How to Try New Vegetables When You Hate to Eat Veggies

We all know vegetables are good for us. But what’s the best way to try new vegetables when you hate to eat veggies?

At some point, we decide it’s time to work harder on eating our vegetables. Vegetables are good for us. We gotta ‘grow up’, right?

That’s true, but I think it’s a challenge to eat something if you already think you don’t like it. Especially eating it 4-5 times a day.

And, what if you’re not the one who hates to eat the veggies?

What if it’s your spouse, children or aging parents who don’t like healthy food? That’s an even bigger challenge. And, it’s a lot to remember. So I’ve made you a printable list of suggestions of how to prepare vegetables, and it’s available at the end of this post!

You can force yourself, but not everyone else. (At least it doesn’t work with my children).

And even more, if you aren’t a professional chef, it’s hard to know which herbs, seasonings go best with the vegetables you/they don’t like.

How to Try New Vegetables When You Hate to Eat Veggies

The Mission: To Try New Vegetables When You Hate to Eat Veggies

By the way, this is my second article on this topic. If you are looking for a list of ideas, you may find the help you’re looking for in this post: How to Love Eating Vegetables as an Adult and Not Gag.

This time, I went on a mission to find a vegetable-focused cookbook. I found a few good ones, but the one I want to talk about today is our family’s favorite. (Ok, my family doesn’t know that this is their favorite cookbook.)

But, I have tried several recipes in just 2-3 weeks and already have FOUR new recipes that have been approved for ‘regular meal options’. That’s HUGE for our family!! So, it’s definitely my favorite cookbook!

The Answer – Find An Awesome Cookbook

Budget Tip: Want to try this recipe book before buying it? Try finding it at the local library.

The name of the cookbook is Joy’s Simple Food Remedies, Tasty Cures for Whatever’s Ailing You. Now, I am going to be honest and tell you that I didn’t buy it because I think or believe that these recipes will cure the symptoms.

I think they are helpful, and if you make and eat these healthy recipes instead of any junk food you may be eating, there will likely be some benefit. The reason I bought it was because I saw Joy on the Today Show and she had several dishes that looked absolutely amazing. (We taste with our eyes first!)

Joy talked about how she uses several vegetables, herbs, and seasonings in each recipe. I thought, what a bonus – more than one veggie in a dish! Plus, the news anchors seemed like they liked the dishes. And, so I bought it.

This Cookbook Has Been A Home Run For My Family!

If you look around on my blog, you’ll see that I don’t promote a lot of items and I only have one other post with a cookbook, and it’s just mentioned in a sentence. It’s not what I usually write about.

But listen, this cookbook has been an amazing tool to help my family not only eat more servings of vegetables but try new and different ones too!

Here are the recipes we have tried and my family’s feedback. I have a husband, a 24-year-old and a 12-year-old. The 12-year-old is the one who dislikes veggies. I basically gave the cookbook to my husband and children and asked them to choose one recipe they thought they might like. So consequently, here is what we tried first.

Greek Chicken Kabobs on page 156 – This one is the one that blew me away. My 12-year-old requests this one weekly now. It technically has fresh herbs, not vegetables, in it (parsley, cilantro, and dill) but these are plants and new flavors to her so I am calling this a big win!
Pumpkin Turkey Chili on page 194 – To be honest, this is the one that I raised an eyebrow on when I saw it. But, oh my goodness, it’s delicious! We all called the flavors ‘complex’ (yes we watch Chopped on Food Network) and definitely find it delicious. Coincidently, it is in the ‘gas’ section of the recipe book and no one struggled with gas or bloating after we ate it. We put this one on the meal plan weekly as it makes a filling but easy to go to meal.

These Recipes Are Easy to Make

The Curry Turkey Burgers w Pomegranate Seeds on page 214 is the recipe my husband made. There were several ingredients, but the recipe took him through step by step and while it took him longer to prepare than if I would have made it, he was able to complete it timely. We all liked it and will eat it again, but will likely omit the curry as it is not our family’s favorite flavor. But the rest of it was yummy.
Finally, the best thing we ate so far was the Roasted Salmon with Artichoke Hearts plus the Lemon-Dill Yogurt Sauce on page 14. This one was embarrassingly simple but this meal was literally one of the most delicious things I’ve ever eaten. It uses leeks, and I had not eaten, cleaned or cooked with leeks before. I had to watch a Youtube video to see how to clean and slice them. But, oh my goodness such an amazing dinner that night! We ate every crumb (like scraped the pan clean!).

Why This Cookbook is the Best Way to Try New Vegetables When You Hate to Eat Veggies

As I said earlier, I do not write posts to tell people to buy things. But, this has been a great cookbook for us so I wanted to share it with other people – especially those who are struggling to take better care of themselves, improve their self-care, or need to eat more vegetables.

My Top Reasons

Great for trying new flavors (flavorful but not overpowering or too spicy…and not too bland)
Vegetarian options are even tasty
Fun to try (not frustrating or hard to make)
Family friendly (eye appealing and not too crazy or spicy)
Easy to prepare (and doesn’t mess up your whole kitchen)
Vegetable forward – many recipes combine meat & >1 vegetables in the dish
Fast (we made most things in 20-30 minutes although the 2nd time was faster)
Affordable menu options (you won’t break the bank to try these but they taste as you did – that sounds silly but it’s true)

In closing, I hope you continue on your journey to improve your self-care and include eating more vegetables on that journey.

I believe using this cookbook is a great way to get you on your way to try more vegetables and keep you going on a path of wellness. Be sure to get yourself one today!

Print your FREE copy of a list of how to prepare vegetables!

try new vegetables when you hate eating veggies

Lisa Kimrey

Hi, I’m Lisa! Thanks for visiting My Life Nurse, where we provide people who serve and take care of others with easy self-care plans and systems, wellness strategies, and scripture-based encouragement so you can stay happy, healthy and rejuvenated. I’ve found that many people struggle with caring for themselves while taking care of others, but they also feel called to serve others, so they keep working even when they’re stressed and exhausted. That’s why I combine my nursing expertise with Scripture-based teaching. Our readers love learning how to walk closer to the Lord to improve their self-care – so they can begin their journey to feel better – without feeling guilty. Be sure to grab your FREE Self-care StarTer Guide!