16 easy, simple & quick meal ideas for your toddler and baby. No need to prepare two different meals when you have two little ones!
Hi there! I’m a mom of two boys 16 months apart. The oldest is now two, and the youngest is 8 months old. Once my youngest started eating solid food I yearned for meals that I could make them together so I wasn’t cooking or preparing two different meals every time they ate.
With my younger son, we started baby-led weaning (BLW) around 6 months old. You can read more about BLW, our journey, and BLW food ideas here: Baby-Led Weaning Food Ideas
Ever since then I have been on a mission to think of meal ideas that work for both my baby and my toddler! Below are 16 meal ideas that you can feed your two young kiddos.
You might also like these related posts:
- 16 Family-Friendly Toddler Dinner Ideas
- 50 Toddler Meal Ideas for 18-24 Months
- High-Calorie Toddler Meal Ideas
Modified Toddler Meals for Baby
For the most part, your baby can eat almost anything that your toddler can. However, making small modifications to toddler food can make sure that they are safe for babies with few-to-no teeth. Here are some examples:
- Cook food until very soft.
- For beginner eaters, cut food into strips.
- Once you are confident with your baby’s ability chew or gum, dice food small.
- Quarter grapes and halve bluberries.
- No honey under 1 year old.
- Avoid added sweeteners.
Favorite Toddler Feeding Essentials
Pillowfort Plate – these are our favorite plates for both babies and toddlers! They are simple, cheap, and durable. They have held up for more than a year of use and come in cute colors.
Ingenuity 2-in-1 Baby Seat – this is our favorite seat for an older baby. It doesn’t offer as much support as a true high-chair for younger babies, but its easy to clean and works great as a stand-alone seat or a booster seat that hooks to a chair. My baby started using this once he could sit well independently at 6 months old.
Ingenuity Booster Seat – we love this booster seat! We have this at our counter height table and it fits perfectly. My toddler moved to this seat when he was about 18 months old and it is extremely easy to clean.
Meal Ideas for your Toddler & Baby
Below are meal ideas based on meals that I actually serve my baby and toddler. The meal for your baby is on the top of each photo, while the meal for your toddler is on the bottom.
- Fried Egg with fruit: most experts believe you should introduce eggs early and often to prevent allergies. However, if you aren’t ready to introduce eggs yet, try an easy substitute like Cheerios or other cereal. My toddler had a fried egg and plum, and baby had Cheerios and plum.
- Yogurt with fruit: whole milk yogurt is a good choice for both babies and toddlers because it has healthy fat needed for brain development. My toddler had a yogurt bowl with strawberries and blueberries stirred in, and baby had yogurt with strawberries and halved (or squished) blueberries on the side.
- Whole Grain Waffle: frozen waffles are a quick and easy breakfast idea that can work for both babies and toddlers. For a baby, cut the waffle into strips and spread lightly with spread of choice (peanut butter, nut butter, or pureed fruit work well). For a toddler, dress it up a little bit; we did peanut butter, banana, and honey (no honey under 1 year old).
- Peanut Butter & Jelly: PB&J is almost any toddler’s dream. It can also work for your baby if you cut it into strips or small pieces. Most of the time I opt out of giving it to my baby and give him healthy sides to match my toddler. My toddler had PB&J (cut with these cute sandwich cutters), cooked carrots, string cheese, and grapes halved, and baby had cooked carrots cut into strips, string cheese, and grapes quartered.
- Scrambled Eggs: scrambled eggs is a super easy breakfast idea that you can give to both your baby and your toddler. They both had the same sides: peanut butter toast and diced avocado. Cut toast into strips for baby.
- KidFresh Chicken Meatballs: chicken meatballs can be a great high-protein meal idea for both toddlers and babies. Make sure to cut the chicken meatballs into small diced pieces for your baby. Side of corn and blueberries for both (halve or squish blueberries for babies).
- Dr. Praeger’s Spinach Littles – spinach littles by Dr. Praeger’s brand are healthy lunch options from the frozen food section. Other good options by Dr. Praeger’s brand are their broccoli littles or veggie nuggets. These are my baby’s favorite! My toddler had spinach littles, avocado, strawberries and halved grapes, and baby had spinach littles, strawberries diced, and grapes quartered (avocado would also have been a good option, but sometimes messy).
- Snack Plate – mini charcuterie boards for babies and toddlers are our new favorite go-to for lunch time. They had almost identical plates! Both kids had spinach littles, grapes (halved for toddler and quartered for baby), string cheese, steamed squash, steamed apples, gold fish, and my toddler had cooked carrots. Almost anything goes for a snack plate, but to make things easier try to pick items that work for both kids.
- Ground Bulgogi Pork – ground meat is really easy for both babies and toddlers to eat. We had ground pork with sweet Bulgogi sauce, rice, broccoli and tortilla. My toddler had a plate with everything and baby had ground port with chopped broccoli.
- Veggie Corn Dog – my toddler loves the veggie corn dogs by MorningStar Farms. Both kids had had veggie corn dog with grapes, string cheese, and veggies, and my toddler had some extra cooked baby carrots.
- Dr. Praeger’s Veggie Nuggets – veggie nuggets are another good option from Dr. Praeger’s brand of frozen food items. These are my toddler’s favorite! Both kids had veggie nuggets with grapes, and my toddler also had babybell cheese.
- Shrimp with Avocado slaw – this was a family-favorite dinner that both my baby and toddler could eat. Both had shrimp with avocado slaw; avocado, roasted corn, tomato, and lime juice (I chopped it a little finer for baby).
- Grilled Chicken: both kids had grilled chicken cut into strips, broccoli, and cauliflower rice. For baby I like to either give big pieces of broccoli he can gnaw on or dice finely.
- Fruit & Veggie plate: both kids had cooked carrots, fresh pineapple, whole milk string cheese, and avocado. For baby I like to cut the carrots into strips and more finely dice the other foods compared to my toddler.
- Corn Dog Strips: another way to cut corn dogs (as opposed to slices) is into long strips. This makes it easier for your toddler to dip and easier for baby to hold and grip. Sides of grapes for both and cooked carrots with ranch for my toddler.
- Chicken Sausage: another family-friendly dinner that can be served to both baby and toddler. Sheet pan chicken sausage, broccoli, and sweet potato.
Thanks for stopping by! You might also like these related posts:
- 16 Family-Friendly Toddler Dinner Ideas
- 50 Toddler Meal Ideas for 18-24 Months
- High-Calorie Toddler Meal Ideas
