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Getting 3 year old to eat more variety

11 replies

bt1234 · 17/09/2026 19:34

My 3 year old was an ok eater. It helped that she was at nursery so had 3 meals a day there with a nice mixture of meals with vegetables. She used to eat a fair few different things. It meant that we only needed to give her snacks in the evening so we mainly gave her yoghurt, fruit, cheese and crackers etc
We've been on holiday this week and we've struggled to get her to eat anything other than chips whilst we've been eating out. We've bought fruit and yoghurt and bread/cheese/ham for snacks and she's eaten them too.
I'm determined when we get home to work on expanding her diet and reintroducing vegetables. Any tips?
I was wondering about getting a blender/ninja and making pasta sauces and soups with veg?
Also I'm a bad cook, my partner does most of the cooking normally, but I want to take a lead on this as I feel really strongly about it.
It's the usual situation of having less than an hour between getting home and starting bedtime so that also factors in

OP posts:
sarah0106 · 17/09/2026 19:51

hidden veg pasta goes down a treat with my fussy 3 year old who wasn’t fussy 5 months ago an would eat anything that was out
down to him, now it’s “no like that” “no like peas” “no like carrots” “no like trees” (broccoli) I’ll send the recipe

sarah0106 · 17/09/2026 19:54

uoi can batch cook and freeze the pasta sauce so would just need defrosted and pasta boiled.

what about home made smoothies? With some different fruits in. Take her to the shop let her pick 3 fruits and then have a “smoothie day” where you make and try different ones

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Russetboots · 18/09/2026 01:53

The best way to get her to eat more variety is to eat the same food yourself at the table. Changing habits is difficult, so might take up to a dozen times to get them to eat something different, but they will eventually.

You could make homemade kebabs, baked chicken goujons and veg fritters - 3 year olds often like holding food and dipping. Serve these with a variety of veg.

BansheeOfTheSouth · 18/09/2026 02:25

Different presentation is always a good idea, cutting fruit and veg into little star shapes was popular for ours. Bento boxes were a big hit too, especially colour coded ones. Kids were happy to crunch on raw red cabbage alongside blueberries and grapes. We used huge colourful rainbow arrays at parties too. Plenty of veg can be cut into "chips" or baked crisps.
Mashed swede and carrot in pumpkin shapes with baked halloumi fries was a special treat favourite.

Hidden veg isn't limited to sauces. Brightly coloured soups and smoothies make food an adventure too. Cauliflower in mash potato was so successful, none of us eat mash without it now. Even better when we get free cauliflower from friends and our own potatoes.

Baking egg muffins with toddlers gets them involved too, sprinkling and mixing in very well chopped veg is fun and the result looks like cake not veg.

bt1234 · 18/09/2026 07:03

These are all fantastic ideas thank you so much!
I already feel less panicky!
Are there any good cookbooks around aimed at getting veg into children?

OP posts:
bt1234 · 18/09/2026 07:04

Plus she does love sauces so dipping veg in different shapes into sauces is a great idea!
We're going away in 6 months for 3 weeks and I can't barely the idea of her eating just chips for 3 weeks!

OP posts:
Persephonia1966 · 18/09/2026 07:08

My son liked pirate mash. It's called pirate mash because it's golden like pirates gold but it's mashed potatoes, carrot and sweet potatoes with cheddar cheese stirred through.
You can also add mashed pumpkin to pancakes etc and it makes them softer. I bought those frozen cubes and would just pour some out and microwave them then mash with a fork and whisk into the batter
Cutting up raw veg (bell peppers, cucumber etc) and, importantly, putting it on the table about 20 minutes before actual dinner is ready so they come and snack on it while waiting. If I served the same with the rest of the food it would be overlooked.

Persephonia1966 · 18/09/2026 07:09

Sometimes also having a new vegetable on your plate not theirs is more likely to tempt them to try it.

Bobbykins · 18/09/2026 07:30

It’s really common for kids to stick to chips and yoghurts on holiday because they are so familiar. Even if they like spaghetti bolognaise, for example, the holiday version sometimes seems really different to them. So I’d take the pressure off yourself on the holiday and just think that as long as they’re not hungry, a limited diet is ok.

At home, you’ve had lots of great advice. I would add that repeating meals and giving my son a chance to get familiar with the dish has been the key for us. He rejects all new things the first couple of times!

Normandy144 · 18/09/2026 08:08

As others have suggested make it a habit to put raw veg out to snack on. My kids loved a snack plate which would include veg, fruit, olives and some protein e.g. cheese or hummus to dip.
Also while you can make hidden veg stuff it is important to just put non hidden veg on their plate. Eat together as a family the same thing and it will come in time.

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