Love it? Boost it.
No new recipes. No dinnertime drama.
Just easy ways to pack more beans and veg into the meals your family already loves.
Love it? Boost it.
No new recipes. No dinnertime drama.
Just easy ways to pack more beans and veg into the meals your family already loves.
Want to make your family’s favourite meals a little better?
You can! No new recipes, no food waste, no mealtime meltdowns.
Our steps to better approach shows simple swaps and small tweaks that make everyday meals (including some of the UK’s family favourite meals) healthier – often cheaper too.
Follow along and you’ll soon be winning small victories at the table, without any battles.
Veg Power’s Claire Wright shows you how to improve the meals your family already love, one step at a time.
The easiest way to help your kids eat more veg and beans? Add them to the meals they already love. With a few simple tweaks, you can save money, make meals go further, and have a bit of fun along the way. Just follow these simple steps…
1
Pick a family favourite
Start with one or two dishes you cook often and your kids already enjoy – spaghetti bolognese, curry, shepherd’s pie, fajitas…you can add beans and veg to lasagne, pasta bakes and stews, or simply add them to a jacket potato or pizza.
Familiar meals make the best starting point.
2
Choose your pace
You know your child – choose a pace that helps you succeed at your speed.
Tiny taste (really cautious): Just a spoonful of a familiar veg or bean on the side. Praise any trying: sniffing, licking, tasting… it all counts.
Build in bits (slightly cautious): Gradually increase to a small handful of the same veg or bean. Let them explore at their pace.
Mix it in (sometimes tries new things): Start adding beans or veg into your meal: tinned lentils in spag bol, extra carrots in stew…
Go for it (happy to try anything): Introduce another type of veg or bean, or increase the portion. Keep flavours familiar but expand variety.
3
Add your veg
Start with veg your kids already like (frozen is especially helpful here, as you can use tiny amounts without waste).
Add small handfuls at the usual cooking stage and build up slowly. Remember, small wins lead to big victories. Easy all-rounders include peas, sweetcorn, carrots, peppers and cucumber.
Find more tips for familiar veg in our A-Z of veg.
4
Add your beans
Beans are cheap, filling and packed with fibre. They absorb flavours without adding strong ones of their own — perfect for gently boosting meals.
Start with what your kids already know: tinned lentils in shepherd’s pie, kidney beans in chilli, chickpeas in curry…
If in doubt:
Soft beans (butter, cannellini, haricot) work best in creamy dishes like mac ’n’ cheese, pasta bakes, mash or curry.
Firm beans (kidney, chickpeas, black beans) hold their shape in sauces, chilli, rice dishes and stews.
Lentils are great for replacing some of the meat in dishes like shepherd’s pie or spag bol.
5
Better Sauce
When you feel ready for the next step, try a slightly better sauce. Check labels for more recognisable ingredients and less sugar, salt or fat, or save money by swapping to simple bases like chopped tomatoes or coconut milk with curry powder.
6
Get the kids involved
Kids are more likely to eat what they help make. Older ones can mash beans, grate veg or learn to chop safely. Even helping with one tiny step counts.
If cooking isn’t their thing, let them set the table, design a menu or come up with a silly name for the dish.
7
Serve for Success
No mealtime battles – keep it light and fun! Praise your child’s effort, not just how much they eat, and use non-food rewards to encourage positive habits.
Let them see you eating veg and beans, too. The more they see it as normal, the more likely they are to eat it themselves.
Reward charts are great motivators here. If you don’t have one of our charts already, print one of our free ones out and grab some cheap stickers.
8
Build from here
If it goes well, try the process again with another family favourite, introducing new veg and beans when your family feels ready.
Still struggling? Take a step back and keep offering tiny tastes – progress is progress, no matter how small. We’ve got more support for when nothing feels like it’s working.
And remember, the MOST important thing is that the family enjoys the meal! This gentle process of improvement can take as long as is needed if your family isn’t ready for big changes all in one go. Small simple improvements over time may not even be noticed.
Get ready for small victories, with no battles!
Simply Veg
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