16 Simple Meals for Your 1-Year-Old that Will Make You SuperMom (2024)

I’ll be the first to admit that feeding a one-year-old can be positively maddening. There’s the teething, the inability to communicate fully, the choking hazards, the obsession with throwing food on the floor, the signs of picky eating, and so much more.

When my oldest child was one, I didn’t think my husband and I were eating healthy enough, so I made separate meals for her. This solution worked out just fine since she was our only child and I had the time to make two separate meals. But now that I have 3 kids, cooking additional food would be insane for my much busier schedule. So I don’t even go there.

And, guess what? Cooking one meal for the whole family has been working out pretty darn well lately.

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Nutritious Meal Ideas for 1-Year-Olds that the Whole Family Can Eat

When you have a 1-year-old in the house (or any age toddler, for that matter) how do you come up with balanced meal ideas that work for both the child and the rest of the family? I, personally, like to stick to simple meal ideas that are made up of all of the following: vegetable/fruit, grain/carb, protein, and a healthy fat. Since 1-year-olds need more fats than the older kids and adults in the family, their plates should feature more of them than other family member’s plates.

The meal ideas you find below can all be customized to your family’s own preferences, but, more importantly, they are meal ideas that you don’t have to think up all on your own! I think that’s cause for celebration!! 😉

I served these meals over the last month to my 12-month-old who only has 4 front teeth. Therefore, what you see in the pictures is not exactly what he ate. I had to cut almost everything into even smaller pieces. Some meals he ate everything and wanted more and other meals he still had food left on his plate. I always let my child decide how much he is going to eat.

*Update 7/23/2018: In case you were wondering where I got the plates, utensils, and cups, I found them all on Amazon and we still use them today. You can find the plates here, utensils here, and cups here (all affiliate links). The plates are great for us because we have 3 kids and you get 12 in the set. The fork and spoon are perfect for my one-year-old, and he’s really picked up on using both over the past 10 months. I really love the cups because they are spill proof (unless your toddler decides to throw them on the floor when he is mad like mine often does).

Cold Caprese Salad with Applesauce

Pasta salad is a quick and easy dish to serve to your 1-year-old and the whole family. Pasta salads are often full of different vegetables and healthy fats, so you can serve it alongside some protein of your choice and fruit for a balanced meal.

I would recommend cooking the pasta just a tad longer than al dente so that it’s easier for baby to digest. You can make most pasta salads ahead of time and put the dressing on them when you’re ready to eat.

• Vegetable/Fruit: Tomatoes, basil, applesauce
• Grain/Carb: Pasta
• Protein: Mozzarella cheese
• Healthy Fat: Mozzarella cheese and extra-virgin olive oil
• Recipe from: Super Healthy Kids *the link will only work if you have purchased a meal plan from SHK
• Ideas to change things up: Serve any pasta salad you enjoy; serve with avocado or a small portion of chicken or fish; eat with any fruit you have available

Rice Bowls with Mangoes

Rice bowls are truly delicious, but it may take a few tries for your kids to warm up to them. When I make rice bowls, I always use brown rice for two reasons: 1) it’s so much more filling (and healthy) than white rice and 2) I think it tastes better with the toppings than white rice does. Since brown rice takes longer to cook than white rice, you’ll want to give yourself at least 45 minutes to put this meal together. Or you could make the rice ahead of time and it won’t take long at all to get it on the table.

Rice bowls in our house usually consist of brown rice, beans/refried beans, chicken, cheese, guacamole (OR avocados, tomatoes), plain yogurt, and salsa. You can certainly add extra veggies or any other toppings you can think of. It might be fun to let everyone build their own bowl, but if you have some picky eaters you may want to require they choose at least 2 veggies.

• Vegetable/Fruit: Mango, avocado, tomatoes, salsa
• Grain/Carb: Brown rice
• Protein: Beans and rice, chicken, cheese, and yogurt
• Healthy Fat: Cheese, avocado, and yogurt
• Recipe from: None
• Ideas to change things up: Use white rice if you don’t have time to cook brown; try it with different types of beans; use leftover beef or pork instead of chicken; dice up avocados and tomatoes instead of making guacamole; serve with any fresh fruit that’s in season or make a smoothie

Deconstructed Tacos with Cantaloupe

Who doesn’t love tacos, right? While a traditional taco shell may be too hard for a 1-year-old to digest, a tortilla or pita is not. I served tacos to my baby deconstructed because it’s just a whole lot easier to eat like that when you’re one. The toppings included: ground turkey/beef with onions and spices, cheese, tomatoes, corn, yogurt, and salsa.

