Meal Ideas for Toddlers
17 Nov
As you know, it warms my heart to watch my children chow down on a good meal and I’m dead set against raising a picky eater. That being said, it can be a challenge coming up with new meal ideas for a toddler and a preschooler.
So, for my own interests as well as yours, I’ll share what commonly makes its way onto my kitchen table if you’ll tell me what is being served on yours.
(Remember back to, “I’ll show you mine, if you show me yours.” That’s what I’m getting at mamas.)
BREAKFAST
- My go-to breakfast for the girls is a whole grain waffle with various toppings: dab of butter and baby food fruit or applesauce in lieu of jam; peanut butter and jelly; or some yogurt spread over the top
- Homemade banana bread with some butter on it and a side of fruit
- A slice of whole grain toast with mashed banana and peanut butter on it
- Yogurt with blueberries in it and a slice of toast
- Oatmeal with berries (I encouraged my toddler to eat it for the first time by making a game of finding the berries in the oatmeal.)
- Eggs and toast – scrambled or fried – and a side of fruit
- English muffin with cream cheese and a side of fruit
- Soft granola bar, for when mornings get hectic and my oldest needs to eat something in the car on the way to daycare
- Pancakes (only on the weekends when my oldest compliments me into making them) made with wheat germ, sometimes blueberries, real maple syrup and butter
- **Easy fruit selections for me include grapes, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, bananas, apples, oranges and pears. I try to keep some combo of these around at all times.
LUNCH & DINNER
- Chicken or turkey meatballs or sausage with a side of veggies and a slice of bread with butter
- Peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a side of fruit
- Hummus on a slice of bread with a side of veggies
- Pasta with butter, parmesan cheese, a sprinkle of garlic salt and a side of veggies
- Macaroni and cheese. From a box most every time. But hey, I feel better that I buy the one labeled “organic, whole wheat.”
- Any other kind of pasta that we make (my husband and his family are Italian so there’s lots of pasta dishes to go around)
- Refried bean and cheese burritos for older toddlers
- Any leftovers from our adult dinner the night before that aren’t too spiced and are relatively soft to chew
- Sometimes we have one of the breakfast items for lunch or dinner
- **I often steam veggies like broccoli, cauliflower and zucchini ahead of a meal so they are in the fridge and ready to go. If I haven’t done that, I go to my pantry supply of canned, no-salt-added peas, corn, and green beans that I can quickly serve to the girls.
SNACKS
- Slices of apple with a side of “dip” (the dip is actually just yogurt)
- Dry cereal
- Cracker “sandwiches” made by putting some spreadable cheese in between two crackers and I usually give it to them with a side of fruit
- Fruit, usually bananas or grapes
- Cheese stick
- Soft breakfast bar like Nutrigrain
- Popcorn for older toddlers
- Animal crackers, graham crackers
- Yogurt
- Crackers or whole grain type tortilla chips with hummus (for older toddlers)
- Here are some more toddler meal ideas and a simple recipe for homemade mac and cheese
Your turn. Please share tips, tricks and ideas by clicking on the Comments link below. Remember, new moms are reading this and need your advice.
Wow! I'm sending my kids to your house! That all sounds so healthy and delicious.
In Mandyland…
Breakfast
Frozen waffles with peanut butter, local honey and bananas
Cheerios
Scrambled eggs and toast – rarely. (The kids aren't fond of eggs, darn it.)
Lunch
School
Turkey sandwiches, almonds, craisins, crackers, hummus, pumpkin muffins and fruit
Pasta
Bean burritos
Home -
pasta, quessadilla, grilled cheese, mac and cheese, leftovers
Dinner -
Pasta
Homemade pizzas
Veggie burgers and sweet potato fries
Roasted chicken
chili
soup
fish and couscous
roasted root veggies
stir fry
fajitas
burritos
tacos
hot dogs
When I say that J is a picky eater, it's not that he won't eat all of the above, it's that he'll claim to love it on Monday and hate it on Friday. Elizabeth eats all of the above. Most of the time.
What are you talking about Mandy? Your meals sound healthy and delicious as well. Thanks for sharing!
Nice list! My kids are older–6 and 8. My youngest will try anything at least once but my 8 yr old would happily live on cereal if I'd let him!
Visiting from SITS!
This came at the right time. I was just thinking that my 2 year old eats the same thing for dinner every night! I need some new ideas for her and for me. Ok, I am making my shopping list…fingers crossed.
Hmmm…it looks vastly better listed out like that.
One of our favorite breakfasts for both my toddler and 10 month-old is a container of yogurt mixed with cheerios. My older child has been eating this since she was little and still loves it!
A new favorite lunch is peanut butter, banana and a bit of honey in a tortilla. Such an easy, healthy meal and I usually have all the ingredients!
I want to share a great Facebook page for any of you that are on Facebook. “Weelicious” is a great page that is full of wonderful meal ideas for children. I have made several of her recipes and they have been delicious! I love the cheese and apple quesadillas (so did my toddler!) If you “like” her page, you will get a new recipe and ideas for a kids packed lunch everyday. Hope this helps!
