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Top Tips to Get your Kids to Eat Salad

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I’m pretty sure every parent has heard the words ‘I don’t like that’ at the dinner table.  Most often it seems the ‘offensive’ dish is a vegetable of sorts.  Put a bowl full of raw vegetables in front of a kid??  No way.  But there is a way!  And the proof is in the puddin’.

I have 2 kids that are very different eaters.  One will literally eat anything you put in front of her.  The other has a more discriminating palate.  The thing they have in common: they will both eat salad!  This isn’t just by chance though.  I have used different methods that have really helped both of them like and eat a variety of salads.  I asked them what kinds of salads are the best and why.  We want to share these salad ideas and tips with you to help your little ones enjoy the variety and nutrition that salads provide.


 

Tip #1: Serve the Salad in Something Fun

We love edible bowls and your kids will too.  If you make the bowl something yummy that they want to eat, more than likely they will at least try a few bites of the salad to get to the bowl.  Try our:

10 Minute Bread Bowls

Top Tips to Get your Kids to Eat Salad. Take my advice!! I turned my 3 picky eaters into salad loving creatures!

Parmesan Baskets

Why use a bowl for salad, when your kids can have an edible basket! Parmesan-Arugula-Baskets www.superhealthykids.com

Tortilla Cups

Top Tips to Get your Kids to Eat Salad. Take my advice!! I turned my 3 picky eaters into salad loving creatures!

 

Tip #2: Use Their Favorite Dressing

Dips and dressings are often the gateway to get kids to try new foods.  ‘You don’t want to eat this _________ (insert vegetable name here)??’ ‘Hmmmm…..try dunking it in this delicious looking savory/sweet dressing’  ‘Oh you do like it!’  This is an imaginary conversation I have with myself to my kids all of the time.  Although you may love an oil and vinegar based dressing, kids tastes may not be adjusted to those flavors yet.  Try a dressing that is more familiar and that is either savory or sweet.  A few of our favorites are:

Homemade Poppyseed Dressing

Top Tips to Get your Kids to Eat Salad. Take my advice!! I turned my 3 picky eaters into salad loving creatures!

Homemade Honey Mustard

Top Tips to Get your Kids to Eat Salad. Take my advice!! I turned my 3 picky eaters into salad loving creatures!

Raspberry Vinegar

Top Tips to Get your Kids to Eat Salad. Take my advice!! I turned my 3 picky eaters into salad loving creatures!

 Tip #3: Have a Salad Bar

Kids love to make choices.  When they get to choose from a variety of different salad toppings, they suddenly take ownership and want to eat what they have prepared!  Try Our:

Taco Salad Bar

Top Tips to Get your Kids to Eat Salad. Take my advice!! I turned my 3 picky eaters into salad loving creatures!

Homemade Salad Bar

Top Tips to Get your Kids to Eat Salad. Take my advice!! I turned my 3 picky eaters into salad loving creatures!

 Tip #4: Add Fruit

Adding fruit to a salad gives it a Yin and Yang appeal.  Sweet with savory.  Fruit gives any salad a burst of color and also a fresh juicy flavor.  We love:

Berry Spinach Salad

Top Tips to Get your Kids to Eat Salad. Take my advice!! I turned my 3 picky eaters into salad loving creatures!

Tropical Fruit Salad

Top Tips to Get your Kids to Eat Salad. Take my advice!! I turned my 3 picky eaters into salad loving creatures!

Refreshing Fruit Salad

Top Tips to Get your Kids to Eat Salad. Take my advice!! I turned my 3 picky eaters into salad loving creatures!

Tip #5: Give Your Salads a Creative Makeover

There are so many ways to serve salad to your kids besides just a bowl full of greens.  Be creative and add variety to your salads with different fruits, veggies, dressings and flavors!  Some of our favorites:

Spinach Salad Pizza

Top Tips to Get your Kids to Eat Salad. Take my advice!! I turned my 3 picky eaters into salad loving creatures!

Sweet and Crunchy Broccoli Slaw

Top Tips to Get your Kids to Eat Salad. Take my advice!! I turned my 3 picky eaters into salad loving creatures!

Fiesta Pepper Salad

Top Tips to Get your Kids to Eat Salad. Take my advice!! I turned my 3 picky eaters into salad loving creatures!

Salad really is a great way to get your kids to try new fruits and veggies in one power packed meal.  We hope some of these tips and recipes help your kids become life-long salad lovers!

Natalie Monson

I'm a registered dietitian, mom of 4, avid lover of food and strong promoter of healthy habits. Here you will find lots of delicious recipes full of fruits and veggies, tips for getting your kids to eat better and become intuitive eaters and lots of resources for feeding your family.

Learn More about Natalie

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3 Comments

Not knowing how to choose the good, ripe vegetables and fruit while shopping is sometimes a barrier to families. Do you have a good guide or know of one?

One barrier for families to try new fruits/vegetables is not knowing how to choose the good/ripe ones when shopping. Not all of us have the time to shop farmer’s markets and ask the employees there to pick out for us. Do you have a good guide for this or know of a link to one? TIA