St. Patrick’s Day Recipes for Babies and Toddlers
Let’s embrace green foods this St.Patrick’s Day!
I do love a good theme. And kids do too! Have you ever noticed how excited they get around holidays when it’s time to take out the decorations and set up to celebrate?
When it comes to introducing little ones to new foods, capitalizing on the excitement of a holiday theme can help make the process fun, exciting, and collaborative.
Especially for a hard sell (especially among toddlers!) such as green vegetables.
So let’s use the St. Patrick’s Day magic of four-leaf clovers, leprechauns, and parades to celebrate Irish culture and create positive associations with green veggies by offering babies, toddlers and kids some festive St. Patrick’s Day green foods!
What is it exactly that makes green vegetables so nutritious?
Depends on the vegetable, but most are rich in a wide variety of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Leafy greens in particular are brimming with vitamins C, K, A, folate, magnesium, iron and calcium, among other nutrients like fiber, some omega-3s, and even protein.
Starting babies off early on in life with positive experiences around green foods (i.e., a soft steamed broccoli floret or a broccoli/spinach green baby food recipe) helps make it more likely that they will accept and choose these foods on their own as they grow.
Green veggies including bok choy, spinach, collard greens, and broccoli and are so nutrient-dense that it’s tempting to want to sneak a handful into your toddler’s chocolate banana smoothie or puree a bunch into their mac n’ cheese without telling them.
Don’t make this top feeding mistake!
Seriously, they are smarter than we give them credit for. You might get a few bites of something green into them by sneaking, but they eventually (if not immediately) figure it out. And when they do, they lose trust in you and become less likely to try other new foods you prepare.
Don’t get me wrong - it’s great to serve green veggies in a variety of different ways including on their own, added to smoothies and casseroles, or baked into muffins and breads - but it’s more impactful in the long term to be up front and open about what you are serving.
If you want your little ones to learn to like foods that promote health like green vegetables, they need to know what they are eating. They need to see, taste, touch, squish, and experience foods (including green veggies) so that they can decide for themselves whether to eat them the next time they are offered, and the next and the next.
Which is why St. Patrick’s Day is such a great opportunity to create some positive and festive memories together with babies, toddlers and kids around fun recipes that include green vegetables.
Don’t forget - an exposure to a new food doesn’t have to mean eating it! Just seeing, touching, playing with, licking, or smelling a food also count as food exposures that when repeated over time, increase the likelihood that a child will accept that food. If you're interested in learning more about picky eating, picky eating support, and tools to overcome picky eating, check out this blog post.
To help you introduce and re-introduce green veggies to your littlest eaters, here’s a round-up from some of my favorite registered dietitians of nutritious, St. Patrick’s Day green recipes for babies, toddlers and kids that showcase green vegetables in bright, flavorful ways.
Enjoy!
"Tired of making green juices that end up in the trash? Then this recipe is for you! As a newly converted green smoothie fan, I promise you this Green Smoothie For Kids is one that the entire family will enjoy… pinky promise!” This gem was created by registered dietitian and author, Elizabeth Shaw of Shaw’s Simple Swaps.
“These healthy blender spinach muffins are gluten-free, packed with nutrients, and contains no added sugar. They are light and moist and are perfect for babies and kids of all ages! These are sure to become your next favorite grab-and-go breakfast or snack!” Recipe by registered dietitian, Min Jung of MJ and Hungryman.
“This spinach baby food recipe blends spinach, sweet potatoes, yogurt and peanut butter for a balanced and nutritious introduction for homemade baby food or baby led weaning. Can even be frozen as baby teething popsicles.” Created by registered dietitian, Sarah Schlichtere of Bucket List Tummy.
“Spinach can be tricky to serve to babies. These green baby pancakes are super easy to make, healthy, and the perfect finger food for baby-led weaning.” Also created by registered dietitian, Min Jung of MJ and Hungryman.
“It's no secret that I love green food. Many of my recipes are green. Why green? I am usually adding spinach for extra nutrition. (Keep in mind, I never hide the spinach or trick my daughters. But it's there!) With St. Patrick's Day upon us, I decided to try my hand at something green and a little more savory: a green tofu burger.” Created by registered dietitian, Rachel Rothman of Nutrition in Bloom. Great for babies and toddlers, alike!
Spinach & Sweet Potato Tots
“These Spinach Sweet Potato Tater Tots are a fun way to offer nutrient dense toddler vegetable recipes to your little ones. Packed with iron, vitamin A, vitamin C and carbohydrates, this veggie tots recipe is great for meal prep and the side to any meal.” Created by registered dietitian, Sarah Schlichtere of BucketList Tummy. If serving to a bab under 12 months, skip the salt and use a low-sodium Italian seasoning.
“These kid-approved spinach and banana muffins are perfect (all members of the family agreed) and made with only 8 ingredients, many of these ingredients you may already have at home! **note: I don’t ‘hide’ the spinach or ‘trick’ my kiddos into eating these. They know the spinach is there and enjoy them. My daughter has said: ‘I don’t like spinach, but I like it in muffins.’ Go figure!” created by registered dietitian, Rachel Rothman of Nutrition in Bloom. Great for babies and toddlers, alike!
Shamrock Surprise
Turn a savory broccoli and spinach purée for your baby into a meal for the whole family!
One of my favorite tips for helping reduce meal prep burn-out is to find meal ideas that works for everyone you’re feeding - babies included. This way, you’re making one meal for EVERYONE who will be eating. It seems unlikely sometimes, but with a few minor modifications, many foods can work well for babies, toddlers, school-agers, teenagers and adults, alike - like my recipe for a St. Patrick’s Day-themed, “Shamrock Surprise!”
If you’re getting ready to start your baby on solids, download my FREE Baby-Led Feeding Essential Checklist to make sure you have everything you need to get started. You might also want to check out my new online course for parents, based on my best-selling book which will walk you through the whole process of starting solids using a baby-led approach.
Alternatively, if your baby is almost ready to start solids and you’re looking for someone you trust to map out the entire first 12 weeks of your baby’s solid food feeding journey, check out my new Safe & Simple 12 Week Meal Plan! Over 30 recipes, weekly shopping lists, tons of balanced baby meals, a complete plan for top allergen introduction, & lots of guidance (with photos) on how to safely serve each food.