• Vegetable/Fruit: Cantaloupe, tomatoes, salsa, corn, onions
• Grain/Carb: Whole wheat tortilla
• Protein: Ground turkey
• Healthy Fat: Yogurt and cheese
• Recipe from: Super Healthy Kids*the link will only work if you have purchased a meal plan from SHK
• Ideas to change things up: Serve with a pita or bread instead of a tortilla (especially for a one-year-old); add more toppings like lettuce, onions, refried beans, etc.; switch out the ground turkey for ground beef, pork, chicken, or fish; serve any fresh fruit that’s in season or have a smoothie

Quinoa Salad with Yogurt and Strawberries

The internet is bursting with quinoa salad recipes. You can even make up your own if you’re up to the challenge. You can make it especially toddler-friendly by making sure all the components are in bite-size pieces. If you prepare everything ahead (i.e. cook the quinoa, mix together the dressing, drain the beans, etc.), a quinoa salad can be thrown together in a pinch.

• Vegetable/Fruit: Edamame, corn, bell pepper, strawberries
• Grain/Carb: Quinoa
• Protein: Chicken, beans, plain Greek yogurt, and edamame
• Healthy Fat: Extra-virgin olive oil and plain Greek yogurt
• Recipe from: Super Healthy Kids *the link will only work if you have purchased a meal plan from SHK
• Ideas to change things up: Use any quinoa salad recipe you like; serve any fresh fruit that’s in season or have a smoothie; mix the quinoa salad with the yogurt (my 12-month-old is totally down with this)

Hard-Boiled Eggs, Millet, Roasted Veggies, and Salad Toppings with Cottage Cheese

This meal is kind of a hodgepodge of different foods that you could easily serve on a whim. You may not have the exact veggies in your fridge, but you can make roasted veggies with nearly any vegetable you do have.

When it’s about time for me to go grocery shopping again and our fridge is looking quite bare, we still usually have eggs. That’s why I turn to hard-boiled eggs a lot. My 12 month old loves them and they totally count as a healthy fat, so why not?

Millet is a new grain in this household, but I wish I had tried using it sooner. It’s really not difficult to cook, but it is more expensive than rice, which is probably why it’s not as popular.

The salad toppings I served included: mushrooms, craisins, sunflower seeds, green onions, chicken, and tomatoes. I served an actual green salad with the salad toppings for my 3 and 5 year old and us adults, but I’m not comfortable giving greens to my 12-month-old quite yet.

• Vegetable/Fruit: Beets, radishes, carrots, mushrooms, craisins, green onions, tomatoes
• Grain/Carb: Millet
• Protein: Eggs, chicken, cottage cheese
• Healthy Fat: Eggs, sunflower seeds
• Recipe from: No recipe
• Ideas to change things up: Roast any vegetables you like or have on hand; serve any kind of salad toppings; fry the egg or make egg muffins; serve with barley pilaf instead of millet

Toast, Scrambled Eggs, and Yogurt Parfaits

This meal would be considered breakfast, but you can serve it for any meal if you’d like. When I have the extra time, I like to add veggies to the scrambled eggs (i.e. onion, tomatoes, spinach, etc.). For my one-year-old, I serve plain Greek yogurt, but for everyone else, it’s usually honey Greek yogurt. Multi-grain bread or Ezekiel bread would be your healthier bread choice and definitely use real butter. Don’t toast the bread if you think your baby will do better with soft bread. You can spread peanut butter or nut butter on the bread if you want to add a little more fat.

• Vegetable/Fruit: Bananas, strawberries
• Grain/Carb: Bread
• Protein: Eggs, plain Greek yogurt
• Healthy Fat: Eggs, plain Greek yogurt, butter
• Recipe from: None
• Ideas to change things up: Use any fruit that is in season for the yogurt parfaits; instead of bread, serve with a pancake or waffle; add a bit of honey to the parfait if you’d like

Baked Sweet Potatoes with Green Smoothies

I am not a huge fan of the texture of sweet potatoes, but this meal was a real home-run for me. All 3 kids enjoyed it as well (I couldn’t get my husband to eat it – poor, poor picky man!). The yogurt sauce and beans really brought everything together and were just yummy.The potato was super easy for the baby to gum and I didn’t need to mash the beans.

The green smoothie is not pictured because I like to make the smoothie after dinner (otherwise my kids only want the smoothie and nothing else). I use juice or almond milk, plain Greek yogurt, banana, frozen fruit, spinach, and chia seeds.

