Picky Eaters: How to Make Nutrition Taste Good for Kids

Every parent wants to know the secret – how do you make kids want to eat nutritious foods? How can you make food interesting for kids? And how can you help picky eaters eat better? We have lots of tips that can help make mealtime easier for you and can help your kiddos enjoy their food!

How do you make picky kids eat?

First things first, you can’t force picky kids to eat. Think how you would feel if someone forced you to eat something you didn’t feel like eating. Not so great, right? But don’t fret! There are still lots of things you can do to help your picky kid eat:

Remove the stress

In general, kids will eat when they feel hungry and not pressured. One thing you can do is reduce your own worry about them eating – this alone can help a lot. Mealtimes shouldn’t be a battleground or a stressful event. One way to make mealtime less stressful is to stop talking about food at meals. Instead, talk about your day, a new book or show, or activities you may want to do in the future as a family.

Food and mealtimes are meant to be enjoyed so as much as you can remove the stress from mealtimes, the happier your kiddo (and you!) will be.

Offer a few options

By offering a few different foods at meals, your kiddo can find something they want to eat. When you can, offer meals that naturally come in several parts. An example would be chicken with a side of rice and a side of broccoli. This way your child can have choices of which foods they want to eat.

It’s important to know kids may need to be offered a certain food 8-10 times before they will try it. Putting just a small amount on the plate allows your child the option to try it, without the chance of wasting a large amount of the food. You can always give them more if they like it!

And remember, offering a few different options is not the same as being a short-order cook! If you’ve prepared a meal, you do not need to make something last minute at the whim of every family member. However, it can be helpful to plan ahead and include one food you know your kiddo will like. As we discussed above, this makes mealtimes more pleasant, and your child is still being exposed to new foods by seeing you eat them!

Accept that tastes vary and change

Accept that your family may not like everything – it’s rare for any one person to like ALL foods. And that’s okay. Our tastes change over time, and the same goes for your children! By exposing them to healthy foods over and over, they will be more likely to try it and even if they don’t like a certain food one day, they may another day. The key is to not force it or make mealtimes stressful.

How can you make food interesting for kids?

There are several ways to get kids, even picky eaters, more interested in meals! Here are a few tips to help meals and snacks be interesting for your kiddo:

Make it your own

Try meals where your kid gets to choose which topping(s) they want on their food. For example, in a make-your-own taco bar, set out all the ingredients for tacos. Everyone can choose which toppings they want. The same can work for burrito fillings, baked potato bars, salad bars, or rice bowls.

When you make meals with sauces, put the sauce on the side (if possible). This way, your little one can top their own meal with however much or little they like. This includes toppings like pasta sauce, salad dressings, chutneys, or salsas.

This or that

Kids are interested in food when they are a part of the decision-making. One way to get your l’il one involved is by offering two options for them to choose between when you can. For example, you can give your child the choice of which shape of pasta to have with dinner. Or which color of apple to slice for snack. Another idea is giving your child a choice between two toppings for their oatmeal: fruit or nuts. Having them make even small decisions allows them to feel more in control of their food, and more interested in what they eat!

Fun with cookie cutters

Cookie cutters can be used to transform a wide variety of foods into fun shapes. Sandwiches are automatically more fun in cool shapes like a large star or heart. You can use this cookie cutter idea for other foods too! Thin slices of meatloaf or baked sweet potatoes can also be cut into fun shapes. If your child is old enough, they can use the cookie cutter too! Just make sure to use cookie cutters without sharp edges.

How can you make food appetizing for kids?

Just like adults, kids eat with their eyes. So if a food looks appetizing, it is more likely to be tried. If you have the bandwidth, you can set the table creatively, use fun kid-friendly plates, or have a variety of colors of food. But if you don’t have the time or energy, don’t worry! Kids are mostly impacted by having a calm, relaxed atmosphere at the family table. What is key is not to assume that just because your child rejected a food once, they won’t try it another day.

Cooking methods matter

It turns out that for many foods how you cook the food can make a big difference in how it tastes. This is especially true for vegetables. If your kids don’t like a particular vegetable, try cooking it differently or in a different type of recipe. For example, if they don’t like broccoli on its own, try dicing it small and putting it into a pasta sauce or in a frittata. For many vegetables, roasting vegetables works much better than boiling or steaming.

One great example of this is brussels sprouts. Boiled brussels sprouts can have a strong, unpleasant smell. However, if you roast brussels sprouts, they turn into delicious, caramelized yumminess! You can roast lots of other vegetables you may not have thought of like: cabbages, beets, tomatoes, mushrooms, broccoli, and cauliflower.

Avoid overcooking

Children’s tastebuds can be sensitive to both tastes and textures, including burnt, dry, or mushy food. For example, if your kiddo is sensitive to mushy foods, consider cooking pasta al dente rather than until very soft. For meat, it’s important to cook it just right so it’s not undercooked and potentially unsafe or overcooked and dry. The USDA provides guidelines on internal cooking temperatures so your food is cooked appropriately, but not overcooked.

Kid-friendly dinner ideas for picky eaters

Looking for great dinner ideas for kids? While it’s not so easy to know which recipes are going to work with your kiddo, a good thing to remember is “try, try, and try again!” Ask friends and family for recipe ideas that they’ve enjoyed and look online for kid-friendly recipes that sound good to you.

Here are some easy dinner ideas for kids that are picky-eater-friendly:

• Breakfast for dinner: Serving pancakes or waffles for dinner, including scrambled eggs, fruit, and sausages, makes a flavorful meal. Kids often enjoy the silliness of having a breakfast meal for dinner.
• Make your own pizzas: Using bagels or English muffins as the pizza base, you can offer a variety of toppings like roasted vegetables, olives, diced peppers, and cheeses for your kids to choose from. These types of pizzas only take a few minutes to bake in the oven.
• Soup-er bowl: Serve a hearty soup along with bread on the side. Even if your kiddo doesn’t like the soup that is offered, they can enjoy the bread.
• “Fancy” cheese plate: Offer a variety of cheese, crackers, fruit, and salad arranged on a platter and let everyone choose which of the items they want to eat.
• Sandwich smorgasbord: Spread out a variety of sandwich fillings, types of bread, sandwich toppers, and condiments and let everyone create a sandwich the way they want.
• Ask your kiddo to plan the next dinner: They can look through cookbooks or magazines to pick out something that looks tasty to them. Letting them be engaged with food selection can often help reduce pickiness.

Multivitamins can help support picky eaters

If you aren’t sure your kiddo is getting what they need from food, talk to your healthcare provider to see if they could benefit from taking a multivitamin . L’il Critters offers delicious gummy vitamins that make taking a daily multivitamin tasty, delicious, and stress-free:

• L’il Critters Gummy Vites: a daily multivitamin to support health and development in a variety of delicious flavors, including cherry, strawberry, orange, pineapple, and blueberry.*
• Paw Patrol Daily Multivitamin: a tasty multivitamin shaped like your kid’s favorite characters. With 11 essential nutrients, these fun Paw Patrol character-shaped gummies come in delicious blueberry, cherry, and orange flavors.

Picky eaters? No problem!

There are lots of things you can do to make mealtimes more fun and successful for your family. Reducing the stress around food can create a positive environment that encourages your child to explore and try new foods. Offering choices and a variety of foods to your child can gradually reduce picky eating over time. When in doubt, adding a L’il Critters gummy multivitamin is a tasty and kid-approved way to help ensure they get the nutrients they need every day. With a bit of creativity and encouragement, your l’il one can learn to enjoy a wide range of nutritious foods!

Brought to you by the L’il Critters™ nutrition experts.