2 year old won't eat - hit me with your easiest toddler meals

[MrsG2017]

Hey Mumsnetters

Thought it might be nice for us all to share our quick win easy go to meals - breakfast lunches or dinners .... what gets your little ones eating !

So fed up of the Instagram world where everyone is perfect and kiddies are eating all the star shaped veggies put in front of them... this is the real world

What do your toddlers love ?? Nuggets and all :-) xxx

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Hope this helps! MNHQ

My almost 2.5 year old was a fab eater. But for about ten months, all he will eat is : porridge, toast/any bread product, fruit, yoghurt, chips/wedges/waffles and cheese pizza. Today he ate a soreen malt loaf snack bar thing. He will not eat anything else. It's so frustrating. He used to eat ratatouille, stew, bolognese, lasagne, curry, veg, etc. Won't touch it now.

My 2.5 year old has turned into a fussy wee toad also! Used to eat everything and now he will take one look and if he doesn't like the look of it there is no chance it's going near his mouth! It's so frustrating!

My almost 2 year old has been all for the jam sandwiches lately til we clocked that he wanted my leftovers. Now he gets exactly what we have on a "grown up plate" with a "grown up fork" like me and DH. He still eats better at nursery than at home but it's helped

Mine likes those ready made kiddy pizzas (the healthy low salt ones). I load them up with fresh veg and extra cheese. Avocado and egg on toast is another winner. Pasta is always a good choice, with tomato purée and bits of ham, or pesto and frozen peas. He also goes crazy for tinned oranges, or cream cheese on toast.

Mine love ‘design your own’ pasta, where I make a bowl of pasta and then they choose what to add to it. Maybe ham, bits of leftover chicken or chopped up mini sausages or salami, peas, sweetcorn, cut up cherry tomatoes, etc. Then they choose a sauce (or not): pesto, creme fraiche, mayo, tomato sauce. Mix it up, add grated cheese and done!

One I do quite a lot is basically ratatouille (onion, corgette, aubergine, peppers, tin of toms, stock, cumin/paprika) but purée it and sling it over pasta with some grated cheese. Both mine woof it down. But would never eat it un-puree-d!!

Baked potato with beans and cheese
Beans on toast
Sausages with peas
Pasta with cream cheese and peas
... I need help too!

Love the ‘design your own pasta’ idea above

My ate everything baby now 2.5 year old eats- fish fingers, sausages, sweet potato (sometimes), peas (sometimes), eggy bread, weatabix, toast, all fruit, milk, wheat crackers, peanut butter ..

I add a good helping of milled chia seeds to weatabix & hemp seeds to the wholemeal eggy bread. I also add good glug of milk to the egg for calcium. I buy 100% peanut butter & 98% pork sausages in some attempt to keep her diet a bit healthier. Dried fruit tends to go down well here during fussy periods, she currently won’t eat fresh banana but will eat dried!

But such a struggle.. won’t even eat things like sandwiches, pizza, regular chips, pasta, rice, beans, potato in other forms, yoghurt, cheese!

Does eat a lot better at nursery.. 🙄

I have a very fussy 2 year old. Mainly dinners are a struggle. All he will eat at dinner is plain omelette, plain pasta, mini pizza, chicken nuggets, potato smileys/chips.

He is better with breakfast and lunch. He eats most cereals, yoghurt, most fruit, cream cheese sandwiches, toast with butter or marmelade, cucumber, carrot sticks, toddler crisps, any overpriced toddler snack.

Going to try some of the dinners suggested upthread and wondering if I should just cut out the middle man and throw it all straight in the recycling bin

I found getting mine to "help" prepare the food helped enormously, washing veg ( not chopping) mixing seiving etc. They could nibble on the raw carrots etc. I also used to sneak extra veg that they said they didn't like into pasta sauce such as celery then blend it. Also my HV said look at what they've eaten over a week rather than just a day and it maybe more balanced than you thought.

I can put money on my DS not eating it the longer I've spent preparing it. He used to eat anything, his little brother now eats everything but I won't feel smug ever again. The beiger, the better basically. Used to love pizza till he found oregano on one. A green travesty. He'll eat pasta with tomato puree (which tastes terrible to me), stew and rice if everything in it is stewed till brown/dark beige, spag bol...that's about it actual food wise. Snacks are all welcome. Sorry OP, no amazing recipes but know you're not alone.

