Recipes for fussy eating toddlers should be simple to prepare
                     RECIPES FOR FUSSY EATING TODDLERS
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RECIPES FOR FUSSY EATING TODDLERS
Recipes for fussy eating toddlers should be simple to prepare, nutritious and tasty. This 
blog is about helping you to adapt family recipes to your toddler and build a set of 
recipes you are confident to rotate. Did you know at age 1, it is recommended that 
children are offered the same food as the rest of the family?
Serving family food has 2 benefits: parents can model eating to toddlers, parents save 
time cooking only one meal. Parents are not stuck with “boring food”, read about 
planning meals for fussy eaters here.
It is all about expanding the range of food fussy eating toddlers will eat.  In fact, recipes 
do not produce magical outcomes, they provide opportunities.
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 Recipes for fussy eating toddlers need 
 A degree of complexity 
If a toddler pushes away fried rice, can she learn to regulate herself and separate what 
she is ready to eat? Does she need a bit of help or slightly reduced complexity?  Parents 
will need to balance this. However the worst thing they can do is to anticipate a 
toddler’s difficulties and remove the offensive food items completely.  Many simple 
recipes can be slightly altered to tweak complexity to a level a child can master. For 
example, you can add a new vegetable in small, easy to remove quantities.  Toddlers 
need to learn to work it out serenely, without parents’ anxiety aggravating difficulties.
Clever adaptations 
It is crucial to adapt the food to a child’s chewing skills. How much do parents need to 
cut down a particular food for their child to manage to eat? Children need some 
opportunities to tackle harder food
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For example, they can hold onto a piece of tough bread, start cutting and chewing it. 
However, when it comes to meat, for example, think about bite-size. A good progression 
is to move along with patties, mini-meat balls, shredded meats/ ham, long-cooked meat 
such as lamb or pork roasts, chicken drumsticks before you serve a tough, large piece of 
meat. Some children cannot jump to a big level of effort when chewing. That may put 
them off, so watch out for skills.
 Regular exposure 
Exposure is not a tip, it is a strategy. It needs to be regularly done so children know and 
understand the food that is in front of them. Having a set of family dishes one can rotate 
will go a long way to help build skills and confidence in children. If an Indian toddler can 
eat lentils and a Mexican child hot chilli, it is because they have had regular exposure. 
Parents should not rule out rejected food. Did I tell you that I kept offering bananas for a 
whole year before either of my girls would eat them again?
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 Parental modelling 
I recommend family meals are consumed with the family.  Children benefit greatly. They 
can feel safe about the food on offer. They can watch how parents manage, cut, and 
chew food. Most children mirror their parents ‘ actions.
 A Collection of recipes
There are no miracle recipes. However, it is best to build a collection of dishes you can 
cook for the family regularly. These basic, hearty dishes can be served with salads, 
bread, and a second course of cheese or fruit, or dessert for example.
Recipes for fussy eating toddlers start with 
 Pasta-based dishes 
Mac n’ cheese, I recommend to ramp it up by adding grated cauliflower from the first 
time you cook it.
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• Tuna bake, form the moment you start cooking this one I recommend you add cut up 
celeri sticks or add peas, you could also alternate.
• Rigatoni sausage and spinach, a cheesy dish in which children can retrieve a sausage 
is so worth it. This one gives exposure to spinach as well.
• Pasta Bolognese. If well tolerated this is a dish in which at the last minute you can 
add green such as broccoli, or spinach. It is OK if the children remove them. You are 
still doing your job 
 Rice-based dishes 
• Fried rice, Keep your soy sauce or fish sauce on the side, but do not shy of fragrances 
using garlic, ginger and peanut oil for example.
• Paella. 
• Risotto with peas
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 Fish-Based dishes 
I always recommend parents produce their own crumbed or battered fish. Crunchy is 
often helpful, Parmesan and bacon bring a nice umami flavour.
• Here is one that  uses bacon in the crumb.
• This one uses parmesan.
• Another option is with an egg-based batter.
 Meat-based dishes 
Most often than not children are stuck with commercial chicken nuggets. It may be an 
important step to produce home chicken nuggets to move along.
• Chicken nuggets,
• Chicken patties,
• Mini-meat balls,
• Roasted chicken, with roasted veggies.
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Veggies-based dishes 
To save time, think about using frozen veggies too.
• Cauliflower tandoori,
• Zucchini fritters,
• Beans and chorizo may be served with rice.
 Legumes-based dishes 
• Lentils and sausages,
• Dhal,
• Jamie Oliver Ragu -a favourite in our home,
• Roasted chickpeas with vegetables,
• burritos.
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If you are stuck with a toddler who struggles with eating a good variety. It is worth 
considering getting help. The entry version of our programs is through our group, which 
is run quarterly. Find out if you can get in here.
If you are unsure, you can schedule a 15min online assessment here.
www.fussyeater.com.au Call: 0421 843 038
Contact us
6 Riddell Parade, Elsternwick 3185, Victoria, 
Australia
0421 843 038
[email protected]
www.fussyeater.com.au
www.fussyeater.com.au Call: 0421 843 038