6 Spinach Recipes for Toddlers
These toddler friendly spinach recipes are perfect for little eaters age 1 to 3! We are adding spinach to easy toddler meals in a way that is easy for them to eat, and allowing them to try some delicious flavors from around the world.
With lots of vitamins and plant based iron, spinach is an ideal food for little eaters, especially those being raised vegetarian. Getting some spinach-heavy meals into your toddler’s rotation is a very worthwhile goal.
Spinach is incredibly versatile. There’s no need for toddlers to tackle whole leaves which would be tricky for their mouths, as it can be chopped down and made smooth and easy to eat. This makes it simpler ingredient than kale, for example.
Another reason to load your toddler up with spinach? You gotta normalize green foods while you can!
In my experience, the toddler years were the perfect time to make favorites out of spinach and other green foods. Age 1 -2 toddlers can be pretty easygoing. It’s the preschool years when they might start to take on some biases and aversions to more colorful food. If they already have some well established green favorite meals, then maybe these will have a chance of “sticking”.
(No guarantees! I do have a 6 year old child who loved the meals I am about to share when she was a toddler, but now won’t touch anything green out of principle. We just have to do what we can, when we can.)
My Top 6 Spinach Recipes for Toddlers
These are the recipes that my toddlers have enjoyed over the years, which I hope can bring you some success too. Some of these are from my Baby & Toddler category and others are from my usual bank of recipes, but worked perfectly for family meals.
Palak Paneer Curry for Babies, Toddlers & Kids
Tip : If your tots enjoy this curry, definitely give the Kale Paneer Curry a try too – this one is great for the whole family.
Spinach Spaghetti Sauce
Tip: If pasta is the way to your toddler’s heart, I have a few other recipes worth trying:
- Cheesy Avocado Spinach Pasta – this one is stringy, cheesy and could be a lot of fun for your toddler to play with. Though you may not to “waste” the expensive cheeses on a toddler so feel free to make some swaps there.
- Angel Hair Pesto Pasta – my pesto recipe calls for a mix of basil and spinach for maximum “sauciness” with the added nutritional benefits too.
- Kale Mac & Cheese for Babies, Toddlers + Kids – this recipe chops the kale up really fine to make it easier for little mouths to manage.
- This Cavolo Nero Pesto with Basil was a surprise hit with my 3 year old (and still is!)