13 Kid-Friendly Leafy Greens Recipes

It’s cabbage & leafy greens week over on VegPower’s #EatThemToDefeatThem campaign, so I thought I’d round up some of my favourite kid-friendly recipes featuring greens for you all.

We all know that greens are good for us and we should eat more of them, but they can be the hardest food of all to get into our diets, and particularly into our kids. My top tips for getting more greens into your family are:

• Blitz it – I don’t advocate hiding foods as it is only ever going to be a short-term solution since it doesn’t get kids connecting with the food and actively enjoying it, but sometimes blitzing some greens into a smoothie, soup, sauce, or baked good means at least they are getting some goodness from it in their bodies. Plus, breaking down greens (especially spinach) before eating it makes it more easily digestible. Just don’t stop offering it in other – more obvious – forms, too, to help with the more long-term love of healthy food!
• Make it fun – get some paint and some different green leaves and get them to make leafy green prints. They aren’t eating it, but are exposed to it and getting used to it. Have fun playing with the food before offering some to eat at the next mealtime.
• Grow it – my son was seriously kale-averse for the first couple of years of his life, but kale is a really easy to grow, hardy, year-round plant, so I decided to put him in charge (with a little help) of planting, watering and collecting a kale plant. Over a year later, the plant is still flourishing and he eats kale in anything, even straight off the stalk!
• Get the kids involved in cooking and prepping it – the more they are involved and exposed to a food, the more likely they are to eat it. Let them explore it with their senses, playing with it, touching and tasting it, washing it, dressing it, cooking it, etc.
• Don’t give up – it can take children 15-20 tries of a food before knowing for sure if they like it or not, so whatever you do, just keep on offering it!

Why not give some of these recipes a go to give these tips a test drive?

Breakfasts & Drinks:

Sugar Free Green Monster Muffins

No Added Sugar Tropical Green Smoothie

No Added Sugar Green Smoothie

Meals:

One-Pot Chickpea, Sweet Potato & Spinach Curry

Spinach & Ricotta Baked Pancakes

Veg-Packed Fish Pie

Green Vegetable Crumble

Classic Veg-Packed Lasagne

Green Mac ‘n’ Cheese

Warm Kale & Apple Salad

Sugar Free BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches

Dessert:

Sugar Free Chocolate & Spinach Cupcakes

Green Blender Pancakes with Blueberry Cinnamon Sauce

For more ideas, take a look at Taesha’s 21 kid-approved spinach recipes over on The Natural Nurturer.

What are your favourite family friendly recipes that have cabbage or leafy greens? Share with us in the comments below.