8 Realistic Ways to Help Picky Eaters Try New Foods

When my mother-in-law was visiting us a few weeks ago, we had a good laugh at an article I read that contained a list of foods to try for picky eaters. The first recipe on the list was for broccoli stir fry. The next was for calamari. We looked at each other, laughed, and wondered if the author understood the concept of picky eaters.

Forget broccoli stir fry and calamari—most of us who have picky eaters would be happy if our kids would eat something as simple as a peanut butter sandwich or Bolognese sauce on pasta! The ideas presented in that article were so unrealistic for my family. Thankfully, in recent months, I’ve had some success getting my kids to try new foods. I’m going to share the strategies I’ve used (along with a few I’ve heard work for other families). Hopefully these will be a little more realistic and will help all of us as we encourage our kids to try new foods!

Encouraging picky eaters to try new things

Have the kids select new recipes to try

Earlier this year, my kids and I perused some picture-rich cookbooks. I had them use sticky notes to mark all the recipes that looked good to them. In the weeks that followed, we prepared the recipes they’d selected. To the extent possible, they helped prepare the foods. Believe it or not, they were excited to try the new dishes! I detailed this approach and the results in this post.

Kids and Cookbooks: A Strategy for Getting Kids to Try New Foods

We’ve been using this approach for a few months. I get a new cookbook from the library about once a month, we look through it, decide what to try, and then work through the recipes in the coming weeks. Two of our favorite cookbooks have been the Kids’ Fun and Healthy Cookbook and The Complete Cookbook for Young Chefs.

I’m so grateful that this simple approach has helped my girls try new flavors! They’ve discovered a few things that they really like. We now include these as regular items on our menus.

Try foods that are adjacent to foods they like

There are certain foods that my kids like a lot. I like to use these as starting points for trying other foods. For example, my youngest child likes wheat toast with butter. I recently tried giving her a piece of toast with a very thin layer of peanut butter on it. She tried a couple of bites before returning to her regular toast. I’m going to continue giving her toast with peanut butter and I’m also going to try other items that are like toast: English muffins, bagels, biscuits, etc. Similarly, my oldest child likes sugar snap peas, so I recently gave her edamame and snow peas. Trying foods that are adjacent to foods they like gives kids the opportunity to use baby steps (which is often more comfortable than leaping right in) when trying new foods.

Make trying a new food a weekly event

Some people have Meatless Monday or Taco Tuesday, so why not implement Unfamiliar Thursday or Something New Saturday? These may not have the same ring to them, but they make trying new foods a regular part of the routine. Kids are often more receptive to new things when they know they are coming. If you try something new on every Thursday (or whatever day of the week), then your kids know to expect it. You can build this up as a weekly adventure and generate excitement for it.

Present foods in fun ways

Foods that look like smiley faces or are cut into fun shapes seem to taste better to kids than foods that aren’t! Thankfully, presenting foods in fun ways is a simple way to make everyday foods more appetizing. Here are a few simple ideas:

• Cut sandwiches and quesadillas into various shapes (circles, hearts, stars, etc.)
• Use blueberries, bananas, chocolate chips, whipped cream, and other toppings to make faces on pancakes and waffles
• Arrange cut fruit and veggies on plates so you create butterflies, flowers, a train, teddy bears, etc.
• With the help of a muffin tin, make miniature versions of everyday foods (mini meatloaves, mini quiches, mini pizzas, etc.)

A simple set of versatile food cutters can go a long way in helping present foods in fun ways.

For additional ideas, check out these resources: Fun Food Presentation Ideas for Kids, 50 Mini Foods that are Big on Flavor, and 14 Animal-Shaped Foods that Kids Love to Eat.

Ask kids to take a “no thanks” bite

I know many families ask their kiddos to take a “no thanks” bite. If the kids don’t want to eat a particular food, they are allowed to decline it with a “no thanks,” but they first must take one bite so they’ve tried it before turning it down. Though we haven’t tried this in my household, it seems like a simple and gentle way to get new foods into the mouths of picky eaters.

Try a variety of seasonings, dressings, and sauces

A pile of steamed broccoli might not be very appetizing to a child, but if you pour on a little cheese sauce, it just might become a favorite food. Likewise, kids often think fresh veggies are tastier when dipped in ranch dip. Using various seasonings, dressings, and sauces can really transform the flavor of a food, taking it from yuck to yummy. Here are some examples:

• Dips for veggies: ranch dip, hummus, white bean dip, black bean dip, avocado spread, or honey mustard
• Dips for fruit: caramel dip, chocolate hummus, peanut butter, almond butter, yogurt, marshmallow dip, or cream cheese dip
• Ways to season chicken: lemon pepper, jerk, herbs de Provence, curry, or cilantro lime
• Sauces for meats: barbecue, Thai peanut, Hollandaise, honey mustard, sweet and sour, or Buffalo

Set a good example

Our children learn by observing us. If we grumble about eating certain foods or consume few varieties of veggies, then they will follow suit. Likewise, if we get excited about trying new foods and eat our veggies enthusiastically, then they will likely learn to do the same.

Keep offering the foods

Kids’ food preferences are often mercurial. They like a food one day, but not the next. However, they’ll eat it again a week later. Likewise, they may dislike a food for years and then quite suddenly love it. The American Academy of Pediatrics says it can take up to 15-20 tries for kids to like a new food! Because of this, it is critical that we keep putting new foods on their plates.

I know this can be tough from a budgetary perspective. Who has money to waste on food you know your kids won’t touch? We certainly don’t. What I do is just give them a very small amount. For example, if I’ve made asparagus, I give them each a spear or two of it. This way they get the food on their plates and have an opportunity to try it, but I’m not preparing a bunch of extra food that I know they won’t eat.

Final thoughts

Having picky eaters can be stressful! I hope some of these strategies decrease your stress as you help your kids try new foods. If you’d like additional ideas, then you can check out these resources on the topic:

• How do I help my picky eater try more healthy foods?
• 13 Proven Strategies for Picky Eaters
• 10 Tips for Picky Eaters

What works in your house? How do you encourage your kids to try new foods?

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