25 Family Meals for Toddlers
- May 19, 2025
- Last Updated: May 19, 2025
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Dinner doesn’t have to take hours – these easy family meals for toddlers are quick, nutritious, and great for sitting down together. Toddlers can help prepare some of these meals, and many are going to become new family favorites!
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As a Registered Dietitian and mom, and host of the Managing Mealtime Madness podcast, I’m a huge proponent of family meals for kids, and well, for anyone!
Family meals are more than just nutrition though – they are an opportunity for connection, empathy, confidence boosting, mental and emotional health check-in’s and more.
And the research agrees – there are so many benefits to family meals, such as better cognition among kids and adults, reduced bullying at school, better nutrition and less picky eating, improved emotional and mental health and more.
All of these benefits (except the nutritional intake, of course), still apply even if toddlers aren’t eating much or any of the food.
But, as parents, we do want them to eat the food, and learn to try new foods. So, these family meals for toddlers take toddler preferences into consideration.
We’ll share how you can deconstruct or modify them to your toddler’s palate. But remember, even if they don’t eat the food (or even touch it), you have to serve the food multiple times. Don’t give up!
Getting toddlers to eat veggies won’t happen overnight, so don’t get discouraged.
Why Family Meals for Toddlers Matter
As parents, we’re often trying to set the stage for our kids to grow up with positive memories. Positive engagement with food, positive memories of food around the table, etc.
And family meals are a great way to promote enjoyment around the table. Whether that includes a nuclear family with mom and dad, extended family with grandparents or step-parents, neighbors conjoining together, or even face-timing with traveling spouses, eating together is beneficial for all involved.
Eating together as a family, even when your child is gumming food or doing baby led weaning, can support healthy eating habits, social and emotional growth, and lifelong skills.
Here are some benefits for toddlers, specifically.
- Encouraged dietary variety– Toddlers who share meals with their family tend to eat more nutrient‑dense foods—like fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, and whole grains—and fewer processed snacks or sugary drinks. One study found regular family meals to be strongly associated with higher fruit and vegetable consumption and overall better diet quality.
- Less picky eating – Modeling after parents (or grandparents, neighbors, etc.) at the table can help encourage toddlers to explore new flavors and textures. There have been several instances where I’ve been enjoying my own food and my toddlers have been curious about what I’m eating and wanted to try it. When toddlers see people they trust enjoying a variety of foods, they’re more likely to give those foods a try themselves – a great trick for picky eating toddlers!
- Social practice – Mealtime provides a predictable routine and a safe space for toddlers to connect with parents and caregivers. Conversations—whether about the day’s highlights or simple “thank you” and “please”—help children feel valued and heard. I used to love hearing my toddler sing the “prayer song” before a meal that he learned at school and would sing with his classmates. Along with that, toddlers can learn (and practice) new vocabulary, taking turns in conversation, maintaining eye-contact and following simple instructions (“Pass the peas, please”). These back‑and‑forth exchanges can even help lay the groundwork for strong communication and early literacy skills.
- Greater family relationships– Frequent shared meals have been linked to greater family cohesion, higher self‑esteem, and lower levels of stress and depressive symptoms in both children and parents.
- Cultivates Lifelong Healthy Habits – Making time for family meals now can cultivate lifelong habits and positive memories and associations around the table. I still fondly remember family meals with my parents and three siblings growing up. Toddlers can also learn self-regulation, such as natural toddler hunger cues, what fullness feels like, and describing different tastes and flavors.
Other benefits for older kids include reduced bullying and social anxiety, reduced drug and substance use, and improved family relationships among teenagers.
Family meals can also include takeout, freezer meals, etc., just eaten together. It doesn’t just have to mean cook-from-scratch, although that’s great if you prefer that and you want to involve your kids.
When I do that, I often freeze toddler meals for later, and can use them for our family dinner meals. Check out our favorite toddler freezer meals.
Toddler Tips for Family Meals
Episode 12 of the Managing Mealtime Madness podcast focused on tips for making family meals more enjoyable. I have several tips to share, and I feel that knowing why these family meals with toddlers are so important can help you put the plan into motion.
And don’t feel like these have to take hours – a quick toddler dinner is what we’re after! And you can enjoy it too.
- Keep it predictable: Aim for meals around the same time each day. Toddlers and kids thrive on predictability; they want to know what to expect. Whether it’s dinner at 5:00, or an after-school snack, try to have a consistent plan for feeding times.
- Minimize distractions: Screens at the table are just a huge distraction, for adults and kids! Having screens or other distractions will take attention away from people. Instead, focus on communication and connection.
- Involve your kids in prep: There are so many ways to do this! From taking your toddler to the grocery store and letting them pick out an ingredient for dinner, to letting them use kid-friendly knives for cutting, to pouring milk or water and setting the table. There are plenty of things your kids can help with! And, they usually have more agency in the meal if they help prepare it.
- Serve meals family style – Serving meals family style takes away some of the pressure and expectation that kids need to eat everything on their plates. Instead, let them serve themselves. Having safe foods on the table is also encouraging for kids when exploring new foods. You want to have something you know they’ll eat and that they like, rather than overwhelming them with all new things at once.
- Be patient with mess: Feeding toddlers can be messy. Even if your baby or toddler still sits in a high chair, food gets thrown, the splash mat gets covered, and crumbs get everywhere. But remember, this phase is not forever. Development happens through exploration.
- Celebrate small wins: I usually find that taking the focus off of just the food helps make the family meal more enjoyable. For instance, have some conversation starters. For younger kids, this may be something like, “What colors do you see on the table? Do you think the Paw Patrol crew would like their broccoli cold or warm?” For older kids, it can range from talking about school and sports to things they’re looking forward to.
Family Friendly Meals for Toddlers
If you’re in search of dinner ideas for families with toddlers, these healthy family meal ideas for toddlers and adults alike are perfect for practicing family meals. They’re quick, nutritious, and easy to modify.
While many of these are cohesive recipes, you can also use or substitute frozen food options in for ease and convenience. Frozen food for toddlers can definitely help!
Notes: You can swap out the sides for many of these recipes (Ie – rice for quinoa or diced potatoes or sweetpotatoes, and vice versa). Change the chicken for pork or ground beef or turkey.
There are meal ideas for everyone! You can even add more flavor for grown-up sides and adventurious kids with a high protein pesto sauce or cheesy sweet potatoes.
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