Looking for creative ways to get kids to eat more veggies? Discover tasty hidden vegetable recipes that even the pickiest eaters will love! These kid-friendly meals pack in nutrition with clever, delicious ways to sneak veggies into everyday dishes.
Hidden Vegetable Recipes For Kids
We all know that eating fruit and vegetables is good for us but in reality it’s not always so easy to convince the kids of that!
And it can easily feel like you are going into battle every time you try to get them to eat their vegetables!!
I know that some people don’t agree with “hiding” vegetables in children’s food because it doesn’t encourage them to change their overall eating habits nor develop their tastebuds.
But if you have a picky or fussy eater it can be a very easy way to get some nutritious goodness into them without an argument at mealtimes.
Hidden Vegetable Pasta Recipes
Slow Cooker Spaghetti Meatballs With Hidden Veg Sauce
Not only does this recipe make feeding the family easy, it’s one the whole family can enjoy (no more cooking separate meals!) and it’s packed full of sneaky veggies!
One Pot Cheesy Cauliflower Pasta
This One Pot Cheesy Cauliflower Pasta is super simple and is ready in less than 15 minutes!
The kids won’t notice the cauliflower in there once it’s all mixed in to the pasta and there are no “green bits” for them to try and pick out!
No Tomato Sauce
Tomatoes can be a bit of a love or hate food for kids, or you may be dealing with a tomato allergy.
Either way, this No Tomato Sauce can be used as a hidden vegetable pasta sauce or you can use it on pizza, or even add it to meals like spaghetti bolognese.
Broccoli Pesto Pasta
Broccoli is super nutritious but trying to get fussy eaters to eat it can be challenging!
But served up as a pesto sauce with pasta rather than in it’s whole form, can be a great way to get that nutritional goodness in without the drama!
Slow Cooker Ten Hidden Veggie Sauce
I’ve been making Hidden Veg Tomato Sauce for years now and it always goes down a treat.
But I wanted to see if I could pack even MORE secret veggies into a pasta sauce and I have to say, it’s just as good as the original recipe!
Butternut Squash Mac & Cheese
Not only great for kids, this hidden veggie pasta recipe is suitable for toddlers and babies too, so this is great dinner idea if you have kids of varying ages to feed!
And if you check out the reviews on this one it’s also apparently very good for fussy boyfriends!
Hidden Vegetable Curry Recipes
Hidden Veg Katsu Curry Sauce
This Katsu Curry Sauce Recipe has FOUR hidden veg blended seamlessly into the sauce.
You can either served this poured over the chicken and rice for less fussy eaters or serve it separately like I have as a dipping sauce!
Hidden Veg Chicken Curry
This Chicken Curry recipe is very mild so totally suitable for kids. You can always add extra spice if you think your kids will eat it a bit spicier.
Or just add a little bit of chilli sauce to the adults portions to give it a bit of a kick!
Hidden Veg Chicken Satay
There a FIVE different hidden vegetables in this easy Chicken Satay! It’s the perfect family dinner if you’ve got veg dodging kids (or grown ups!).
For the kids I serve it with rice alongside a vegetable like broccoli just to ensure that they are still getting exposure to veggies.
Hidden Vegetable Lunches Idea For Kids
Pitta Bread Pizza With Hidden Veggies
This pitta bread pizza is super quick and easy to make and crams in 3 hidden vegetables.
Absolutely delicious, and of course a great way of getting some extra veg into your kids hassle free!
Hidden Veggie Sausage Rolls
Sausage rolls are a great all year rounder! Perfect cold to take out on picnic, bung in a lunchbox or have them hot straight from the oven as a really comforting winter lunch or snack!
My Hidden Veg Sausage Rolls always go down a treat with both adults and fussy kids alike!
Cauliflower Cheese Fritters
Serve these cheesy cauliflower fritters up for lunch with some chopped veggies and picky bits and you have a really tasty and nutritious meal perfect for cauliflower dodgers!
Roasted Tomato & Red Pepper Soup
This homemade hidden veggie soup is a a really warming winter lunch idea for kids!
You can have this at home, or packed into a thermos to take to school for school lunch. You could even use the soup as a plain pasta sauce and top with cheese!
Hidden Vegetable Muffins & Sweet Treats
Mini Chocolate Spinach Muffins
This recipe has been so popular! People can’t believe that you really can’t taste to spinach in these muffins!
My kids have been absolutely devouring them for their afternoon snack. I love them for popping into lunchboxes too!
Mini Carrot Banana Bread
I’ve loads of recipes on the blog for banana bread, but I really want to make some mini banana breads that I could pop into the kids snack boxes.
I thought I might as well try and incorporate some sneaky veggies in there as well and I was really pleased with how well they turned out!
Mini Chocolate Courgette Banana Bread
Sticking with the mini banana bread theme, you need to try this chocolate courgette version too!
If you think your kids won’t tolerate seeing any green at all then you can peel the courgette before grating, so that you are only using the white of the vegetable.
If you liked any of these sneaky veg recipes, please do leave me a comment and a star rating below.
You can also share your pictures with me on Instagram. I always love to see your creations!
Looking for ways to get your fussy eater to eat a better variety of food? Try these Plates for Fussy Eaters. These round divided plates have five compartments to be filled with a wide selection of food groups and choices of ingredients. Perfect for making food fun, interesting and appealing to picky eaters.
If you enjoyed this collection of recipes, you might also like:
15 of the Best Healthy Muffin Recipes For Kids
Kerry says
Have tried the Hidden Veg Sausage rolls and they were gobbled up by both my kids! Amazing!!! The hidden veggie tomato sauce is also one of our faves. Am going to try the mac & cheese next week.
Charlie @ The Kitchen Shed says
I love me some hidden veggies! My 10 year old and I were looking through your cookbook last night, excited to try some recipes out!