How to Add Veggies to Meals Without Others Noticing

By Lizzie Streit, MS, RDN, LD 

“Eat your veggies” is tried and true nutrition advice. Vegetables are rich in vitamins, minerals, health-promoting plant compounds, and plenty of dietary fiber. Not to mention, they’re low in calories while still being very filling. 

Adding more vegetables to your plate is key to any weight loss meal plan, but it’s not always easy to do. If you’re not a big vegetable fan, prepare meals for picky family members, or just want ways to incorporate vegetables without much effort, read on for tips on how to add veggies to meal without others noticing. 

1 – Blend vegetables into sauces. 

Blended recipes are excellent for adding veggies to meals without it being obvious. You can make homemade tomato sauce by cooking carrots, zucchini, and onion with canned tomatoes in vegetable broth, then blending until smooth. Yellow or orange veggies, such as butternut squash, sweet potato, or corn, can be steamed and pureed then added to mac and cheese. Finally, don’t forget about pesto! You can easily add spinach or other leafy greens to pesto without even changing the color. 

2 – Make use of shredded vegetables in ground meat recipes. 

Shredded vegetables can be mixed into nearly any recipe that has ground meat, including burger patties, meatballs, tacos, casseroles, and even meatloaf. Try shredded carrots and chopped spinach in chicken burgers, grated zucchini in turkey meatballs, and shredded beets in meatloaf. The opportunities are endless! 

3 – Add them to baked goods. 

Vegetables and baked goods may not seem to go hand in hand, but they’re an awesome addition to muffins and breads. Use mashed beans (they count as veggies too!) in brownies, blondies, and muffins. Add shredded carrots and zucchini to healthy breads, and puree butternut squash to mix into muffins, cookies, or baked oatmeal. To prevent any baking mishaps, browse food blogs and cookbooks for ideas and tips for modifications to make when baking with vegetables.  

4 – Incorporate veggies into favorites. 

Trying new foods, especially vegetables, isn’t always appealing. Instead, adding veggies to family favorites and familiar foods is a great way to lower the stakes and make them more approachable. Mix some peas or mushrooms into your favorite hotdish, add veggies to homemade pizza, and sprinkle peppers and onions into taco meat.  

5 – Make more soups. 

Many soups start with a base of chopped onions, carrots, and/or celery, but feel free to add some extra veggies to the mix. Stir in frozen peas or corn into potato soup before serving, add green beans to tortellini soup, and mix finely chopped spinach into just about any broth-based stew. For blended soups, add an extra mild vegetable like cauliflower or zucchini before blending. You’ll hardly notice the difference! 

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