Let’s be honest- sometimes, getting kids to eat their vegetables is just hard! It’s hard for some adults, too ;). While there are many tricks out there to get kids to eat veggies, here are the things that I have found work best for me!

Salad Bar. It’s amazing how well this works at getting my kids to eat (and be excited!) about salad. When I make a side salad some of my kids are never that excited, but when I turn it into the main course and provide a ton of options and let them build their own salads, they all LOVE it! Of course they add all their tasty favorites, like olives, bacon, or croutons, but I’ve found that they’ll actually add more varieties of vegetables as well, because they almost make it a competition with each other to see who has the most colorful salad.

Muffin Tin Dinners. I’ve shared about these before, but my kids love when I do muffin tin dinners. Simply give each child a 6-cup muffin tin and fill it with different foods. I usually do a protein, one or two fun snack foods, some fruit like blueberries or sliced apples, and then at least one cup of veggies. Usually it’s just carrot sticks, but sometimes I like to give them different things to try like cucumber slices, celery sticks or sugar snap peas. They know that when I do muffin tin dinners, I expect them to eat everything if they want refills on any of their cups, and since I usually have one or two fun cups, they eat their vegetables willingly!

Snack Plates/Monkey Platter. Similar to muffin tin dinners, but with fewer dishes! I put together a giant charcuterie board of snacks for lunch, call it a monkey platter and my kids go to town! Sometimes I’ll serve individual plates and call them snack plates. Super simple, but a great way to make something look super fancy and fun and get a veggie or two in there ;).

Scrambled Eggs. You can actually put a ton of veggies into scrambled eggs and not compromise the flavor too much. Chopped spinach, diced red pepper, chopped onion, shredded carrot, chopped green onions- if you chop it small enough and add enough egg (or add some diced potatoes), it’s basically still just scrambled eggs- just more colorful ;). The only thing I haven’t been able to add sneakily is mushrooms…. I’ll have to try chopping them smaller ;).

Smoothies. I’m sure we all know this trick, but it really does work! I can add a ton of spinach to my kids smoothies, and as long as there is enough fruit and/or vanilla protein powder, my kids don’t taste it and I get no complaints! They even ask for seconds- which just makes me so happy!

Leave Them Out. I swear my kids are ALWAYS HUNGRY. I promise I feed them, and yet they will ask for food like 20 minutes after lunch! It drives me crazy. Of course, they ask for things like crackers or chips. But if I leave out a bag of baby carrots, that bag will be gone by dinnertime. I think when they’re in sight and easy to grab, my kids are much more likely to grab them!

These are nothing super fancy, but this has been what I have found has worked best for my kids! Obviously some of my kids are still better eaters than others, but we’re working on that ;).

What tricks do you have? Share with us in the comments below!

    Camille Hoffmann
    Weekly Newsletter Contributor since 2014
    Email the author! camille@dvo.com