How to Get Kids to Try New Foods: 8 Tips for Picky Eaters
- Coach Patty, HealthSmart! Kids
- Aug 11
- 8 min read
Learning how to get kids to try new foods can feel especially challenging when you have a picky eater who is perfectly happy eating the same familiar foods again and again. You may worry about nutrition, wonder whether you should insist on "just one bite," or feel discouraged when a food you've offered repeatedly still gets rejected.
Picky eating is common in childhood, and hesitation around unfamiliar foods doesn't necessarily mean your child will always eat a limited diet. Kids often need time and repeated experiences with foods before they become comfortable enough to taste them.
The goal isn't to convince your child to eat everything you serve. It's to gradually help unfamiliar foods become more familiar while keeping mealtimes positive.
If you're trying to expand your picky eater's food choices, these eight practical strategies can help.
How to Get Kids to Try New Foods Without Mealtime Battles
1. Pair New Foods With Familiar Foods
Instead of serving a plate filled with foods your child doesn't know or like, introduce something new alongside foods they already feel comfortable eating.
A familiar food gives your child something they recognize and enjoy while allowing the new food to simply be present.
Start with a very small amount. A whole serving of an unfamiliar vegetable may feel overwhelming, while one small piece is much less intimidating.
You might serve:
One piece of roasted carrot alongside a familiar chicken and rice dinner
A few blueberries next to a favorite breakfast
A small piece of a new cheese with familiar crackers
One new vegetable alongside two foods your child already eats
Try not to make the new food the main focus of the meal. It doesn't need a big introduction or repeated reminders to taste it.
Simply allowing your child to become accustomed to seeing unfamiliar foods can be an important first step.
2. Build From Foods Your Child Already Likes
One of the easiest ways to introduce variety is to start with foods your child already accepts and make small changes.
If your child likes plain pasta, you might eventually offer a different pasta shape, add a small amount of grated cheese, or introduce a simple sauce on the side.
If your child likes chicken nuggets, you might explore another type or shape of breaded chicken before moving toward grilled chicken.
A child who likes apples might try another variety of apple, thin apple slices instead of wedges, or eventually a fruit with a similar crunch.
These small changes help kids learn that foods don't have to be exactly the same every time.
For children who are especially cautious about food, moving gradually from familiar foods to similar foods can feel much more manageable than introducing something completely different.
3. Sneak In Extra Nutrition
While you're helping your child learn to try new foods, you can also look for simple ways to increase the nutritional value of foods they're already eating.
Puree vegetables or other nutritious foods and add them to sauces, soups, smoothies, meatballs, burgers, meatloaf, or other familiar foods. You don't have to announce every ingredient that goes into a recipe.
This can be especially helpful when you're concerned about your child's nutrition but expanding their food choices is taking time.
You can also:
Add berries or sliced fruit to cereal or yogurt
Sprinkle tolerated nuts or seeds onto foods
Add avocado to a sandwich or wrap
Serve vegetables with hummus or another familiar dip
Add beans or vegetables to a favorite soup
Add nutritious oils to appropriate foods
Mix finely chopped or pureed vegetables into pasta sauce or other familiar recipes
Sneaking extra nutrition into familiar foods and helping a child learn to accept new foods are two different strategies, and you can do both.
Continue giving your child opportunities to see and explore vegetables, fruits, and other foods in their recognizable forms even when you're also adding some of those foods to familiar recipes.
4. Make New Foods Appealing
Kids experience food with their eyes before they ever taste it.
A huge pile of broccoli may not inspire an uncertain eater, but a small portion presented alongside familiar foods can feel much more approachable.
You can also make food visually interesting without turning every meal into an elaborate project.
Try cutting fruits, sandwiches, or other appropriate foods into different shapes. Arrange colorful fruits and vegetables on a plate. Make fruit or vegetable kabobs together. Let your child create a face on a pancake or waffle using pieces of fruit.
You can also serve foods in small bowls or arrange several choices on a snack plate.
Presentation doesn't have to be complicated. Sometimes a small change in how a food looks is enough to make a child more curious about it.
5. Let Your Child Explore Food Before Eating It
We sometimes treat tasting as the only interaction with food that counts.
For a hesitant eater, however, tasting may be several steps down the road.
A child can become more familiar with a food by:
Looking at it
Having it on the table
Putting it on their plate
Serving it to someone else
Touching it
Smelling it
Cutting or preparing it
Licking it
Taking a tiny taste
These experiences can all help unfamiliar foods become more predictable.
This is especially important for kids who have sensory sensitivities around food. A new smell, texture, temperature, or appearance may require time to get used to before a child feels ready to put the food in their mouth.
When we recognize these smaller steps as progress, food exploration becomes much less all-or-nothing.
6. Get Kids Involved in Food Preparation
The kitchen provides lots of opportunities for children to interact with food without being pressured to eat it.
Depending on their age, kids can:
Wash fruits and vegetables
Tear lettuce
Stir ingredients
Pour measured ingredients into a bowl
Arrange food on a plate
Spread toppings
Use cookie cutters
Assemble sandwiches
Make fruit or vegetable kabobs
Choose between two vegetables for dinner
Even grocery shopping can provide opportunities for food exploration. Let your child choose a new fruit to bring home or help select vegetables for a meal.
