Toddler friendly dishes with shredded chicken

February 5, 2024 1:22 AM

Hosting a handful of international toddlers for lunch. None have dietary restrictions except for, well, the preferences of being a toddler. I have boiled a whole chicken and will shred it. Enchiladas would be too unfamiliar for the guests, so I'm thinking a pasta or rice based dish, but this is not my kind of cooking. Ideas?
posted by perrouno to Food & Drink (19 answers total)

Best answer: Assuming no food allergies, I would take the chicken, rice, shredded cheese and maybe some mild salsa and make quesadillas that you can then cut into fun triangles. Easy to make in a non stick pan, (bottom tortilla, spread toppings of choice evenly and top with another. Cook until melted, evenly on both sides). Make a variety (some just cheese, some no salsa, etc) and then serve with a little dab of salsa or ranch dressing on the side for dipping. Toddlers LOVE to dip. Serve with some fresh fruit, cut up very small, and you have a fun meal that’s fast and easy to eat.
posted by pearlybob at 2:13 AM on February 5, 2024 [10 favorites]

My youngest was a toddler when she discovered tarteletter. You probably can't get the shells, but any savory croustade-type things will work.

A chicken pilaf

Regardless: have a big plate or two of raw veggies on the table: cucumber and carrot sticks, tiny tomatoes, maybe some olives, strips of bell peppers in all colors. Maybe put some cheese sticks and crackers or some mini pizzas in the mix. That way, picky eaters can find something to eat.
posted by mumimor at 2:48 AM on February 5, 2024 [3 favorites]

Tortillas maybe. Our little ones like to assemble their own. Also with lots of options for fillings (chicken/vegetable strips/salad/cheese/avocado/beans) they can find something to their tastes which is reasonably well balanced.
posted by multivalent at 2:59 AM on February 5, 2024 [1 favorite]

Seconding something that they assemble themselves. That way they can choose familiar safe foods if they need to and skip the others. Things like tacos/ tostadas or a rice bowl with all toppings on the side.
posted by carrioncomfort at 3:08 AM on February 5, 2024

A personal childhood favourite: Risi Bisi (Rice and Peas).

https://eatsmarter.com/recipes/risi-bisi-rice-and-peas

My mother always made that with shredded chicken instead of other meat.
posted by sohalt at 3:53 AM on February 5, 2024 [2 favorites]

Shredded chicken is a fine sandwich filler with, say, BBQ sauce.
posted by SemiSalt at 4:26 AM on February 5, 2024 [3 favorites]

Hawaiian Haystacks - serve buffet style so people can add their own toppings. Rice base, chicken, gravy, shredded cheese, lettuce, pineapple bits, onion, Chinese crispy noodles, water chestnuts, chopped celery.
posted by Sassyfras at 5:50 AM on February 5, 2024

While letting the toddlers assemble the food themselves would indeed be fun for them, if I were the host, I wouldn't prioritize providing them this particular type of fun. These are toddlers. Not kindergarteners, not elementary school level kids, but toddlers - kids who are 2-3 years old! And it's not just one or two toddlers, it's a whole party's worth of them. Trust me, you do not want the food-mess that a party of toddlers will make! Food messes are fundamentally different from paint mess or a sand mess or a toy mess, because food messes invite critters if you happen to miss a spot during your cleanup. That is a big nope.

My personal suggestion is to do toasted sandwiches - use a panini maker which makes two triangles out of each sandwich, and seals the edges up nice and neat. Easy for kids to pick up and eat while running around, easy to dip in ketchup or salsa or whatever, minimal mess. Serve with cut up pieces of fruit.

Or you can also do quesadilla triangles as suggested upthread. Same principle.
posted by MiraK at 5:59 AM on February 5, 2024 [15 favorites]

I don't know if this would be too alarming and saucy to toddlers, but it was a school fundraiser staple when I was in elementary and middle school: chicken sketti.

But honestly, if I was catering a world-class toddler meal, it'd be noodles and butter. Chicken on the side.
posted by Lyn Never at 6:13 AM on February 5, 2024 [4 favorites]

My toddlers liked anything that they could eat by themselves, so I would suggest taquitos or chicken turnovers (make with crescent roll dough or premade pastry dough sheets). Both recipes could be simplified by just using chicken and cheese and leave out the cream cheese.

Another suggestion would be to get some mini pita pockets, stuff them with chicken/cheese, and toast in toaster oven.
posted by jraz at 6:32 AM on February 5, 2024 [2 favorites]

Combining what sohalt said with what Lyn Never said, I think risi e bisi made with the stock from boiling your chicken and orzo pasta instead of rice would be toddler heaven. I'm just going with what my grand-toddlers eat, which is hardly any meats and a lot of pasta and butter. Most toddlers like peas, too. Serve in cups or little bowls with teaspoons. Still make the raw vegetable platters for finger food.

