There comes a time as parents when we don’t know what to do to get our little ones to eat their vegetables.
I totally get it because I have been there myself.
There was a point when my daughter wouldn’t eat certain vegetables but now, she LOVES her veggies. My son is the one who typically will eat whatever is put on his plate!

In this article, I am going to share 10 methods that are working for me to get my children to eat veggies.
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When it comes to vegetables, in my opinion, its all about establishing good eating habits early on.
For example, with both of my kids, I made them fresh pureed baby food with plenty of fruits and veggies.
I also gave them raw and steamed vegetables as a snack among other things. By doing so, their taste buds became accustomed to eating veggies.
They LOVE their vegetables!
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There are still days they just don’t want to try a new veggie so I had to come up with something to change that.
Overtime, I have learned, kids don’t hate veggies. WHAT?? That’s right!
They just simply prefer veggies prepared a certain way. Let’s dive right into a few ways you can prepare your child’s vegetables and have her/him eat it right away.
Now if your child did not get accustomed to veggies early on, keep reading. There’s still hope!
Watch me explain this below!
How to get your child to eat veggies
1. Offer veggies everyday
This is something I had to train myself to start doing, I’m not gonna lie. I think it can be harder for the parent sometimes when it comes to new routines, but the rewards are usually great.
Once you get in the habit of doing this, it becomes easier. You can offer veggies during lunch time and before dinner. I usually give my kids a snack with fruit a hour or two before lunch.
2. Cut the veggies into bite-size pieces
I have experienced that the size of the vegetable plays a huge factor for my kids eating them. If its too big and hard to chew, they get discouraged and don’t want to eat them.

3. Offer a variety of veggies on a plate or tray
This has been a huge success for me! The objective here is not to get your child to eat all of the veggies on the plate or tray, but what we do want is for them to try a variety of veggies daily.
I give my kiddos a veggie snack plate usually while I’m preparing dinner because that’s typically the time they are asking to eat. So this really helps me get through preparing dinner without having toddler meltdowns.
This will start to open their taste buds for eating veggies regularly. In the past, my kids would only try new veggies with a dipping sauce (ranch, honey mustard, etc).
But now, they eat vegetables plain or with a drizzle of olive oil and a tiny bit of lemon pepper.
Also, try offering vegetables raw and steamed to see which texture your child enjoys best.
4. Cut back on unhealthy snacks
If your child is use to certain snacks during the day that may not be the best for them, slowly cut down the portion sizes you have been giving.
Once you’ve done this for awhile, start offering a healthier snack alternative (hummus with crackers, peanut butter and chopped celery, baked sweet potato chips, etc.) so that you can eventually rid the sugary snacks.
Sugary snacks will only increase their want for more and less for veggies.
5. Hide veggies in cooked meals

I’d say this is one of the more easier methods I use whenever I cook. I may not have every veggie in the world in the dish, but I always tend to have fresh spinach so I chop it up finely and slip it in. The kids never even notice its in there.
6. Make homemade veggie chips
You can make veggie chips out of spinach, kale, squash, zucchini, etc. You can use a dehydrator to make all types of chips in minutes. The kids will love it!
7. Make homemade popsicles

Homemade popsicels are super easy to make and freeze pretty quickly. I make mine with fruits and veggies for the kids. Checkout my recipe for Homemade Mango Veggie Popsicles!
8. Make homemade smoothies
This is a super easy way to incorporate veggies. You will just need a smoothie maker that will get the job done!
9. Be an example
We often have to remember as parents to practice what we preach. Its so easy to just tell our kids they need to eat vegetables because its good for them, but then we don’t do it ourselves.
Even if they may not say anything about it, they are always watching what we do. My two-year-old and four-year-old, love it when I explain what the veggie is and how to eat it with the dipping sauce.
I also taste a few of the vegetables with them which they really enjoy.
10. Watch your words
Don’t tell your child you know they don’t like certain veggies. Sometimes we can get caught up in what they told us they don’t like, which leads us to not offer those veggies to them anymore.
Stay positive and continue to encourage your child through this process.
I hope you enjoyed this article!
Feel free to share with friends and family and if you have any questions, please comment below!
22 Comments
This is perfect Zaneta! My son won’t eat any veggies at all, but I love all these gentle persuasion techniques that empower the kids rather than forcing them to try something. Do you have a link to your popsicle recipe?
Hi Marianne! Thank you so much for the compliment. So sorry I’m just getting back with you. I hope my approach works for you. Here’s the link to my Mango Fruit & Veggie Popsicle.https://zthewahm.com/homemade-mango-veggie-popsicles/
I will have more Popsicle recipes coming soon!
All great tips! Looking forward to trying a few of these ideas with my extremely picky toddler – thanks!
Hey Heather! I’m glad this was helpful. I’m sure a few of these will get around the picky eater objections LOL.
Thank you for the tips. My son eats veggies but this article will help him to eat more.
Hey Andrea! I’m glad you found something in the article that will help your son eat more veggies!
This is so important. My kids eat a variety of raw veggies while I cook lunch and dinner. Also popular meal choices in our house are big salads, soup with veggies in them or chili with veggies mixed in. It is shocking to me when we eat out that most kids meals have no fruit or veggies as options.
I love your variety of veggie incorporated meals Marna! You are right about the kids menus. It’s once of the reasons we don’t eat out much. It’s nothing like home cooked meals!
These are great tips! My oldest two have always loved their veggies. My younger two? Not so much! Hiding them in meals is a must for those two.
Hey Sherry! I’m glad this was helpful for you. Yes, sometimes you do what you have to do to keep the kids healthy LOL!
This is awesome! Even adults like veggies cooked a certain way.
Hi Amber! You are right about that LOL. Sometimes I like my vegetables sauteed or raw, so texture definitely plays a huge role with kids eating veggies.
Yessss! I am ALWAYS looking for ways to get vegetables into my kids. Looking forward to the days when I don’t have to worry about it so much! Thanks for the tips.
Hi Amanda! I’m so glad you found this helpful. Your’e right, this too shall pass LOL. There will be a day you will look at your kids eating veggies and requesting seconds! =)
This is wonderful! My kids love smoothies & have yet to figure out I sneak veggies in! Putting them on a fun plate helps so much too!
Thank you! Yes, if your kids love smoothies, add in a little bit of spinach or kale. they won’t even taste it!
Lovely tips! My son is a picky eater and refuses vegetables. I need to try giving him smoothies and popsicles with hidden veggies!
Hey Jennifer, thank you! Yes, please try adding a little veggies into smoothies and popsicles. Your kids will never know =)
These are some great ideas. My youngest child loves veggies just as I did/do…my older two do not care for them. These tips will help me to ensure they get their veggie sin!
Thanks for sharing.
xoxo Lani
Hey Lani! It’s so funny how each child is so unique in their own way. I’m so glad you found this helpful!
These are great ideas! I will start with the popsicles since that’s something my kids like and eat frequently.
Hi Lynelle! I’m sure they will love the fruit and veggie popsicles and will never know the veggies are in there! Glad this was helpful!