Sometimes trying to get your children to eat vegetables feels like a wrestling act that ends up with most of the veggies on the floor. It’s exhausting trying to come up with new ways to get your kids to eat veggies, and the mom guilt of your kids not having enough is strong. I find the easiest way to get my kids to eat veggies is for them to not know it’s even there. Here are some of my ideas on how to get kids to eat veggies.
8 Ways to Get Kids to Eat Veggies
1. 50% Noodle/50% Zoodle
One of my family’s favorite dinners is the classic spaghetti and meatballs. To add some veggies to this dish, we make some zoodles to mix with our regular noodles. You can do this to almost any pasta but I find it works best with tomato-based sauces. The sauce masks the zoodle and the mix of regular spaghetti keeps the taste a bit more authentic. For a quick meal, grab a bag of Trader Joe’s Italian meatballs and cook with a jar of tomato basil sauce on the stove for 20 minutes. Cook the spaghetti as directed. Make zoodles with a julienne peeler or spiralizer and then sauté on a pan with olive oil until tender. Mix the spaghetti and zoodles, then top with the meatball and sauce combo.
2. Cauliflower
Cauliflower is the great hidden vegetable. You can make (or buy) riced cauliflower to serve as a side in lieu of rice. Another easy meal would be to stir fry the cauliflower rice with some peas, carrots, and a protein for a fried “rice”. You could also steam the cauliflower and mix it in mashed potatoes. You could even forgo the potatoes and just make mashed cauliflower, add a little cheddar, and you’re good to go!
3. Tomato Sauce
Tomato sauce is a great place to hide some veggies. Sometimes I’ll dice some celery and carrots and mix it into my sauce for spaghetti. You could even purée some carrots into your sauce (the carrots make it a little sweeter). The strong tomato flavoring really helps to mask the hidden veggies. If you choose to make a sauce and purée the veggies, you could use the sauce for pizza, too. The nice thing about tomato sauce is that it typically freezes very well, so just make a huge batch, and then put some in the freezer for easy future meals.
4. Chips and Fries
I’m a huge chip and fries person. If you gave me the option of salty or sweet, I’d choose salty all the way (although salty and sweet makes for THE BEST combination). Regular potatoes are a good source of nutrients but sometimes it gets boring using the same potatoes for every side. Here is where other veggies can shine. You could make sweet potato chips (just slice into thin pieces, mix with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, then baked in the oven) or zucchini fries or one of my favorites, fried green beans.
5. Fruit (and Secret Spinach) Smoothies
For dessert, and sometimes breakfast, I like to make the girls a smoothie. This is a fun and delicious way to hide some veggies for your kids. I just blend frozen strawberries, banana, almond milk or regular milk, and some spinach. You can be really creative here and try all kinds of difference mixes of healthy smoothies. Just add a crazy straw in it and let your kids enjoy!
6. Soups and Casseroles
Soups and casseroles are also great for hiding vegetables. You could make a chicken tetrazzini casserole with some peas or a lasagna casserole with sliced zucchini instead of noodles. Turkey chili and chicken noodle soup are favorites in my household. I like to load up chili with tons of green bell peppers, onions, corn, and a tomato-based sauce. And, of course, the classic diced celery and carrots in chicken noodle soup. This is a really easy way to customize your meals; just add whatever vegetables you have on hand, and hopefully your kiddos won’t notice.
7. Sneaky Vegetables
Some other classic foods you can hide veggies in are grilled cheese and tomato soup. Thinly slice some tomatoes or take spinach and hide it in the cheese and grill. Like the tomato sauce, you can purée some carrots and mix it in. Quesadillas and burritos are also fantastic for hiding vegetables. Just dice those veggies good so they’re easy to hide. I like to make breakfast burritos with diced sweet bell peppers, tomatoes, onions, eggs, and cheese.
Hidden Veggie Mac and Cheese Recipe
8. Desserts
I have two words for you: zucchini bread. There are lots of ways to hide veggies in desserts, but bread seems to be the easiest. Dessert and veggie nutrition at the same time? GENIUS. While not a vegetable, I’ve also seen some people add avocado (really good for you!) to chocolate pudding and so forth. The sky is the limit!
Avocado Chocolate Pudding Recipe
How do you get your kids to eat vegetables? Do you have other tricks? If so, share in the comments below!
