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3 May, 2018 by Ruthy Kirwan

4 Secrets That’ll Encourage Picky Eaters to Try New Foods

Sometimes I feel like my picky eaters are sent here by God to test my resolve for gentle parenting.

Picture this: me, pre-kids, smugly thinking to myself, “I’m such a foodie! I’ll never raise picky eaters! It’s all about exposure to new foods and taking away the fear! My kids will eat everything!”

God laughed. Then he gave me my daughter, who is just as smug and headstrong as her mama.
(He threw me a bone with my son, who will eat whatever is put in front of him, but that’s another story because now my wallet bears the brunt whenever we hit up the grocery store)

I do hesitate to consider my elementary-aged daughter a “picky eater”, however; her aversion to certain foods ebbs and flows with her moods.

It’s more a determination on her part to let me know that she will be bossed around by nobody, especially not her mommy handing her a plate of previously-adored homemade sweet potato macaroni and cheese.

She will label the offensive macaroni “yucky” one day, and gobble it up cheerfully the next.

And while that is maddening, I’m not sure if it qualifies for actual pickiness. My personal definition of a true picky eater is someone who has a genuine aversion to many foods, whether that’s due to taste or texture, and who doesn’t waver from those aversions despite my trying out every trick in the book.

However, for the sake of this post, I’m lumping them all together in the same ‘picky eater boat’.

That’s because I do know one thing: whether your kid is straight up picky or just headstrong, like mine, picky eaters make cooking dinner harder than usual.

Because it’s not just hard to accommodate the wily needs of a picky eater.

It’s downright impossible to do so within the crazy crunch time that lies between getting home from work and getting the kids tucked into bed.



How is it possible to cook dinner for the entire family, including a picky eaters, on a weeknight, without losing your mother-loving mind?

I may not have all the answers, but I do have four helpful secrets that work for, say, 65% of the time.

If we’re talking picky eaters, that’s a damn good percentage if I do say so myself.

Secret Number 1: Build-It-Yourself Dinners

This is my first go-to trick, and it’s the one that is in some ways the most practical: let them freaking make dinner.

I lay it out a little more detailed in this post: DIY Dinner Bar Ideas for When You Don’t Feel Like Cooking

This idea works best when you think of a meal that works as a “bar”. Nope, not the bar you feel driven to visit when your kid refuses dinner for the third night in a row (that’s the bar I’ll meet you at later, my friend, with a shot and a beer, because #solidarity)

I’m talking food bars- taco bar, baked potato bar, pizza bar, quesadilla bar.

How it works:

  • Lay out ingredients so everyone can put together their own meal.
  • Set some ground rules. Some of mine are: 1. No cheese-only dinners. 2. You must have 3 different ingredients on your plate. 3. You don’t have to eat it, you just need to choose to have it on your plate.
  • Some make-your-own-meal bars may mean I finish up the cooking portion of the meal. For instance, they choose their toppings on individual pizzas or quesadillas, and I finish them in the oven.

Why this works:

Overall these build-it-yourself meals cause a lot less stress for everyone. Picky eaters feels like they have control over their plate. I feel like I have control over my sanity.

Secret Number 2: Playing ‘Restaurant’

This goes hand in hand with letting kids choose their meals. With the restaurant game, you’re letting them set the scene for dinner.

This idea works best on leftovers night. I’ll often find myself with the remnants of two or three meals that don’t have enough to serve everyone at once, so the leftovers will be divided amongst everyone.

How it works:

  • Pick 2-3 leftovers you’re hoping to use up. Write them out on a “menu”. My daughter can’t read but she does know her letters and numbers, so I’ll draw a picture of each meal and number it.
  • Sit your tired ass down at the table and tell your kids they’re the waiter tonight.
  • Everyone at the table chooses a meal, including the ‘waiter’.
  • Have the kids serve you, serve each other, etc.

Why this works:

Again, they feel in control of what they eat. They get a cheap thrill out of serving you like you’re in a restaurant. You have time to sit down at the table for once, where you can pat yourself on the back because you’re giving your children a life skill of preparing to wait tables in college for beer money.

Secret Number 3: Trade Like-for-Like

This is a class-A parenting ninja move, and it’s one of my most tried and true. If your kid is dead-set against trying new things, give them something that’s suuuuuuuper close to what they’re used to, then make a big deal about how brave they are to try new things.

How it works:

Here’s a case study: A friend of mine has a daughter who loves cream cheese, but this friend was trying to get her daughter to try new foods. At snack time, they’ll usually eat cream cheese on crackers.

Instead, this time my friend spread a bit of labneh (an Israeli soft cheese that’s texturally like a cross between yogurt and cream cheese) on the same cracker brand she always serves and gave that to her daughter instead.

The daughter wasn’t as suspicious of the labneh since it looked so much like cream cheese, so she tried it and liked it.

Cue the parents making a huge effing deal about how awesome the daughter is for trying new things, which jazzed her daughter up to try something else the next day.

Why it works:

A lot of picky eaters come from a place of fearing new foods. They tried a new thing once and it was disgusting, so they think, “Whelp, that’s it! I’ll only stick with stuff I know I like, since new stuff isn’t worth the hassle”.

The new food doesn’t have to be wildly different. It just has to be different enough that you slowly erase that fear by proving their preconceived notion about certain foods wrong.

The key here is to take a gentle approach to trying a new food, not forceful.

Staying super casual about the food beforehand and then basically throwing a ticker tape parade after they try it for the first time will reinforce the idea to your kids that trying new foods is a commonplace thing– but that it’s also super cool to be a brave little badass and step out of your comfort zone (because you may like what you find!).

Secret Number 4: Wait it Out

Seriously, it’s okay to do it this way. It doesn’t guarantee your child will never eat new foods again.

