how to hide vegetables

How To Hide Vegetables

Vegetables are a food that we all need to consume. I know, it’s hard. I didn’t eat vegetables as a child, and if I did, it was from a can. Which may be better than anything, but it took some time to appreciate the flavor and health. Vegetables are tough.  I know I had to start out by figuring out how to hide vegetables in other dishes. They can be difficult to cook correctly to give good flavor. If you dislike vegetables or even have a hard time getting kids to eat them, here are some ways to include more in your and your family’s diet. 

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How To Hide Vegetables

The best way to learn how hide a vegetable is to steam and puree it into something that is already flavored well or by consuming a juice. Vegetables can also be hidden in other ways such as the vehicles for sauces or food, or just replacing the extra grains and pastas. 

I don’t think we need to discuss the health benefits of vegetables. I’m not sure anyone would argue with me that they are unnecessary to our health. They have vitamins and nutrients that we all need, plus the extra bonus of antioxidants.  Vegetables have a whole range of nutrients from folate and vitamin K in leafy greens, to vitamin A in carrots, to the fiber in all of it. The vibrant colors of vegetables give us a good indication to their nutrient content. The more colorful, the better.

How to Get Started:

The list of vegetable options range from easy to do, to harder. The best place to start when learning how to hide vegetables and introducing into our diets is to throw them in a smoothie or make juice. You can mix other ingredients in that make a taste less obvious. You can drink it up quick, until you’re ready to tackle another vegetable. 

If you enjoy a certain vegetable, then serve it on the side of another dish. Truly sometimes all the vegetable needs is a little salt, pepper, and butter.

Ideas for How To Hide Vegetables

I’m going to give you options on how to hide vegetables in various ways. There’s example recipes underneath, but then you have an idea of how you can use it to be creative. Or, google “zucchini noodles” and then see what other recipes you can find. 

Smoothies & Juices

The easiest place to start is to hide any leafy green vegetable in a smoothie or juice. You won’t taste it. It’s so easy. I just throw handfuls of spinach in any smoothie I make. You could also use kale or any green. Some people like to add cucumbers or zucchini as well. Did you know pumpkin is a vegetable? That counts too. 

Juicing takes out the fiber in vegetables, but you’ll have the vitamins. Just make sure to get fiber from another source

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Examples:

  • Spinach
  • Kale
  • Beets
  • Steamed carrots
  • Butternut squash
  • Pumpkin puree
  • Avocado (though that might be a fruit? Still healthy.)
  • Cucumber

Recipes:

How To Hide Vegetables
Hidden beets in this berry smoothie

 

Sauces & Soups

It’s so easy to learn how to hide vegetables in sauces or soups. Just steam and puree them. Or chop them really small and not notice.

Ideas for Sauces & Soups:

  • Blend cauliflower with potatoes for a potato soup
How To Hide Veggies
Cauliflower and potato soup with extra bonus: spinach! (Bacon makes it better)

 

  • Chop up sweet potatoes to add to chili
  • Add chopped zucchini to traditional chicken soup
  • Steam and puree a beet into tomato sauce
How To Hide Vegetables
Marinara sauce with extra beets, carrots, and sauteed greens
  • Saute spinach or other greens into ANY dish.
  • Add steamed broccoli to your mac and cheese or your alfredo sauce
How To Hide Veggies
Always add greens to your meal

 

Recipes:

Baked Goods

We’ve all heard of zucchini and carrot muffins and breads. Be careful, though. Those tend to pack a lot of sugar. Find recipes that don’t have refined sugar. Also, some people put kale in cookies?

Replacing Grains

This is not to intend to say that all grains are bad, but adding vegetables will increase the nutrient density. And for some for some people, though I don’t recommend, less calories and carbohydrates. It’s basically another easy way to get more vegetables in. We want to get more vegetables in and it doesn’t matter so much how many grains we get in.

How To Hide Vegetables
Butternut squash pancakes
How To Hide Vegetables
Check out these sweet potato buns!
How To Hide Vegetables
Zucchini noodles with marinara

 

Other Ideas

There are countless other ways to learn how to hide vegetables. You can stuff them, throw them in things like pizza, you can use them as a base for any recipe, such as cabbage for stir fry. See ideas below!