Ooh, Bloomer, thanks for the heads up on Weelicious. I'm off to check it out.
These are some great suggestions – thanks!! Waffles are my go to for breakfast as well – with toppings like peanut butter, they have some staying power.
When I'm ambitious, I mash some steamed cauliflower into my anti-veggie kids' mac and cheese – they don't even notice it!
Awesome selections, Kristi!! I'm going to have to print this out for some new ideas. We do a lot of egg dishes at breakfast. Egg and avocado burritos are big around here. We also eat burritos for lunch too with beans, rice and cheese. I like to make my spanish rice with lots of veggies in it. (corn, peas, carrots and onions) The kids don't seems to notice them, whereas other times they complain when foods have too many things mixed together. We also eat a lot of soups. Baked potato soup. Black bean soup. Chicken tortilla soup. But there is also plenty of mac and cheese and peanut butter and jelly found around here too. Usually eaten directly off the living room carpet for added fun factor and nutrtition. (Kidding.) (Mostly.) Ha!
I love all these ideas mamas! Thanks so much for sharing. I'm inspired.
hey I am looking for a receipe for banana bread can u share your's My kids love it
One of my go to dinner meals for my 14 month old is a quesadilla. I buy a rotisserie chicken and some veggies (usually sqaush and zuchinni). I sautee the veggies and then put them in the food processor with the chicken and make a mixture. Then I do a thick layer of cheese and a layer of the chicken and veggies. Great way to hide some veggies. He loves it!
These are all great suggestions, thank you! I have a 1 year old and am looking for new ways to introduce food to him. If I do the quesadilla, should I cut it up for him so he can pick up little pieces or let him bite it. I just feel like he would try to put too much in his mouth at once. As for things like raw apples, vessies, peas & corn – are they ok for his age? I just worry about choking – or should I get over this to a certain extent and let him try new things?
Angela, you have every right to be concerned about choking. Better safe than sorry, right? My answer would depend on how many teeth your little boy has at this point. If he doesn’t have many, I would definitely cut the quesadilla up for him into whatever size you feel comfortable with. As for veggies, I used canned, no-salt-added peas and green beans. They are soft. Corn is harder for kids to actually chew. It always ends up whole in their poop even at 3.5 years old! But, they like and eat it. It’s just that they don’t break it down as much as they should. Steamed broccoli, cauliflower and zucchini are all soft. I would still cut all of those up in sizes you feel comfortable with. You can also get cherry tomatoes and cucumbers and quarter them. As for apples, I would cut slivers off of a raw apple so that they are thin and there really isn’t much of a crunchy, bulky factor going on until he’s a better chewer. I hope that helps. FYI, I’ve heard that lettuce and hotdogs are some of those most common items kids choke on.
Some of our favorite snacks are warmed up waffles from breakfast … with a slathering of PB.
Enjoy your SITS day!
Me too! We just had that this morning – PB&J waffles. Yummy and filling.
These are really good suggestions! I’m going to use them for my 4 year and my nine month old!!
All great foods, right down to the whole wheat mac and cheese out of a box.
Great ideas! I love the idea of smaksing up a banana to put on toast.
Happy SITS day!
Oh, I love a good meal idea post. Happy SITS Day!
Great suggestions! My son is such a picky eater I always have a hard time finding something “healthy” for him to eat, while my daughter will try almost anything. Happy SITS day!
Theses are all awesome ideas! I have a nine month old that I am struggling to find good meal ideas for. This has been really helpful!
My grandma used to make me pastina with V8. I now make it for my kids and they love it. I boil pastina in water- when the water is almost boiled down, I add the v8 and continue cooking on very low heat until that boils down a bit as well. I buy low sodium V8. I finish it off with some grated parm. My 4 year old daughter takes this to school EVERY DAY in a thermos! Its great because shes getting a full serving of veggies in. Try it! I have it posted on my blog.
Wow, that’s a new one I’m going to try! I was introduced to pastina by my Italian mother-in-law but I’ve never made it for the kids myself (I think she uses chic broth). I’ll have to try it out. Thanks for the tip!
I do chicken broth as well. You can also do a little butter…grated cheese is great topped off on either of the 2. I do warn you, can be very messy! My 2 year old tracks it through the house!
I also do the mac and cheese from a box (aunt annies) but I add chopped broccoli and or cauliflower & it makes me feel a lot better!
Get those veggies in there somehow, right? Great tip Tara for kids that won’t pick out the colored stuff.
I did a grown up version of this last night – pasta, pesto sauce, cauliflower and shredded prosciutto. It’s a one pot meal, cooks fast and tastes great.
That sounds really good! My husband is just as picky as the kids with veggies (like having 3 kids!) and this is something I think he might like. Love 1 pot meals sista!
These are great suggestions! I have a 5, 3 and 18 month old. I get in a rut a lot with mealtimes. So, thank you!
For breakfast, I would suggest some fruit smoothies, cheese toast, & applesauce in addition to all the great suggestions.
For lunch and dinner, my kids LOVE fish sticks, mac and cheese (it’s much healthier home made and doesn’t take more than 20 minutes), pasta, quesadillas, wraps, lunch meats, homemade mini pizzas, etc.
