A Dietitian’s Top 5 Kid-Approved Ways to Serve Fruits and Veggies

July 29, 2024

A Dietitian’s Top 5 Kid-Approved Ways to Serve Fruits and Veggies This Summer (that save time and stress too!)

Fruits and veggies provide important nutrients for kids (and us!) but getting enough in can sometimes be a challenge… especially if you’ve got a selective eater! Not to worry—I have 5 creative ways you can serve fruits and veggies that are not only simple, but kid-approved too!

These ideas will help kick the fruit and veg boredom and get your kids excited about them! They’ll also help to keep your kids hydrated and well-nourished, and save YOU time, money, and stress. Spud supports local producers and vendors whenever possible too!

The importance of fruits and veggies for kids

I probably don’t need to tell you that fruits and veggies are important for your kids’ optimal growth and development. But just in case, here’s a quick highlight of how they nourish our bodies: Fruits and veggies provide essential vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and phytochemicals. They’re also an excellent source of dietary fibre and water (for hydration!).

What if my child refuses to eat veggies?

Getting kids to eat enough veggies is the number one struggle for parents of young kids when it comes to feeding, which is probably why you’re here! But the hard truth is, we can’t actually “make” our kids like or eat veggies. We can try our darndest to get them to take a few bites… but it often takes a lot of coaxing, bribing or even threats or punishment if they don’t eat it. Trust me, the 3 bites aren’t worth it! The problem with these strategies is that they end up backfiring, perpetuating picky eating behaviours and potentially harming our child’s relationship with food. And ultimately, we want our kids to develop a positive relationship with food, veggies included.

Here are a few tried and true tips that will help you support your child’s eating without pressure which, in turn, will allow them to learn to enjoy fruits and veggies on their own:

Serve small portions to start (i.e. ½ a grape, 1 blueberry, 1 carrot stick, 1 cucumber slice etc.). Tiny portions are less overwhelming and can encourage kids to touch or even taste the food as they don’t feel pressure to eat a large serving of it.

Offer fun food picks to stick into pieces of fruit or veggies. You purchase fun animal-shaped or colorful reusable food picks to pierce into pieces of fresh fruit or steamed veggies. Not only can this add excitement to eating veggies and fruit, it can help with kids who have sensory aversions to touching cold fruit or slippery vegetables with their fingers.

Serve with dips! Having 1-3 options of dips (such as yogurt or melted chocolate for fruit, or hummus and ranch for veggies) on the side can help encourage food exploration and play. Even if your child just licks the dip off, they are still getting that positive sensory exposure which is a win!

Serve them regularly, and in different ways! Don’t give up, even when your child has refused broccoli for the 10th time. It can take multiple exposures of the same veggie, in different formats for your child to take the leap of actually eating it! For example, if your child dislikes steamed, roasted, and raw broccoli, try shredding it, mixing with cheese, egg and bread crumbs to form tiny broccoli tots! Roasted broccoli tots might be the game changer for them (but be sure not to “sneak” in the broccoli, so you don’t break the trust you have built with them at the table).

Looking for more ways to amp up the nutrition factor? Try these simple hacks to boost the nutrition in your kids’ meals.

How many servings of fruits and veggies do kids need?

What’s recommended for servings by Health Canada is often different from what actually happens in real life. For instance, national guidelines recommend between 4-6 daily servings of fruits and veggies depending on your child’s age.

But this isn’t a cause for panic! It’s normal for a child’s day-to-day intake to vary based on many factors including their growth needs, phase of development, their activity level and, let’s be honest… their preferences!

For example, your child might eat a whole bowl of roasted broccoli and 2 cups of berries one day, while barely touching any fruit or veggies the next. But if you were to reflect on their overall intake over the course of the week, they are likely getting roughly what they need! It’s our job as parents to offer a variety of fruits and vegetables (and yes, frozen and canned in water are great too!) throughout the week so that our kids have plenty of opportunity to get a range of nutrients from what they decide to eat!

My most practical advice? Don’t stress about the numbers too much! I often tell parents to aim for at least 2 different types of veggies at lunch and supper, with fruit offered for breakfast and one of the snacks.

