How to Make a Nutritious Smoothie for Toddlers

Nothing is more stressful than trying to feed a picky eater. Regardless of what foods you offer your little picky eater they always gets rejected.

Toddlers with picky appetites often need more calories and vitamins than they consume. Children under the age of five require extra fat for healthy brain development, iron rich foods to aid in the production of healthy red blood cells and a decent amount of protein to support physical growth.

If you have a picky eater and are concerned about your toddler getting the recommended daily nutrition, you needn’t stress.

Your Picky Eaters will Love their Smoothie

One way to help your picky eater get all their daily nutritional requirements is to serve them a healthy smoothie.  There are many fruit and vegetable ingredients you can add to a smoothie to expand your picky eater’s palate, increase their calorie intake, and provide daily healthy fats, iron, vitamin C and quality protein.

If you are new to making smoothies specifically for toddlers or simply trying to get your toddler to consume more nutrition daily our goal is to help you make an easy and delicious smoothie any kid will enjoy.

Let’s get started.

A great way to increase the calories your toddler consumes and to broaden their food horizons is to start with a smoothie at breakfast time.  Smoothies and smoothie recipes should be an important tool in your arsenal. Begin with a high-calorie liquid base for your child’s smoothie. This could include full-fat yogurt, kefir, whole milk, or toddler formula. Children with milk allergies can consume smoothies made from soy milk, soy toddler formula, almond milk, hemp milk, or rice milk.

Next, you’ll want to blend in extra fats and protein in the form of peanut butter, almond butter, or soy butter. Another option to increase the fat content of your toddler’s smoothie is to blend in a tablespoon of powdered coconut oil. Some picky eaters will also enjoy the sweet and subtle taste of powdered coconut milk added to a smoothie. You can also mix several tablespoons of high-quality protein powder into a smoothie. This can include whey-based protein mixes for children who consume dairy, as well as pea-based protein for children with food protein allergies.

Smoothies are also a great opportunity to slowly expand a picky toddler’s palate with small amounts of different fruits and vegetables. You can use either fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables, as both forms are full of vitamins and antioxidants.

These nutrients are often missing from toddler’s diets in sufficient quantities and will boost your picky eater’s immune system. Try adding in small amounts of new fruits and vegetables, increasing the amount every other day.

Your picky eater can gradually adjust to the addition of new foods and become more tolerant of a variety of fruits and vegetables. Some good ones to start with include bananas, spinach, strawberries, blueberries, peaches, and pineapple. And if your picky eater isn’t getting enough vitamins or minerals in general, you can mix a high-quality liquid children’s multivitamin into your child’s smoothie. The rich taste of the other ingredients will mask any lingering vitamin taste.

Smoothies are an excellent way to add calories and well-accepted flavors to your picky toddler’s meals. Try one today to expand their food horizons, provide them with protein, iron and fat, and help create less stressful mealtimes.

Smoothies are straightforward to make.  Customize this base recipe to create nutritious smoothies for your toddler.

1 c Fruits or Vegetables or both

1 c Liquid

1 tbsp. Fat

1-2 tbsp. Protein

1/2 c ice (optional)

Blend all ingredients in blender.

Smoothies can be served to your toddler in a cup with a straw or a bowl.

TIPS for Making Smoothies On-The-Go

1. Create Smoothie Packs – Save time by assembling all the ingredients you need to create a smoothie in a Ziplock bag and freeze them.  When you are ready to make a smoothie add frozen ingredients with liquid in blender.
2. If your picky eater has a favorite fruit or vegetable use more of that ingredient to mask the flavors of the ones they don’t like.
3. Freeze smoothie mixture in ice trays, popsicle molds or a bowl and serve as a fun snack.