• Vegetable/Fruit: Sweet potatoes, lime, tomatoes, banana, frozen fruit, spinach
• Grain/Carb: Sweet potato
• Protein: Beans, plain Greek yogurt
• Healthy Fat: plain Greek yogurt, chia seeds
• Recipe from: Kelsey Nixon
• Ideas to change things up: Serve white potatoes instead; include many different toppings, like cheese, diced onions, diced peppers, sunflower seeds, sliced almonds, etc.; serve with fresh, seasonal fruit or a green salad instead of a smoothie

Tuna Wraps with Cantaloupe and Applesauce and Yogurt

Tuna wraps are definitely a quick meal to pull together and can be made as healthy as you’d like. The healthiest version I’ve made didn’t go over well with the kids, so I returned to this old favorite that 2 out of 3 kids love. For the one-year-old, I tear off pieces of the wrap for him to eat. You could also just serve the tuna salad portion with pieces of bread or tortilla on the side. You canthrow in grapes, green onions, olives, chopped almonds, or whatever other extras you have on hand.

• Vegetable/Fruit: Craisins, celery, applesauce, cantaloupe
• Grain/Carb: Tortilla
• Protein: Tuna, plain Greek yogurt
• Healthy Fat: Tuna, plain Greek yogurt
• Recipe from: Super Healthy Kids*the link will only work if you have purchased a meal plan from SHK
• Ideas to change things up: Serve with any fresh, seasonal fruit you would like; add green onions, bell pepper, etc. to the tuna mixture; use a different kind of canned fish (i.e. sardines or herring)

Oatmeal with Fruit, Flaxseed, and Cinnamon

Oatmeal is so easy to make. For this particular breakfast, I used rolled oats and cooked it on the stove. You can refer to my directions in this post. I added a mashed banana, some strawberries and pears, frozen blueberries, and flaxseed and cinnamon. You can even add chia seeds and a bit of milk if desired.

• Vegetable/Fruit: Bananas, strawberries, pears, blueberries
• Grain/Carb: Oats
• Protein: Oats
• Healthy Fat: Flaxseed
• Recipe from: Feeding Our Flamingos
• Ideas to change things up: Serve with eggs or ham for added protein; cook down or puree the fruit so it’s easier for baby to eat; add chia seeds to increase the amount of healthy fats, proteins, and carbs, as well as calcium; use any fruit you’d like; add more toppings, like: sliced almonds, peanut butter, coconut flakes, maple syrup, etc.

Pizza with Leftover Veggies

Homemade pizza is a Friday night tradition in our house. On this particular night, I made Hawaiian pizza (ham and pineapple) with a simple pizza sauce and mozzarella over a whole grain crust. I was trying to make it a bit healthier, but I’ll never do that again! I think I’ll stick to our favorite crust and sauce from now on, thank you very much.

I really should have given my 12-month-old deconstructed pizza so he could digest it better. A bit of cheese, some tomatoes, diced toppings, and some bread would be easier for a one-year-old to eat than thick slices of pizza, even if they are cut into much smaller pieces.

I served the pizza with leftover roasted veggies, but do you think he cared about them? Heck, no.

• Vegetable/Fruit: Pineapple, diced tomatoes, roasted veggies
• Grain/Carb: Pizza crust
• Protein: Ham, cheese
• Healthy Fat: Mozzarella
• Recipe from: Any pizza recipe you like, but this is our favorite
• Ideas to change things up: Serve “deconstructed” where you give the baby all the elements of the pizza, but not the pizza itself (i.e. shredded mozzarella, diced ham, diced pineapple, diced tomatoes, and small pieces of bread); serve with fresh fruit; offer lots of different topping choices for everyone to make their own pizza

Pasta with Spaghetti Sauce and Sausage, Steamed Broccoli and Cauliflower, and Bread

My husband grew up eating pasta every Sunday, so I try to do pasta on Sundays for our own family to carry on the tradition. My mother-in-law taught me how to make the most amazing pasta sauce, and now I make it in the Instant Pot every time. I will post the recipe one day. If you don’t make your own sauce, but want it to be healthy, look for a healthier sauce at the store. Read through the ingredients and avoid the ones with a laundry list of ingredients you can’t pronounce or that have lots of added sugar. For this meal, I used sausage since we had some in the freezer, but you can use any protein that floats your boat.

Make sure to add a bit of parmesan cheese on top. We like to use bread to soak up the remaining sauce on our plate, but don’t serve it if you think that’s too many carbs in one meal!

