3 Delicious Dinners to Sneak Vegetables into your Kids’ Diet

“I hate vegetables!” might not be those three little words you love to hear from your kids every night. But for some parents, it’s certainly a reality.

There’s just something about vegetables that make kids turn up their noses, which we’ll never understand because vegetables are delicious! But we digress…

We all know that vegetables are an essential part of our diet, especially for smaller growing bodies. That’s why we’ve devised three crafty ways to sneak vegetables into your kids’ dinners.

1. The blender is your friend: Seriously. Puree sweet potatoes and combine with egg and cinnamon to use as a base for French toast or pancakes. Add some pumpkin puree to hummus. Make delicious smoothies with spinach, kale, peanut butter and banana. The best part? Smoothies can be frozen to turn into healthy, veggie-packed popsicles.

Did you know that “Chocomole” is a thing? It’s guacamole made almost entirely of avocado and cocoa powder and we don’t need to try it to know that it’s the best thing, ever. So give that a try (or keep it to yourself).

2. Out of sight, out of mind: Any meal with a sauce—especially a darker sauce like spaghetti sauce—can mask a few chopped up veggies. Add tomatoes, corn, spinach and red peppers to beef up a simple red sauce.

This method works flawlessly with large casserole like lasagna. Folding in a few extra vegetables like spinach, zucchini and onion should be easy as pie.

3. Substitute: One word: Cauliflower. This unassuming yet versatile vegetable can take so many forms and variations, even we’re impressed. While you probably won’t get a fight from your kids to eat mashed potatoes, it can’t hurt to throw in a few pieces of steamed cauliflower in the mix to liven them up. Cauliflower can take on the form of pizza crust, rice, bread and even nachos! Our best pick is this take on macaroni and cheese with cauliflower, because what kid doesn’t love mac n cheese?

Armed with this information and these recipes, you can’t go wrong with adding a little more nutrition to the kids’ everyday meals. Just sit back and let them compliment the delicious dinner you just made. They’ll never know the difference!