One evening at dinner, your little one suddenly pushes their plate away and boldly declares, “I don’t like it!”. After calmly asking them what it is they don’t like, they shout, “vegetables!” with a disgruntled look on their faces. You try to explain that we all need to eat vegetables to stay healthy and strong, but they aren’t having any of it. Over the next few days, they refuse every type of vegetable you put in front of them, no matter how much you plead or lecture, and even when you get cross.

So what can you do?

Before exploring a few vegetable-eating strategies, you may wonder where the sudden hatred for all vegetables has come from.

Why have they suddenly decided they don’t like vegetables?

Toddlers are extremely fickle when it comes to their likes and dislikes. One day they love something, the next day they hate it with a passion they’ve rarely expressed, and for some reason, vegetables get a lot of slack from toddlers. Now there may be certain vegetables they really don’t like, and that’s fine—we all have our preferences—but they won’t truly dislike the taste of each vegetable.

Children must try a food at least 15-20 times before they can get used to it and decide whether or not they like it, so you will need to be patient. In the meantime, there are a few strategies you can use.

How can I get my toddler to eat their vegetables?

Don’t plead, lecture, or get cross. Pleading and lecturing will only worsen things, and getting cross will lead to tears or even a battle.

Give them a choice at each meal. Instead of lecturing, give your child a choice of vegetables at each meal, such as “broccoli or carrots?” Let’s say they chose broccoli but refuse to eat it; don't be discouraged; continued exposure will help with this. If they refuse to choose at all, put both options on a side plate for them to explore.

Purée and mix foods, then offer finger foods. If giving choices doesn’t help, choose for them and blend their veggies into their food for a while to make sure they’re getting the vegetables they need. For example, you could mix mashed potatoes with peas and chicken. While it won’t look particularly nice, it will taste good and see them get their veggie fill. From there, you can gradually introduce mixing bowls: chop all ingredients into small pieces and mix them together in a bowl. Smaller pieces are less intimidating and much more palatable. Always serve larger pieces in a bowl to allow them to explore and taste the vegetables in this form. They may not eat very much of this to begin with.

Grate veggies into sauces. Grating vegetables into sauces and soups is a great trick for secretly mixing vegetables into your child’s meals.

Serve vegetables cut into funny shapes. If you have the time, chopping vegetables into fun shapes can help make them much more appealing to an excitable toddler.

Go for variety. As they decide they hate something, so will they decide they love something, but too much of any one thing isn’t healthy. So try to always aim for variety.

How do I get my little one interested in vegetables?

To get your little ones interested in vegetables. Try using a vegetable picture chart and talking to them about how the vegetables are grown. If you have the time, taking them to a farm to let them pick the vegetables may also help them eat more vegetables.

What do I do if my toddler hates vegetables?

From Unii’s Toddler Nutrition Journey, here’s what to do if your child hates vegetables.