These veggie bites are perfect for picky eaters to enjoy while still getting their healthy dose of veggies! This recipe is also gluten and dairy free!
I am one of the pickiest eaters on the planet but I still try to be healthy and make sure to eat my much needed vegetables.
My enjoyment of any type of veggies is usually limited to potatoes, broccoli, and carrots. So I was inspired to create this recipe in order to make those veggies even yummier by turning them into breaded bites!
If you are like me and are iffy when it comes to veggies, you'll definitely want to try this recipe. These tasted so good I forgot that it was food that was actually giving me nutrients.
They are also super easy to make and you can customize the bites depending on what veggies you like the best. I personally used red potatoes, carrots, and broccoli for mine, but you could use any mixture of veggies along with the potatoes. You have to include potatoes in this recipe because they keep the mixture together and form the bite size snack. Potatoes act almost as a form of glue.
As you can see from the video, these are simple to make and use ingredients that are often found already lying around in your pantry.
I personally made this recipe gluten and dairy-free because I wanted to be able to share this snack with my family and my mom has completely cut both out of her diet. However, the recipe would definitely work with gluten and dairy products as well! It really is customizable to your liking.
I am a picky eater and I am a grown adult (haha) but this is also perfect for kids who don't want to eat their veggies.
The veggies are blended up into bite size snacks, so you don't even have to tell your kids that there are any vegetables involved at all. They would enjoy a yummy snack and you'd be sneaking in important nutrients.
'VEGGIE BITES FOR PICKY EATERS' INGREDIENTS:
The ingredients for this recipe are super simple! Like I said before, most of what you need for this recipe you should already have lying around in your kitchen.
3 Red Potatoes:
I chose to use red potatoes for this recipe and I kept the skin on because I love the extra flavor! But you can also peel the potatoes for this recipe. You could also use yellow potatoes if you like, or for something sweet, you could try sweet potatoes.
3 Carrots:
I used large carrots in this recipe, but I’m sure you could also use baby carrots if you already have this in your home. I just used large carrots as I feel they are safer to chop.
A Floret of Broccoli:
Like I mentioned previously, as long as you use potatoes as a starch to hold the form of the veggie bites, you can really choose any kind of mix of veggies. If carrots and broccoli aren’t your thing you can choose your personal favorites!
½ Cup Olive Oil:
I used Wegmans Italian Classics Extra Virgin Olive Oil for this recipe. The olive oil is used along with the butter to create a thick coating for the bread crumbs to stick to. I also think the flavor it adds is super yummy.
½ Cup Butter:
I wanted this recipe to be dairy free, so I used Earth Balance Vegan Butter. I also used this specific vegan butter because it is soy free. You could also use regular butter and it would work just fine. I softened it just slightly for this recipe so it would mix easier with the oil.
1 ¾ Cup Breadcrumbs:
Ian's Gluten Free Breadcrumbs works perfectly for the breaded outside of these bites. Again I wanted this recipe to be gluten free so that's why I chose this brand, but any kind of bread crumbs would work perfectly fine.
½ teaspoon Ground Cayenne Red Pepper:
I like a bit of spice, so I used ground cayenne red pepper in this recipe to add a little bit of a kick. If you are super sensitive to spice you can sprinkle only a bit in or you can remove the red pepper from your veggie bites. If you want more spice and love spicy foods I would suggest adding ¼ of a teaspoon more to your veggie bites.
1 teaspoon Paprika:
I honestly love paprika. I feel like it is super versatile and brings a great flavor to this recipe.
3 Cloves of Garlic:
I am a HUGE garlic lover. Garlic is used on almost everything I cook. I used pressed cloves of garlic in the recipe and I also used another spice mix with a lot of garlic.
1 tablespoon Garlic'N Herb Seasoning:
I used Frontier Co-op Garlic’N Herb Seasoning. This seasoning is SO GOOD. Again I love garlic so the more the merrier, but this mix also has onion, black pepper, carrot, parsley, mustard, cumin and more!
3 tablespoon Mayo:
Sir Kensington’s Classic Mayonnaise is an amazing dairy free version of Mayo. I mixed it with the veggies to help the mix stick together a little easier, and to add flavor. Again, regular mayo would work as well.
HOW TO MAKE 'VEGGIE BITES FOR PICKY EATERS':
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. Cut the veggies.
You are going to want to cut the veggies into small enough pieces that they will easily blend in the food processor. Not too small but about the size in the picture I’ve included above of the cut carrots, potatoes, and broccoli.
3. Boil the potatoes and carrots.
Since the carrots, and potatoes cook at a slower rate than the broccoli, you are going to put them into a pot of boiling water for about 15 minutes or until the veggies are soft to touch with a fork.
4. Steam the broccoli.
About halfway through the potatoes and carrots cooking, you are going to go ahead and put the broccoli on the stove and steam it for about 7 minutes, or until soft to touch with a fork.
5. Press the garlic.
While the veggies are cooking you are going to press the three garlic cloves and set them aside.
6. Blend the veggies in the food processor.
After the veggies are cooked and drained. You are going to blend them in a food processor. Try to get them as blended as possible because the more you blend them, the smoother of a texture your veggie bites will have. You will also have to take smaller portions of the veggies to blend one at a time, and mix them all together in a larger bowl.
7. Mix in the rest of the ingredients.
Once all the veggies are blended and mixed together, you are going to add in the other ingredients. Add the mayo, pressed garlic, and other seasonings to the mix.
8. Mix together the butter and oil.
The butter should be only slightly softened and you should mix it together until it seems well blended. It is okay if there are still some remaining lumps of butter.
9. Coat the veggie bites.
Scoop up the veggie mix with your hands or a spoon, and shape it into a small ball form. Then dip the ball into the oil and butter mixture and then dip it into the breadcrumbs, making sure it is fully coated. You are then going to place the ball onto the cooking sheet and press it down gently to make the form a little bit flatter.
10. Bake.
After they are all coated in the breadcrumbs you are going to bake them in the pre-heated oven at 375 degrees for around 25 minutes. You should flip over the bites about 15 minutes through the cook time to make sure they are evenly cooked on both sides.
These turned out super tasty guys! I would definitely pair them with your favorite sauce. I think they tasted really good with ketchup or barbeque sauce but that is completely up to you!
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Veggie Bites for Picky Eaters
These veggie bites are perfect for picky eaters to enjoy while still getting their healthy dose of veggies! This is the perfect afternoon snack and this recipe is also gluten and dairy free!
Ingredients
- 3 Red Potatoes
- 3 Carrots
- A Floret of Broccoli
- ½ Cup of Olive Oil
- ½ Cup of Butter
- 1 ¾ Cup of Breadcrumbs
- ½ teaspoon Ground Cayenne Red Pepper
- 1 teaspoon Paprika
- 3 Cloves of Garlic
- 1 tablespoon Garlic'N Herb Seasoning
- 3 tablespoon Mayo
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees
- Cut veggies up - potatoes, carrots, and broccoli
- Boil the potatoes and carrots for 15 minutes
- Steam the broccoli for 7 minutes
- Press the garlic cloves
- Blend the veggies in a food processor
- Mix in the rest of the ingredients - mayo, pressed garlic, and other seasonings
- Mix butter and oil together
- Coat veggie bites - shape into a small ball and dip it into the butter and oil mixture. Next dip it into the breadcrumbs and place on cooking sheet.
- Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes. Flip bites over after 15 minutes making sure both sides are done.
Tyler J says
Hi, what could you sub for mayo in this recipe? I’m vegan and though I know vegan mayo exists, I don’t really ever use it. Thanks.