• Vegetable/Fruit: Tomato sauce, onions, garlic, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower
• Grain/Carb: Pasta, bread
• Protein: Sausage
• Healthy Fat: Olive oil used to cook spaghetti sauce, butter on broccoli/cauliflower
• Recipe from: My mother-in-law
• Ideas to change things up: Use store-bought spaghetti sauce, but be sure to look at the ingredients; serve sauce over rice instead of pasta; serve with a different protein instead of sausage; add fresh fruit if you’d like

Buddha Bowls with Pao de Queijo and Green Smoothies

Buddha bowls are very popular among vegans, but you can really make them however you like, no need to keep them strictly vegan. These bowls are awesome for using up any healthy leftovers in your fridge. We happened to have leftover millet, roasted veggies, cooked broccoli and cauliflower, and yogurt sauce, so I used them up. I also got out some frozen, cooked chicken cubes and cut up some tomatoes, olives, and green onions. Buddha bowls are particularly great if you focus on making them colorful. You want to add as much variety into your diet as possible, so reach for all the colorful veggies you have and you’re good to go!

I served it with some pao de queijo that we had in the freezer as well as a green smoothie. Delightful!

• Vegetable/Fruit: Sweet potato, roasted veggies, broccoli, cauliflower, corn, tomatoes, green onions, banana, frozen fruit, spinach
• Grain/Carb: Millet, sweet potato, pao de queijo
• Protein: Chicken, plain Greek yogurt
• Healthy Fat: Olives, plain Greek yogurt, chia seeds
• Recipe from: No need to use a recipe, just use up what’s in your fridge!
• Ideas to change things up: Use whatever leftover grains, vegetables, and protein you have in your fridge; make a savory yogurt sauce to bring everything together and make it even tastier; serve with a fruit salad instead of a smoothie

Hard-boiled Eggs with Couscous, Cheese, and Green Smoothies

This is an amazingly easy, yet yummy, meal. You can cook the eggs in the morning, so at dinner time you spend maybe 10 minutes in the kitchen cooking the couscous and making the smoothie.

Couscous is one of those grains I had never tried before this year. I can’t seem to find plain old couscous where I shop, so I just buy the box that cooks in less than 7 minutes. It’s a piece of cake. And so delicious. My baby loves it with eggs.

• Vegetable/Fruit: Banana, frozen fruit, spinach
• Grain/Carb: Couscous
• Protein: Eggs, plain Greek yogurt, cheese
• Healthy Fat: Eggs, plain Greek yogurt, chia seeds
• Recipe from: None
• Ideas to change things up: Any grain will do; serve with a mixture of berries or any seasonal, fresh fruit

Chicken and Sweet Potato Curry with Honeydew and Craisins

I am gonna confess something. This was the first time I served curry to my family, and it was out-of-this-world delicious. My baby gobbled it right up, but my girls kind of picked at it. They didn’t appreciate the bursting flavor from the sweet potatoes and spices. They did, however, really enjoy the melon and craisins. Of course.

• Vegetable/Fruit: Sweet potato, onion, garlic, honeydew melon, craisins
• Grain/Carb: Sweet potato, brown rice
• Protein: Chicken
• Healthy Fat: Coconut milk
• Recipe from: Super Healthy Kids
• Ideas to change things up: Any recipe for curry will work; serve with any seasonal, fresh fruit you’ve got

Stir-fry with Rice

Stir-fry is so easy to customize. Any protein and veggies you have on hand will almost always come out tasty. For this one, I used chicken, cabbage, carrots, and green and red bell pepper. I cooked the brown rice earlier in the day and I already had some sauce in the freezer, so it was a breeze to throw together.

• Vegetable/Fruit: Cabbage, carrots, bell peppers
• Grain/Carb: Brown rice
• Protein: Chicken
• Healthy Fat: Sesame seed oil in the sauce
• Recipe from: Feeding Our Flamingos
• Ideas to change things up: Any protein and veggie combo you want will work; serve with white rice for quicker execution of the meal

Egg Muffins with Honeydew and Toast with Butter

Egg muffins are easy and can be customized however you like. They are just like omelets but in a muffin shape. We put peppers, onions, mushrooms, and spinach in ours.

• Vegetable/Fruit: Peppers, onions, mushrooms, spinach, honeydew melon
• Grain/Carb: Bread
• Protein: Eggs
• Healthy Fat: Eggs, butter
• Recipe from: Beach Body on Demand
• Ideas to change things up: There are so many ways you can customize an egg muffin. Do it to your liking!; serve with any seasonal produce you have on hand

And there you go! 16 quick, tasty, and super nutritious meals that will work for the entire family, not just the 1 year old!

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor or a dietitian. Anything I share on this website is for informational purposes only. Please seek a medical professional if you need medical advice.