Are the Top 10 Healthy Foods Toddlers should every day on your child’s menu?

As parents, one of our top priorities is to ensure that our children are healthy. It’s our responsibility to instill good eating habits in them from a young age and set them up for a lifetime of good health. Eating a well-balanced diet is important for people of all ages, but it’s especially crucial for toddlers. Proper nutrition is essential for children’s growth and development, both physically and mentally. Healthy food choices can help your toddler maintain a healthy weight, develop strong bones and muscles, and boost their immune system. 

But as any parent can attest, healthy foods and kids don’t go well sometimes. In fact, this is one of biggest challenges of parenthood. If you have managed to successfully convince your two-year-old to choose consciously broccoli over fries or chocolate, this is an incredible feat deserving a gold medal. If your efforts haven’t worked so far, though, and you are trying to figure out how to improve their diet, and most of all, how to make “healthy” look exciting, you are not alone and there are ways to achieve this. Just arm yourself with patience, persistence, and creativity! 

We must be mindful of the difficulties that come with raising children in a world filled with processed and sugary foods especially when those foods are masked as healthy. It’s important to set a positive example through our actions and make healthy eating a habit. You can start by cooking healthy meals and gradually change your family’s diet over time. 

To help you with that, we prepared a list of The Top 10 Healthy Foods Toddlers Should Eat Everyday. Incorporate them into your toddler’s diet and help them develop healthy eating habits.

Top 10 Healthy Foods Toddlers Should Eat Every Day

10. Avocado 

Number 10 on our list of Top 10 Healthy Foods Toddlers Should Eat Every Day is the good nutrient-dense avocado. Rich in healthy fats, fiber, and various vitamins and minerals, avocado is so versatile that you can prepare both savory and sweet meals with it. You can get your toddler have more avocado by smashing and spreading it on toasts and sandwiches, adding it to salads or making a guacamole as a topping.

In sweet dishes, you can add it to smoothies, puddings, and as a replacement for butter or oil in baking recipes.  

9. Oats 

Number 9 on our list of Top 10 Healthy Foods Toddlers Should Eat Every Day are oats. Oats are a good source of complex carbohydrates, fiber, vitamins, and minerals. They supply the body with long-lasting energy and help regulate blood sugar levels promote digestive health, and support healthy growth and development. It’s easy to incorporate oats into your child’s diet, as you can use them to make baked goods or delicious meals. 

You can start with breakfast, adding oats to your toddler’s breakfast routine. They wouldn’t say “no” to oatmeal with fruit, oatmeal pancakes, a oatmeal carrot cake. Those are only part of our world-famous oatmeal recipes.

As for lunch and dinner, you may try swapping flour with oatmeal flour in recipes. For instance, I’ve did it very successfully with thin-crust no-yeast oatmeal pizza. Yummy!

8. Fruits

Number 8 on our list of Top 10 Healthy Foods Toddlers Should Eat Every Day, are fruits. Fruits are not only sweet, but also are all packed with essential vitamins and minerals that kids need for optimal growth and development. Fruits are the perfect dessert or snack, a great source of fiber, preventing constipation and making kids feel fuller for longer periods, which helps maintain a healthy weight. 

By introducing fruits early on in our children’s diet, they can develop a taste for healthy foods and are more likely to continue choosing fruits over sugary treats as they grow older. This, given the great variety, colors and tastes of fruits, is not such a challenging task! 

Toddlers love fruits, but cutting them into shapes and serving them on colorful plates can make them even more attractive. Offering a variety of fruits in different colors and textures is also important, as it prevents boredom and helps keep things interesting. 

The less sweet fruits like strawberries or raspberries can be mixed into smoothies or frozen into popsicles. 

7. Nuts and seeds

Nuts and seeds are a fantastic source of vitamin E, magnesium, potassium, and calcium, which have numerous health benefits for the body. They are also high in protein, which is essential for building and repairing tissues.

Although, whole nuts and peanuts should not be given to children under 5 years old, as they can choke on them, you still can give your toddler nuts and peanuts from around 12 months old, as long as they’re ground or in the form of a nut butter. You can mix peanut butter, almond butter, cashew butter into smoothies and yogurt, used them to substitute butter in cakes, sweets or just as spreads.

However, be mindful of any allergies your child may have and avoid nuts and seeds if that’s the case.  

