This week's picky eater food list or "meal plan" features recipes I'm sure even the pickiest of eaters will enjoy!
If you have picky eaters in your family, meal planning can be can seem like a never-ending cycle of trying to come up with something tasty for dinner.
Check out the other Weekly Meal Plans available for you and grab the FREE Pantry List Essentials Printable below!
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Are your kids picky eaters? Figuring out what to feed them can be a real struggle! You may find yourself serving the same dishes over and over, desperately trying to figure out what will make them happy.
Most nights my son would only eat a frozen waffle for dinner! And my daughter refused my homemade pasta dishes in favor of canned spaghetti!
But I'm here to tell you it doesn't have to be difficult any more. Keep reading this post to learn how to create a meal plan that's sure to please everyone at home!
Make sure you check out 10 Essentials Pantry Items and Freezer Meal Planning Tips to further help you customize your family’s dinner. Let’s talk about this week’s meal plan!
Meal Planning Tips
Start by creating a list of meals that everyone in the family enjoys. Take turns deciding which meals will make up the weekly menu. When planning for picky eaters, try to incorporate ingredients that they like into dishes that still feel nutritious and balanced.
For example, add favorites that you know your children already will eat like chicken nuggets or easy muffins stuffed with shredded carrots. Try adding shredded vegetables to homemade tomato sauce to use for my easy Pizza Braid or Air Fryer Tortilla Pizza.
Aim for variety and keep the meal plan interesting by introducing new flavors and textures each week.
Meal Plan for Picky Eaters
Here is an easy food list to follow when planning out your meal plan for the week. If you share the list with your "picky eaters" aka your kids, they'll be more interested in trying new foods that they get to select!
- Monday - Meatless, Vegetarian or even Leftovers from the weekend.
- Tuesday - Taco Tuesday or Mexican Recipe
- Wednesday - Chicken, Beef or Fish
- Thursday - Pasta or Italian Night
- Friday - Sandwiches and Soup
- Saturday - Pizza or Eat Out, Order In
- Sunday - Comfort Food Meal
Once you and your kids have selected a recipe, pick a side dish. Try to include one or two vegetables or maybe a tossed salad with homemade ranch salad dressing.
Meal Plan for Fussy Eaters
Here are some tips for dealing with fussy eaters:
- Make mealtime fun. Try to create a calm and relaxed environment at the dinner table where everyone feels comfortable.
- Get creative with presentation. Use cookie cutters to make food into shapes, or turn meals into characters that your picky eater might be interested in trying.
- Offer no-pressure tasting. Allow your picky eater to try a small bite of something new without the expectation that they’ll finish it all - even if they don’t like it!
- Let them help prepare meals and involve them in grocery shopping trips so that they have a say in what gets served throughout the week.
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This Weekly Meal Plan has been updated since it first appeared in 2018 with new photos, and information. I hope you enjoy the updates as much as I enjoyed working on them!
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Ashley says
Thank you very much for the recipes. This is the first site that I have found that has easy recipes that can be adjusted to fit my family. I have been searching on and off for a year or more attempting to plan meals . I am a single mom of all boys , 3 year old twins , and 12 year old . It's pure chaos in our house since my boys seriously eat nonstop . I have one twin that likes anything involving sugar of course ,or will only eat crackers or chips . The other twin is my main eater. Hes not big on sweets like the other two . He would eat pizza for every single meal if I let him and he's not full til the entire pizza is almost gone lol . My oldest likes chicken only and of coarse sugar . They will eat a pork chop every now and then but other than that it's marinated or breaded chicken. They like noodles but I can't get fancy with the sauce or they won't eat it lol. We have wasted a lot of food! They are all a bit out of control and I recently found out 2 of them are a little anemic. I have struggled with anemia(including having a few blood transfusions) since I was 17. I don't want that for my kids . I am now 37 and felt like I was failing my kids at meal time. I have always tried to teach them about nutrition but I think I slacked a bit for the first couple years after the twins were born . They all have high metabolism and a bit smaller than most of their friends . I decided I had to try harder to sneak healthy food in and slowly get rid of all the bad/processed sugar foods and dyes. I've succeeded in cutting a lot of the bad things out but struggling with getting them to eat veggies and meat . Twins will eat avacado, broccoli, and corn . My oldest will ONLY eat corn which is kind of a pointless vegetable . there is some form of corn in everything we eat it seems . So after this seriously long (probably boring )message I just wanted to say thank you and if you have any suggestions on how to sneak in vegetables or how to convince them they won't die if they try new foods....I would be forever greatful lol!
Lois says
Thank you for visiting my site! As for sneaking vegetables into your kids diets, I can tell you what worked for me: I stopped trying. And guess what? My kids are now both 21 and 25 and they eat vegetables. Hope you signed up for the newsletter!
Sam says
The mistake that people who eat anything make about us pickies is they think we all dislike the same things. Not true! If I was a spy, I'd give it up before having to eat fajitas or taco macaroni casserole. Sorry, that's just the way it is.
Lois says
Well let's hope you never get interrogated! Or we may have to share this comment with them. Thanks for visiting. What are some of your favorite meals to eat??
Sam says
Sorry for the loooong delay but I missed your response. I love meat & potatoes; simple things. I avoid almost all vegetables which is a problem since many (most?) recipes call for them. As a kid I could smell a dish & knew if I would like it or not. I was never wrong! LOL