We all know there are a lot of kids that don’t want to eat everything – picky eaters. So, it can be quite challenging for parents to come up with many different meal ideas that are healthy, and that their kids who are picky eaters will love.

There are a few ways to do that – you can make small and healthy changes to the meals that they already eat and love, so they don’t taste the difference but they eat healthier, but there are also tons of simple yet delicious healthy meal ideas that pick eaters will love.

So, I’m sharing a roundup of healthy meal ideas that your little picky eaters will love!

Healthy Meal Ideas For Picky Kids

So, there are some meals that most kids love – chicken nuggets, grilled cheese, fish sticks, mac and cheese, etc. So, you can incorporate those foods that they already love into more balanced and healthy meals, by adding veggies to them or making a lighter version with healthy foods, or you can make some new dishes with ingredients you think they’ll like!

Kid food doesn’t have to be boring, or unhealthy. They don’t need to be only with nuggets, fries, chocolate chips, and candy. There are many delicious and healthy meals that even picky eaters will love, so why don’t you try some out and see how it goes? You might be able to add some of these to your meal plans and your regular family meals. Healthy foods can be picky-eater friendly as well.

Here are some of my suggestions for healthy meals for picky eaters, including breakfast, lunch and dinner ideas, that are family friendly, kid friendly, and a lot of them can become family favorites. Your kids will love these kid friendly recipes, and you can pack these as a healthy school snack as well.

Ground Beef with Veggies

381 calories

• 1 Bell pepper, green – 27 calories

• ½ Onion, yellow – 27.5 calories

• 1 Tomato, medium – 22 calories

• 4 oz Ground beef, 90% lean, raw – 185 calories

• 1 Tbsp Olive oil (Tbsp) – 119 calories

• 1 Salt, dash – 0 calories

• 1 Garlic powder, dash – 0 calories

• 1 Turmeric powder, dash – 0 calories

• 1 tsp Red pepper flakes, dash – 0 calories

DIRECTIONS

1. Chop peppers, onion, and tomato into small pieces.

2. Add oil to a pan. Stir fry beef and veggies until beef is no longer pink, ~10 minutes, on medium heat.

3. Top with seasonings.

4. No beef? Use chicken, fish, tofu, or beans.

Chicken Nuggets and Guac

350 calories

• 6 oz Chicken breast, boneless, skinless, raw – 190 calories

• 1 tsp Garlic salt – 0 calories

• ¼ cup Guacamole – 105 calories

• 1 Cucumber, small – 32 calories

• ½ cup Carrots, baby – 22.5 calories

DIRECTIONS

1. Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces and season thoroughly with garlic salt. Add more than 1 tsp if you like.

2. Spray a pan with an oil spray. Cook chicken pieces for ~8-9 minutes, on medium heat, or until cooked through.

3. Slice cucumbers.

4. Dip veggies and chicken into guac.

5. No chicken? Use tofu or fish.

Tomato Soup & Grilled Cheese

344 calories

• 1 cup Tomatoes, canned, crushed – 50 calories

• ¼ Onion, yellow – 13.75 calories

• 2 Tbsp Heavy Cream (Tbsp) – 100 calories

• ⅓ cup Broth, vegetable – 4.95 calories

• 1 Salt, dash – 0 calories

• 1 tsp Garlic, minced (tsp) – 0 calories

• 1 Oregano, dash – 0 calories

• 1 Bread, slice, whole wheat – 120 calories

• ½ oz Cheese, sliced, cheddar, full fat/ regular – 55 calories

DIRECTIONS

1. Dice onion.

2. Spray a pot with an oil spray. Add in garlic and cook on medium heat until fragrant ~1-2 minutes.

3. Add onion another ~2-3 minutes or until translucent.

4. Add tomatoes, heavy cream, broth, and seasonings. Reduce heat to low.

5. Cook, stirring occasionally, at least 5 minutes.

6. Optional (but recommended!): Transfer soup to a blender & blend until smooth, smoother than a tomato sauce.

7. While soup is cooking, slice bread in half. Add cheese to make sandwich.

8. Either cook grilled cheese in a pan (use an oil spray, cook for ~2 mins on medium-low heat on each side) or in a toaster oven ~3-5 minutes.

9. No dairy? Use a dairy-free cheese or bacon for the sandwich, and cashew milk for the soup, or swap this meal out for another.

10. No gluten? Use a gluten-free bread.

Loaded Rainbow Veggie Chili

319 calories

• ¼ Onion, yellow – 13.75 calories

• ¼ cup Celery stalks, chopped in half – 4 calories

• ½ Zucchini, medium – 16.5 calories

• ½ Bell pepper, orange – 12 calories

• 4 oz Ground beef, 90% lean, raw – 185 calories

• 1 cup Cauliflower rice, raw (already riced) – 38 calories

• 1 cup Canned, diced tomatoes – 50 calories

• 1 Garlic salt, dash – 0 calories

• 1 Chili seasoning, dash – 0 calories

DIRECTIONS

1. Spray a pan with an oil spray.

2. Chop veggies into small pieces.

3. Stir fry celery and onion on low heat ~8 minutes.

4. Add in ground meat another ~8 minutes, until cooked through.

5. Combine all ingredients (aside from cauliflower rice) in a pot, let simmer for as long as possible (although you can eat right away if you prefer). You can also use a slow cooker.

