Are you hitting your head against the wall trying to figure out what dairy-free options to feed your toddler for lunch every day? Yeah, same. Here are five of our go-tos, featuring pre-prepared food for busy afternoons.
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1. chicken salad or egg salad with toast
Fun fact: mayonnaise is totally dairy-free! It seems like it’s dairy, but it’s not. If your toddler doesn’t have an egg allergy and tolerates texture okay, you can try to offer them some chicken salad or egg salad with a side of toast. My toddler sometimes loves chicken salad and sometimes won’t touch it, but even when she doesn’t want it, I can sometimes convince her to “dip” her toast into the salad.
Tip: if you’re watching your child’s sugar intake, glance at the nutrition label to make sure the sugar content isn’t too high. During my stint with gestational diabetes, I learned that people add sugar to all sorts of weird things, including chicken salad (why???).
2. chicken meatballs with side “salad”
Some stores have pre-prepared meatballs that you can just heat for a few minutes and serve. These chicken meatballs from Trader Joe’s are our favorite:
You can find chicken meatballs elsewhere, but read the labels to make sure they’re dairy-free. For example, the Kidfresh version sold at Target does have dairy.
We like chicken meatballs because they can be a little less “gamey” than beef/pork, and I like these TJ’s meatballs in particular because they’re very clean–just chicken and spices.
You can serve them alongside some hummus or marinara or balsamic for dip. We also like to serve these alongside a “salad,” which is basically just some shredded greens (which, to be honest, usually get ignored. but sometimes my toddler will eat a leaf or two like the world’s most tentative and picky rabbit and I consider that a colossal win).
3. peanut butter & jelly fingers with dairy-free yogurt
PB&J is a classic for a reason! Choose whatever nut butter you want and whatever jelly you want and slather ’em on some slightly toasted bread. Then cut them into fingers or squares and serve alongside dairy-free yogurt. Cocojune is my favorite dairy-free yogurt (it’s tasty and I generally prefer coconut alternatives versus soy/nut), but it’s admittedly a splurge. You can also go with So Delicious brand, Silk, Forager, or Kite Hill (amongst others).
4. Cauliflower mash + chicken nuggets
If we’re going through a “texture phase” (you know, where everything has to be soft or a cracker?), we do a lot of steamed vegetables. One of my favorites is to steam some cauliflower (I am obsessed with my Beaba steamer–it makes steaming so so easy) and then mash it with some avocado. My daughter does okay with steamed cauliflower by itself, but she seems to like it better presented mashed-potato style. I sometimes let her choose herbs (she loves “peppah”), as it’s a purposefully very bland base.
As for chicken nuggets, chicken nuggets are generally one of my toddler’s “safe” foods–you too? So if we’re going through a picky period, I can usually get her to eat at least a few bits of chicken nugget. And if served alongside a vegetable mash, the hope is that she’ll either dip the chicken nuggets or get curious about the soft-textured food.
Anyway, here’s your takeaway: chicken nuggets are often dairy-free! Just read the label to be sure.
5. falafel with hummus and greek-salad veggies
For whatever reason, my daughter loves falafel. We like to get frozen falafel and serve it alongside some greek-salad-inspired veggies: cucumbers and tomatoes. If you can find a vegan tzatziki, you can offer that, as well! Or you can offer hummus as a dip for the falafel.
Falafel is great protein but can be a bit high in sodium, so we serve this only occasionally.
I hope you find some ideas in here! Feeding a picky toddler, let alone a picky toddler with allergies, is not for the faint of heart. Let me know what you’re feeding your dairy-free toddler–I’m always looking for ideas!
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