Toddler lunch ideas.

May 2, 2013 6:16 AM

What do you feed your toddler for lunch?

I'm staying at home with my 21 month old and 3 month old right now, and I feel like I don't do a great job with lunch. I'm looking for quick and easy ideas, since its just me for lunch and I'm also dealing with a baby. Sometimes we eat the same thing, sometimes we don't.

Here are our restrictions, but ideas that don't fit perfectly could still inspire me:
- no peanuts
- no dairy for me, fine for him
- typical toddler pickiness
- all natural
- no soup, he can't use a spoon well yet
- did I mention fast and easy?

Thanks!

posted by that's how you get ants to Food & Drink (28 answers total)

Meat (leftover grilled chicken or steak from dinner, or sliced ham), Veggies (green beans, broccoli, carrots, sweet potato cubes, steamed), Fruit (banana, apple, fruit/veggie melt fruit snacks, dried cranberries), Carbs (pretzel sticks and crackers, because the kid is crazy for 'em, pasta noodles with margarine and salt and pepper)

My 19 month old is just starting to get picky, and he has a lot of food allergies (milk, eggs, soy, corn), so I have kind of a limited ingredients list. I only recently started making "pb&j" for him with almond butter and whole fruit jam. Naturally he loves it but it's a tremendous mess so it's not what I feed him when I gotta get food into him quickly.

Really, I love the muffin pan snack tray and use it like crazy. He has a little shelf in the kitchen where he leaves his sippy for refills, and I put his snack tray out with an assortment of good stuff, he eats it until it is gone (and that's how I get the less-desirable protein items into his belly - no more cranberries until your chicken is gone) and then it gets refilled unless it's close to dinner time.

I would love it if he liked hummus or guacamole or the other healthy dippers he liked when he was 7mos. old but he doesn't really want anything to do with them. So I guess my answer is "small bits of healthy foods that the kid can graze on". I work full-time from home and meals have to be quick.
posted by annathea at 6:25 AM on May 2, 2013 [1 favorite]

Pitta bread & humous, raw veg (carrot, celery, pepper), rice cakes, baked beans on toast with grated cheese on top, boiled egg & toast soldiers, pasta with pesto or tomato sauce plus cheese.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 6:25 AM on May 2, 2013

This thread on daycare lunches might be helpful. My niece, who's about the same age, eats cut up fruit and vegetables (grapes, bananas, apples, oranges, tomatoes, avocados, carrots, etc.), meat (usually sliced deli meat) and cheese cut into cubes or small pieces, sandwiches, crackers, yogurt, applesauce, oatmeal, and often just whatever her parents are having, cut into appropriately sized pieces.
posted by rebekah at 6:26 AM on May 2, 2013

Rolled-up slices of lunchmeat was a favorite at that age - deli ham, chicken and turkey, with some sliced munster or swiss similarly rolled up. (Roast beef or sausages like salami or pepperoni were not popular.) Baked chicken thighs or rotisserie chicken, cut or shredded into toddler sized bites, went over big.

Macaroni and Cheese with hotdog slices always appeals.

Seedless grapes and apple slices (peeled) always went over big, as do celery sticks and baby carrots.
posted by Slap*Happy at 6:26 AM on May 2, 2013

Oh, and often the leftovers from our (adult) dinner the night before will be the kid's lunch or dinner the next day - what's easier than food you just have to reheat?
posted by EndsOfInvention at 6:26 AM on May 2, 2013 [1 favorite]

We often cook up a bunch of Turkey Burger sliders and put them in the freezer (ground turkey, bread crumbs, egg, old bay). Pop one out and reheat it for a minute in the microwave, heat up some frozen peas and a little piece of cheese on the side and it's a tasty lunch that our toddler loves.
posted by Jacob G at 6:31 AM on May 2, 2013 [1 favorite]

I make sandwich wraps with tortillas pretty regularly. Ham, turkey, cheese, cucumbers, some lettuce, bell peppers all make regular appearances in them. When we're on the go, I take those silicone baking cups and put them in a Tupperware dish to make a poor man's bento with dried fruit, olives, cheese cubes, nuts, pretzels, and crackers of some sort.
posted by chiababe at 6:42 AM on May 2, 2013

One thing I remember making en masse was "baby pizza," which lasted into the toddler stage, which was whole wheat mini pitas, with pesto instead of tomato sauce -- less mess, less likely to provide a glob of burning hot liquid -- topped with chopped veg (usually onion, broccoli, red pepper) and enough cheese to glue that on; bake half-way, wrap and freeze, chuck in toaster oven as needed.

