This toddler hated veggies until his clever mom tried the freezer trick: 'Try changing the way...'

Getting toddlers to eat vegetables can feel like an uphill battle, but one mom may have cracked the code with a surprisingly simple trick. The idea is to serve them frozen. A mom on TikTok, who goes by @thehowdenfamily, shared her unexpected success after following a nutritionist’s advice. “If your toddler isn’t eating vegetables,” she was told, “try changing the way you serve them.” So she did, by freezing them.

In the video, her toddler is happily munching on a cup full of frozen peas, completely content. “He can go on eating them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner,” the mom says in the video, sounding equally surprised and relieved. It turns out that the cold, crunchy texture was the game changer. And other parents quickly joined the conversation to share their own food hacks.

@SHANE commented, “That’s a great idea! What I do is mince broccoli and cabbage really fine with carrots, and make a tomato sauce with minced beef. Slow simmer it—and my little one can’t even tell veggies are in the meal.” @amybum pointed out, “They’re even more nutritious because they’re frozen at their peak freshness!” @the_pondering_mum chimed in with a helpful variation: “There’s also fried peas they sell in a pack. Try them as well, he probably didn’t like the soft, mushy texture of cooked ones.”

Others suggested even more crunchy alternatives. “Just pop the peas in the air fryer with a little olive oil,” wrote @FizzPop, “you’ll get a nice crunchy texture.” And it seems frozen veggies as snacks aren’t a one-off hit. “My daughter was the same,” said @Jo. “She would snack on frozen peas, corn, and carrots all day long. I’d also make grazing platters with other healthy snacks—so by the end of the day, they’ve hit all their food groups.” In this case, if it's the texture thing or just toddler curiosity, this freezer trick seems to be a win for more than one family. And as vouched by several families, this seems more like a tried and tested trick. 

Young children are often more sensitive to textures than adults, which plays a big role in food acceptance or rejection. A study published in the journal Appetite found that texture is one of the most common reasons children reject certain vegetables, and mushy or overcooked greens often top the list of offenders. Frozen vegetables offer a crispier, colder alternative that some toddlers may find more appealing. And from a nutritional standpoint, they’re just as good, if not better.

“Frozen vegetables are picked and frozen at peak ripeness, which locks in their nutrients,” registered dietitian Sarah Almond Bushell told Healthline. “There’s a misconception that frozen means less fresh, but in reality, they often retain more nutrients than produce that sits on a shelf or in the fridge for days.” A 2022 review in Critical Reviews in Food Science confirms that texture is a major factor in whether children accept or reject foods, and that kids often avoid vegetables with unpleasant textures. 

You can follow @thehowdenfamily on TikTok for more videos.