Sneaky ways to get your child to eat their veggies

We all know vegetables are an important source of vitamins and minerals for your children. Yet, very few children actually enjoy eating their greens. It’s recommended that children (and adults) eat at least five portions of different vegetables and/or fruits a day. But ensuring your child is eating enough veggies can be challenging.  The good news is there are a few creative ways for parents to sneak extra veggies and fruits into their child’s meals and snacks.

Here are 6 ways how:

1. Shred and dice: Add peas to macaroni and cheese, add shredded carrots to spaghetti bolognaise sauce, or stir colourful beetroot and zucchini noodles into a regular spaghetti pasta. You could also make a deluxe pizza with a whole-wheat pita bread base and top it with vegetable toppings.
2. Get creative: Blitz or purée vegetables and add them to rice or mashed potato for extra colour on their plates. “Vegify” all your saucy meals like soups, stews, and casseroles, with extra vegetables or canned beans.
3. Little fingers:  Children often prefer uncooked vegetables. They also love to dip them, so choose healthier dip options like tzatziki, hummus, salsa, or even peanut butter.
4. Go bright: To keep veggies appealing, steam or microwave them in a small amount of water, or stir fry them in a little oil. The main goal is to keep the cooking time to a minimum to ensure you keep the vegetable colours bright and the nutrients intact.
5. Start a veggie club: Try to taste vegetables from A to Z, ticking off letters of the alphabet as you go. As you shop, ask your children to identify vegetables corresponding with each of the respective letters, so the veggie journey becomes a family adventure.
6. Have fun: Find a children’s book that features vegetables as characters, then taste the vegetables as you read the story.