6. Eggs – Healthy Foods Toddlers Love

Eggs are a nutrient-rich food that is a good source of protein, vitamins, and minerals like iron and choline, which are important for brain development. You can prepare eggs in many different ways, including boiled, scrambled, or fried, and serve them at any meal, which makes it really simple to include them into your toddler’s diet.

5. Legumes 

Legumes, such as beans and lentils, are an excellent source of plant-based protein, fiber, and essential vitamins and minerals like iron and folate, which makes them another nutritious addition to your child’s diet. 

To make your toddler have more legumes, you can use them in familiar dishes like soups, or stews. Try to also serve them as a dip with veggies or incorporate them into meatballs or burgers. Another fun way to introduce legumes in by making homemade hummus with chickpeas and serving it with pita bread or veggies sticks for dipping. 

4. Garlic and Onions 

Garlic and onions might not be the most kid-friendly foods, but they are important for a child’s gut health. These two ingredients contain sulfur compounds that help support the growth of beneficial bacteria in the gut. Garlic also has antibacterial and antiviral properties that boost the immune system and protect against infections. Onions, on the other hand, are rich in antioxidants that help protect cells from damage. 

To make sure that your children get the benefits of garlic and onions, try using them in recipes in a way that is not overpowering. You can, for example, add minced garlic or onion to pasta sauces, stir-fries, or soups. It’s also worth trying to use them as a flavor base in meals. If your toddler is sensitive to strong flavors, start with small amounts and gradually increase as they get used to the taste. 

3. Tomatoes and Other Red / Orange Veggies 

Tomatoes and other red and orange veggies like carrots and butternut squash are rich in beta-carotene, which the body converts to vitamin A. Vitamin A is essential for healthy vision, skin, and immune function. These vegetables are also high in fiber, which promotes healthy digestion and contain vitamin C. 

To encourage your toddler to eat more tomatoes or carrots, try roasting them with a little olive oil and seasoning. Roasting brings out the natural sweetness in them and makes them more appealing to kids. You can also make a simple tomato sauce to serve with pizza or pasta or pair red or green veggies with a dip like hummus or ranch dressing.  

If you want to use some creativity, serve them in a fun way – cut veggies like carrots and squash into fun shapes.

2. Plain Yogurt 

Yogurt is a nutritious food rich in calcium, which is important for growing bones and teeth. It also contains probiotics, i.e., live cultures of good bacteria that keep the gut healthy by promoting digestion and absorption of nutrients, and by fighting off harmful bacteria. 

You can serve yogurts to kids adding some fresh fruit or a drizzle of honey or maple syrup for natural sweetness. It tastes great as a dip for fruits or veggies, or blended into a smoothie. A good approach to make children look forward to having yogurt would be to let them add their own toppings, such as granola, or fruits. Make sure you use only plain natural yogurt with no additives, nor sugar.

1. Green vegetables 

Drumroll, please! Our number 1 of the Top 10 Healthy Foods Toddlers Should Eat Every Day! Green vegetables, like broccoli, spinach, and cabbage, are packed with vitamins, minerals, and fiber, making them an essential part of any healthy diet. These veggies contain high amounts of vitamin C, iron, calcium, and other nutrients that help strengthen your toddler’s immune system, build strong bones, and maintain a healthy weight. 

Unfortunately, many toddlers turn their noses up at greens, as they have a natural aversion to their taste and texture, which poses a difficulty to get them to eat enough of them. Fortunately, there are ways to make greens more appealing to kids. 

You can, for example, sneak greens into their meals. It’ll take you a few more minutes to finely chop broccoli or spinach and add it to the pasta sauce, meatballs or soup you are making for dinner. Another idea is to blend greens into a smoothie with fruit and yogurt for a delicious and nutritious drink. 

Lastly, you can make greens fun by giving them a silly name. Kids are more likely to try foods that are represented in a creative way, so if you refer to broccoli as “little trees” or to spinach as “superhero leaves”, it’s likely to get their attention and curiosity.  

Don’t forget, though, that children follow in their parents’ footsteps and it’s of great significance to set a good example yourself. You should model healthy eating habits by having healthy meals and snacks yourself. 

If you need some inspiration, try out our 30 healthy toddler meal ideas and our simple healthy weekly meal plan for toddlers!

Happy Eating!