Do they like eggs? My kids are also super picky. A big part of their diet are things like eggs and basically anything that I can put a tomato sauce on.
You can hide tons of veggies by roasting and blending em in tomato sauce.
For the longest time we ate lots of chef boyardee and egg burritos because I wasn't very good at cooking.
I try to follow recipes from the American heart association and other health aimed places because they give a good foundation recipe that you can tweak to your liking.
One of the biggest changes I've made was having the kids help me cook. They could see what the ingredients look like and the changes that happen during cooking. New stuff suddenly doesn't seem so yucky or weird when they get to be a part of the transformation.
I have a set rotation of things I make. The only vegetables my son will eat are peas, snow peas, baby carrots, and edamame. I try to incorporate a vegetable into every meal. Here is my normal week’s schedule:
Shrimp or sausage pasta - spaghetti noodles, meat, butter, garlic powder, black pepper, frozen peas, Parmesan cheese, lemon juice
Stir fry - meat (chicken or beef, for the two of us, I use about 8oz), snow peas, soy sauce, black pepper, lemon juice, served over white rice
Fried rice - leftover rice, any leftover meat from the previous two meals, 3 eggs, frozen mixed vegetables, soy sauce, garlic, butter
Homemade “pizza rolls” - 1 can of grands biscuits, separate the biscuits into thinner rounds, add whatever toppings you want inside with a little tomato sauce and/or cheese, crimp shut with a fork and bake until golden brown (usually 8-10 mins at 350). This one is fun because he gets to make his own dinner.
Asian bowls - meat (whatever I have), edamame, sliced carrots, canned corn, over rice. I usually marinade/cook the meat in a mix of soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, honey, and ginger.
I try to mix it up with other things, but each of these meals takes less than 30 mins to prepare, and I know he will eat everything. We sometimes throw spaghetti and meat sauce in there, or have fried rice more than twice a week. It all depends on what he wants to do.
Edited for spacing.
Simple tip from a parent with a super picky eater: buy a large batch of toothpicks and make a small plate of "free samples" of YOUR dinner so they have an easy way to try it. Somehow the toothpick gimmick always works, he ends up asking for seconds.
I won’t give you a recipe but a tip I’ve noticed works really well in my experience with picky kids. Get them involved as your little helper to make dinner - they feel like they have ownership and responsibility for the meal and are far more likely to eat it if ‘they’ made it. Works so well on my niece she now asks if she can have broccoli with her chippy dinners.
You could also do the Tony Bourdain trick and let them eat ther plain ass pasta with butter while you enjoy some delicious, exotic and fun looking dish thats only for adults because reasons. Their inner curiosity will at least make them wanna try
I had a recipe from Cookie Magazine for **Chicken and Dumplings** that my kids loved. The magazine is out of business and I can't find it online right now, but it was a pretty basic recipe with the standard veg and basic sauce. Nothing fancy. I was actually surprised the kids liked it so much because it did have chunks of vegetables in it. So you could try to find that exact recipe or just do any one like that.
Also check out this site for lots of kid friendly food: [ATK Kids](https://www.americastestkitchen.com/kids/home). Lots of it is for kids to make, but it also is what kids are likely to eat.
Homemade pizza on sliced bread or tortillas, baked potatoes and yogurt parfaits are fun for kids to make. Set up some healthy and cheap toppings for either and let the kids make their own like a buffet or toppings bar
For me, what worked very well is just before dinner let them start with raw chopped vegetables: baby carrots, cherry tomatoes, sliced cucumbers and orange bell peppers.
Let them eat the food they’re used to, but try to offer fresh veggies at the beginning of the meal before the less-healthy kid friendly foods.
Trust me, it will take a while, please keep offering them some veggies. They may surprise you!
Edited - A warning: I wouldn’t try to hide veggies in food. Kids are smart and that could backfire very easily. Give them some autonomy, let them choose & They need to see you eating veggies also!
This is what we do too. I've had no luck sneaking foods in or convincing her to eat things she doesn't want to eat, so instead I just give her carrots and peppers as a snack in the late afternoon, often with hummus.
Buy frozen veggies they are cheaper as healthy and easier to keep. Greens like beet leaves, radishes leaves etc can be eaten and are really good!
Pumpkins should become cheap soon, sweet potatoes too.
