7 Ways to Get Kids to Eat Vegetables

I’m gonna be honest here…

I used to HATE vegetables. I’d sit at the table forever while my mom insisted I had to eat two more beans. If a veggie so much as touched another piece of my food, that was it. Speck of parsley? Meal over.

This veggie hatin’ attitude didn’t stop at childhood.

When I went off to university I realized…My mom’s not here to make me eat vegetables! This. Is. Amazing.

Now let’s fast forward a decade and I’m a veggie loving nutritionist. So there is hope for you or the picky eater in your house.

How Many Servings?

Vegetables are rich sources of nutrients that our body needs to thrive. It’s important to aim for 7-10 servings of vegetables a day.

“Whoa there, Katie.” – your internal thoughts right now.

Let’s break that down for you. I’m not talking about seven to ten different types of veggies, but servings. One serving is equal to half a cup of cooked veggies or one cup of fresh. So if you throw a big handful of baby spinach into a smoothie there’s one to two cups. Then at lunch say you have a salad. Boom! Another 1-4 cups depending on the size of the salad. Dinner comes around and you have a big sweet potato. There’s another 1-2 servings. Overall, if you ate on the high end of the scale, you would have had 8 servings of vegetables in one day!

But let’s say you don’t eat any vegetables. At. All.

Start small. Pick one new vegetable (white potatoes don’t count – sorry!) and decide to try it this week. Find a recipe that inspires you and gets you excited to eat that vegetable.

Tips for Picky Eaters

1. Lead By Example.

Kids mimic what we do. If they see us eating healthy, they are more likely to as well. Let your child(ren) know that they won’t be made a special dinner if they decide not to eat what’s made for them.

2. Make It Fun!

If you have a picky little one, bring them to the store with you and have them pick out one new vegetable they’d like to try. Then have them help you prepare dinner. They’ll be excited to try their own creation.

3. Add To Smoothies

Baby greens like spinach or kale go virtually unnoticed in my Almond Butter Smoothie! Pumpkin puree is another tasty one to add with spices like cinnamon and nutmeg.

4. Puree Into Sauces

I usually chop a ton of veggies up really finely in my food processor. Then I add the diced vegetables to my sauce with brown rice noodles for my toddler. He shovels the food in without realizing there’s anything but noodles. You could even cook the veggies down and puree it in the sauce, too!

5. Mix It Up

Swap out brown rice for cauliflower. Grate a head of cauliflower and then saute it with some grass-fed butter or olive oil. Add your favourite herbs and spices to really add some great flavour. I usually do garlic, onion, and rosemary. Which leads me to my next tip…

6. Make It Flavourful

Making vegetables taste super yummy is an easy way to get picky eaters to try them. I love adding some grass-fed butter and garlic to veggies. Just those two additions alone make vegetables drool worthy. Add some pink rock or grey sea salt with your favourite herbs and spices to really bump up the flavour.

7. Try Healthy Alternatives

Kids, teens, and adults all have their favourite comfort foods. Look for healthy alternatives to their most loved recipes. Try my Crispy Baked Sweet Potato Fries, Amazing Crispy Cauliflower Wings, or Almond Crusted Paleo Chicken Balls for healthy alternatives everyone will love!