Perhaps because toddler pasta dishes are so omnipresent everywhere parents of a young child tend to go–on the kids menu at restaurants with kids menus, on the table for his playdate when we dine at another parent’s house–we naturally assumed our son would become a noodle guy in due course. The pathway seemed inevitable: give him soft and small noodle shapes–elbow, ditalini, pastina–and drown it in dairy. Uninspiring, perhaps; definitely effortless.
We’re well into year three now and still we wait–even for the easy wins. Buttered noodles: mostly pass. Topping pasta with the tomato sauce: er, maybe. Mac n cheese: depends on the night. We’ve seen him wolf down bucatini; we’ve seen him slurp down the noodles of a very serious bowl of ramen. And we’ve seen him not do it again. Ever.
I’ll tell you what I haven’t seen, though: another toddler with the sheer amount of mood about pasta as this kid. I know they’re out there; we can’t be the only ones. But the kids we know can’t resist the chewy plainness of an overcooked noodle; even the picky ones–especially the picky ones–love it. It’s one of the few things that doesn’t ask anything of a child.
So if it seems strange that we’d focus a post on a food that is continually getting middling results for us, know this: we’ve tried more pasta types and approaches on our child than just about anyone. Spiral shapes. Irregular shapes. Thin and thick noodles of every density and chew. Thick sauces. Thin sauces. NO sauces. To put it mildly: we’re kind of experts at this now, even if the results aren’t always there. We’ll keep trying.
Here are some toddler pasta winners that can win over even the pickiest of pasta eaters:
Vegetable Rich Macaroni and Cheese
Next Level Buttered Noodles (and meatballs)
Dan Dan Noodles–but for kids
Toddler-Friendly Spaghetti and Meatballs
Broccoli and Cheddar Pastina
Cacio Y Kale Spaetzle
Cheesy Orzo
Orecchiette with Sausage and Broccoli
The Best Homemade Tomato Sauce For Toddlers
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