If your kids are anything like mine, you’ve probably gone head-to-head in more than a few picky eating battles. Whether it’s food being launched across the room, or the all-too-familiar “I’m not hungry” (despite them having asked for a snack five minutes ago), it feels like a never-ending fight. Seriously, if pasta was a food group on its own, my kids would be thriving. Since it isn't, I'm all about learning how to sneak veggies into food.
But what really gets me worried is when days—sometimes weeks—pass without a single veggie making it past their lips. So, I reached out to an expert: pediatric dietitian Dahlia Rimmon, MS RDN. Dahlia dropped some serious knowledge on how to turn picky eaters into, well, slightly less picky eaters. Spoiler: There’s hope for those greens yet!
Understanding picky eating
I know picky eating is a common issue with kids, but Dahlia explained that it’s actually developmentally normal. Babies can be picky, especially when starting solids, because everything is new to them—they need time to get used to different textures and flavors. With patience and repeated exposure, they typically become more open to trying new foods, or at least more tolerant of them.
Dahlia also shared that picky eating often ramps up when kids hit toddlerhood, around their first birthday. This can happen for a few reasons:
- They might develop food neophobia, where new foods seem scary or overwhelming.
- As they start asserting their independence, they become more opinionated about what they want on their plate.
- Their growth rate slows down after that first year, and their appetite may naturally decrease. While this isn’t exactly picky eating, it can look like it.
“While picky eating is usually just a phase that tends to improve by age 5, it’s important to watch out for more serious cases that can lead to nutritional deficiencies, mealtime struggles, and poor weight gain,” explains Dahlia. “And if you don’t intervene during a fussy eating phase, it can actually get worse,” she adds.
Types of picky eating behaviors
Since picky eating can look different for every kid, Dahlia broke down some common reasons and ways it shows up.
- Texture preferences: Some kids get stuck on certain textures, especially if they stayed on purees too long and weren’t introduced to finger foods early enough. They may only go for soft foods and reject anything that’s firm, slimy, rough, or crunchy.
- Limited food choices: Many picky eaters gravitate toward white or beige foods—think bread, noodles, rice, and crackers—while avoiding more colorful and nutrient-rich options like fruits and vegetables.
- Bland food lovers: These kids prefer plain, simple foods and often shy away from fruits and veggies with stronger flavors (bitter, earthy) or varied textures (like mushy, crunchy, or firm).
- Milk over solids: Some kids, especially those still attached to breastmilk or their bottle, may prefer to fill up on milk for both comfort and nourishment, leaving little room for solid foods. Without parental intervention this can become a habit.
- Food refusal: Rejecting certain foods or food groups
- Presentation perfectionists: Some kids are extra particular about how their food looks. Maybe they freak out if foods touch each other or they demand their banana peeled instead of unpeeled. If it’s not served just right there may be extreme outbursts and tantrums.
Why vegetables are absolutely necessary for our kids
Picky eating can show up in all sorts of ways. Regardless of the cause or reason, most kids refuse to eat vegetables. Whether it’s because of the texture, taste, or just a strong preference for beige and packaged foods, veggies usually get left out. But vegetables are important for kids and can support healthy growth and development. Here are a few reasons why vegetables are absolutely necessary for kids:
- Nutritional benefits: Vegetables are rich in fiber and essential vitamins and minerals like vitamin A, B vitamins, vitamin C, vitamin E, vitamin K, calcium, magnesium, and potassium.
- Health benefits: The benefits of these nutrients are huge. They support everything from gut health and digestion to your child’s immune system, heart health, and even better sleep.
- Long-term health: A veggie-rich diet also sets the stage for long-term health. Eating veggies can help to reduce the risk of chronic issues like hypertension, coronary heart disease, and stroke later in life.
Sneak veggies into food: 5 pediatric dietitian approved tips
Tip 1: Drink them with Hiya Kids Daily Greens + Superfoods
I’m already a huge fan of Hiya’s vitamins, so when I heard they launched Kids Daily Greens + Superfoods, I knew it was exactly what I needed—the best, easiest how to sneak veggies into food hack. Hiya Kids Daily Greens + Superfoods is a greens powder made specifically for kids, packed with 55+ whole food ingredients designed to support brain power, development, and digestion. I also love that it’s chocolate-flavored, so I don’t have to deal with complaints about a bitter greens drink.
Here are a few more reasons I love Hiya Kids Daily Greens + Superfoods:
- Each serving has 2 grams of fiber, which is super helpful when my kids need a little extra help in the bathroom.