Will he eat off your plate? Some kids will be way more adventurous if they're allowed to grab off a parent's plate -- there was an article in the NY Times, among other places, a few years ago theorising that this was a hangover from cave-toddlers as eating a random thing off the cave floor could kill you while swiping somebody else's food wouldn't -- and I leveraged that to get all sorts of weird foods in.
posted by kmennie at 6:52 AM on May 2, 2013 [3 favorites]

My aunt used to up-end a fruit at the bottom yogurt for her kids. It was pretty and yogurt is healthy, especially a Greek Yogurt.

An almond butter and jelly sandwitch.

Elbow macaroni with a pasta sauce, so your toddler can pick it up with fingers. Messy but tasty.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 7:09 AM on May 2, 2013

My toddler usually eats the same thing we eat, but lunches have been:

1. Turkey and cheese sandwich (if your child doesn't like the bread, try hamburger buns.)
2. Pasta bake. (We bake whole wheat pasta noodles with a low sugar, low sodium sauce with chopped spinach and add cheese the night before and he has leftovers for lunch. Soy cheese shreds work quite fine here.)
3. Turkey or beef burger sliders with baked beans or some other vegetable.
4. Quesadillas with chicken, cheese, and bell peppers.
5. Macaroni and cheese with green peas.
6. Hot dogs cut into quarters with baked beans.
7. Peanut butter and jelly or Sunbutter (sunflower seed butter) and jelly on toast.
8. Ian's All-Natural Fish Sticks

My son loves vegetables and fruit and dipping them into appropriate dips: hummus, ranch dressing, applesauce. Cucumbers and tomatoes are very popular here.

It's hard to be preservative-free/all-natural and quick and easy with two kids, but with some prep work of precooking things the night before you should be fine.

It's about finding balance: get a protein, vegetable, and a carb on the plate with fruit/yogurt for dessert/snack, and you'll be fine.
posted by msladygrey at 7:16 AM on May 2, 2013

Our go-to easy kid lunch is smorgasbord: various fruits and veggies (green beans, cherry tomatoes, sliced peppers, sliced apple, baby carrots, etc), hummus, cheese, crackers or pita or bread, celery with peanut butter or cream cheese, olives and little pickles, sliced meat or sausage, any finger-foodable leftovers, mustards and sauces to keep things interesting... basically whatever's in the fridge goes on one big plate we all share. Very quick to make, we can adjust the balance based on whatever he's had too much or too little of lately, the kid has fun testing out little sandwich combinations of the various items, and we stave off food pickiness by including at least a few random things he doesn't normally go for. (This has either worked extremely well for us, or we've just been extremely lucky, because ours has turned out to be a very adventurous eater -- much more so than his mother for that matter.)

The best part is listening to a toddler say "smorgasbord". See also hors d'oeuvres. ("Oh boy! Usually we only get one derve!!")
posted by ook at 7:21 AM on May 2, 2013 [1 favorite]

2nding "Sun butter" (made from sunflower seeds)--it's a good alternative to peanut butter. It's high-protein and most kids like it in sandwiches.
Cantaloupe--I work with toddlers, and they go nuts for it. Nutritious too.
posted by Nibbly Fang at 7:22 AM on May 2, 2013

scrambled eggs.
posted by gaspode at 7:26 AM on May 2, 2013

Since my toddler only eats about five things that count as "lunch" or "dinner" I can't add to the ideas above, but for quick & easy I have a tip- I'll make a whole box of mac & cheese (or homemade) or a big pot of pasta with marinara, and then portion them into little plastic containers, give him one serving of it fresh, and put the other containers in the freezer. Then, when you need lunch and don't want to fuss with making anything, pop a container out of the freezer, zap it in the microwave to get it to acceptable lukewarm toddler standards, and lunch is ready. I also make a big batch of turkey/veggie meatballs for the freezer, so I can warm up two or three of those to go with the pasta.
posted by banjo_and_the_pork at 7:29 AM on May 2, 2013

Hard boiled eggs make up a huge portion of my toddler's diet.
posted by gnutron at 7:30 AM on May 2, 2013

Raviolis that are cooled and without sauce is good for little fingers. I'd put a little olive oil to make sure they don't stick together.

