The Best Vegetable Side Dishes Recipes for Picky Eaters
Incorporating vegetables into your daily diet shouldn’t be a problem. Vegetables come in a degree of flavors, shapes, and textures and bring in natural sources of vitamins and minerals without harmful fats. Unfortunately, many kids and adults avoid eating their greens because they think they taste bad.
Getting picky eaters to eat healthy may be a challenge, but it’s far from impossible. While you might never convince your four-year-old to eat broccoli for lunch, you can still do it with these simple tips and recipes. You could solve mealtime madness and even discover a new veggie dish while you’re at it.
The following collection of side dishes recipes brings you easy and flavorful ideas that you can get the veggie-averse more acquainted with, from broccoli to Brussels sprouts. Before you know it, the picky eaters will be happily chowing down on the vegetable world.
Fried Asparagus Sticks
Your kids won’t even know there’s actually a vegetable tucked inside these crispy sticks of fried asparagus. You can serve these fried asparagus sticks alongside your homemade ranch dressing for dipping. This recipe worked for Kathy Nowak, who said that she followed the instructions, and it came out amazing to the degree that her whole family gobbled up the asparagus sticks.
Sweet Grilled Corn
Of course, corn is a family favorite. Some kids love it because of the thrill of eating it straight off the cob. However, there are some that hesitate in chowing down corn. If you want to add a bit of fun, color, and flavor to this side dish, you can put dried herbs, butter, and Parmesan cheese on top. Heather even got her mom to eat corn using this recipe.
Carrots with Dried Cherries
Tender carrots tossed with dried cherries simmered in honey and butter can also win a picky eater. If you don’t have cherries inside your fridge, you can also use dried and sweetened cranberries as a tasty substitute. Katy Rawson said that her picky girl ate them all up. This recipe is indeed worth your credit card purchase.
Grilled Spicy Sweet Potato Chips
Slice the sweet potatoes and make them into chips, then coat them with spices and quickly grill them. You can also control the spiciness to suit your kid’s taste. Joanne Fraser said that she made this for dinner, and to her surprise, her family ate them all up.
Old-Fashioned Potato Cakes
If your kid is tired of eating mashed potatoes over and over again, then potato cakes can be a great substitute. You can utilize an ice cream scoop to measure and make uniformly sized cakes. Marina even credited this recipe as “simple, easy, and delicious.” She added that the potato cakes had a light and creamy texture with a delightful oniony taste that her husband loves.
Sautéed Sugar Snap Peas and Green Beans
The picky eaters are surely allergic to leafy greens. For a twist, you can sauté snap peas and green beans on olive oil and add up rosemary, thyme, basil, parsley, and mint for flavor. This recipe cooks for a crowd, and also, the leftovers are great for putting in our lunchboxes the following day.
Cucumber Sunomono
If you’ve been to a Japanese restaurant, then you’ve probably had this refreshing, sweet, and zesty cucumber salad that easily gasses up your day. This recipe only takes several minutes to make, and you could serve it chilled or even right away. Angela shared that this side dish is a staple in their fridge and her kids love to snack on it.
Loaded Cauliflower
When in doubt, load it in cheese! Mashed cauliflower tastes like a loaded baked potato, but it has a higher degree of nutritional value. Tengle shared that when he made this dish for dinner, he used Greek yogurt as a substitute for sour cream. His kids, aged 7 to 11, ate them all up.