- It’s loaded with a greens blend, digestion blend, superfoods blend, and core development blend. These blends are packed with veggies and more that deliver a range of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants to support healthy digestion, boost nutrient absorption, and promote overall gut health, immune function, growth, and development.
- It’s so easy to prepare and fit into our routine. I just add one scoop to their cups, pour in some milk, shake it up, and serve it with breakfast or as a snack.
- It tastes like chocolate milk but has no added sugar!
- Just like the Hiya multivitamins, the greens powder comes with a sticker pack to decorate the jar. My kids love this part—it gets them excited to drink their greens, and they feel proud every time they see the green jar come down from the cabinet.
- The hassle-free monthly deliveries means I never have to worry about running out or remembering to reorder.
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Tip 2: Puree them
I know my kids are picky about certain veggies because of their texture, so I incorporate them into their meals in a way they can tolerate, by pureeing them and adding them to sauces, soups, and casseroles. The easiest way to do this is to steam the veggies until soft and then blend them in a food processor or blender. One of my go-to recipes is to blend a bunch of green vegetables like broccoli, zucchini, leeks, and kale with some jarred tomato sauce. I mix it up and use it over pasta, in lasagna, or as pizza sauce when we make pizza at home.
Tip 3: Veggie-packed baked goods
How to sneak in veggies you ask? Try incorporating them into baked goods. This has been such a great way to get my kids to eat more vegetables. Every few weeks I make a fresh batch of brownies, blondies, or muffins and I’ll add grated carrots, zucchini, or sweet potatoes to the batter. I also like to blend spinach or kale into pancake or waffle batter and I call them “green machines,” which my kids love. Another favorite I like to prep in advance? Make-ahead muffins with pureed pumpkin and cinnamon—they're naturally sweet, packed with nutrients, and perfect for stashing in the freezer. The best part is that there are endless combinations and veggies to experiment with.
Tip 4: Fun shapes and colors
Another trick to get my kids more interested in vegetables is to serve them in fun, new ways. Instead of just slicing them into rings or sticks, I use small veggie cutters to make shapes like flowers or hearts, or I use a veggie spiralizer. The novelty of these shapes makes the veggies more appealing to eat. I love using this for raw veggies like cucumbers, carrots, and zucchini.
Tip 5: Add them into favorite dishes
This how to sneak veggies into food hack is the one that makes the most sense to me. Mixing veggies into the foods your kids already love seems like a chef's kiss moment, IMO. My kids love mac and cheese and pizza, so I started there. “Pairing familiar foods with new or less favored veggies can help kids feel more comfortable and make them more likely to try the new veggies,” explains Dahlia. Sometimes I mix them in, like adding veggies on top of homemade pizza, or I serve them on the side during the same meal. Both approaches have worked well for us. Here are some of our favorite combos:
- Pasta with peas
- Butternut squash mac and cheese
- Quesadillas with spinach
- Homemade veggie nuggets with cauliflower
- Oatmeal with finely shredded carrots and raisins
Other helpful strategies
Here are some other strategies that work well for us at home:
- Involve the kids in cooking: Having children help with cooking makes them more interested in trying veggies, since they played a part in preparing them.
- Stay persistent: Just like exposure therapy, repeatedly offering new or previously rejected veggies helps kids get familiar with them over time.
- Be patient: It might take a while for kids to accept new flavors, so don’t give up after just one try. If they say no, offer it again. Keep trying, even if it takes a few meals and a bit of waste.
- Lead by example: If you’re not eating those green beans yourself, your kids won’t be motivated to eat them either. Show them that eating vegetables is a normal, healthy habit by including them in your own meals.
How to sneak in veggies? Make it a daily habit
If you're wondering how to sneak veggies in food for your toddler and thinking it'll be a one-and-done win—I'm here to tell you it’s a long game. Some days they might surprise you and eat their whole plate, other days it’s a firm no before they even look at it. But keep trying, stick with adding vegetables to your grocery list, mix in different approaches, and go with what works for your family.
For me, that means balancing simple veggie hacks with simple, go-to options. Some nights, I’m using a crinkle cutter for sweet potato fries or making homemade nuggets with hidden veggies Other days, I’m all about a stress-free, easy way to add in extra greens—thank you Hiya Kids Daily Greens + Superfoods.
And for all the modern moms just trying to make life a little easier, I’ve got a code:
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