Need a way to help your family eat more vegetables? These veggie cups are a fun option for kids and make getting your daily dose of vegetables easy!
Pack them with your favorite dipping sauce and watch them disappear from the fridge.
A little backstory on this snack recipe: at the age of 2, my daughter decided that all things veggies were no longer an option. No matter how hard I tried to make veggies appealing, she refused to eat them.
A few years later, these veggie cups made an appearance at a birthday party, and with some encouragement from her friend, Casey, she grabbed a veggie, took a bite, and liked ‘colorful’ foods again.
For a while, she called these snack cups “Casey’s cups” and asked for them frequently.
Veggie Snack Cups
Veggie cups are a great snack that’s fun and convenient to eat. You can prep them with an assortment of vegetables and stash them in the fridge for school lunches or veggie snacks to munch on while at the office.
If your kids (or you) aren’t a fan of raw vegetables, try giving them a quick steam in the microwave before assembling the cups. This works great with carrots, broccoli, and cauliflower and can even enhance their flavor with the dip.
What to Put in a Veggie Cup
Usually, I prep this snack with ranch dressing, baby carrots, and celery, but you can customize these veggie cups with any of your favorite dips and vegetables. Grab a few ideas in the list below:
- homemade ranch dressing
- homemade hummus
- red pepper hummus
- baby carrots
- celery sticks
- cherry/grape tomatoes
- broccoli
- sliced bell peppers
- sugar snap peas
- asparagus
Want more delicious recipes to include in your snack routine? Check out the Best Homemade Kids’ Snacks on the Planet.
It’s filled with creative and tasty snacks you’ll want to make again and again!
How to Assemble Veggie Cups
Here’s how to assemble your own veggie cups step-by-step:
- Add the dip
Add your choice of dip or sauce to the bottom of a 6 to 8-ounce storage cup; 2 tablespoons should do the trick. - Add the veggies
Place the veggies, standing up, into the dip. - Seal
Top with lid and seal. - Save for later
Once prepped, these veggie cups will stay good for up to 3 days.
You can also watch how to put these snack cups together in the video below:
More Ways to Get Kids to Eat Veggies
I have plenty of healthy meals ideas your picky eater will eat and ask you to make on repeat! Each recipe is a kid-favorite option recreated with better ingredients and hidden veggies to bump up the nutrition.
- Blueberry Smoothie – with invisible spinach!
- Hidden Veggie Pasta Sauce
- Zucchini Pizzas
- All Meat & Veggie Chili
- Broccoli Nuggets
Easy Veggie Cups with Ranch Dressing
Ingredients
- 4 ribs celery, sliced into sticks
- 4 ribs carrots, peeled and sliced into sticks
- ½ – 1 cup ranch dressing
Instructions
- Place 1-2 tablespoons of ranch dressing at the bottom of each cup, and fill each container with 1 cup of sliced veggies.
- Close the lid and refrigerate for up to 3 days.
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Laurie says
I sneak them into their smoothies.
Dena says
My son will only eat wet carrots (literally they have to come out of water) and bumpy pickles (they have to have bumps on them because if they don’t he says they are not ripe). One trick my younger daughter (who eats so many more veggies than my son) suggested was to put cucumbers in the pickle juice. I know, it’s basically the same thing as eating a pickle but now he will eat pickles and cucumbers.
Tracy Harrell says
I’ve never struggled with getting my daughter to eat veggies. I think two things have helped with this. One is we require at least one portion of fruits and/or veggies with every meal. Second is I created a chart when she turned 3 that lets her know what produce we have in our fridge. I have pictures labeled with the corresponding name attached by Velcro. We pull off the pictures as we finish the fruit or vegetable. When creating my grocery list for the next week, I have her go through the bag of pictures to pick out what she would like for the next week. This concept has helped tremendously!
Meredith says
My older daughter loves veggies, but it’s more of a struggle with the younger one! Snack cups, cutting them into shapes, and making pictures out of veggies helps!
Anne says
Yes, I Do struggle to get my kids to eat more veggies or any veggies at all.
What are some of the ways you make veggies more appealing, the veggie twister seems to be fun and tastier for my kids as I can get them to eat them by simply putting them on the plate.