Give me your failsafe meals for fussy eaters!! Older kids

[sdra]

My 6 and 8 year old are so fussy and have different tastes which doesn't help. I want to create a rotation of 3 weeks worth of failsafe easy but fairly healthy (doesn't matter if a few are not) meals. Hit me with your winning dishes that you go to time and time again! Anything I can batch cook gets extra points.

What won't they eat?

Tuna pasta bake
toad in hole
home made burgers
any kind of risotto
home made pizza
fajitas
chicken curry
any kind of noodle stir fry

I recommend you look at Gousto’s recipes online!

Meatballs
Bolognaise
Chicken curry
Sausage cowboy casserole
Fajitas

In my house:
Sausage pasta bake
Fajitas/tacos/enchiladas
Stir fry and noodles
Macaroni cheese
Toad in the hole
Hunters chicken
Pulled pork

Surely it all depends on what they like. Other peoples 'failsafe meals' might be the very things they detest.

Meals with lots of elements they can help themselves to.
Tonight there'll be marinated chicken, lettuce, baby spinach, peppers, pineapple salsa, cheese, tomatoes, red onion, cucumber, radishes, coriander, coleslaw and sour cream with pitta breads.

They take what they want, ignore what they don't and leftovers can just go on the fridge for another day.

Over the years the failsafe meals in our house changed as the DC grew but at the moment carbonara, steak and chips, enchiladas, saag paneer and a chopped mixed salad and the 5 dishes that will always be eaten by everyone in the house.
Enchiladas and saag paneer can be premade and frozen.

When my kids were growing up I never knew any of their friends turn up their noses at chicken parmigiana. Basically pizza flavoured chicken. (If you are Googling it's the sort popular in Australia as opposed to the North East)

Home made fish cakes are a winner here,make a batch for the freezer. We switch between sweet potato, tuna red onion and red pepper or more traditional cod, regular mash, dill and parsley.

Do similar with homemade falafel, I do a mix of chickpeas with sweet potato and some mild spices.

Chicken skewers, chopped chicken breasts marinated in honey and mustard, lemon juice and herbs, dusted with paprika etc threaded on skewers with peppers, cherry tomatoes (courgette, onion, mushroom if they'll eat them). Serve with flat breads and salad.

And nacho chicken! I always make this when I have salsa cheese to use up. Literally just butterfly chicken breasts, in an oven proof dish, top with salsa, then sprinkle on crushed tortilla chips and grated cheese. Stick it in the oven!

We also do our own Nando’s, marinade the chicken breasts in Nando’s marinade (choose your level of heat as usual). We put it in a ciabatta with salad. Big hit!

North East, specifically Middlesbrough is parmo, NOT parmesan, big difference.

Ours have evolved too but the failsafes have always been

Spaghetti bolognese
Pasta with jar sauce, hot dog sausages and sweetcorn
Pizza
Lasagne and garlic bread
Chicken nuggets, potato smiles and veg
Chicken fried rice

Then recently weirdly, curry? I've always liked it and nobody else has but recently they're all chomping my arm off for it!

Sweet and sour chicken with rice and brocolli
Cottage pie
Chilli con carne with rice

These were some which always get moans but are generally eaten.

My son is developing into a total fusspot and we are trying to do similar things to you - I really need a good rotation so I know there's some healthy meals in there! _myfirstmeals on instagram is fab - she always makes stuff that's quick and uses very few and common ingredients (maybe been better for my 18 month old although she does eat everything!)

Our hits for my son are:

-Mince and mashed potatoes (with carrot and onion - seems so boring but he loves it!)
-Loves chicken curry at school which I've not quite sussed out how to recreate at home (my coconut milk version wasn't as big a hit haha)
-Irish stew and potatoes
-sausage casserole
-Homemade pizza (I think because he helps to make it too - I make the dough with 200g plain flour, 8g yeast powder, tablespoon of olive oil, pinch of salt and sugar and about 100ml of warm water (add more if too thick/more flour if too runny), that'll make 2 pizza bases, stick on your toppings and 10 mins in oven.
-giving brocolli/carrots/sweetcorn as a veg if he has nuggets/chips
-spaghetti bolognese
-pasta and sauce (he'll eat literally any veg if I blend it into a tomato pasta sauce)
-baked bean quesadillas (mash up beans, I sometimes add a bit of tomato puree or aforementioned mixed veg pasta sauce if I have it), oil in a frying pan, lay in a tortilla wrap, spread the mixture over half the wrap , sprinkle with cheese and fold over. After a couple of minutes flip it until the wrap is crispy then cut into wedges to serve (don't over fill them as they are a bit sloppy!)

