40 Quick and Healthy Meal Ideas for Toddlers – In Quiet Trust
Making the healthiest meal for your toddler isn’t a walk in the park, but it can be when you have a trusted list of healthy meal ideas that you can use interchangeably for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
One must deliberately curate a toddler’s diet for their essential needs. They need meal plans that provide enough nutrients for their development because they have a long way to go.
In this post, I have about 40 healthy meal ideas for your toddler and even the entire family, but first:
Who are toddlers?
Sometimes, it’s easy to get confused about whether to call your child a toddler or not.
According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), toddlers are children between the ages of 1-3. At this point, it is expected that your kid has started walking and talking, and it might not be fluidly, but they can now exhibit some level of independence.
Why you need to be careful with a toddler’s diet?
Did you know that body and brain development is the fastest during the first three years of a child’s life?
In this phase, you must be intentional about the food you give them and monitor the nutrients their bodies get.
It is also essential to lay a foundation for good health and eating habits. You don’t want your child to get used to eating fast or junk food, and the truth is what you give your child is what they will see as good food.
Proper nutrition from infanthood reduces the risk of developing food-related health conditions later in life and helps them develop healthily.
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What are the main nutrients that toddlers need?
- Carbohydrates: These are energy-giving foods that help repair worn-out tissues. They can be in the form of sugar, starch, and fibers. However, you should monitor healthy sugar intake, and fibers are a more beneficial form of carbohydrates. Sources of carbohydrates include bread, cereal, rice, pasta, noodles, and potatoes.
- Proteins: Your child needs protein to help them build healthy body cells that aid development and fight infections. Sources of protein include dairy products, fish, eggs, and beans.
- Fruits & veggies: These provide vitamins, micronutrients, and macronutrients to the body. The food in this class includes all kinds of healthy fruits and vegetables.
- Calcium: Strong teeth and bone development are dependent on the quantity of calcium in your child’s diet, and it also helps the nerves, heart, and muscles. Sources include milk, yogurt, spinach, cheese, broccoli, etc.
- Healthy Fat: Yes, some fats are unhealthy (like fatty meats, poultry skin, and burgers), but fats are a great source of energy for your kid. Sources of fat include nuts, cooking oil, butter, meat, egg yolk, etc.
- Iron: Is an essential nutrient to include in your child’s diet, as it helps build healthy blood and strengthens the body organs. Sources of iron include liver, whole grains, beans, red meat, iron-based cereals, etc.
Quick and healthy meal ideas for toddlers
As a mom, I think meal plans are highly underrated. I always get tired of trying to think of meal ideas every day, now, add the toddler and the difficulty level just went up by 10! It’s not that these meals are difficult to make but trying to make sure you prepare a healthy meal that is appealing to your small bosses is where the task is.
I thought, “If I could get a list of healthy meal ideas for these kids, it would make my day a bit easier, and I could rest my head.”
So, here it is! Your entire family can use these meal ideas to save you the stress of double cooking.
Healthy Meal Ideas for Breakfast:
- Pancakes with syrup: My kids’ personal favorite. I doubt if anyone can resist the appeal of a pancake with dripping syrup and fruits. There are many ways to prepare a healthy pancake for your child: add fruits, add or exclude eggs and use homemade syrup (you can control the amount of sugar).
Yummy toddler food has a pancake recipe that uses two ingredients. Super healthy, and you can switch up the ingredients with other healthy alternatives.
- Oatmeal: You can add chopped fruits, sauce, peanut butter, and definitely your milk using your preferred kid-friendly oats,
I like how you can customize oatmeal as healthy as you want. You might want to include toppings your child enjoys for their oatmeal to encourage them to eat it more.
- Cereal: Either dried or not, cereal is a quick fix for any toddler and less work for mommy. Look for a low-sugar cereal you can top off with seeds, nuts, and fruits. If you think the cereal is too crunchy for your child, you can let it sit in milk or yogurt for a while.
- Toast: French toast, toast sticks, cheese toast, or whichever toast suits your fancy. Add fruity toppings, syrup, jam, and proteins like boiled egg slices and beans. What a fantastic balanced diet!
See more toast ideas here.
- Waffles: Almost the same as pancakes but more fun. To make a healthy waffle breakfast for your toddler, you can customize the base using fruits, potatoes, and even proteins. After that, you can include your kid’s favorite toppings served with a glass of milk.
- Scrambled eggs: Soft scrambled eggs are another perfect meal idea for kids. Make them super light with milk and cheese.
You can serve it with fruits, veggies, and yogurt.
- Smoothies: You can give your toddler different smoothie recipes; all it takes is a blend. You can make it thicker and serve it with a spoon. Also, you can make a fruit smoothie, vegetable smoothie, or maybe a mix of both. Top it off with nuts, seeds, and chopped fruits.
- Frittata: Baking your frittata mix is healthier for your child than frying it. Mix their favorite veggies, add eggs and milk, and bake using a muffin tray.
- Cookies: This might take a while to prepare, but you can make a batch of cookies that’ll last you the entire week.
Serve the cookies with milk and fruits as well.
You can use whole grain flour to make it more healthy.
- Doughnuts: Doughnuts with cream, fruits, and milk are a great way to start the day. You can fill these doughnuts with homemade syrup or jam for your toddler.