I bought cutters from a Japanese store to cut sandwiches to cute little kid sized shapes. I do grilled cheeses and I also used the cutters for veggie nuggets (I'm sure it will work with chicken and beef patties!)

I usually separate the cheese and the "meat" when I do "meat" and cheese (my daughter doesn't like meat!) and she likes to piece them together or has a game of eating one then the other.
posted by Yellow at 7:40 AM on May 2, 2013

Response by poster: Well, this makes me feel better. I felt like I was serving less a meal and more just easy little piles of food from each food group. It turns out that's what everybody does.

I am getting plenty of ideas for new little piles though, so keep them coming!
posted by that's how you get ants at 7:43 AM on May 2, 2013 [3 favorites]

garbanzo beans. Sometimes other beans too.

My girls both liked "french toast" = beat an egg and a tbsp or so of milk and maybe some vanilla, soak cubed bread in mix for a moment, stir fry in pan. Fast protein with no nitrites like lunch meat has.
posted by fingersandtoes at 7:47 AM on May 2, 2013

My kids always had weird food tastes, like they would eat handfuls of feta cheese, pickles and raw fish but they hated peanut butter and macaroni and cheese.

Some stuff that helped with my 3 kids was that when time allowed I would make large amounts of things my kids liked to eat and also a LOT of sandwiches at once. So I would make 2 lb. of ravioli, tortellini (little belly buttons, yay!), ziti at once and dole out lunch from that. I also would make like 20 of their favorite sandwiches at once and keep them ready. Nuked grilled cheese and apple slices worked for their palates.

Having a big container of already cut up celery, carrots, English cucumbers, red peppers and little cubes of cheese also made things easier.

A container of quesedilla/fajita fixings...beans, shredded lettuce, Greek yogurt, shredded cheese.

But there's nothing wrong with whole wheat pretzels, carrots, cheese cubes and apples or macaroni and cheese and corn.

Every.single.day.
posted by kinetic at 7:52 AM on May 2, 2013

There is nothing wrong with little piles! For instance, if you have hummus, pretzels and berries, you have covered protein, grains and berries without having to cook anything. What might help you is getting a divided plate and then filling each little section. For instance, Lunchbots (www.lunchbots.com) make great stainless steel lunch containers and their 'quad' model has four compartments. You could fill one with a protein, one with a whole grain, one with a fruit and one with a vegetable and cover every food group. Or get the three-compartment one and you can do little sandwiches with a fruit side and a something-else side.
posted by JoannaC at 8:07 AM on May 2, 2013

Easy scrambled egg. Crack an egg into a coffee cup. Scramble, add a dash of milk, a bit of salt and cheese
If desired. Stir and cook in microwave for 45-60 seconds. You get a nicely cooked egg in a good shape for a biscuit or a toddler plate. You can use more than one egg, just experiment with your microwave cooking times to be sure it's done.
posted by pearlybob at 8:08 AM on May 2, 2013

For a super healthy meal, brown rice mixed with bits of chicken (organic?) and broccoli (organic too?).
posted by Dansaman at 8:26 AM on May 2, 2013

I made a lot of spaghetti.

Burritos with canned beans for you --- though my son just preferred cheese inside his tortilla.

Eggs.

I'd buy a baguette at the bakery as well.

Frozen veggies --- peas are particularly great, because if you rinse them in water, they defrost tasty and are fine without being warmed up.

Cheese.

Lots of hand fruits. Apples, grapes, and the likes. And frozen fruits can be your friends here, too.

