What does your teenage boy eat?

[LightlyDusted]

Need meal inspiration for 18 year old, meat/protein boy. He’s hoping to “bulk up” but I don’t know what to put in my shopping delivery.

He likes chicken, eggs, steak, salads. I can’t think what else! Too many crisps & haribo so I need alternatives. Also too much bacon & eggs for breakfast.

Any ideas? I’m going to suggest he’s responsible for dinner once a week, too.

what do you all do?

Suggest baked chickpeas as an alternative to crisps. They contain protein and when baked go crunchy a bit like nuts. You can season with what ever you like, chilli, garlic, paprika etc.
Eggs, quick and a good source of protein. Make a big frittata and dice it up for snacking or a stash of hard boiled eggs in the fridge.
Dont forget that nuts, pulses, beans all contain protein as well as your typical animal sources. If he’s reluctant to eat them as they are, use alongside meat in dishes such as curries, bolognaise etc.
Instead of eggs and bacon for breakfast suggest Greek yoghurt with peanut butter and fruit.
Will he eat fish? A good way to add protein variety.

What great ideas! Wow thank you @AtleastitsnotMonday. Baked chickpeas are a great idea and I did the frittata slices in the past. Yes, he loves fish - will stock up on tinned fish as well as fresh. He loves those peppered mackerel fillets in a salad as well. Will add nuts to the shopping, also peanut butter as he’s recently discovered apple slices dipped in it. He hates yoghurt, unfortunately, but you’ve reminded me that he likes those porridge pot things. Will prob just go to Aldi tomorrow & get stuff there.

hey thanks! That is so helpful - you jogged my memory!

My 14.5 year old is a bloody nightmare but has always been fussy. Breakfast is usually a large bowl if cereal with full fat milk. Lunch, which he is responsible for making, is peanut butter and jam sandwich and a cereal bar/ cake type thing. Used to take an apple but won't now. Had another bowl of cereal after school. Dinner is usually some protein and veg, think stir-fry, curry, pasta, sausages and mash. Nothing too adventurous. Then often more bloody cereal before bed. I swear if you cut him open cornflakes would pour out.

These are easy dishes on regular rotation for DS 17, 6ft 8 and still growing.

Ground beef tacos - I tweak the BBC good food recipe for a bit of variety.
500g fromage frais with granola, protein powder (groan) and chia seeds then drizzled with honey. Berries on top.
Spanish omelette made with a tub of cottage cheese stirred in for protein.
Chicken skewers with brown rice.

It’s a challenge getting as much protein as he wants into him.

@SecretFerretI wish mine would eat cereal! Would solve the feeling-filled-up thing he complains about. Maybe nuts are a way forwards. Cake bars would help too but he seems to have a love/hate relationship with them. Oh I forgot about stir fries, will add to list, and he likes sausage pasta a lot. Thanks for ideas.

@ZimniyWow 6ft 8!!! Thanks for ideas. I asked him earlier and he mentioned tacos, which I’d forgotten about. I sometimes serve them with rice and kidney beans or black eyed peas, must be good for protein too. Great idea about extra cottage cheese in omelettes. Yes, the extra protein loads are hard work, especially as I don’t want too feed him much red meat. You’ve reminded me that he likes the sandwich toaster as well. Ah yes, the protein powders, urgh!

Cheese and spinach omelette

Lentil and veg soups

Cottage cheese with blueberries

Chickpea and tuna salads

Pork meatballs in tomato sauce with jacket potatoes

Salmon, sweet potato and veg

Less pasta, bread and flour based products, more natural sources of fibre and protein

So think potato and butter nut squash instead of rice, for example

Chicken curry, Lasagne, tacos/fajitas and homemade pizza (with shop bought pizza bases!) are big hits in our house. Also spice bags with chicken strips/goujons, red onion, red pepper, spice bag seasoning and chips made out of potatoes. Chicken and stuffing sandwiches also

My ds loves red & yellow peppers stuffed with parslied sausage meat and baked.
Or Omelette with grated cheese and cherry tomatoes, or Spanish omelettes.
Salmon cream pasta (wholemeal) with brocolli

For snacks, I hard boil eggs and he eats them with salad. Smoked mackerel fillets, home made wholemeal bread with olive oil & balsamic vinegar.

In the autumn I do a mix of toasted oats, creme fraiche and blackberries which he eats while blackberries are still in season. We have an apple tree so I dry slices of apple and freeze them. They make good chewy snacks

He eats a huge amount, is over six foot and still only 16. He hasn't started to bulk out yet. Feeding him is expensive so anything I can grow or pick for free is a bonus.