Top kid-approved ways to serve fruits and veggies while saving time, money and stress (and beating the heat!):

Make-ahead Smoothie Bags

Order your favourite fresh or frozen fruits and veggies from Spud, freeze them (if they aren’t already frozen), and create individual baggies for smoothies that can easily be put in the blender.

For each smoothie, make sure that there’s about 1.5 cups of cup-up frozen fruits/veggies, and about 1-2 tsp of chia seeds, hemp hearts or nut/seed butter. Put everything into a freezer-safe baggy, seal and freeze. When it’s smoothie time, throw everything from the baggy into your blender, add about 1/3 cup yogurt and 1 cup liquid of choice (milk, milk alternative or water etc) and blend until smooth! Easy peasy!

Hot tip: Prevent waste by pouring leftover smoothies into popsicle molds to freeze for later.

1. Frozen Banana “Sushi

Peel bananas and then carefully coat them in your favourite smooth nut butter. Roll them in crushed nuts, seeds, chocolate chips (my favourite), coconut or granola.

Carefully slice them into small “sushi” pieces and place them on a cookie sheet. Freeze for a fun, nutritious treat!

2. Breakfast Charcuterie Board

On a large cutting board or charcuterie board, place your favourite breakfast items. Start with your starchy food – maybe banana bread, dry cereal or leftover French toast strips, then protein- things like peanut butter, hardboiled eggs, cheese, bacon, yogurt, nuts or seeds.

Decorate with your favourite fruit for colour and nutrition. Your kids will love this!

3. Mason jar meals

Make ahead easy to transport veggie and fruit filled meals by filling up mason jars!
Veggie-packed salads: Layer different veggies, beans, and grains in mason jars for a quick grab-and-go meal.
Overnight oats with fruit: Combine oats, milk, and a mix of fruits in a jar and refrigerate overnight for a ready-to-eat breakfast.
Yogurt, granola, and fruit parfaits: Layer yogurt, granola, and fresh fruits in mason jars for a nutritious snack or breakfast.

4. Frozen Fruit Kabobs with Yogurt and Peanut Butter Dip

Skewer a variety of fruits, such as berries, melon, and grapes, and freeze them. Serve with a yogurt and peanut butter dip for a fun and cooling summer treat!

5. 3-Ingredient Mango Sorbet

This is quite possibly the most refreshing delicious snack/dessert/anytime treat and I promise that your kids are going ask for it again and again. You can swap the mango out for any frozen fruit too!

Ingredients:

2 cups frozen Mango

1/4 cup maple syrup

juice of 1/2 fresh lime

Blend in a food processor until smooth.

More ways to support your child in enjoying more fruits and veggies

The most important factor when helping your child to eat more fruits and veggies is—you guessed it—to avoid pressure! It is not our job to make our kids eat. As I mentioned, the well-meaning act of forcing your child to eat fruits and veggies will ultimately backfire in the long run.

Instead, offer them regularly and let your child decide how much to eat. Here are some more tried and true strategies to help facilitate (versus force) the enjoyment of more veggies and fruit:

Get creative: Use the ideas above to make fruits and veggies fun and visually appealing!

Get them involved: Let your kids help with washing, peeling, and chopping fruits and veggies. Kids love to take on responsibility with everyday tasks, especially if they see the results of their efforts served on their plate! Kids are often more interested in trying produce they helped prepare.

Let them search for recipes and order the groceries: Empower your children by letting them pick recipes and help with grocery shopping, especially through services like Spud that offer local and fresh produce.

Eat them yourself: Be a role model by enjoying fruits and veggies yourself. Children are more likely to eat what they see their parents enjoying!

And there you have it—five fun and easy ways to get your kids exploring (and enjoying!) fruits and veggies this summer without all the fuss! Remember, it’s all about making fruits and veggies exciting and letting your little ones take the lead. With these tips, you’ll not only save time and stress but also nourish your kiddos and support local farmers with fresh produce from Spud.

Meet Sarah

Sarah Remmer, is a registered dietitian (since 2006) mom of 3 and the proud founder and President of The Centre for Family Nutrition, a Calgary-based nutrition counseling practice that specializes in prenatal, infant and child nutrition, that specializes in prenatal, infant and child nutrition.