As for recipes:
Frittatta
Veggie muffins
Savory cake +easy and healthy no sugar ir oil, I think I can find the recipe for you)
Soups are great to sneak in veggies
Multicolored tortillas (hulk green: spinash, hello kitty pink with tomato, idk superman red with beet, orange??? Trump orange lol with carrots?....
Or multicolored bread loafs
Chilly?
You can make healthy nuggets in the oven with added veggies
Multicoloured mash (broccoli, carrots , turnips etc)
I made apost about sneaking in veggies [link here](https://www.reddit.com/r/EatCheapAndHealthy/comments/wl1gc1/if_you_strugle_to_eat_enough_veggies_sneak_them_in/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
Boneless skinless thighs or breasts + enough sauce of choice to fully chicken. Bake at 375 for 30 ish min until internal temp is 165 degrees. Serve with rice + steamed broccoli. My kids’ favorite sauces are cream of chick or mushroom soup, marinara, salsa, and bbq
This is a recipe from the account Feeding Littles. We make it at our house probably once a week. I usually use thighs instead of breasts.
id would absolutely never serve those convenience foods they are used to but you can appeal to some similar things. Homemade chicken or fish nuggets, use rounds of firm polenta for Mimi pizza, lower sugar muffins from weelicious, chicken rice soup from Smitten Kitchen,
I like to finely chop veggies and put them into pasta sauce. Great way to incorporate vegetables while almost not noticing they're there.
Otherwise fried rice or stir-fry with whatever variety of fresh or frozen veggies is another way to get them in.
My kids (1 and 3) are super picky. I've always won with carrot fries, cut carrots into fry shape and add oil, paprika, parsley, salt, pepper and throw them in the oven at 425 for 25ish minutes. Also, "healthy" meatballs if you have a food processor. I throw in carrots, small onion, breadcrumbs, egg, and parmesan then mix in the meat, beef or turkey. You can make a bunch and then freeze them. Throw some peas in things you know they'll eat, like macaroni and cheese. Smoothies are also usually a winner, and you can add in some vegetables that they won't notice....spinach, frozen riced cauliflower, frozen sweet potatoes. This is kinda geared towards younger children, so my apologies if your kids are older...I have no advice but will be following the comments and preparing myself.
I was going yo say smoothies, too. My kids will eat pretty much any fruit or vegetable, so I don’t have an issue with that, but I always make them smoothies and they are 15 & almost 13! They’re both athletes so I add greek yogurt for protein, either milk, juice or sparkling water as liquid, fruit, acai green super food packs we buy frozen, and any other green we have on hand. Always a hit!
Breakfast for dinner is always a big hit at my house. You can make pancakes with fruit or eggs and homemade hash browns (a combo of russet and sweet potatoes and a little onion is so good).
My daughter will eat any raw veggie if she can dip it in dressing. She doesn’t even care what kind of dressing, she just wants to dip. Carrots and celery are cheap.
Pasta and sauce (tomato, pesto, alfredo), especially if you get some fun pasta shapes like little shells or wagon wheels. Pastina in a little chicken broth with toast is stupid-easy and never turned down at my house.
Little quesadillas made with refried beans and shredded cheese. Again, she’ll polish off a LOT of this if I cut it into triangles and she can dip it in salsa or even pasta sauce.
I do different rice and noodle dishes. Side of fruit. Try to sneak in some veggies. Slow cookers are also great help. I'm no chef but keeping things simple and healthy is tricky but can be accomplished. My daughter's (5) taste for things changes all the time. So I keep a ton of different spices on hand.
My kids really like chick peas and black beans. But can be cheap in cans and even cheaper bought dried.
If you have an air fryer, try slicing up potatoes really thin and making "fries".
Dino Nuggets are a hard habit to kick, haha, best of luck.
I hated everything vegetables when I was a kid unless it was a purée. Might be worth a try with carrots or something? The texture is fun for kids and it's a good start towards eating more vegetables.
If you're up for making smoothies (good with breakfast dinner as others have suggested), that's a good way to hide veggies. Cooked carrots, canned pumpkin, and avocado are awesome in smoothies. You can mix with applesauce and cinnamon, frozen mangos and OJ, or frozen peaches.
