32 easy and healthy toddler meal ideas for busy moms! What my toddler eats at 17 months old for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Corbin is almost 18 months old and has been eating like a champ!
He tried a few new foods this month like chicken fried rice (loved it!) and peanut butter toast topped with bananas.
His eating schedule has also been a little off recently because of the arrival of his baby brother.
I think we have finally nailed down a new schedule with both our toddler and newborn, and everyone is getting back in the groove of our daily routine.
This month we also moved from the high chair to the Ingenuity booster seat at the table and he is loving it! I love it because it is so much easier to clean.
Picky Eating
For the most part, our toddler is a really good eater. I attribute this to doing a modified baby-led weaning approach starting when he was 6 months old.
He learned to try a variety of foods very early on and some of his favorite foods are still some he liked at 6 months old – like peas and carrots!
Another thing that has helped suppress picky eating tendencies thus far is that we follow the manta many nutritionists recommend: the parent chooses what to serve and the toddler choses what to eat.
We serve a good variety of foods at each meal, but don’t force him to eat everything on his plate. Also, we don’t force or even really encourage him to eat any particular foods like veggies.
We choose what is served, and he can choose to eat it all or nothing at all.
One important tip is that we always serve one “safe food” that we know he likes and will eat. That way he won’t be going hungry.
This strategy has worked so well for us!
Many times Corbin surprises us and will eat all his veggies first.
Recently he also started loving meat. He used to never touch his meat, but we kept being persistent with offering it and exposing him to the different tastes and textures.
If you are looking for meal ideas for babies or toddlers, check out more posts from my feeding series:
- Combing Purees and Baby-Led Weaning
- Baby’s First Solid Foods
- Self-Feeding ideas for 8-12 Month Olds
- Self-Feeding Foods for One Year Olds
- 20 Easy Meal Ideas for 1 Year Olds
- Easy Toddler Breakfast Ideas
- Easy Toddler Meals with Frozen Food
- Self-Feeding Ideas for 12-16 months
- Self-Feeding Daycare Lunch Ideas for One Year Olds
- Toddler Meal Ideas – 15 months
- Toddler Meal Ideas – 16 months
- 33 Toddler Dinner Ideas
Favorite Feeding Tools
Below are some of my favorite feeding tools for toddlers. You can see these in use in many of my meal photos!
Having the right tools can make all the difference in both cleanliness (for both your kitchen and your toddler) and wiliness for your toddler to eat.
Silicone Plate // We love the EZPZ suction plates. They stick to the table or high chair so the food doesn’t end up on the ground. They are also helpful in dividing up the food and make it a little more appealing to little eyes.
Babyware Silverware // These are the best for older babies and young toddlers who are learning how to use silverware. They are the perfect size for their little hands and have a guard so it doesn’t go too far into their mouth.
Toddler Silverware // We love the Munchkin fork and spoon set and its now our go-to for all meals! The fork is a little more like a “spork” so I find that it is super easy for him to use.
Nuby Straw Cups // We use the Nuby straw cups for water at every meal (and in-between too). They are easy to clean and don’t leak!
For a full list of toddler feeding products that I recommend check out my post: 10 Toddler Feeding Essentials!
Breakfast Toddler Meal Ideas
- English muffin with peanut butter, fruit
- Frittata egg muffin and strawberries
- Spinach “Littles” Potato Cakes (Dr. Praeger’s brand) and french toast sticks
- Waffle with jelly, scrambled eggs with cheese and peppers
- Whole wheat toast topped with peanut butter and banana
- Peaches n’ cream oatmeal (his favorite at the moment!)
- Waffle with peanut butter, blueberries
- French toast sticks, squash with maple syrup
- Yogurt with peaches, peanut butter toast
- Omelette, hashbrowns, and chicken sausage
Toddler Lunch Ideas
- Avocado sandwich, lunch meat & cheese, fruit
- BBQ chicken pizza, squash, blueberries
- Veggie corn down, lunch mean & cheese, fruit
- PB & J, lunch meat, string cheese, yogurt, banana
- Spinach “Littles” Potato Cakes (Dr. Praeger’s brand), black beans, squash
- Nut butter sandwich, turkey, tomatoes, pear, yogurt
- Macaroni and cheese with peas and carrots
- Waffle with jelly, turkey, string cheese, blueberries, and a fig bar
- Grilled cheese, mixed veggies, kiwi
Dinner Toddler Meal Ideas
- “Deconstructed Tacos”; ground beef, tortilla, tomatoes, black beans
- Broccoli “Littles” Potato Cakes (Dr. Praeger’s brand), mixed veggies, blueberries
- Veggie lasagna with white sauce
- Cheese quesadilla, avocado, black beans, greek yogurt for dipping
- Chicken sausage, sweet potato bake, mixed veggies
- Pizza, peas, carrots
- Cheese ravioli, peas, sourdough bread
- Pasta with pesto and chicken sausage
- “Deconstructed Fajitas”; pulled chicken, peppers, avocado, shredded cheese
- Veggie corn dog, mixed veggies, grapes
- Macaroni and cheese with mixed veggies, turkey, raspberries
- Fried rice with chicken and mixed veggies
- Whole wheat pasta, shredded chicken, broccoli, and Alfredo sauce
Thanks for stopping by!