seems to involve being a master, culinary ninja. One quick solution for that is soup time.

You can prepare some homemade soup and make sure it is rich in vegetables, ranging from carrots, celery, onion, and cauliflower, to everything else that goes well with a broth or a creamed base. Your children will get all the needed nutrients; plus, they’ll have some fun with scooping up garnishes like shredded cheese or crumbled crackers.

Plus, you have other covert options to fall back on such as:

  • Hamburgers (aside from the garnish, you can grind up vegetables and add them to the ground beef)
  • Pizza with a veggie crust and/or toppings
  • Macaroni and Cheese with grated or pureed, undetectable squash, carrots, or cauliflower
  • Pureed vegetables added to a hearty marinara sauce

So, you need not wonder how to get kids to eat veggies when you can “hide” them in their favorite dishes.

Veggie Pasta
RF._.Studio

Fun shapes and sizes of vegetables for kids

Grab a spiralizer and start preparing your family’s favorite “pasta” dishes – the healthy way. Start implementing sweet potatoes, zucchini, or squash into their preferred noodle dishes. All you need to do is add some sauce on top, and there’s no way they’ll say no to the radical new shapes on their plate. They’ll have a delicious new version of pasta, plus interesting-looking noodles or spirals.

Another spin on this hack is to make a snack called Ants on a Log. You just cut some stalks of celery into two to three-inch pieces. Then you spread peanut butter inside the stalk and sprinkle it with raisins. If your child is allergic to nuts, then you can try variations with cream cheese or guacamole and other garnishes like bite-size crackers.

Make it smooth

Once again, this strategy is all about hiding the true texture of the vegetables. So how about trying a well-seasoned puree? In a study published by the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers found out that very young kids would double their intake of veggies if they were served pureed vegetables. So why not use this knowledge to your advantage?

And what about older children who still hesitate to try veggies? Some nutrient-rich smoothies provide a tasty solution to this dilemma. For example, combine a ½ spinach cup with ½ avocado and banana, add ¼ cup of canned pumpkin and finish with ½ cup of water or milk. You’ll have a great summer smoothie that’ll please any palate.

Butter it up

Here is another quick trick to bring out the savory flavor of vegetables—add some butter. You might have noticed the bitterness in some veggies in their raw state. However, when you sauté them in butter or in olive oil with herbs and spices, you can prepare vegetables for kids while masking the odd taste. The next thing you know, your children are eating broccoli, beans or even spinach without any second thoughts.

The homemade dip

For the last suggestion, you’ll keep snack time smooth and easy. One effortless but yummy idea involves veggies with hummus or homemade sauce on the side. You can create a flavorful sauce at home that will not just cover the “regular” smell and taste of vegetables but will also make your kids ask for more.

Ranch dip is perfect in various combinations of vegetables for kids. But it’s even better when it’s homemade. Also, salsa makes a wonderful dip for vegetables and an excellent salad dressing. Yet another healthy and tasty choice is spinach dip. Your kids will love serving it from the classic bread bowl.

Pho noodles and vegetables
Jan Nyugen

Thankfully enough, you now have a plethora of options for incorporating more vegetables into your children’s meals and snacks. You won’t have to depend on the two common fallbacks, which are offering simply raw vegetables or steaming them. There are many more ways to prepare plant-based foods that the whole family can enjoy. With some creative problem-solving and a good balance between veggies and other food groups, you’ll be able to provide your children with food choices that are not only nutritious but also delicious.

Editors' Recommendations

Leslie Anderson
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Leslie Anderson is a freelance writer/writing coach from Roswell, N.M. She enjoys gardening, cooking, and helping students…
7 avocado-based baby food combinations your baby will love
Try these avocado combos for you little one's next meals
Baby in highchair eating avocado puree.

Avocado-based baby food offers a nutritious first step in introducing solid foods to babies. To begin with, avocados are a superfood that contains 20 vitamins and minerals, including folate, potassium, iron, zinc, and vitamins A, C, E, and K, plus several variants of vitamin B. They're also packed with protein, fiber, and healthy fats and contain no cholesterol or sodium. Avocados are very low in saturated fat, too. Babies need omega-3 fatty acids to promote brain and eye development, and avocados are one of the fattiest plant foods that are a great source of oleic acid, an important omega-3 that's also found in olive oil.
Conveniently, avocados are also soft and easy for babies to gum and swallow. They're simple for busy parents and caregivers to mash with a fork or puree in a food processor. Plus, avocados are easy to combine with other healthy foods for simple baby foods. So, which avocado baby foods should you make at home? Here are seven simple recipe ideas for your little one to enjoy that are a snap to make.

Easy, fun-flavored yummy avocado/fruit puree
For a quick avocado baby food meal, puree avocado in a food processor or small blender with a sweet fruit of your choice, and your baby will gobble it up. Here are some fruits that make a tasty combination with avocado:

Read more
Can a newborn eat too much? You might be surprised by the answer
Red flags to watch out for if you're overfeeding a newborn
Mother holding baby in nursery

Bringing baby home from the hospital comes with a wealth of new responsibilities and questions. Many new parents may be worried about whether their infant is eating enough or too much. Is there such a thing as overfeeding a newborn? The short answer is yes. Overfeeding a newborn is a possibility, but it doesn't happen often.

Every newborn has differences in appetite where one might drink a bottle or breastfeed longer than another. Before you stress, don't worry. There are signs to be on the lookout for when it comes to giving your little one too much food.

Read more
9 amazing sweet potato baby food combinations your child will love
Learn how to make your own sweet potato baby food and more tasty combos baby will love
Baby with sweet potatoes

 

When your little one is ready to start on solid foods, a whole new world opens up for them (and you). Sweet potatoes are a perfect first food for your baby to try. They’re inexpensive, easy to cook, and mash up well. They’re on the sweeter side, so most babies take a liking to sweet potatoes more than some other veggies. More importantly, sweet potatoes are filled with Vitamin C, potassium, beta-carotene, and fiber your baby needs as they grow and develop.

Read more