How to Get Your Kids to Eat Salad

I know kids in general can be funny with salad, especially fussy eaters! One of my own, my son Nate, went for years without eating a dressed salad. But I decided to work on tackling that and over time I was successful, so I’m here to help show you how to get your kids to eat salad!

It is harder to get younger children to eat a dressed salad if they are adverse to it, and it ends up being easier for parents just to serve them some veggie sticks instead. The problem with this is that it doesn’t help the situation. As with all foods, children need to be exposed to them (and often) so they can get used to eating them. The best thing you can do is to expose them to salads at baby weaning stage and to keep doing it from then on. I did this with my second child (wasn’t going to make that mistake twice!), and she has always been fine with salads.

Reasons Children Refuse to Eat Salads and How to Combat them

There are a few reasons why your child might turn their nose up at a bowl of salad, but don’t worry, I’m here to help! I will help tackle each of these reasons and give you the tools to start introducing salad to your child’s diet today.

They don’t like any, or only one salad vegetable

If they don’t like any salad vegetables, that can be a tough one! If they like cooked vegetables, try warm salads first or a cold roasted vegetable salad (roasted veggies are great in couscous and quinoa!). Search for warm dressed salad recipes online. Find one that has at least one safe vegetable in and try that out first alongside a grilled piece of hot chicken or fish for example.
Having a child that point blank refuses to eat any vegetables at all, will mean that for now, salads are a no-go zone. You need to tackle that vegetable-refusal issue separately before attempting to introduce salads.
If they only like one salad vegetable, include that in every salad for now. Encourage them to eat at least that vegetable out of the salad. This will help to get them used to the taste of salad dressing which can be half the battle!

Not liking the thought of, or the taste of salad dressing

When you first start introducing mixed salads, leave off the dressing. Give them a little of the dressing in a bowl and tell them they can have it, or not have, it’s up to them. They can even test dipping some of the salad veggies in instead of pouring it on. You never know, giving them the choice might just encourage them to try it!
When you give them cut up salad vegetables separately as part of a picky plate, give them a little salad dressing in a dipping bowl and introduce it as a ‘salad dip’. This again will help get them used to salad dressing. Try different dressings too, and if you find one they like, add that one to their first dressed salad!

They like their food served separately and not mixed together

Parents often serve babies and toddlers finger foods in divided plates which often leads to their child becoming used to eating foods served separately. I would always recommend that you serve at least some of their meals with foods mixed together so they get used to it from the start.

If you do have a child who is used to having their foods separately and they only like it that way, start by serving their salads deconstructed. Make a point of commenting on your plate of salad and how theirs is the same as yours, but yours is mixed together. Make suggestions to them about trying their salad mixed together, for example “When you are ready to try your salad mixed together, let me know.”

At the same time, start mixing together other foods that they do like. You can do this within cooked meals or serve cut up fruit and cheese mixed together or toddler biscuits mixed in with their fruit etc. It’s important they get used to eating foods mixed together.

They aren’t used to eating salad carbs cold

Little ones get used to having certain carbohydrates like potatoes, pasta, rice and couscous served hot, so when you give them a plate of them cold in salads they may get completely thrown off and put off. To get them used to eating these carb salad bases cold, you can start by adding them to their picky plates. Add on a different cold carb each time, like cold potato, pasta, quinoa and couscous.

How to Get Your Kids to Eat Salad with Dressing

Incorporating the above tips, here are my recommendations for how to get your kids to eat salad with dressing:

Always do this together as part of a family meal, so they can see others positive behaviour around eating the salad this way. From weaning stage onwards, sharing the same meal together will help your child to foster a good relationship with food and how to behave at meal-times.
The first handful of times you serve them a dressed salad, make it a side salad to a meal. That way it’s not super daunting as you are serving other foods alongside it, instead of giving them just a heap of salad. To start, just give them a very manageable amount, say one spoonful.
Include at least one salad vegetable they like each time. Encourage them to eat at least that vegetable out of the salad. This will help to get them used to the taste of salad dressing which is half the battle!
You could try a warm dressed salad first. That may be more familiar to them and so they may be more receptive. Search for warm dressed salad recipes online. Find one that has at least one safe vegetable in and try that out first as a side salad to a cooked grilled piece of chicken for example.
Once they seem to tolerate a side salad, test moving onto a main salad dish. Ensure it has at least one safe salad vegetable in it and go for a carb based salad - using a carb they like. For example, if they like pasta, a pasta salad, if they like potatoes, a potato salad.

More tips on how to get your kids to eat salad…

These last two tips are great in general for fostering an interest in food and a good relationship with it.

Have them help you plan what salad you are going to make. Give them a choice between two or three different options. This gives them some sense of control, plus, involving them in the meal planning process can help children become more interested in food and mealtimes in general.
Have your children help you to make a salad vegetable garden. If you have the time and space, this is a great activity for the whole family to be involved with, plus it will help to keep your grocery spending down.

I hope these tips have been useful! Any questions you have, please feel free to drop me a DM on Instagram or message me here.