11 Kid-Friendly Side Dishes, Reviewed by Our Editors & Their Picky Eaters

There are plenty of picky eater-proof recipes on the internet…allegedly. As kid-friendly as someone says a meal is, it really comes down to the individual eater. Maybe your daughter suddenly doesn’t like pasta anymore (today, at least), or your son went from adoring spinach to loathing it overnight. It can be hard to keep up with kids’ likes and dislikes at the dinner table.

To make the task easier for you, a handful of our editors tested 11 popular kid-friendly side dishes on their children to see which ones were hits and which ones were skips. As much as PureWow stands by its extensive recipe collection, some were surprisingly adored—and disliked—by the testers. Read on for their honest feedback and original photos, along with a few of our favorite products for serving, storing and preparing kid-friendly side dishes.

• Meal prepping is key if you always seem to run out of time to make lunch or dinner. When you do have a free moment, prioritize slicing produce, assembling sandwiches or repurposing leftovers for stress-free prep down the line. You can even let the kids help, if you’re feeling ambitious (or lazy).
• Use foods they already like to usher new foods onto their plates. For instance, add fresh greens to mac and cheese, blueberries to pancakes or substitute cauliflower crust on homemade pizza. This will help them diversify their diets without the struggle (hopefully).
• Suit up with a handy Tupperware® Food Storage container that’s easy on the eyes, nestable and airtight. It’ll make meal prepping their favorite foods easier, and the kids will actually be excited to eat their lunch at school. I recommend a full-size assortment, along with a tiny collection for snacks, condiments and leftovers. Pro tip: Tupperware’s small mandoline will help you slice thin rounds of veggies, like carrots and cucumbers, and can make lunchtime more fun. Plus, it’s a huge time-saver.

• Candace Davison, PureWow VP of editorial, and her two kids, ages six and two. “Both used to be adventurous and are now fully in the beige foods phase, where it seems like every week there are fewer vegetables they like,” Davison explains. “Carbs and protein reign supreme, with the occasional fruit thrown in for good measure. They’re pretty veggie-averse right now, which is a challenge.”
• Alexia Dellner, PureWow executive editor, and her three kids, ages six, three and 10 months. “The six-year-old is pretty adventurous and will eat most things, but is allergic to nuts and is weirdly not into zucchini,” Dellner explains. “The three-year-old is picky (no idea how she’s alive and doesn’t have scurvy), and the 10-month-old will try anything he can mush, but choking is a risk!”
• Dara Katz, PureWow executive editor, and her two kids, ages four and 20 months. “My 20-month-old was allergic to eggs, but has grown out of it, so I’m still trying to expose him to eggs more and more,” she notes.
• Rachel Bowie, PureWow senior director of special projects and royals, and her son, ages 7. “He’s exceptionally picky, but likes cake, so I thought this [cornbread] might work well, since it has a cake-like texture. He also likes muffins, depending on type.”
• Jillian Quint, PureWow editor-in-chief, and her two kids, ages 10 and eight. “They’re decidedly medium eaters!” Quint notes. “They eat most types of foods (veggies, proteins, etc.), but are a little squeamish about sauces or little bits of green things in their food.”