I'll give the pp's baked chickpeas a try. 🙂

My 14 yo has granola, berries (frozen) and full fat Greek yoghurt for breakfast which fills him up until he can bankrupt me in the school cafeteria at break time.

Recent evening snacks include peanut butter on a sliced apple, or peanut butter and apple on sourdough. I blame You Tube for this dish.

Get some cartons of egg whites, full of protein and he can add them to scrambled eggs, omelettes etc for breakfast. Overnight oats is another easy breakfast.

Taco loaded sweet potatoes are good and easy to make or things like taco salad. Lots of good recipes on line for higher protein meals.

Cottage cheese is another good one, he can make protein pancakes etc. I make a lasagna from ‘my protein’ using cottage cheese for the sauce.

Those porridge pot things are a waste of money and single-use plastic! Buy him a bag of oats and he can make porridge or overnight oats with them.
Aldi do a range of protein pancakes or make his own - 50g oats blitzed with 25g plain protein powder, 100ml milk, an egg and a pinch of salt and bicarb of soda.
Tinned tuna
Aldi do some lentil crisps which are healthier than regular crisps.
Chilli bulked out with beans and chickpeas
Chicken sausages can make a change from pork ones - nice in a tray bake with roasted veg or in pasta sauces.
Babybels and hummus for snacks

My super fit health conscious teen has chicken breasts, steak, tuna steak, salmon in lime juice with a variety of salad leaves, broccoli, carrots, peas, mixed vegetables, mederterain vegetables like red onion, courgettes, aubergine, and red, yellow and orange peppers baked in a tray with a small drizzle of olive oil. He will eat an omelette either plain or with cheese. He loves home made lasagne with minced steak. He loves ratatouille. He eats lots of fruit at least 3 or 4 portions everyday from a variety of grapes, strawberries, raspberries, melon, apples, bananas, nectarines etc. He eats lots of frozen fruit in smoothies. He eats one portion of carbs each day so either rice, couscous, baby boiled potatoes, a medium jacket potato or a very occasional blob of mashed potato or a single slice of pizza. He won't eat chips, anything fried or any junk food. He says I'm not putting that junk in my mouth.

Loving these ideas! Thank you soooo much. Glad I’m not alone in finding it costly & time consuming to fill him up. We have chickens so tons of eggs plus apple, plum, pear trees & blackberries & raspberries, so I’m really grateful to read these replies. The porridge pot things: I’ve started just giving him 1 washed pot with some raw oats & dried fruit & he will make his own, so we’ve cut down on plastics. He adds peanut butter & sometimes Nutella. I love all these tips. I’m trying to steer him away from bacon, ham, salami. He eats absolutely tons of fruit & veg and healthy stuff but will also tuck into bags of crisps & cured meats/olives 5 minutes later. Going to cut back on buying those. If I buy Babybels he eats them all in one go. I get a selection of cheeses instead & make him what he calls a “platter” with crackers, cucumber & carrot sticks, hommous etc. oh yes must buy that, too.

ohhh just remembered noodles. Might get some small packets of prawns for him to add to those, too.

Mine is asd but he will eat industrial quantities of cereal and milk, industrial quantities of fruit, almost every fruit, and cheese toasties. Meals roast dinner with chicken, turkey, beef or gammon, roast potatoes, yorkshire, brocolli. Sausage and mash with a veg like peas in pods. Fish, baked beans and chips. Any cooked fish with potatoes and 1 veg. Cottage pie with carrots and peas in it. Hot dogs. Red Thai curry and rice. Chicken korma and rice. Peshwari naan bread. Chicken kiev, veg, potatoes. Steak pie, veg, potatoes. Jacket potato with beans and cheese.

When my 2 dbros were teenagers DM went through at least 6 pints of milk a day plus 2 loaves of bread.

Chicken risotto
chile con carne
spag bol
steak n chips
chicken curry
chicien kievs
roast
sausage n mash
shepherds Pie
home made kebabs in wraps with Homous
burgers
burritos
tacos
stirfry with chicken/ beef

Protein shakes with peanut butter, protein powder, yogurt every morning

Peanut butter with banana on toast
cheese toasties

My young adult boys eat on repeat:
eggs
chicken
salami
yoghurt (pots and pots)
cereal
nuts
fruit
peanut butter
tuna
mackerel
soup
tomatoes
spinach
and then whatever meal we have in the evening cooked by DH so meat and veg, curry and rice, bolognese, meat balls, plain but clean and tasty