Healthy Veggie Snacks for Kids
It’s so important to ensure your children are getting a wide variety of vitamins and minerals—like the ones found in abundance in vegetables. So how can you get them to eat (and enjoy!) their vegetables as much as chicken tenders and pizza?
We have some ideas for simple side dishes and veggie snacks for kids that will have them getting their nutrients and loving them, too.
What are some kid-friendly vegetables?
Where’s a good place to start when introducing vegetables? Once the baby-food stage is behind you, getting kids to enjoy veggies can feel like a challenge. That’s why it’s so helpful to build those habits early, right as they’re exploring new flavors and textures every day.
When serving raw veggies, especially for lunches or after-school snacks, start with milder options. Gentle flavors make it easier for little ones to say yes.
Vegetables that are a little sweet
- Bell peppers or mini sweet peppers
- Carrots
- Snap peas
- Celery
Vegetables that are mild and go great with dip
- Cauliflower
- Grape tomatoes
- Cucumber slices
- Jicama sticks
- Broccoli
Step 1: Serve raw veggies with dip
Healthy veggie snacks for kids don’t have to be hard to prepare! Start with a package of pre-cut vegetables like cauliflower florets, broccoli florets, and baby carrots. Then, it’s all about dips, spreads, and what’s set in front of them.
Dip in hummus: Everything from carrots, to cauliflower, broccoli, cucumber, or bell peppers all taste delicious with hummus. Made from chickpeas, lemon juice, and tahini (sesame paste), hummus supports heart health, digestion, and stable blood sugar levels thanks to its healthy fats, high fiber content, and low glycemic index.
Toss some pita chips or soft pita triangles on their after-school snack plate along with celery, carrots, and cauliflower to dip into the hummus.
Spread on nut butter & raisins: Serve kids pre-cut celery bites with some peanut or almond butter and raisins on top. They’ll hardly know they’re eating a vegetable while getting good fat and protein from the peanut butter. Most of all, this treat is fun—be sure to tell them it’s called “Ants On A Log.” You can also serve this as a dessert by replacing the raisins with chocolate chips. Veggies and chocolate? Keep those kiddos on their toes.
Dive into ranch: Most kids will smother everything they can into this classic favorite. A little bowl of ranch plus a helping of vegetables will satisfy their snack attack. You can also make it look gourmet by drizzling ranch onto plated pre-cut vegetables arranged by color.
Try dill dip or bleu cheese: If ranch isn’t their style, try a bleu cheese dressing as the dip, or a creamy classic dill dip.
Fun ways to present raw veggies to kids
Spoon hummus into the bottom of a clear cup, and artfully stick some cut veggie slices into it. Kids will pull them right out and get munching.
Grab a Taylor Farms Veggie Tray, which comes with pre-cut vegetables and an ample serving of dip, and just set it out every afternoon when they arrive home from school. You can prep dinner, they can chat away about their day, and they will get used to snacking on crunchy veggies to stave off the munchies until dinner.
- There’s something about adding a bit of magic in your presentation that captures kids’ attention. Try arranging their favorite veggies in rainbow order or choosing a color of the day to match their shirt! (Sorry, no pink vegetables at this time.)
- Red = red peppers and grape tomatoes
- Orange = carrots and orange pepper slices
- Yellow = yellow peppers and yellow zucchini
- Green = Snap peas, snow peas, and broccoli
Step 2: Sneak them in! Integrating vegetables into other snacks
Add kale, baby spinach, or carrots to any smoothie. You can hardly taste the greens when they’re blended with your choice of smoothie ingredients, like strawberries, blueberries, bananas, yogurt, a little protein powder, peanut butter, or honey. However you make your smoothie, throw in a handful of these blendable leaves.
Add carrots or beets to juice. Got a juicer at home? Lucky you! If you’re making a yummy, sweet fruit juice for your child, try adding sweet veggies that won’t ruin the color like carrots or beets to the mix. Next to apples and pineapple, they won’t even know—and beets will actually make the drink pink!
Quesadilla with vegetables. Kids will eat pretty much anything warm and cheesy. (As will adults.) Try adding chopped bell peppers, shredded carrots, or chopped spinach or baby spinach the next time you serve them a gooey quesadilla!
Crunchy, seasoned kale chips—Massage kale in a healthy oil and your favorite seasonings, place it into the oven on low heat, and it comes out crispy and delicious. Hardly a vegetable at all anymore! Try out different recipes with flavors like nutritional yeast, everything bagel seasoning, or a light garlic powder.
Step 3: Veggie-licious lunch box hacks
Making daily lunches can be a s.l.o.g. The more prep that’s done beforehand, the better. We made just the thing. Our Snack Packs include raw vegetables, creamy dip, and extra treats like pretzels, apples, cheese, nuts, and even pepperoni. They’re perfect for lunchboxes, after-school snacks, and pre-sports fuel.
Stock up for the week, throw one in their lunch box or backpack every day if you want, and voilà: making sure your kid is getting vegetables is a breeze.
Exciting, colorful cauliflower—If your kids don’t love cauliflower, have they tried Rainbow Cauliflower? Sometimes it’s just about presentation and novelty. (We’re not saying you should food color their ranch dressing to keep it coordinated, but you could.)
Handful-worthy roasted chickpeas—Easy to make, easy to send along in a bag, and a really fun snack. And great news, you can make these in bulk, so that any extras can be set aside for Mom and Dad to use on a salad. Probably a Mediterranean one, but they’re good on anything.
Add shredded carrots or zucchini into wraps or pinwheels: Turn lunch into a color surprise! Sneak in a handful of shredded carrots or zucchini for a bit of crunch, color, and veggie power.
Slip spinach or lettuce under cheese in sandwiches: Slide in a few leaves of spinach or lettuce under the cheese—your kid may or may not even notice, but you’ll know it’s there.
Pack mini muffins or meatballs with grated veggies baked in: Bake veggies right into the fun! Mini muffins or meatballs loaded with hidden veggies taste just as yummy—and pack a stealthy nutrition punch.
We hope you’re empowered to venture into the world of vegetable snacks for kids! As always, we’re wishing you good health and heaps of fun, foodie adventures for all ages.