How to Hide vegetables
Mini eggplant pizzas
How to Hide Vegetables
Top pizza with spinach
How To Hide Veggies
Honey garlic cauliflower

 

 

Question for you:

How do you like to hide vegetables OR how do you like to enjoy them?

how to hide vegetables

Useful Tools For Veggie Hiding

 

how to hide vegetables
Spiralizing veggies
how to hide vegetables
Blend smoothies
how to hide vegetables
Steam veggies

   

 

 

 

 

how to hide vegetables
Process sauces & puree veggies
how to hide vegetables
Juice veggies

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Fresh Idea: Make sure to get your nutritious vegetables in, even if you have to learn how to hide vegetables!


 

Let's get healthy together!

51 Comments

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  • Francesca

    December 7, 2017

    So many smart ideas! Definitely trying some of these out!

    Reply
  • Ciera Chang

    December 7, 2017

    I love making green smoothies! You can barely taste the spinach but still get the veggies 😊

    xoxo, CiCi
    http://www.worldwidestylista.com

    Reply
  • Kim

    December 7, 2017

    I’m lucky to love veggies, and even luckier that my husband and daughter love them as much as I do. BUT, I still feel like we sometimes have a hard time getting in as many as we need to get. We LOVE fruit just a tad bit more lol, so veggies typically are used for dinner. So these are genius ideas! I’ll be trying them out.

    Reply
    • Mindy Voet

      December 7, 2017

      Great! I agree fruit is much more palatable.

      Reply
  • Joanna Clute

    December 7, 2017

    Smoothies have done the trick for us. Not only for us but for our kids.

    Reply
  • Kelly @ A Girl Worth Saving

    December 7, 2017

    Smoothies are my favorite way to hide vegetables. I also discovered veggie powders and use them often in baked goods.

    Reply
    • Mindy Voet

      December 7, 2017

      Veggie powders sound like such a good idea. I should look into those too.

      Reply
  • Kristina

    December 7, 2017

    How creative! These ideas are fun for all ages 🙂

    Reply
  • Diana Tidswell

    December 6, 2017

    These are brilliant ideas! My nephew is a picky eaters. Sometimes he loves smoothies.

    Reply
  • hussam

    October 8, 2017

    making vegetables to juice its very good idea , i love it
    thx

    Reply
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  • Anne Thornley-Brown

    August 7, 2017

    Thank you, thank you, thank you. I am not a fan of vegetables but I know they are necessary, I am always looking for ways to hide them.

    Reply
  • Tabi

    August 5, 2017

    Love all these ideas! That smoothie looks amazing

    Reply
  • Asha

    August 5, 2017

    These are some AMAZING tips! And I love that you also included links to recipes! That makes it so much easier to actually implement the tips. Thank you!!!

    Reply
  • I love this hiding veggies idea – very sneaky to trick my husband to eating some haha

    Reply
  • Good list. I’m glad my kids like soups…

    Reply
  • Lizzie Moult

    August 1, 2017

    Love this, I have been hiding veggies in food for ages from my kids and I now have a few more recipes to try out, thanks so much. Also, I have been wanting to get a spiralizer to jazz up a few meals and I think the kids would love the craziness of colours twirled up.

    Reply
  • Mia

    July 26, 2017

    I always love eating fresh greens, but my boyfriend isn’t a huge fan and loves his meat. I’ll definitely keep all of your tips in mind, because your recipes look easy and delicious!

    Reply
    • Mindy Voet

      July 26, 2017

      Thanks! My husband loves meat too at every meal, but with that, I always make sure we have a side of veggies!

      Reply
  • OurLittleWays

    July 23, 2017

    Love these ideas! I’ll have to try out a few for my kids.

    Reply
  • Tanya

    July 21, 2017

    These are great tips, thank you! I swear my 5 year old only eats PB&J and ham and cheese sammies these days. Would love to get some more veggies in his belly!

    Reply
    • Mindy Voet

      July 21, 2017

      Of course, those kids like to be picky! I hope some of the recipes help you.

