How to ‘glow up’ beige food for your picky eaters.
If your child is a picky eater, they might gravitate towards ‘beige’ foods with milder flavours and unsurprising textures. It can be tempting to use bribery to persuade them to try new things, but we know that this doesn’t tend to lead to long-term success.
The best thing we can do is to be patient and support them through this fussy phase. Try ‘glowing up’ their favourite foods, subtly boosting the nutrition of things they already love while continuing to offer a variety of options alongside them.
PASTA
+ Swap white pasta varieties for wholemeal (whole-wheat) or pulse pasta (made from lentils and chickpeas). Mix half pulse pasta and half white or wheat pasta for a gradual transition.
+ Cook pasta in bone broth or veggie stock so it can soak up extra nutrients.
+ Stir through a bone broth paste for flavour and a gut-health kick.
+ Add an egg yolk for extra protein, healthy fats and choline. Once the pasta is cooked, drain it and, while the pasta is still piping hot, stir through the egg yolk (or the whole egg if you like). The egg should thicken and turn creamy.
+ Stir in grass-fed butter or extra-virgin olive oil for healthy fats when you’re ready to serve.
RICE
+ Mix cooked cauliflower rice (cauliflower grated or processed to produce a rice-like consistency) with regular cooked rice to add fibre and nutrients. Start small here – one part cauliflower to three parts rice – and gradually increase as kids learn to like the taste.
+ Mix quinoa through rice for extra protein or swap rice for quinoa entirely.
+ Cook rice and quinoa in bone broth or stock instead of water for a nutrient boost.
+ ‘Soak and sour’ rice – see top tip!
+ Swap short-grain white rice for basmati or brown rice, which provide more fibre and nutrients.
+ Make coconut rice by swapping some of the cooking water for full-fat coconut milk for a healthy fat boost.
>> Top tip: ‘Soak and sour’ grains, legumes and nuts to make them easier to digest and to improve nutrient absorption. Simply cover them with water and a splash of lemon juice or apple-cider vinegar and leave overnight before using.
PIZZA
+ Swap standard store-bought pizza bases for a wholemeal pita bread (unless you’re lucky enough to have additive-free pizza bases available!).
+ Blend lentils, liver powder or roasted veggies into the tomato sauce.
+ Use homemade bolognese sauce instead of tomato paste for extra protein and a veggie boost.
+ Use nutritional yeast alongside cheese for a B12 boost.
CHIPS AND FRIES
+ Make homemade fries with sweet potato, parsnip or zucchini (courgette) – a great way to add some variety!
+ Bake in ghee, avocado oil or coconut oil for healthier fats.
+ Season with nutritional yeast and/or mild herbs and spices to boost nutrients. Every little bit counts!
YOGHURT
+ Add linseed (flax seed) meal, hemp seeds, LSA (linseed, sunflower and almond meal), chia jam (see pg xx) or nut/seed butter for extra nutrients.
+ Add a very small amount of iron-rich liver powder.
+ Sweeten naturally with honey or passionfruit rather than buying flavoured options or make DIY yoghurt pouches.
OATS/PORRIDGE
+ Add grated zucchini (courgette) when cooking your oats for an undetectable veggie boost.
+ Stir through an egg while the porridge is cooking for extra protein and choline.
+ Sprinkle with LSA (linseed/flax, sunflower and almond meal) or hemp seeds for all the benefits of seeds.
+ Soak and sour’ oats – see top tip!
+ Cook porridge with coconut milk or broth for variety.
CRACKERS
+ Choose wholemeal, rice or seeded crackers without the additives.
+ Add a dip such as hummus, avocado or nut/seed butter.
BREAD AND TOAST
+ Swap white bread for wholemeal (whole-wheat), sourdough, rye or spelt variations.
+ Make your own loaf or buns.
CEREAL
+ Swap sugary cereals for 100 per cent puffed grains (such as buckwheat, quinoa and brown rice) – these have become a staple in our households for a quick brekky the kids love.
+ Mix linseeds (flax seeds), hemp seeds or chia seeds into cereal for fibre and healthy fats.
+ Serve with yoghurt and/or kefir instead of just milk for probiotics.
+ Add fruit such as passionfruit, apple, berries or chia jam (see pg xx) for natural sweetness.
SAUCES
While not technically ‘beige’, we find that red sauces usually make it onto the list of ‘foods my kids eat’.
+ Blend in legumes or roasted veg.
+ Add a dose of iron-rich liver powder.
+ Include blitzed veggies such as carrot, pumpkin, zucchini (courgette) or sweet potato in the sauce for some hidden nutrients.
SMOOTHIES
+ Add veggies such as frozen zucchini (courgette), cauliflower or spinach (no one will even know!).
+ Add legumes such as white beans, lentils or chickpeas for protein and nutrients.
+ Add yoghurt and kefir for probiotic sources.
+ Add healthy fats such as hemp seeds, ground linseeds (flax seeds), linseed (flax seed) oil, walnuts, chia seeds, nut/seed butters and avocado. These also double as added protein sources.
Edited extract from Lunchbox Bible by Julia Tellidis and Lauren Skora, Photography by Rob Palmer and Ruby Holland. (Hardie Grant, $65, in stores from 31 March 2026).
FREE PRINTABLE to help your children make healthy food choices with this fun food chart.