How it works:

  • You just embrace the crazy, ignore the nagging voice in your head, and let your kids eat what they’ll eat. As long as they eat.
  • Keep it casual about trying new foods, continue to introduce new foods to your kids whenever you can, and (this is the hard part) don’t sweat it when your kids rejects the food.

Why it works:

So much of picky eating is control. So much of it is a phase. Striking a balance between giving your kid back that control and waiting out the phase works sometimes better than you think it might!

Case in point: My brother, for about 2 years, only ever ate hotdogs and cheerios. Every day.

My mom just rolled with it, since she was busy with work and the rest of the family and #aintnobodygottime, etc etc.

Eventually, my brother got sick of these foods. He got sick of going to eat at friend’s houses and not being able to join in because the dinner was new.

He grew out of his picky eating, started trying new foods, and discovered they don’t make you die.

Now he’s that dude in South Asia eating crickets on sticks and demolishing my fridge of leftovers whenever he visits.

Kids grow up! Their tastebuds change. They change. By keeping it casual and letting them see from other people that trying new foods wasn’t a big scary thing, my brother eventually realized there was a whole new world of food out there, he just had to check it out for himself to see.


Listen, I’ll be the first to agree, cooking dinner for picky eaters is no picnic.

But I’ve found that by staying loose and casual about the thing, and relentlessly keeping new foods in front of my kids and never forcing them to try it, you’re setting yourself up for success!


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Category: Blog, Meal PlanningTag: cooking, family approved, fussy eaters, kids, picky eaters

About Ruthy Kirwan

Ruthy Kirwan is a recipe tester and developer living in NYC with her two small kids and hard-working husband. She created Percolate Kitchen in 2016 to help busy people get their act together in the kitchen. Learn more at percolatekitchen.com/about

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Nan Katzenberger

    11 June, 2019 at 1:58 pm

    When my kids were little They could be very picky about what they would eat! I saw an idea in a magazine I tried with great success! Cut the lid off an egg carton wash it and use the little cups to put a variety of food they can choose to eat themselves! Pick colorful bite size food ex. Cheese, turkey or chicken cubed, grapes ,apples ,strawberries, broccoli, baby carrots, sugar snap peas. It worked they loved choosing their own food!

  2. Jocelyn

    21 May, 2018 at 10:28 am

    LOVE LOVE LOVE! Great tips and so supportive of us mommy’s with strong minded kiddos. Thank you!

  3. Kimberley

    11 May, 2018 at 6:03 am

    My favourite is the menu idea! Haha I love the idea of getting the kids to be waiter for the night. Very clever!!! #wanderingwednesday

  4. Haddie Lyons

    11 May, 2018 at 1:45 am

    Yes! These ideas are so good. My daughter ate SO little from 2-3yo, small quantities, very little variety. Dinner time was so stressful for my husband and I:( Now that she is starting to eat more I am excited to try a few of these tricks to expand her palate;) #latewanderingwedensday

  5. Debbie Kitterman

    10 May, 2018 at 4:39 pm

    Hi Ruthy – great post, and oh man, where was this 20+ years ago when I was raising my kids. I did the “wait it out” method and it worked… eventually. LOL thanks for the post, we are neighbors today at #ImpartingGrace

  6. Shiree | Confessions of Parenting

    10 May, 2018 at 11:43 am

    Picky eaters are really hard! I already do not really enjoy making dinner, and this makes it even harder at my house. Great tips!

    Thanks for joining #WanderingWednesday!

  7. Rachel | Kids, Cuddles and Muddy Puddles

    10 May, 2018 at 11:22 am

    Haha, your style of writing is so great! You made me chuckle through what can be such a frustrating topic! I have a 4 year old with an aversion to trying anything new at the moment! I’m definitely going to try the restaurant idea, thank you!

  8. Kendra

    9 May, 2018 at 10:45 am

    Great tips and suggestions!

  9. Elna | Twins Mommy

    8 May, 2018 at 4:09 pm

    OMG, I LOVE this post and your writing.

    My twins are 5 and it’s my son – not my free-loving, I love to try everything daughter – that abhors new foods…even if his sister devours the new food and says it’s finger-licking good.

    He’s suspicious…of all of us “playing” that “hmm…yumm” thing 🙂

    So, for this busy mom, I try to ignore and try the like-for-like.

    But, you’ve given me two fresh ideas (the first two) that I will definitely try now that they are older and learning to read.

    Thanks for the tips!

  10. Nicole | The Professional Mom Project

    8 May, 2018 at 10:52 am

    My son is such a picky eater and as a mom I totally worry if he’s getting enough nutrition and variety on a daily basis. He does eat a lot of healthy foods but just not everything I’d like him to. These tips are great and on the weekend we’ll have to give the pizza bar a try. Thank you!

  11. Debra Coburn

    4 May, 2018 at 7:02 pm

    Had my pickie 3 yr old grandson loving “dinosaur tree’s” aka broccoli… lasted a few weeks & now they r yucky. He scarfs down shrimp right now, wonder how long that will last.

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Sick of cooking different dinners for different family members, every night? Here are my 4 secrets for picky eaters at dinnertime.
Sick of cooking different dinners for different family members, every night? Here are my 4 secrets for picky eaters at dinnertime.
Sick of cooking different dinners for different family members, every night? Here are my 4 secrets for picky eaters at dinnertime.
Sick of cooking different dinners for different family members, every night? Here are my 4 secrets for picky eaters at dinnertime.
Sick of cooking different dinners for different family members, every night? Here are my 4 secrets for picky eaters at dinnertime.
Sick of cooking different dinners for different family members, every night? Here are my 4 secrets for picky eaters at dinnertime.