      Reply
  • health tips

    July 21, 2017

    this awesome we tend to learn everyday

    Reply
  • Tina

    July 21, 2017

    I LOVE these tips – I have such a difficult time getting veggies into my toddler. Smoothies work on some days. I’m going to try the Butternut Squash pancakes – they look delicious!

    Reply
    • Mindy Voet

      July 21, 2017

      Awesome! I’d definitely recommend the pancakes. My toddler loves them. Just add a bit of cinnamon or vanilla for extra flavors.

      Reply
  • This makes me think that maybe I need to start a business where I hide vegetables in adults’ food like we do for kids. 🙂 I really want to try some of these out, especially that unstuffed cabbage roll soup. Yum!

    Reply
    • Mindy Voet

      July 21, 2017

      Yes adults seem to be more picky than kids sometimes! What a great business idea.

      Reply
  • Caroline

    July 20, 2017

    I will give my sister these ideas. Her kids Lol…meal time is always hard when veggies are served

    Reply
  • Bailey

    July 20, 2017

    These are such fantastic ideas! I love the idea of adding cauliflower to potato soup.

    Reply
  • Wow there are SOOO many ideas on how to hide veggies in food here. Juicing has been my favorite way to get my veggies in, but when you see this list you realize there are just so many ways! 🙂

    Reply
  • Irina

    July 20, 2017

    These are some really great ideas! Thanks for sharing:)

    irinathayer.com

    Reply
  • Brianna

    July 20, 2017

    These ideas are great! I will definitely be trying some of them! My husband does not like veggies at all and always complains when he knows that they’re in there! 🙂

    Reply
    • Mindy Voet

      July 20, 2017

      Thanks! I hope the ideas hide well for the husbands, they sure help hide from mine!

      Reply
  • Chloe

    July 20, 2017

    This is a really cool idea! I’ve never really had to think of this because I refuse to have a meal without vegetables (I love them), but I know how picky kids can be – so this is a great resource for parents out there!!

    Reply
    • Mindy Voet

      July 20, 2017

      Right? Vegetables should be in every meal! Thanks, I hope it is helpful for parents.

      Reply
  • Mama802

    July 20, 2017

    My kids are not picky eaters – they eat any and all fruits and veggies. But… most of my kid’s friends are UBER picky! I’m always trying to find clever ways to hide veggies in their foods. These tips are great! Thank you!

    Reply
    • Mindy Voet

      July 20, 2017

      Great! I’m glad it is helpful for your kid’s friends.

      Reply
  • Jacqueline

    July 20, 2017

    Haha. This reminds me my younger brother. He wouldn’t eat vegetables when he was child,so my Mum used to hide vegetables in sauces and banana breads etc. I love the mini egg plant pizza idea, brilliant!

    Reply
  • Natasha Raymond

    July 19, 2017

    This is an AWESOME list! I like most veggies but my husband is SO difficult! Some of these options will definitely help, can’t wait to try the zucchini spaghetti.

    Reply
    • Mindy Voet

      July 20, 2017

      Thank you! I hope you can trick him into liking it!

      Reply
  • This is a very detailed post. I have to look deeper into the cauliflower and potato soup. I would love to make it.

    Reply
    • Mindy Voet

      July 20, 2017

      Thanks! You won’t even know the difference with cauliflower in a soup.

      Reply
  • Shannon

    July 19, 2017

    These are all great ideas. I’m going to try adding beats to my tomato sauce! Pinned for future reference, thank you!

    Reply
  • ada

    July 19, 2017

    wow those are amazing way to hide vegetables! I wanna use them even for myself as I feel like I don’t eat enough vegetables at all! Every recipe here sounds so delicious! Thank you for sharing!

    Reply
    • Mindy Voet

      July 19, 2017

      Thank you! I hope you can find some ways that work well for you.

      Reply
  • Leslie R

    July 19, 2017

    my sister in law will loves these tips for my nieces. they are so picky.

    Reply
  • Chloe

    July 19, 2017

    Ooo these are all really great idea! I LOVE it when use veggies as noodles. I definitely need to use it in a sauce next. 🙂

    xo, Chloe // http://funinthecloset.com/striped-summer-jumpsuit/

    Reply

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