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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Wendy says
My boys each have different veggies that they like and will eat roasted or steamed or even raw. I hide extra veggies in the main meal. A layer of zucchini in lasagna, cauliflower mashed up in with the potatoes, black beans inside the taco meat etc.
Leah says
My son sees my husband and I eating vegetables all the time, so he is often curious and willing to try them. If there’s something he didn’t like the first time, I try to find a new way to present it to him and sometimes he ends up liking it. If all else fails, ranch dip is great for encouraging tasting raw veggies. We also do a lot of smoothies so he gets his greens.
Sofia says
My 3 year old daughter loves veggies and fruit. We never really struggled with this. however she is picky on the way we serve them. She does not like them mixed, she does not like dips and dressings, and she is very picky on how they are cooked; e.g. for peppers, she will eat only raw red peppers. If they are cooked she demands that I remove them from her food.
Melanie says
We struggle with raw veggies. But amazingly I just started putting them out there, so at least I eat them, and slowly they are beginning to eat a few. Which at this point is a big success.
Stephanie L says
My 2yo LOVES fruits and veggies. We always keep them around, out on the counter or front and center (and low where he can see them) in the fridge. My husband and I eat a lot of veggies, and it’s just part of “what we eat” – not a special thing you’re supposed to eat. I prepare them lots of different ways – raw, grilled, steamed, roasted, pureed into a sauce, and with all kinds of different seasonings. My son doesn’t like everything every day, and he doesn’t like everything the first time, but by continuing to offer him a variety of vegetable flavors and just working under the assumption that he’ll come around to like most things eventually, the subject of vegetables stays pretty low stress at our house.