6. Close to when you want to eat, spray a pan with an oil spray and stir-fry cauliflower rice on medium heat ~6 minutes until you see a bit of browning. Top with additional dash of garlic salt.

7. No meat? Use beans.

Zucchini Bowl “Lasagna”

463 calories

• 1 Zucchini, medium – 33 calories

• 4 oz Ground beef, 90% lean, raw – 185 calories

• ½ cup Tomatoes, canned, crushed – 25 calories

• ¼ cup Ricotta cheese, part-skim – 108 calories

• ⅓ cup Cheese, shredded, mozzarella – 112 calories

• 1 Salt, dash – 0 calories

• 1 Pepper, dash – 0 calories

• 1 Basil, dash – 0 calories

• 1 Oregano, dash – 0 calories

DIRECTIONS

1. This recipe works best when making 2-3 servings at once – so double or triple ingredients above, and then divide into 2 or 3 equal sized servings.

2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

3. Chop zucchini into small pieces.

4. Spray a pan with an oil spray.

5. Stir fry ground beef ~7 minutes on medium heat, or until cooked through. Add in zucchini for the last 3 minutes.

6. Spray casserole dish with an oil spray.

7. Add in all ingredients to casserole dish, mix around.

8. Bake for 25 minutes.

9. No red meat? Use ground turkey or beans. No dairy? Use dairy free cheeses, or switch out this meal for another.

Healthified Baked Ziti

503 calories

• 1 cup Carrot “zoodles”, raw or frozen – 45 calories

• ½ cup Tomatoes, canned, crushed – 25 calories

• 4 oz Ground beef, 90% lean, raw – 185 calories

• ¼ cup Ricotta cheese, part-skim – 108 calories

• ⅓ cup Cheese, shredded, mozzarella – 112 calories

• ½ Onion, yellow – 27.5 calories

• 1 Salt, dash – 0 calories

• 1 Pepper, dash – 0 calories

• 1 Basil, dash – 0 calories

• 1 Oregano, dash – 0 calories

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees

2. This recipe works best when making 2-3 servings

3. Stir-fry carrot zoodles with an oil spray if cooking from frozen (recommended); then drain out any excess liquid

4. While carrot zoodles are cooking, stir fry ground beef and onion (diced) in a separate pan with an oil spray until cooked through; drain any excess liquid

5. Combine all ingredients

6. Spray casserole dish with an oil spray; add in ingredients

7. Bake for 25 minutes

8. No carrot noodles? Use zoodles. I always prefer to use pre-spiralized frozen carrot noodles or zoodles since I find the taste is better – but use what you have!

9. No meat? Use ground turkey or stir-fried tofu.

Lightened Up Breakfast Burrito Bowl

311 calories

• ½ cup Rice, brown, cooked – 120 calories

• ¼ cup Salsa – 16 calories

• 2 cups Leafy greens, spinach, raw – 14 calories

• 1 Egg, large – 72 calories

• ¼ cup Cheese, shredded, mozzarella – 84 calories

• 1 tsp Hot sauce – 5 calories

• 1 Salt, dash – 0 calories

• 1 Pepper, dash – 0 calories

DIRECTIONS

1. Cook rice as instructed on package.

2. Crack egg in a small bowl, whisk with a fork.

3. Spray a pan with an oil spray. Pour in egg. Cook egg on medium heat ~2 minutes, until cooked through.

4. Combine all ingredients in a bowl.

5. No dairy? Use a dairy-free cheese, avocado, or oil instead of an oil spray.

Oatmeal with Peanut Butter and Banana

349 calories

• ½ cup Oatmeal, dry oats (uncooked) – 150 calories

• 1 Banana – 105 calories

• 1 Tbsp Peanut butter – 94 calories

• 1 Cinnamon, dash – 0 calories

DIRECTIONS

1. Mix oatmeal with water & microwave to desired consistency

2. Top with nut butter, banana, and cinnamon

Baked Potato with PB & Banana

405 calories

• 1 Potato, sweet, medium, 5 inches – 112 calories

• 2 Tbsp Peanut butter (Tbsp) – 188 calories

• 1 Banana – 105 calories

• 1 Cinnamon, dash – 0 calories

DIRECTIONS

1. Poke holes in potato with a fork.

2. Microwave on a microwave safe dish for 4 minutes on each side. 

3. Slice potato in half, top with peanut butter, then sliced banana, then cinnamon. 

4. No nuts? Use seeds, e.g. sunflower seed butter.

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