A child who isn't ready to eat a cucumber may still be willing to wash it, slice it with help, or put pieces onto everyone's plates.
That interaction matters.
It gives your child a chance to see, smell, touch, and learn about food without the pressure of having to eat it.
7. Keep Meals Simple and Pressure Low
You don't need complicated recipes or a separate meal for every member of the family to help a picky eater expand their diet.
Simple meals can actually make introducing new foods easier.
Start with a basic meal that includes something your child generally eats, then add opportunities for variety.
For example, you might serve chicken, rice, and vegetables with one familiar choice included. Another night could be pasta with toppings or sides that family members can choose themselves.
Keeping meals relatively predictable can be especially helpful for children who become overwhelmed by too many foods, strong smells, or mixed textures.
Just as importantly, try to keep pressure low.
Repeatedly saying:
"Take one bite."
"Just try it."
"You haven't even tasted it."
"You liked this before."
can turn an unfamiliar food into a source of tension.
You can offer and encourage without making eating the food a battle.
8. Keep Food Exploration Fun
Food doesn't always have to happen during a formal meal.
Snacks, cooking activities, and food play can provide relaxed opportunities to explore.
Try familiar finger foods with different dips. Make ants on a log with celery, nut or seed butter as appropriate, and raisins. Create a colorful fruit plate. Have your child assemble their own snack from several choices.
You can also talk about foods in ways that aren't focused only on whether they taste "good" or "bad."
Is it crunchy or soft?
Is it warm or cold?
Does it smell sweet?
What color is it?
Does it make a sound when you bite it?
This helps children become curious about food without requiring them to decide immediately whether they like it.
How Many Times Should You Offer a New Food?
You've probably heard that children may need to encounter a food many times before they accept it.
There isn't one magic number that applies to every child.
Some kids may become comfortable with a food after a few exposures, while others may need many more. The type of food, your child's temperament, sensory preferences, previous experiences, and how the food is prepared can all make a difference.
Instead of counting exposures, think in terms of repeated opportunities.
If your child refuses broccoli tonight, you don't need to serve it every night until they finally eat it.
Offer it again another time.
You can also change how you prepare it. A child who dislikes steamed broccoli may react differently to roasted broccoli. Someone who refuses cooked carrots may prefer the crunch of raw carrots.
Repeated exposure works best when it feels like an opportunity rather than a battle.
What If Your Child Won't Even Taste a New Food?
If your child won't taste something, back up a step.
Can they tolerate it on the table?
Can they put it on someone else's plate?
Can they touch it?
Can they smell it?
Can they help prepare it?
For some picky eaters, those are meaningful steps toward eventually tasting a food.
If your child has a very limited diet or reacts to unfamiliar foods with significant fear, distress, gagging, or vomiting, there may be more going on than typical picky eating.
Sensory sensitivities, oral-motor difficulties, gastrointestinal issues, anxiety, or other feeding challenges can all affect a child's willingness or ability to eat.
Talk with your child's healthcare provider if you're concerned about growth, nutrition, chewing or swallowing, significant food restriction, or intense reactions around eating.
Should You Reward Kids for Trying New Foods?
Positive reinforcement can be useful when you're helping a child become more willing to explore food.
Praise your child's effort rather than focusing only on whether they finished the food.
You can acknowledge that they touched something new, helped prepare it, smelled it, took a tiny taste, or tried a food even if they decided they didn't like it.
For some children, a sticker chart or another small reward can also provide extra motivation when you're working toward a specific food goal.
Keep the emphasis on effort and progress.
Trying a new food can be a genuinely big accomplishment for a child who has been reluctant to explore unfamiliar tastes and textures.
Be Patient With Your Picky Eater
Helping a picky eater become more comfortable with new foods usually happens through many small experiences rather than one breakthrough meal.
Your child may ignore a new food the first several times you serve it. Later, they may touch it. Eventually, they may taste it.
And sometimes they'll taste it and still decide they don't like it.
That's okay.
The goal isn't to raise a child who likes every food. It's to help your child develop greater flexibility, confidence, and comfort around eating.
Continue offering variety, provide familiar foods alongside new ones, involve your child in food preparation, and look for progress beyond simply cleaning the plate.
Helping Kids Build Confidence With New Foods
Learning how to get kids to try new foods takes patience, consistency, and realistic expectations.
Keep giving your child opportunities to explore foods without turning each opportunity into a power struggle. Celebrate meaningful progress, whether that's allowing a new food on the plate, touching it for the first time, taking a small taste, or discovering a new favorite.
As unfamiliar foods gradually become more familiar, many kids become more willing to explore them.
Remember to give yourself some grace along the way, too. Helping a picky eater expand their food choices is a process. Your job isn't to make your child eat every new food you serve. It's to continue creating opportunities for them to learn, explore, and build a healthier relationship with food.
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All blog content shared through HealthSmart! Kids is for informational purposes only and not to be construed as medical advice. Always talk with your qualified health care provider for managing your health care needs.
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