Easy Toddler Meals with Frozen Food

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I’m sharing ideas for easy toddler meals with frozen food. Healthy frozen food for toddlers and convenient meal ideas for busy moms.

As a full-time working mama I don’t always have as much time as I would like to prepare meals for my toddler #momproblems.

But, I still want him to eat a well-rounded diet and eat as healthy as possible.

My toddler started eating solids when we did a combination of purees & baby-led weaning starting around 6 months. Through these feeding approaches he has learned to love veggies and many healthy foods.

To save time, I have found that it helps tremendously to meal prep on the weekends, serve our toddler what we eat, and also use convenient freezer foods.

Some of our favorite freezer foods are frozen waffles (more breakfast ideas here), veggie pancakes, veggie meatballs, and veggie noodles.

As you can tell, there is a trend… we love using frozen food to incorporate lots of veggies into our toddler’s diet.

Not all freezer foods are created equal, however.

I have learned that I really need to read the ingredients and also the cooking instructions (if it takes 45 mins in the oven is it really convenient?).

If you are looking for more meal ideas for babies or toddlers, check out more posts from my feeding series:

Quick and Easy Toddler Meal Ideas with Freezer food

Read The Ingredients

As with all foods I feed my family, I always read the ingredients on freezer food.

I try to find foods with just a few ingredients (5-10 depending on what it is) and with ingredients I can pronounce.

A long list of ingredients with a lot of preservatives is a no-go for us.

This is easy when you are looking at basic frozen foods like frozen fruits and veggies, but can be more difficult when you look into more processed foods.

I also check the sodium and sugar content and make sure they aren’t too high. Also, I prefer organic ingredients when possible and realistic financially.

1) Frozen Waffles

On school day mornings we tend to do a lot of waffles for breakfast since we are short on time.

My toddler’s favorites are Kashi Organic Waffles (Berry Bliss or Blueberry flavors). The ingredients are some of the cleanest that I have found for frozen waffles.

Since he is just 14 months and only has a few teeth still, I normally soften these up with milk.

I toast them as normal so they are warm, but then add milk so they are less crunchy.

We have been topping waffles with butter, jam, cream cheese, or sometimes just plain.

2) Golden Veggie “Pancakes”

Image result for golden zucchini pancakes

Another one of my go-to easy toddler meals for breakfast, lunch, or dinner is veggie pancakes.

We have tried the spinach pancakes, zucchini pancakes, and sweet potato pancakes from the brand, Golden. Zucchini pancakes are actually his favorite!

There are no specific microwave instructions, but I have found that you can microwave these for one minute and they come out perfect for new eaters.

I sometimes send these in his daycare lunch or they are a staple for dinner if we need something quick.

Update 2/17/19: Dr. Praeger’s Spinach Littles and Broccoli Littles are very similar and awesome for toddlers. They are our new favorite!

3) Frozen Squash

Frozen veggies in general are a great convenience food for easy toddler meals.

Squash is something my son really enjoys and can add heartiness to any meal.

We commonly buy cubed butternut squash and kabocha squash that I have found in the freezer section of the grocery store.

Both are so easy to make in the microwave or steam on the stovetop!

Squash is not something we eat too often so I love that I get to expose him to new foods or foods that we don’t normally eat as a family.

4) Kidfresh Chicken Meatballs

These Kidfresh chicken meatballs are another staple for quick and easy dinners at our house.

They actually pretty tasty and have veggies baked in.

6 meatballs take about 1 minute in the microwave so they are super convenient and easy to make in a pinch.

5) Frozen Zoodles

Zoodles (zucchini noodles) are a convient way to make spaghetti or pasta more nutritions. Instead of using grain-based pasta noodles you can make all of your favorites with noodles made out of veggies.

Spaghetti squash is my son’s favorite meal, but it takes a while to make! Making frozen zoodles is quicker than roasting a spaghetti squash and also more nutritious that regular noodles.

We love these frozen zoodles, but you do have to be sure to strain them well after cooking. Top with butter, toss in olive oil, or serve with red sauce.

6) Amy’s Kale Mac n’ Cheese

Amy’s brand freezer meals are some of my absolute favorite.

They have various lines of food that are sensitive to food allergies and have clean, organic ingredients.

The 3 Cheese & Kale bake bowl is one of my son’s favorite from Amy’s. I normally give him a 1/2 serving per meal although he could easily eat the whole adult meal on most days.

7) Veggie Corndog

What toddler doesn’t love corndogs?!

We found these veggie corndogs from MorningFarms brand and they are a huge hit with my toddler.

They take just 1 minute in the microwave. I normally cut them up into strips or if your toddler is more advanced they can probably handle it right from the stick!

8) Frozen fruits and veggies

Frozen fruits and veggies can be a great alternative to fresh produce.

Some even say that frozen is fresher because it is flash frozen at the peak of freshness and doesn’t sit in the grocery store to ripe.

We love frozen fruit and veggies because they are so convenient and won’t go bad in the fridge or on your counter.

Below are some of our go-to fruits and veggies for healthy toddler eating, although the possibilities are really endless!

Berries to make smoothies
Mango for silicone teethers
Peas & Carrots
Green beans
Stir Fry mix
Broccoli
Cauliflower (plain and to make ‘riced’ cauliflower and ‘mashed’ cauliflower)

Thanks for stopping by!