And I also ate out a lot when on my maternity leave --- don't know if you're working or a SAHM, so YMMV here, but I would twice a week go the route of pizza or french fries if it meant getting out of the house and not having to clean something else. THERE IS NO SHAME IN DOING THIS!!! IT REALLY IS OKAY!!!!
posted by zizzle at 8:33 AM on May 2, 2013

Little piles ROCK! Little kids like the idea that they can pick and choose what they want to eat, it gives them a tiny bit of control in a world where they have pretty much none.

Don't fret that you're doing it wrong. Right is what works for you and your family.

Seriously, toddlers are like dogs, throw them scraps, the don't know the difference.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 12:04 PM on May 2, 2013 [2 favorites]

Also, even if you're in a "no peanuts" situation, you might be able to try "sunbutter" which is made of sunflower seeds and tastes very like peanut butter -- just adds another possibility to the magic of dipping (can dip apple slices or carrot sticks or crackers in sunbutter, for example; we also love celery in ranch dressing) or putting on toast.

Otherwise, yes, little piles. THe best description/guidance/reassurance I was given for this age (and, really, up through about 4) is "your job is to provide a range of healthy options, and their job is to eat from that what their bodies need." (Also, "think about balance by the day or week, not by the meal.")

Cubes of cheese. Tortellini with pesto (the latter is easy to freeze in ice cube trays for making smaller amounts!). Peas -- microwave a small container from a bag you keep frozen, or find some dried. Cheerios. Yogurt. Apple sauce (this is the age that justifies buying the little cups, which can be natural from the right source). Pieces of chicken -- if you can get this in, it can be an entry point for getting your kid interested in your ethnic food preferences (e.g., chicken tikka masala, stir-fried chicken, arroz con pollo). Every possible fruit!
posted by acm at 12:36 PM on May 2, 2013

One thing that really worked for me was edamame (organic, of course, because soy tends to be one of the most GMO things out there). They come precooked so you don't have to do anything at all.

The key is getting the edamame out of the pods in front of your little one - which they find extremely amusing, especially if you squeeze the pod to so it shoots onto the plate.

Also, I've convinced mine that raisins are candy. Bwahaha.
posted by rada at 1:59 PM on May 2, 2013 [1 favorite]

What are you eating for lunch? Can she have that too?

Our 15-month old now eats pretty much what we eat at meals and does not have toddler-special food. We keep fresh fruit around that she has unlimited access to - she eats small apples whole, not sliced up because I am super lazy for example - and we also have a big air-tight box of healthy snacks (nuts, crackers etc - my biggest surprise for her food has been that all the crackers in the Baby Food aisle had awful ingredient lists, but regular healthy crackers came in much simpler and better ingredients, just no cute packaging) that we dip into for little nibbles when she's hungry during the day. Otherwise, she just eats a smaller portion on a plate, or she eats off a parent's plate. We put stuff like chili on the side to add at the table for the adults.

We are very lucky to have a non-picky eater, but I really really recommend skipping the toddler/baby food phase entirely if you can. It makes cooking and eating out much easier.
posted by viggorlijah at 8:19 AM on May 3, 2013 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: I made a list of many of the suggestions in the thread for times when I need some little pile inspiration. Just in case anyone else gets stuck one day, here it is.

Protein:
Leftover meat in small pieces
Lunch meat & cheese roll ups
Mini burgers and meatballs, batch frozen
Hummus
Cheese cubes
Yogurt
Eggs, any way
Garbanzo beans

Carbs:
Pretzels
Crackers
Noodles
Pita bread
Rice cakes
Oatmeal

Veg:
Fresh cooked veggies
Fresh raw veggies
Frozen veggies
Guacamole
Pasta sauce- tomato or pesto
Pickles
Edamame

Fruit:
Fresh fruit
Frozen fruit
Dried fruit- cranberries, raisins
Applesauce

Combos:
"P"b + j
Beans on toast with cheese
Wraps
Quesadillas
Pita pizzas
Mac & cheese with veggies or meat
Sandwiches
French toast
Eggs and toast


Thanks again!
posted by that's how you get ants at 7:32 AM on May 6, 2013 [5 favorites]