My kids also like to have a “buffet.” I give them a plate and then take several small bowls and fill them with different healthy items like cut up fruit, crackers, small cut up veggies, as well as peanut butter, raisins, pretzels, shredded cheese, etc. They like that they can pick and choose what to eat.
Thanks again!
Bethany, those are fabulous ideas – especially the buffet. How fun! I like making fruit smoothies too. We do a super simple one with one frozen banana, some milk or soymilk and a dash of cinnamon. Blend it up and it’s a creamy, sweet treat with zero sugar.
Thank you for the ideas! I have 1 year old triplet girls and was running out of things to try that all 3 will eat! Right now their favorite food is whole wheat sandwiches with cream cheese and homemade strawberry jam. I just cut them into very small pieces. They all so eat a lot of yogurt with berries.
I will be trying hummus, chicken meatballs and quesadillas in the next few days!
)
Cream cheese and strawberry jam sandwiches sound good to me! Happy to help a mom of three one-year-olds any time!!!
I have a 13 month old that thankfully, is not very picky but i still find myself searching the internet for great healthy and organic meal options for him.
He loves my recipe for broccoli bites, which is steamed and chopped broc florets, grated cheese, some bread crumbs, a egg, and i add steamed and chopped spinach for an extra veg kick. you can add whatever spices they like. bake them in little rounds or fun shapes in the oven, i always make a lot and freeze them. There great! I also make Mini meat loaves in a muffin tin using ground turkey, some cheese and i add grated carrots to it too. i freeze those as well to always have something on hand. He loves them!
thanks for the great ideas
Wow, great ideas Ashley. So creative. I will have to try your recipes out.
I have a 5 yr old and a 1 yr old who are both relatively picky eaters. Neither of them will touch meat unless its popcorn chicken or chicken breast tenders/nuggets. They both have a very simple diet and I feel like I do the same thing every 3 days if not everyday. I am always looking for ideas and I think this is by far the best site of ideas I have found. I printed out the whole forum and am going to go to the store and pick up some groceries to try some of these ideas. I really hope I can get my kids to eat more variety. Thankfully they both like the majority of fruits and veggies I give them. They would eat PB&J all day long every day if I would let them.
Do you know how good it makes me feel that you think this is the best list of ideas you’ve found? It makes me so happy! You’ll have to keep me posted on whether your kids like any of the new things you try!
Great list! Thank you for sharing this!
My go to breakfast for my 18 mo old is Rice Krispies cereal with crumbled up freeze-dried rasberries and enough milk to get everything to stick together but not get too mushy. He hasn’t mastered spoon feeding himself yet, but he loves eating this.
Hey guys I also wanted to add some things to the list that my two year old loves!
Breakfast
Raisin toast
Turkey sausage
Baby omlet puree some veggies mix it with your eggs pour into a frying pan with a little butter let it cook and then flip it! ( you can cut it into fun shapes with a cookie cutter and sneak in almost any veggie you want!!
Snacks
Whole grain pretzels
Frozen yogurt bites ( I make these by placing yogurt in a ziploc cutting the corner and making dots with it on a cookie sheet and freezing them) it’s a great snack and my Lo loves them and they are much better than ice cream or Popsicles!!
Fresh fruit smoothie
Moms invest in a dehydrator you can make banana chips and homemade fruit roll ups with all sorts of fruit purées also sweet potato chips without all those extra ingredients super healthy and the kids love them!!!
Lunch and dinner
Black beans and rice or brown rice or any other type of bean they are super packed with protein.
Homemade chicken noodle soup
Chicken and rice ( cook your rice with chicken broth instead of water toss in some chicken and any veggie you would like you can also purée it and throw it in there for the picky eaters.
Veggie Mac and cheese they now sell a box of Mac and cheese that contains a half a serving of veggies per serving. Don’t really like serving frozen or boxed things but when I’m in a hurry this is my go to lunch. Served with Perdue frozen chicken nuggets, they are 100% all natural ingredients no preservatives no fillers and breaded with whole grain! I feel they are more healthier than any of the other ones on the market and I feel good about them because you can bake them. Hey it’s better than mcdonalds!
Well I hope my ideas help love this! Thanks also to the other moms for Sharing some great ideas!!!
My kids will eat anything kabob’d. We use toothpicks and make mini kabobs with strawberries, grapes, string cheese cut into chunks or cubed cheese, cooked turkey sausage, and quartered hard boiled eggs. Soup and sandwiches or quesadillas are another go-to lunch/dinner.
lol.
Another favorite for snack is blueberries or raisins or strawberries dipped in yogurt then tossed in the freezer until firm- DIY frozen yogurt bites. They also both love dried fruit- if you make it yourself you can avoid the added sugar.
My son would live on pbj if we let him…in fact, he’s taken to eating his pbj on the bus on the way to school.
Oh- and I have bags of frozen squash puree that I add to mac & cheese or cauliflower to mashed potatoes (they LOVE mashed potatoes…especially if you make a volcano out of them)!