Suggestions for getting toddler to eat protein please

[AngelDog]

DS doesn't really like many protein foods. He'll eat:

Shop bought fish fingers
Baked beans
Meat from a casserole / roast (particuarly red meat - chicken is more hit & miss)
Home made cheesy biscuits (sometimes hit & miss whether he'll eat them)
Yoghurt
(Occasionally) tinned tuna

He doesn't like:
Cheese (plain or melted)
Cold sandwich meat
Ham
Eggs (he's happy to try scrambled / omelette / fried / hard boiled but doesn't really like them
Spicy foods
Things mixed up

He can't eat nuts due to a suspected allergy.

He bf's so I'm not overly worried about his protein levels, but I would like to broaden his repertoire, especially since we eat veggie a lot. He often has no protein-dense foods at either breakfast or lunch.

Any ideas, other than keeping trying?

He's 2.2 in case that makes any difference.

Chicken fingers
Roast meats or slowcooked meats rather than stews
Quorn chicken style pieces
Burgers
Mince
Sausages
Lentils
Kidney beans

Tinned salmon
Hoummus
Bacon, tomato & lentil soup

My two will also sit and eat drained chickpeas as if they are popcorn, but i suspect they are a tad odd in that respect

I think he's doing well for that age to be honest. Lots of kids hate meat due to the texture and don't enjoy it until they are a lot older.

Peas and Sweetcorn have a reasonable amount of protein in I think.

have you tried eggy bread? dipped in ketchup.... that was the first egg thing my kids ate, as it doesn;t taste as strong.

And yes...leave some things out for a while, and then try again. DD is a good eater, but really diversified her tastes once she started reception and had to stay for school lunch whne she was four. DS1 is another story

Will he try prawns.....fishcakes??

Hah! Coat it in breadcrumbs

And dip in ketchup

Eggy bread.

He'll likely be getting plenty of protein, things like baked beans have loads.

What about fromage frais? Iirc a couple of them have a fair bit of protein.

Just checked -
2 small pots of petit filous has 5g protein, so about a third of daily recommended amount.

100ml milk has 3.5g, so he'll be getting plenty there.
Cereal will have 2-3g per serving.
Baked beans - 5g per 1/4 can
Even bread has 3g per slice.

Thanks for all the replies - some good ideas for me to try. I don't think he's ever had fromage frais - or ketchup. Perhaps I should give both a go (though not together!)

The breadcrumbs trick sadly doesn't work for fishcakes or veggie burgers I'll keep trying though as I reckon he'd be persuaded to eat chicken that way.

Mine both loved homemade fish and chicken fingers at that age (and still do). A bag of matzo meal can be used instead of breadcrumbs.

Also fishcakes? Perhaps meat or chicken in a sauce he likes? Chicken is nice in cheese sauce. Tomato sauce is great with loads of things.

I used to make salmon rissoles with tinned salmon (mash salmon with grated onion, tomato purée and then roll into sausages, dip in egg and matzo/breadcrumbs and shallow fry). DKs loved them.

If you roll strips of chicken breast in crushed cornflakes they stick well enough to fry - no need to faff about with flour and egg.

Does he like creamy things? I do chicken in a creamy sauce and mash or chicken & apricots in creamy mild curry sauce for DD which she loves.

Also tomato & veg pasta sauce with a big blob of Philadelphia stirred in - not cheesy just a nice shade of orange. You can also stir in tuna.

If he'll eat egg how about frittata or quiche or egg fried rice? Then you can add things he likes to it

Ah, egg-fried rice is a good idea - he loves rice.

And I like the cornflakes suggestion.

He's not a fan of sauces in general and he doesn't like fishcakes as they contain mash, which is the food of the devil, apparently. But the salmon rissoles sound good.