Super up your soup! Get your kids to eat soup like a pro!

With winter well and truly upon us in Australia, it just seems right that soup should form part of the weekly meal plan. However, fussy eaters can have trouble with accepting the texture of soup or may just refuse to try it in the first place. Below are some top tips from the team at The Curious Carrot to help your little ones learn to like soup!

1. It starts with fun!

If you have a particularly fussy eater who won’t even tolerate a bowl of soup in front of them, start with some ‘Soup Play’ away from mealtimes. For example, painting with soup is a great first step to get little ones initially engaged. A brightly coloured soup, a pastry brush and some wraps are all you need to get started (see our tomato soup flower painting below). Add some fun vegetable shapes for extra food play fun! You never know, they may just dip and lick their fingers for an initial taste.

2.Get them involved

Let your child help you wash, peel, cut or grate the vegetables so they feel in control and not “tricked” into trying something they are not sure about.

3. Soup Dippers

Bring the fun factor to create kid friendly dippers using sandwich cutters to shape bread before you toast it (like our rocket example below). Get creative with dippers - you could try toasted pita bread triangles, grissini sticks, water crackers or even pasta. For something a bit different, get creative with puff pastry and get the kids involved to make some cheesy twists!

 4.Aim to underwhelm

Start with a small portion. Smaller than you think! Aim to underwhelm not overwhelm. Your child can always ask for more if they like it!

 5.Make it thick

We love this soup hack! Make the soup thick so it is easier for your child to eat with a spoon. It also means less drips when dipping too! You can do this by adding split red lentils (virtually undetectable in taste but adds bulk and nutrition to soups).

Tomato Crew Soup

 1 x brown onion (chopped)

5-6 x garlic cloves (peeled & left whole)

1 x tbspn tomato paste

1 x 400g can chopped tomatoes

250g semi sundried tomatoes

480g (about 6) Roma tomatoes, halved lengthways

1 x chicken stock cube

¾ Cup of water

Olive Oil

Worcestershire sauce (to taste)

Salt

Pepper

Sour Cream (optional)

1. Preheat fan forced oven to 200 degrees C and line a tray with baking paper
2. Spread the tomato halves and whole garlic cloves on to the lined tray and drizzle with 1 x tspn of Olive Oil. Sprinkle with salt & pepper. Roast for about 20 minutes but keep an eye on the garlic cloves as you don’t want them to burn.
3. Heat 1 x tbspn Olive Oil in a large heavy based pan or pot & sauté the chopped onion.
4. Add the semi dried tomatoes along with 1 -2 tbspns of the oil. Cook for 3 mins over a medium heat stirring frequently.
5. Stir through the stock cube.
6. Add the can of chopped tomatoes along with the roasted tomatoes & garlic and water. Add Worcestershire sauce to taste. Simmer for 10-15 minutes, squashing the roast tomatoes as they cook.
7. Blend until smooth. For a thinner consistency add a little bit of water at this stage.
8. If desired, stir through a dollop of sour cream before serving for an extra creamy texture.

 Zucchini Soup

 1 x Tbspn Olive Oil

¼ Brown Onion (chopped)

2 x Garlic cloves (crushed)

500g Zucchini (Chopped into 2-3cm pieces)

1 x Potato (Chopped into chunks)

1 x cup of Vegetable stock

1 x tbspn Cream Cheese

1 x tbspn Sour Cream

Salt to taste

1. Heat the olive oil in a heavy based pan or pot. Sauté onion and garlic until soft.
2. Add Zucchini, Potato and vegetable stock.
3. Once simmering, cook for 10 minutes covered then lid off for a further 5 minutes (or until potato is soft).
4. Blend with cream cheese, sour cream and a pinch of salt.

Don't forget to add even more fun & colour buy using our eco-friendly bamboo & plant-based bowls!