Ideas for a toddler who’s not keen on veg

[Inhaleexhale23]

My toddler (22m) eats loads and loads of fruit and all types. She’s got a relatively healthy diet and eats what we eat, however in the last 6 months she’s decided she doesn’t like vegetables (apart from peas & sweetcorn) and won’t touch them. I know this is common but I’ve no idea where it’s come from! We are careful what we eat/say infront of her. Is it innate?! Sometimes I think it’s stuff like Peppa saying ‘yuck carrots!’ Anyway, I digress...

Instead of constantly throwing broccoli in the bin id like to hear your best tips/recipes for getting veg into toddlers meals! Please.

Just for info, a typical meal for her would be fish or egg (we don’t eat meat) with veg and sweet potato. Veg isn’t touched apart from
Sweet potato. She always gets ‘pudding’ but this is always fruit or natural yogurt.

Thanks!

We took to sticking carrots& peppers in the blender & just blitzed until they were match head sized. Too small to pick out of casseroles, can’t even notice them in Bol or curry. Would she eat fish pie? You could blitz veg into the sauce.
With warmer weather on the way plant some veg. Even veg hating toddlers love eating peas straight from the pod in the garden. Corn on the cob are surprisingly easy to grow too.

Ds went through a long stage of not eating veg if served "naked" and not part of something else. If she eats mashed potato, we managed to reintroduce veg to ds by blending the mash with carrot or broccoli to make orange or green mash (never told him there were vegetables in it), then gradually made the veg less and less mashed until there were good sized chunks in the mashed potatoes, then served separately.

He was also ok with veg cooked in stews/gravy/curry etc.

If it's any consolidation he is 17 now and eats anything!!! Keep persevering and she'll get there eventually.

DS is 14 months and likes raw veg more than cooked veg. So every meal now contains cucumbers, different types of peppers, tomatoes, and chopped spinach. He doesn’t know it but the pasta in ‘cheese sauce’ he loves and pigs out on is usually a mix of thinly sliced courguette and spaghetti in a sauce of pureed cauliflower, roasted aubergine, and marscapone. He will eat that as it’s smooth but wouldn’t even try it with bits

No advice but just reassurance- fruit, sweet potato, peas and sweet corn really isn't bad going at all for a toddler. Sounds like things are going well & I'm sure things will get even better with time

Someone told me to get through the fussy 2s is to just keep
Offering what they claim they don’t like- keep providing a mix of veg (1 brocolli floret isn’t a big enough waste to worry) and they will suddenly snap back to liking it.

Have you tried Picnic lunches with carrots tomato’s and cucumber with hummus? Letting him dip and scoop with the crudités might be fun for him.

Jamie Oliver 7 veg pasta sauce. I also find giving them veg snacks while you are cooking dinner often works.

Use exciting names for foods e.g. we call chicken in sauce 'sticky chicken' or soup 'surprise soup' or green beans 'squeaky beans' (can you hear them?) and ham up the name ...
You could also make it into a game. E.g. pretend you’re dinosaurs eating trees when you eat broccoli – adds a bit of fun to the meal!
Get teddy to join in - “one for teddy, one for you”!
Offer condiments. Sometimes, all my DC needed to eat a certain food was a little bit of mayonnaise or for example, sweet potatoes with some ketchup.
If all else fails, get sneaky and start disguising them.
Pasta bake www.mrsrachelbrady.co.uk/2015/09/recipe-hidden-roasted-vegetable-pasta-bake/
Hide courgette in this recipe for Mac and cheese www.myfussyeater.com/one-pot-mac-cheese-with-hidden-veg/
Or hide cauliflower with this version www.bbc.com/food/recipes/macaroni_cauliflower_53315 Cauliflower is also good for hiding in mash, as are parsnips.
Pasta bake www.ocado.com/webshop/recipe/secret-veggie-pasta-bake/23305
Cauliflower tots www.healthylittlefoodies.com/cauliflower-tots/
The carrots in these bean enchiladas are grated and are therefore barely noticeable when cooked. www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/bean-enchiladas
Hidden veg lentil bolognese www.mrsrachelbrady.co.uk/2016/09/hidden-veg-and-lentil-spaghetti-bolognese/
Shepherds pie www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/hidden_vegetables_05418
Meatballs realfood.tesco.com/recipes/sunitas-secret-veg-meatballs.html

Hidden veg pasta! It always goes down well in my house. Especially with cheese on top. Hang on, ill find a link....

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/pasta-tomato-hidden-veg-sauce

Maybe because of eating so much fruit she’s expecting vegies to be sweet and rejecting them because they’re not?

My kids were all good eaters as babies but come 20 months old, they became fussy buggers! My oldest, who is now 4, seems to be coming out the other side. He's more willing to taste things now although will still only eat a few select veg. The 3 year old won't try at all and my 21 months old is starting to push away food 🤷‍♀️ I keep offering different foods and veg though.
I read somewhere that this is pretty normal and they generally start to be more adventurous around age 5 (going to school) so that's what I'm clinging on to! I remember being a terribly fussy eater as a child but now eat most things and turned out OK!

I did hummus and grated carrot sandwiches at that stage in my toddlers eating.

Similar issues here. In a roast dinner she will eat the meat and potatoes but no veg unless peas or baby corn. I started blending up cooked onions into the gravy and she’ll dip things in that.

Any kind of blended veg sauce with pasta she will eat no problem. Also risotto made with very finely chopped onions and grated mushrooms is a hit. Carrots in stews she likes.

Thank you everyone ! Some great tips here. I did a cheese sauce with blended broccoli and leek with pasta tonight and she loved it! Probably just need to get a bit more organised with hiding them! Nice to know I’m not alone :)

Thanks for this, some good ideas for my fussy girl as well. She's nearly 3 and has never been a good veggie eater but it's got even worse recently. She stomps about the house shouting "Yuck, I don't like vegetables!"

She will eat:

• Corn on the cob - we always make it a game about doing big crunchy bites which got her to eat it.
• Cucumber.
• Baked beans - these count as 1 of your 5 a day, I think the tins of spaghetti/shapes in tomato sauce do as well? Although tomato is a fruit really isn't it...?
• Tomato based soups
• Boiled carrots, either the mini frozen ones or cut into little slices

...I think sadly that is all.

I have the same problem! My 23mn will eat peas and sweetcorn as well as sweet potatoes and all the the fruits!! He is refusing a lot at the moment even things like pasta and I find it very hard going and I have been in tears. I can get him to eat cheese and broccoli scones and some savoury flapjacks but this is mood dependent. He will also eat homemade fishcakes sometimes and I put veg in those too x