Fussy Teen - did yours grow out of it?

[storminabuttercup]

I'm so bored of cooking meals my 13 yo will eat, he's what I consider fussy but happy to get others perspectives.

As a baby and toddler he would eat anything then school happened and he's been fussy since and just refuses to try much 'new' things

He is great with most veg, the basic salad stuff and fruit. But not onions, mushrooms or peppers

Won't eat anything in a 'sauce' so nothing like curry, stir fry's, Chinese type things. Will eat spag Bol or tomato pasta bake and gravy type things, oh and chip shop curry

Happily eats fish and prawns but only plain or battered/breadcrumbed

Will eat plain meat like steak, chicken etc and will eat seasoned chicken like tikka occasionally

But that's it. So we mostly live on things that are just so dull, he's got no additional needs except being a fussy little sod.

So my question is did your teen just grow out of it or was there a tactic you used I can try.

I still cook me and DP tasty stuff a few times a week and always offer ds a try, but he either refuses or tries the tiniest bit and says he hates it so he has something plain and simple

I also know this is a huge first world problem hence posting in food just for tips 😀

He’s old enough to cook simple things for himself. I’d cook what you like (enough for all of you), and if he wants to be a fusspot he can cook himself some beige stuff.

Very good point and he'd be ok with that

He doesn’t sound fussy tbh. He eats all meat, fish, prawns, all but 3 veg, eats sauces (just not Chinese ones and prefers one curry) and spices. Just let him pick the peppers and mushroom out, and make himself something different if you’re having Chinese/ curry.

I also don’t think that sounds fussy. Well, certainly not in comparison to my 12 year old 😂

When my younger one was young (sort of 9/10 age) he would only eat things beginning with 'c'...cauliflower, cabbage, chips, chilli chocolate etc. But then as a teen he restricted to only 'ch'....chicken, cheese, chilli, chocolate, chips. After uni he now loves cooking (he is better than me!) and eats (virtually) anything. It's a phase.

Bit of a mixed bag on responses, he does seem fussy compared to his friends but appreciate he's not mega fussy

I love the only eating C things 😀