40 Meals and Snacks for Kids

Despite your best efforts to provide your children with a nutritious diet, they may start rejecting healthy foods overnight. “Many children start to become pickier about food when they are 1 to 2 years old,” says Stephanie Van’t Zelfden, a registered dietitian and owner of Nutrition Hungry.

Planning balanced meals and snacks for picky eaters can be difficult. That’s why we’ve put together a list of picky foods that will satisfy even the pickiest kids. We also share foods to avoid when dealing with picky eaters, as well as strategies for encouraging them to try new things.

Picky Eater Food List

If your child starts refusing all foods except cookies, try some of these foods for picky eaters. But don’t forget to offer familiar items alongside these new items; kids should recognize at least one thing on their plate, says Jennifer Anderson.

Dietary advice for picky eaters

Whether you’re looking for dinner, breakfast, or lunch ideas, remember to include healthy sides, including fruits and vegetables.

• Pasta with sauce, protein and vegetables served separately
• Ingredients for taco sticks are provided separately. Sometimes “ingredients” are a great way to get kids to try new foods.
• Grilled cheese made with whole wheat bread
• Whole wheat bread or bagel topped with peanut butter and a pinch of cinnamon
• Homemade pizza made with whole wheat bagels
• Chicken noodle soup with fruits and vegetables
• Broccoli Cheddar Soup with Fruits and Vegetables
• Use pasta salads in small shapes, such as tagliatelle, dillini or orzo. You can add a handful of black olives and green peppers next to favorites like pepperoni or ham.
• Simple kebabs served with small pieces of chicken. Children may enjoy the novelty of “food on a stick.”
• Fried rice, usually with a small amount of carrots, cabbage and eggs
• Pancakes with add-ins like granola, whole wheat flour, wheat germ or chia seeds. Spread peanut butter or 100% pure maple syrup over pancakes.
• Ham or turkey rolls
• Yogurt parfait with layers of fruit and granola
• Shredded chicken with various seasonings and/or dipping sauces
• Mini meatballs with various dipping sauces/toppings
• Scrambled eggs with cheese
• Egg waffles
• Egg and cheese omelette cut into small pieces (diced vegetables can also be added)
• Baked potatoes with various toppings
• Macaroni and Cheese Mixed Microgreens
• Chicken fingers dipped in sauce
• Fish sticks dipped in sauce

Snack ideas for picky eaters

Looking for snack ideas for toddlers, preschoolers, or older kids? This list has got you covered!

• Oatmeal with raisins and a dash of cinnamon
• Boiled eggs cut into small pieces
• String cheese
• cheese and fruit
• Iron-fortified cereals with or without milk. Good options include Frosted Mini Wheaties, Cheerios and Life. Dry cereal is a great on-the-go snack for outings or even day care.
• Pita bread cut into small triangles and served with hummus
• Mini muffins, add zucchini, carrots, whole wheat flour, wheat germ, flaxseed meal or chia seeds, etc.
• Freeze-dried fruits
• Fig Bar
• applesauce
• Smoothies
• Thin strips of celery, carrot or cucumber with ranch dressing
• Strawberries with a dollop of whipped cream
• Apples cut into cubes or strips and served with a variety of dipping sauces, such as peanut butter and yogurt
• Yellow rice or Spanish rice
• Small pieces of avocado with a pinch of salt
• citrus slices
• Mix in with their favorite trails

Food not suitable for picky eaters

When your child starts refusing dinner, focus on offering a variety of foods they might be willing to try. However, you should probably avoid the items listed below. Kids are more likely to avoid them, which will inevitably lead to the mealtime fights you’re trying to avoid.

• Strong-flavored foods (such as blue cheese)
• Foods with unique textures (such as tofu)
• spicy food
• Foods with inconsistent texture or taste (for example, some young children may hate blueberries because they never know if they are going to get a sour blueberry)
• Strong-smelling foods (such as onions, garlic, or fish sauce)
• Slippery or slimy food
• anything sour (like lemon)

Anderson also recommends sticking to single-ingredient foods when introducing something new. “Mixing foods is more complicated because you have multiple textures in your mouth, which can be uncomfortable for picky eaters,” she says.

Create a balanced diet for picky eaters

For many parents of young children, preparing a balanced meal or snack can be quite challenging – and who can blame them? Store shelves are filled with a variety of foods that offer essentially no nutritional value, and studies have found that children are consuming more ultra-processed foods than ever before.

But a balanced diet includes several servings of grains, fruits, vegetables, proteins and dairy products each day. Here are some tips to help picky eaters explore new foods:

• Serve in small portions. “For picky eaters, large amounts of food can be overwhelming,” Anderson says. “I like to recommend ‘microportions,’ which are small portions of food that picky eaters are more likely to try. For example, give your child a pea rather than a ‘one’ serving of peas.”
• Add new foods slowly. For example, you could try sprinkling their favorite yogurt with small pieces of fruit, and once they accept the fruit, you can add granola.
• Provide sauces, dips, seasonings or other items to add your child’s favorite flavors. Ketchup, pure maple syrup, or cheese sauce are common winners!
• Incorporate a little bit of the new or disliked food into their favorite food.
• Make meal time fun. Small plates and cutlery are a fun way to reduce the stress of meal times for little ones.
• Involve children in food preparation; once they become familiar with something, they may be more willing to try it.

What are the reasons for picky eating?

Van Tezelfden believes there are several reasons why children suddenly start rejecting everything put in front of them at mealtimes. Some of the reasons for picky eating are as follows.

• longing for independence. Young children want what they want, when they want and how they want, van Tezelfden said. “Along with the desire for independence and autonomy comes a growing need to express one’s food preferences.”
• natural hesitation. “It could be an ancestral thing, and picking random berries from the forest and eating them could be a fatal choice,” van Tezelfden said.
• Parental pressure to eat healthily. The more pressure we exert, the more stubborn our children will become. “Forcing children to eat certain foods is stressful for everyone and doesn’t actually help children learn to like new foods,” van Tezelfden said.
• sensory processing. Children are still learning about the world, and certain flavors and textures may seem overwhelming to them.