FFK101: How to get my child to eat pulses or legumes - beans, peas, lentils and chickpeas.
About this episode
This episode discusses strategies to help children accept and enjoy pulses and legumes in their meals.
Today’s episode is part of our series of how to get kids to eat more of something, and today it’s the turn of pulses or legumes, so beans, lentils and peas. I don’t think I need to explain in too much detail why it’s great to help kids to like legumes. So you want to have more pulses in your family’s food, but how to get your child to accept them? As with our other epsiodes on this, we’re not actually aiming to get our kids to do anything. We are finding ways to give children opportunities to build familiarity with a food and try it when they feel comfortable, or building foods into or alongside familiar foods so they feel comfortable to eat. In this episode Joanne gives some suggestions of dishes where the beans or lentils are obvious to see and taste, and some where they are mixed or blended in so their texture might be easier to cope with for some children. But as usual even when we are mixing things in together, the idea is not to hide them and pretend they are not there, if asked you can always tell the truth or allow them to help to prep them. Hiding and sneaking only builds distrust. But there is nothing wrong with blending or mixing things in to make foods easier to…
More episodes of Food For Kids
- June seasonal foods - fruit and veg in season in the UK. Food For Kids Podcast (2026)
- FFK105: End of an era and the start of... what?
- FFK104: Why school food matters even if your child doesn't eat them
- FFK103: How to store and use up lettuce and salad leaves, and some recipes
- FFK102: Nutrition for teen athletes and sporty children, with Ellie King
- FFK100: Five May seasonal meals, easy and family friendly
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Food For Kids podcast page.