thanks for all the recommendations so far. Sorry I should have said they generally like pasta, but would eat just pasta. No sauce. A whiff of veg and bleurgh. If I whizz it up so it's smooth sauce that's better.
One likes fish the other doesn't. Neither like chicken. Beef one likes. Ham is ok. They enjoy quorn. Jackets are fine with cheese and beans. Rice is good, but similar - they will eat it plain but no bits in. For example yesterday I did rice with tiny chopped veg in and they rejected. It's so infuriating. My go tos are

Spag bol
Meatballs
Fishfingers/quorn sausages, potatoes and green veg
Pasta pesto
Picky tea - bread, cheese, cucumber etc
Soup

Some favourites in our household

www.eatingwell.com/recipe/269135/loaded-cauliflower-casserole/

www.nigella.com/recipes/butternut-and-sweet-potato-soup

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/chicken-mushroom-hot-pot

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/chicken-sweetcorn-soup

www.eatingwell.com/recipe/275923/creamy-chicken-noodle-soup-with-rotisserie-chicken/

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/creamy-ham-leek-mushroom-spaghetti

carlsbadcravings.com/greek-chicken-marinade-recipe/

www.southernliving.com/syndication/king-ranch-chicken

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/sausage-ragu

thelemonbowl.com/slow-cooker-vegetable-curry-with-chickpeas/

www.nigella.com/recipes/slatterns-spaghetti

www.eatingwell.com/recipe/251250/spanakopita-loaded-potatoes/

www.nigella.com/recipes/sunshine-soup

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/super-smoky-bacon-tomato-spaghetti

www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/sweet-potato-macaroni-and-cheese

tags.news.com.au/prod/newskey/generator.html?origin=https%3a%2f%2fwww.delicious.com.au%2frecipes%2fjamie-olivers-sicilian-lentil-olive-ragu%2f696af6cc-ad34-45cc-8911-6951b46afef6&16528083798728089

My really fussy one likes vegan shawarma and we have that in flatbreads with homemade wedges. She also likes hummus and grated carrot wraps. Tacos are usually popular too. But I think she’d live on pesto pasta if she could. Her Christmas dinner this year was pesto pasta with broccoli 🙄

My fussy one would not have touched 95% of this stuff. At age of OP's children, the choices would have been

carrots & baked parsnip &
marguerita pizza or chips or plain no sauce rice or plain no sauce pasta &
most meats & even eggs, fish, to be fair, as long as plain

That's it. Rest of us had meals built around those options.

It's still basically what DS eats as a teen, but with addition of peas & brocoli as veg choices. Ketchup.

I’m following with interest - I have 1 veggie kid (who to be fair has at least has become open-minded enough to try new veggie meals, but it’s an added dynamic to cater accordingly at each meal, although we seem to having more veggie meals as a result), the real fusspot has about 6 meals that are eaten with enjoyment (the rest I’ve placed a ban on negative remarks at the table, so he might be inwardly fuming but at least the rest of us don’t get dragged down doomsville lane)

• spag bol /pasta and tomato sauce
• cottage pie (peas on the side)
• old El Paso Smokey bbq fajitas (must be OEP, do not deviate with any homemade travesties 😵‍💫)
• any marguerita pizza
• pita hummus halloumi salad
• bangers and mash

My dream of feeding them endless Mac n cheese, fish fingers and chips, fish pie, wholesome soups and stews … in shreds

thank you all i plan on sitting down and sorting out a rotating plan as i am so over trying to think up things. If I can find 10-14 meals that work I'm happy!