Save the shredded chicken for the adults and make a delicious mayo-based chicken salad to eat in elegant sandwiches with the crusts cut off and a choice of tea or some bubbly. Or in little croissants if you can get not-sweet croissants. Toddlers can have these as well if they want. Triangles taste better.
posted by mumimor at 7:08 AM on February 5, 2024 [2 favorites]

As a mom to a current two year old, seconding the recommendation against asking toddlers to assemble anything! That’s a great way to end up with food everywhere except inside the toddlers. I would either do quesadillas or just serve the shredded chicken pretty plain with other things on the side. Toddlers do love to dip but may just eat the dip by itself. Keep in mind that hard raw veggies like carrot sticks may not be a good option for toddlers who are still learning to chew and take appropriately sized bites. My son finds rice frustrating because it’s hard to keep the grains on a spoon, unless you’re planning on sticky rice. Pasta is a good bet and so are crackers or rolls. If you do sandwiches, make them small and use thinnish, softish bread.

Also keep in mind that feeding toddlers does not make sense and is not something you can control. You can make something they absolutely loved the day before and they might not only refuse to eat it, but take being served it as a personal insult the next day. And then devour it ten minutes later. Don’t take it personally.
posted by MadamM at 9:10 AM on February 5, 2024 [5 favorites]

We use shredded chicken in tacos. That should be fairly familiar, and the DIY nature of making a taco would be fun for toddlers.
posted by Thorzdad at 10:01 AM on February 5, 2024

For 2 year olds, about 1/4 cup of shredded chicken on a plate with stuff to dip it in. Mayonnaise, ketchup, non spicy sweet bbq sauce, etc. Add cheese, apple slices, and some kind of carb like crackers pita or bread.

My 2 year old loves shredded chicken mixed with mayo (as if making the filling for a tuna sandwich) and eaten with a spoon.

If you're serving carrots or grapes, note that they are major choking foods, so they need to be cut into very thin sticks so each bite is thinner than a toddler's tiny esophagus. We quarter baby carrots and grapes lengthwise.
posted by nouvelle-personne at 7:18 PM on February 5, 2024

Mix half the shredded chicken with non-spicy BBQ sauce. Leave half as is. Offer white rice, buttered noodles, and/or soft burger buns (makes great sandwiches with BBQ shredded chicken!). Have ketchup and mayo available, they're delicious mixed together for dipping chicken into.

Veggies and fruit cut up for kids to eat safely (Google this if you haven't raised a toddler in the last 15 years).

Make sure to not only shred the chicken but also cut the long pieces, since chicken can be annoying to chew if it is long shreds.

Consider whether you want to have juice. Some parents prefer to juice, some do juice only at parties or special meals.

For dessert, a tray of boxed brownies or chocolate chip cookies? Ice cream?
posted by dabadoo at 8:15 PM on February 5, 2024 [1 favorite]

My four year old now loves assembling her own chicken tacos. But when she was two, every time we got her tacos all the taco fillings would fall out the other end every time she picked it up, and then she would cry about the mean taco that clearly fell apart on purpose to humiliate her. Not worth it! I agree that quesadillas are a better bet.
posted by potrzebie at 10:10 PM on February 5, 2024 [3 favorites]

Plain noodles. Like penne or something. Or tortellini or ravioli or something if you feel like that isn't fancy enough.

Carrot sticks. Apple slices.
posted by slidell at 8:30 AM on February 6, 2024

You're kind of overthinking it. You don't even have to make a dish! As a general principle, if you make something where "everything is mixed together" you will have some kids who won't touch it because it has scary unknown things hiding. A better bet with toddlers is always to have everything 'on the side,' with mix and match options that kids can choose. Some kids will like plain chicken, some kids will like dunking it in sauce, others will eat just sauce, and others will not eat at all, but they all feel better if they can choose which way they can do it. Think appetizer plate, or rice bowl, rather than stew. Many meals in my house resemble an assortment of ingredients in bowls rather than any actual dishes. Pick a protein, two vegetables, a starch, a sauce, and put them all out separately. And remember to cut up carrots into matchsticks and grapes and tomatoes in half.
posted by epanalepsis at 8:31 AM on February 6, 2024

Response by poster: Many great ideas here. I ended up going with the chicken quesadillas with a light guacamole/yogurt dip and sliced veggies and it went over well. I'm keeping the ris i bisi, paninis and that great looking chicken pilaf for the next playdates. Thanks !
posted by perrouno at 10:31 AM on February 6, 2024 [1 favorite]