McDonalds, waffles, crisps.... lollipops!
As a 5 year old, my only fussy eater out of our five DC, is much better but still doesn’t eat a huge variety x

Easy banana pancakes!
Mash a banana. Whisk in an egg. Spoon small dollops into an oiled pan and cook for a few minutes each side.
Sweet, full of protein, leftovers keep well in fridge.
Add cinnamon, cocoa or peanut butter to keep it interesting.

Pasta bake, beans on toast and macaroni cheese are the only things my two year old will eat. But even then it’s not very consistent, sometimes he will only have two bites. He will eat some fruit but what he likes changes almost daily. He likes yoghurt but only out of a pouch, pots are unacceptable!
He would eat crisps and crackers all day long given the choice. I’ve managed to get him to eat sandwiches using sandwich thins. And oddly he quite likes hummus, he just eats it off the spoon.

I have absolutely no help or advice. My 2 year old changes what he likes/doesnt like daily.

For example, made his favourite breakfast of porridge with peanut butter and raisins today and it was wolfed down followed by a whole banana. Yesterday the same porridge landed on my walls/carpet and the day before a banana was squished to a pulp in his little hulk hand.

Today for his snack before nap he ate an entire mini cucumber (the kids ones from lidl) a mini red and yellow pepper, blueberries and some cheese. Other days this will not be acceptable and the plate will be launched across the room.

Some days he wants buttered toast and ketchup to dip it in, other days he ate just wants to eat ketchup with his fingers. On a rare occasion he will have the aforementioned squashed banana on toast. Some days beans are ok, and some days they are chewed a little and spat out.

Strangely dinners arent too bad. Some days only beige freezer food will do, other days curry or bolognese is like the best thing ever.

I really dont know what to give him one day to the next. I think its kind of normal.

You are my people!
At the moment, Weetabix, toast, bagels, baked beans (but not on the toast), pasta with tomato sauce (I make it with veg) and toddler crisp puffs. Bananas if the wind is blowing in the right direction.

Unless it's served by nursery, in which case it is entirely acceptable.

Also feeling the struggle.

Cheese is always welcome (nature cheddar or the odd Babybel), porridge, low sugar Cheerios, chopped up apple apple, grapes, blueberries, pasta, pizza, toast, maybe some baked beans, a rogue sausage. Bagel with peanut butter. Yorkshire puddings. And the odd tablespoon of peas and sweet corn.

That's pretty much my 2.5 year olds diet in its entirety.

Not sure what nature cheddar is. 🌳 🍂

Mac and cheese.
Baby Bolognese
Scrambled eggs
Tapas : pita bread, chesse cubes, cucumber sticks

For example, made his favourite breakfast of porridge with peanut butter and raisins today a

^^

This is what it sounds like, right? Porridge, peanut butter, few raisins, bobs yer uncle?

I'm so glad to have found this thread. My DD (2.5) has also become a fusspot, after eating anything and everything from 6 months old!

Staples are pasta and pesto, chicken casserole (leftover roast chicken plus some frozen veg mixed up with stock or tomato sauce), bolognese with rice or spaghetti, meatballs (Aldi sell mini ones which are great for kids portion). Her absolute favourite atm is fish fingers.

As pp say though, half the time she refuses what I've made and ends up with toast!

My latest go to quick meal is pasta with cheese and broccoli.... I microwave a couple of florets of broccoli (or reheat leftovers from previous day), mash it, mix with grated cheese and stir into hot pasta!

Waffles cut into fingers are also a favourite in our house!

Give him raw vegetable sticks - pepper, carrot, tomato, whatever - while the pasta is cooking. Serve the pasta with pesto and some cheese sticks or baby bel.

glad it's not just me
Ds 2yo used to eat pretty much anything except whole veg that wasn't finely chopped or hidden well but more recently is becoming more and more fussy and I'm struggling to make sure his diet is balanced.
he loves yogurt, fruit, cheese and toast
sometimes porridge or weetabix
occasionally banana pancakes
used to love pasta and rice but now seems to only want the toddler ready meal versions instead of my homemade ones and don't get me started on if I dare open the yogurt lid or babybel for him. I currently have a collection of rejected yogurts sat in the fridge because they were offered sans lid.

I feel for you - my now fussy eater will eat steak (🙄), egg fried rice with amai sauce, plain pasta, cucumber and broccoli. “Crunchy” chicken and fish fingers and sometimes pizza 🤬 it’s so frustrating. We do sometimes get a cheese/ham sandwich in.