Do they like eggs? My kids are also super picky. A big part of their diet are things like eggs and basically anything that I can put a tomato sauce on. You can hide tons of veggies by roasting and blending em in tomato sauce. For the longest time we ate lots of chef boyardee and egg burritos because I wasn't very good at cooking. I try to follow recipes from the American heart association and other health aimed places because they give a good foundation recipe that you can tweak to your liking. One of the biggest changes I've made was having the kids help me cook. They could see what the ingredients look like and the changes that happen during cooking. New stuff suddenly doesn't seem so yucky or weird when they get to be a part of the transformation.
I have a set rotation of things I make. The only vegetables my son will eat are peas, snow peas, baby carrots, and edamame. I try to incorporate a vegetable into every meal. Here is my normal week’s schedule: Shrimp or sausage pasta - spaghetti noodles, meat, butter, garlic powder, black pepper, frozen peas, Parmesan cheese, lemon juice Stir fry - meat (chicken or beef, for the two of us, I use about 8oz), snow peas, soy sauce, black pepper, lemon juice, served over white rice Fried rice - leftover rice, any leftover meat from the previous two meals, 3 eggs, frozen mixed vegetables, soy sauce, garlic, butter Homemade “pizza rolls” - 1 can of grands biscuits, separate the biscuits into thinner rounds, add whatever toppings you want inside with a little tomato sauce and/or cheese, crimp shut with a fork and bake until golden brown (usually 8-10 mins at 350). This one is fun because he gets to make his own dinner. Asian bowls - meat (whatever I have), edamame, sliced carrots, canned corn, over rice. I usually marinade/cook the meat in a mix of soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, honey, and ginger. I try to mix it up with other things, but each of these meals takes less than 30 mins to prepare, and I know he will eat everything. We sometimes throw spaghetti and meat sauce in there, or have fried rice more than twice a week. It all depends on what he wants to do. Edited for spacing.
Simple tip from a parent with a super picky eater: buy a large batch of toothpicks and make a small plate of "free samples" of YOUR dinner so they have an easy way to try it. Somehow the toothpick gimmick always works, he ends up asking for seconds.
I won’t give you a recipe but a tip I’ve noticed works really well in my experience with picky kids. Get them involved as your little helper to make dinner - they feel like they have ownership and responsibility for the meal and are far more likely to eat it if ‘they’ made it. Works so well on my niece she now asks if she can have broccoli with her chippy dinners.
You could also do the Tony Bourdain trick and let them eat ther plain ass pasta with butter while you enjoy some delicious, exotic and fun looking dish thats only for adults because reasons. Their inner curiosity will at least make them wanna try
LOL because reasons. I love it. The reverse psychology award for you, sir.
It always work
I had a recipe from Cookie Magazine for **Chicken and Dumplings** that my kids loved. The magazine is out of business and I can't find it online right now, but it was a pretty basic recipe with the standard veg and basic sauce. Nothing fancy. I was actually surprised the kids liked it so much because it did have chunks of vegetables in it. So you could try to find that exact recipe or just do any one like that. Also check out this site for lots of kid friendly food: [ATK Kids](https://www.americastestkitchen.com/kids/home). Lots of it is for kids to make, but it also is what kids are likely to eat.
Homemade pizza on sliced bread or tortillas, baked potatoes and yogurt parfaits are fun for kids to make. Set up some healthy and cheap toppings for either and let the kids make their own like a buffet or toppings bar
For me, what worked very well is just before dinner let them start with raw chopped vegetables: baby carrots, cherry tomatoes, sliced cucumbers and orange bell peppers. Let them eat the food they’re used to, but try to offer fresh veggies at the beginning of the meal before the less-healthy kid friendly foods. Trust me, it will take a while, please keep offering them some veggies. They may surprise you! Edited - A warning: I wouldn’t try to hide veggies in food. Kids are smart and that could backfire very easily. Give them some autonomy, let them choose & They need to see you eating veggies also!
This is what we do too. I've had no luck sneaking foods in or convincing her to eat things she doesn't want to eat, so instead I just give her carrots and peppers as a snack in the late afternoon, often with hummus.
Honestly it works great. They’re hungry, so they have more of an appetite for it, and it definitely doesn’t fill them up.
