Top 5 Ways To Get Your Kids To Eat Broccoli!

One of the first Incredible Dad article requests we received at the site was from a frustrated father who was having trouble getting his child to eat Broccoli.

So for all you Incredible Dads who are having the same problem, read on for our top 5 solutions!

1) Steam The Broccoli.

When you lightly steam the broccoli properly, it becomes soft and tender while still retaining all of it’s valuable nutrients.  Make sure the broccoli is in bite size pieces that fit your child’s mouth.  You may even want to buy some frozen Broccoli florets and steam those to make things quick and easy.

2) Add Some Sauce.

Serve the broccoli with your kid’s choice of sauce. Cheese sauce is the most popular choice but you can use a bowl of ranch dressing, cottage cheese, yogurt, etc.  Why not ask your child which sauce they would like.  Better yet, have them help you buy the broccoli at the grocery store, then help you steam the broccoli at dinner time.  Getting them involved makes them part of the solution.

3) Monkey See, Monkey Do.

Kids tend to do what their parents do.   If you’re not seen as enjoying Broccoli and other vegetables, chances are your kids will follow your lead and say “Yuck” to the veggies.  So show some enthusiasm and dig in!  If you have very young children (i.e. just starting to eat solid fruits and vegetables), start off with the vegetables before sweeter fruits to get them used to the vegetables.

4) Add it to a Dish they already like (also known as Hide It)

Another way to get your child to eat broccoli is to add it to a dish that they already like such as Macaroni and Cheese or extra-cheesy Pizza.  Since Broccoli doesn’t have a strong taste, it blends in quite nicely with most foods.  (i.e. If you haven’t tried Pizza Nova’s Cheddar Cheese, Chicken and Broccoli pizza slice, you don’t know what you’re missing!).  Several cook-books have sprung up with inventive recipes on how to get veggies into everyday meals (i.e. see the cookbook from Jerry Seinfeld’s wife, Jessica, called “Deceptively Delicious”… wait a minute, why does this suddenly feel like a Mom site… damn…).

5) Don’t Give Up!

I was reading a Reader’s Digest article the other day (Sep’09 issue, “Eatin’, Writin’ and ‘Rithmetic”) and a parent was quoted as saying, “We invest hours teaching our kids how to ride a bicycle yet most of us will let kids give up on a new food after the first bite.”  Studies have shown that kids need to try a food 8 to 10 times before they will accept it.  So bottom line, don’t give up on a food just because they say no.  Live to fight another day as kids’ taste buds change over time.  When your child says “I don’t like Broccoli”, you can move on but say “You don’t like this Broccoli on this day”.

Bonus Tip – 6) Do They Really Have to Eat Broccoli?

With the huge vegetable selection in the supermarket, do they really need to eat Broccoli at this point or is this just more of a control issue on your part?  Relax, find other vegetables they like that are just as nutritious, then come back to Broccoli another day.

Book Boy started out not liking broccoli but one day, he came home and said he wanted to eat some ‘trees’.  To this day, we don’t know if it was a classmate or a story he read but he’s been a fan of broccoli ever since… well, maybe fan is too strong of a word… tolerates?

What other tactics have you tried?  What threats have worked to coerce your children into consuming broccoli?  Share your thoughts with other Dads using the comments section below.

“Where the Wild Things Are” Broccoli in Bento Box Image from annathered.com

Other Posts That Might Interest You:

1. Top Ways To Store Your Kids’ Art and the Funny Things They Say.
2. Three Easy Ways To Reduce Costs and Save Money
3. Top Christmas Gifts for Young Kids