Introduction

Thinking up toddler meal ideas alongside family ones can test even the most creative cook. You know you need to get all the food groups into them, and particularly fruit and veg, but making it tempting for a toddler (especially one who’s mastered the word ‘no’) isn’t so straightforward. Offer your toddler three meals, two snacks and six to eight drinks a day and here are some tips to get started:

  • Mix up favourite dishes by swapping regular fruit and veg for new, exciting ones

  • Bite-size pieces and finger foods are more appealing to tiny diners

  • Make mealtimes more fun by asking your little helper to get involved

  • Avoid distractions no screens or noisy toys

  • Get excited about the food and your toddler will soon want to join in and remember to offer lots of praise

For more tips read out article mealtimes with toddlers. To help you out we’ve got some tasty recipes and food hacks that have been tried and tested on toddlers. Only offer foods that are right for your baby’s age and stage of development. Every baby is different, so go at their pace.

The toddler weekly menu

Monday

  • Breakfast: 5-8 tbsp of Porridge with milk and fruit. You can add a variety of fruits to mix flavours and textures.

  • Morning snack: 1 oatcake or ½ slice of bread with cheese or butter and a beaker of milk

  • Lunch: 1/4 to 1/2 of a medium sized jacket potato with tuna and sweetcorn

  • Afternoon snack: Soft or cooked vegetable sticks with bread fingers and a plain yoghurt dip. Once your toddler is older and can chew better, introduce raw vegetables such as cucumber, carrot, celery and peppers

  • Dinner: Lasagne with sauce made from tomatoes, courgette, mushrooms and beef or lentils. For a nice twist, try strips of courgette or aubergine instead of pasta

Tuesday

  • Breakfast: 1/4 to 1 English muffin with sardines and a beaker of milk. Instead of sardines you could try beans or scrambled eggs

  • Morning snack: Fruit kebab: banana chunks and chopped grapes (lengthwise) with ½ tsp smooth peanut butter

  • Lunch: Beef or lentil chilli with rice. Turn leftover Bolognese sauce into a chilli by adding beans and a bit of paprika and cumin

  • Afternoon snack: Yogurt and chopped grapes (lengthwise)

  • Dinner: Couscous with mixed vegetables cooked in a knob of butter, and a beaker of milk to drink

Wednesday

  • Breakfast: 4-6 tbsp fortified wheat cereal with milk and frozen forest fruits

  • Morning snack: 1 to 3 crackers and with mini cheese triangles

  • Lunch: Minestrone soup with pasta shapes and veg e.g. carrots, tomatoes, spinach, with a ½ to ¾ wholemeal roll

  • Afternoon snack: Homemade apricot flapjacks with a beaker of milk. Chopped apricots, overnight oats and a small pot of plain yoghurt/coconut yoghurt

  • Dinner: Spanish omelette with eggs, potato, cheese, ham and side salad

A toddler eating a strawberry

Thursday

  • Breakfast: Pre-made pots of plain, unsweetened yoghurt with fruit compote. Make the compote by simmering down apples and pears

  • Morning snack: 1/2 to 1 rice cake with mashed banana and a beaker of milk

  • Lunch: Hummus on white toast or whole wheat (1/2 to 1) with broccoli. Hummus is a great non-meat and non-dairy protein – no cooking required

  • Afternoon snack: Handful of corn puffs and a beaker of milk

  • Dinner: Shepherd’s pie (made with carrot, mushroom and minced meat or lentils) with green beans. Use ramekins to make mini portions that can be individually stored and heated up. Offer some slices of fruit for a sweet bite at the end.

Friday

  • Breakfast: Wholemeal toast fingers (1/2 to 1 slice) and 1 or 2 soft boiled eggs

  • Morning snack: Handful of frozen yoghurt coated blueberries. Dip blueberries in yoghurt and freeze for a healthy treat. You may want to let the blueberries defrost a little first

  • Lunch: Pitta pizzas. Use a flat, unopened pitta, add veg (like peppers, spinach or mushrooms) and a small handful of cheese. Get your toddler to prep their own for added fun, then grill for a few minutes to melt the cheese

  • Afternoon snack: 1/4 to 1/2 mashed avocado with a rice/oat cake or two and a beaker of milk

  • Dinner: A mild korma curry made with chicken or chickpeas with cauliflower, potatoes, red peppers, yoghurt and naan bread. Use mini pitta pockets to make little naan style breads. Offer some slices of fruit for a sweet bite at the end.

Saturday

  • Breakfast: Homemade pancakes with strawberries, raspberries or blueberries. For flour-free pancakes, mix egg with mashed banana and fry

  • Morning Snack: Slices of apple or pear with a beaker of milk

  • Lunch: Picnic style lunch with cheese and ham sandwiches and little pieces of veg to pick at such as peeled cucumber sticks

  • Afternoon snack: 1/4 to 1 crumpet with butter and a beaker of milk

  • Dinner: Homemade beef and potato casserole with root vegetables, such as carrots, parsnips and turnip. In the morning, stick everything in the slow cooker and it’ll be ready to serve by dinner

Sunday

  • Breakfast: Eggy bread and cooked tomatoes with a beaker of milk. For a sweet breakfast, swap the tomatoes with blueberries

  • Morning snack: Make a fruit face with chopped strawberries and banana. Serve with a beaker of milk, and 1/2 to 1 rice cake

  • Lunch: 1-3 small thin slices of roast chicken or nut roast with potatoes, mixed green veg, carrot and low salt gravy

  • Afternoon snack: Homemade frozen fruit 'sorbet'. Freeze chopped bananas or tinned fruit and whizz them up for DIY sorbet

  • Dinner: Crudité platter of sticks of carrot, celery, cucumber and pepper strips with hummus or homemade white bean dip. For teeny toddlers, steam the vegetables until suitably soft

A child’s plate of food

How to get my toddler to eat fruit and vegetables

Some toddlers take to most fruit and veg straight away, while others are more tentative. Don’t despair if your toddler is strictly a ‘carrots and peas only’ kind of kid. It can take up 10-14 attempts for a toddler to get used to new flavours and textures, so be patient in the face of flying florets.

Keep the fruit and vegetables for your toddler coming with each meal, you never know when they might dig in. You could even sneak some into pies, sauces and casseroles where they’re none the wiser, so at least you know your mini-me is getting their five a day somehow.

Some simple tactics to get more fruit and vegetables into your toddler:

  • Offer carrot sticks, cucumber stick or slices of pepper with hummus as a snack

  • Give apple slices with smooth peanut butter as a snack

  • Mix chopped or mashed vegetables with rice, mashed potatoes, meat sauces or dhal

  • Chop prunes or dried apricots into cereal or plain, unsweetened yoghurt; or sneak them into a stew

  • For a tasty dessert, try mixing fruit (fresh, canned or stewed) with plain, unsweetened yoghurt

  • Making fruit and veg ‘faces’ together can be a fun way to discover new flavours and textures

  • Add some Kiwi fruit in your toddler's diet because it can help with constipation

Creating a balanced and appealing meal plan for your toddler doesn’t have to be a daunting task. Remember to be patient and persistent when introducing new foods and don’t be afraid to get creative with preparation and presentation. By involving your toddler in this process and making mealtimes fun, you will be able to start encouraging healthy eating habits in no time!

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