- Muffins: It’s all in the mix. Egg muffins, vegetables, and fruit muffins; there are several healthy muffin ideas to add to your meal plan.
- Yogurt: Yogurt is a good choice because it contains many nutrients. You can include nutritious toppings. However, it’s best to go with the full-fat yogurt when selecting the yogurt for your kid,
- Omelet: A hot breakfast fix. Serve with baked carrots and milk.
Energy Lunch Meal Ideas:
- Sandwich: Make healthy finger-sized sandwiches for your kid. Don’t overwhelm your child with too many layers in a sandwich. Instead, interchange the layers on each sandwich.
- Pizza slice: What kid doesn’t love Pizza! Prepare pizza for the entire family and your toddler. Pack a pizza slice cut into finger sizes, so they don’t get messy trying to eat it.
- Salad: There are different salads to prepare: pasta salads, chicken salads, and even egg salads. You can’t go wrong with this.
- Baked beans: Protein? Check! You can serve it hot (lukewarm) or cold for your kid. Add vegetables like spinach, white bread, and even chicken/fish.
- Sweet Potato muffins: Make muffins using sweet potatoes. This meal is filling and appropriate for lunch.
- Chicken nuggets: Make sure to use fresh chicken for your chicken nuggets. You can coat them with grated nuts, mashed potatoes, and dried fruit crust.
- Stick sandwich: Make sandwiches more fun by cutting them into finger sizes and putting them on a stick. You can add grapes and berries to make eating more fun and healthy.
- Fish sticks: Cut your fish fillets into finger stripes. Coat them with flour and breadcrumbs, and bake. You should serve it with sauce.
- Sushi rolls: Be careful not to use raw fish for your sushi because it isn’t healthy for young kids. However, there are more creative ways to give sushi to your kid.
- Fried rice: Do you have leftover rice in the fridge? Soak veggies in hot water to make them softer before frying.
- Egg cups: Egg muffins are a great way for your child to eat veggies. Serve the muffins with chopped fruits.
- Pie: Good ol’ pie. You can make pies and cut them into small sizes for your toddler: chicken pie, shepherd pie, cottage pie, and so on.
- Mac and Cheese: Make Mac and cheese in a muffin tray, and your kid will love it. My kids can have this every day if it were up to them. LOL!
- Snack tray: It gives your kids the fun of choosing what to put in their mouths. Make it colorful, though.
Kid Friendly Meal Ideas for Dinner:
- Meatballs: Make them extra soft and extra small for their little fingers. If your kid doesn’t like veggies, you can mix them with the meat.
- Mashed potatoes: Soft potatoes mashed with cooked veggies and served with sauce and fruits. Thank you, mommy!
- Fish cakes: You can make fish cakes with sweet potatoes, vegetables, breadcrumbs, and cheese. You can serve it with sauce, salad, and baked beans.
- Patties: Chicken and vegetable patties are the best pick for your toddler. Make them extra sweet. Don’t be afraid to experiment with different mixes.
- Creamy pasta: Cream+pasta+veggies = a great dinner idea for toddlers. Check out a simple toddler recipe for more pasta ideas for toddlers.
- Lasagna: Lasagna noodles with cheese and vegetables. You can also add chicken as a source of protein.
- Soup: There are a variety of soups you can serve your child—chicken, broccoli, carrot, tomato soup, and so on. Soups are great for boosting the immune system.
- Casserole: Mostly food that is baked and served in the same dish. Tater tot casserole, potato casserole, chicken casserole, spaghetti casserole, etc. Serve with rice, salad, and other side dishes.
- Risotto: There are many ways to make a risotto dish your toddler will love: chicken, mushroom, vegetable, and fish risotto. Because it is rice-based, it is filling and an appropriate dinner/lunch choice.
- Noodles: These are a great source of carbohydrates for your toddler. You can add as many vegetables as possible and make them with eggs and other proteins.
- Rice balls: Use rice to make an exciting dinner for your child. Add vegetables and proteins to make it more nutritious.
- Tacos: The trick is to make small-sized tacos, add a lot of veggies and coat them with something sweet—sauce, syrup, custard, or mayonnaise.
- Kebab: Combine some of your kid’s favorite food items and place them on a stick, add a dipping sauce, and watch them eat till they’re full.
What to do when your toddler is not eating
It is entirely normal when toddlers aren’t eating because they start to get picky, have their own opinions, and are a bit rebellious. I know you need to get some food in their stomach, so here are some tips.
- Let them eat by themselves: This act will involve a lot of messy tables, but be observant and note the quantity in their mouth.
- Make fun with food: It might help to make colorful meals, and adding an ear or an eye will help.
- Eat with them: They tend to follow when you take the food and put it in your mouth.
- Offer choices: Gather their favorites and new meals on the same snack tray. Leave them to try everything and note the ones they pick up more. Use that and incorporate it into other food. That is their bait.
Let’s Recap!
As you go through these healthy meal ideas, remember that your kid might not buy your idea at first. It’s entirely normal for a toddler to reject food. You have to be patient, introduce a new food or prepare the same food in another way. You can try to convince them playfully, and you will be surprised.
Mom, which of these healthy meal ideas will you be trying for your kid? Do you have any added meal ideas for toddlers? Let me know in the comments below.
READ ALSO: How to build a fun bedtime routine for kids
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