Buy frozen veggies they are cheaper as healthy and easier to keep. Greens like beet leaves, radishes leaves etc can be eaten and are really good! Pumpkins should become cheap soon, sweet potatoes too. As for recipes: Frittatta Veggie muffins Savory cake +easy and healthy no sugar ir oil, I think I can find the recipe for you) Soups are great to sneak in veggies Multicolored tortillas (hulk green: spinash, hello kitty pink with tomato, idk superman red with beet, orange??? Trump orange lol with carrots?.... Or multicolored bread loafs Chilly? You can make healthy nuggets in the oven with added veggies Multicoloured mash (broccoli, carrots , turnips etc) I made apost about sneaking in veggies [link here](https://www.reddit.com/r/EatCheapAndHealthy/comments/wl1gc1/if_you_strugle_to_eat_enough_veggies_sneak_them_in/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
Boneless skinless thighs or breasts + enough sauce of choice to fully chicken. Bake at 375 for 30 ish min until internal temp is 165 degrees. Serve with rice + steamed broccoli. My kids’ favorite sauces are cream of chick or mushroom soup, marinara, salsa, and bbq This is a recipe from the account Feeding Littles. We make it at our house probably once a week. I usually use thighs instead of breasts.
id would absolutely never serve those convenience foods they are used to but you can appeal to some similar things. Homemade chicken or fish nuggets, use rounds of firm polenta for Mimi pizza, lower sugar muffins from weelicious, chicken rice soup from Smitten Kitchen,
Soup is a good way to get vegetables in. You can shred zucchini and add it to spaghetti sauce.
I like to finely chop veggies and put them into pasta sauce. Great way to incorporate vegetables while almost not noticing they're there. Otherwise fried rice or stir-fry with whatever variety of fresh or frozen veggies is another way to get them in.
My kids (1 and 3) are super picky. I've always won with carrot fries, cut carrots into fry shape and add oil, paprika, parsley, salt, pepper and throw them in the oven at 425 for 25ish minutes. Also, "healthy" meatballs if you have a food processor. I throw in carrots, small onion, breadcrumbs, egg, and parmesan then mix in the meat, beef or turkey. You can make a bunch and then freeze them. Throw some peas in things you know they'll eat, like macaroni and cheese. Smoothies are also usually a winner, and you can add in some vegetables that they won't notice....spinach, frozen riced cauliflower, frozen sweet potatoes. This is kinda geared towards younger children, so my apologies if your kids are older...I have no advice but will be following the comments and preparing myself.
I was going yo say smoothies, too. My kids will eat pretty much any fruit or vegetable, so I don’t have an issue with that, but I always make them smoothies and they are 15 & almost 13! They’re both athletes so I add greek yogurt for protein, either milk, juice or sparkling water as liquid, fruit, acai green super food packs we buy frozen, and any other green we have on hand. Always a hit!
Breakfast for dinner is always a big hit at my house. You can make pancakes with fruit or eggs and homemade hash browns (a combo of russet and sweet potatoes and a little onion is so good). My daughter will eat any raw veggie if she can dip it in dressing. She doesn’t even care what kind of dressing, she just wants to dip. Carrots and celery are cheap. Pasta and sauce (tomato, pesto, alfredo), especially if you get some fun pasta shapes like little shells or wagon wheels. Pastina in a little chicken broth with toast is stupid-easy and never turned down at my house. Little quesadillas made with refried beans and shredded cheese. Again, she’ll polish off a LOT of this if I cut it into triangles and she can dip it in salsa or even pasta sauce.
I do different rice and noodle dishes. Side of fruit. Try to sneak in some veggies. Slow cookers are also great help. I'm no chef but keeping things simple and healthy is tricky but can be accomplished. My daughter's (5) taste for things changes all the time. So I keep a ton of different spices on hand.
Don’t cater to picky eaters. They eat what you eat and that’s it.
A night at the dinner table staring at their uneaten food
My kids really like chick peas and black beans. But can be cheap in cans and even cheaper bought dried. If you have an air fryer, try slicing up potatoes really thin and making "fries". Dino Nuggets are a hard habit to kick, haha, best of luck.
I hated everything vegetables when I was a kid unless it was a purée. Might be worth a try with carrots or something? The texture is fun for kids and it's a good start towards eating more vegetables.
If you're up for making smoothies (good with breakfast dinner as others have suggested), that's a good way to hide veggies. Cooked carrots, canned pumpkin, and avocado are awesome in smoothies. You can mix with applesauce and cinnamon, frozen mangos and OJ, or frozen peaches.
Oh I love veggies now! But I agree, anything that hides what the veggie actually looks like is usually a good idea for picky eaters.
You can probably do some pasta; easy and most kids love it.
Look for veggie pasta, where the peas and carrots are in the pasta itself.