You like seafood. Your spouse likes seafood. And your kids? Maybe not so much.

Seafood has great health benefits — Omega-3 essential oils, high protein, low in fat. But some kids (and adults, too) put up a fight whenever they are served a seafood meal.

Smart parents start serving seafood early. You can introduce seafood into an infant’s diet as early as nine months. You don’t have to embellish it much at first. Just see if they like it.

But if you missed the boat on the early introduction…never fear! Here are some ways to make eating seafood less of a battle:

1. Let them dip it – Kids are so tactile. Let them dip it in sauces or tastes you know they already like, or try such things as tartar sauce, marinara, cocktail sauce, or hummus. 
2. Mix into their favorite foods – Mix seafood into their favorite recipes like tacos, spaghetti, and macaroni and cheese. To us it may seem strange to have seafood in these foods but your kids don’t need to know!
3. Make it look familiar – Chicken nuggets are the only things some kids will eat. Since the visual presentation of foods is so important, if it looks like chicken nuggets and you don’t make a big deal out of it, they just might eat it — and LIKE it! 
4. Make it sweeter – You can help your kids enjoy seafood by adding some sweetness through honey, sweet barbeque sauce, or swapping ketchup in place of cocktail sauce, or ranch dressing for tartar sauce.
5. Make it with quality seafood – Often our kids (or grandkids) will reject a tuna sandwich because it’s too fishy tasting or smelly. This could be because you are using a tuna that is lower quality. Good fish doesn’t smell…the nose KNOWS! 
6. Keep it moist  – Try poaching your fish rather than baking, broiling or frying. Having more moisture to the fish might make the kids more apt to eat it.
7. Make it easy – Think salmon or halibut burgers, shrimp kabobs, or breaded shrimp! Not every meal needs to be a big production. 
8. Sneak it in – You might try sneaking in seafood into their lunch pail or afternoon snack by mixing up salmon, tuna, or shrimp with mayonnaise or plain Greek yogurt and put it on whole-grain crackers or some cocktail bread. Kids like “smaller” versions and the ability to do it themselves. Let them “build” their own sandwich with healthy choices.

The point here is to introduce seafood in a variety of ways so the kids in your life will see seafood as a normal part of meals, rather than something that you need to trick them into eating.

When you’re in the store, let’s chat about what kid-friendly seafood you can introduce to your kids. We can suggest milder, white fish varieties or help you with a family-friendly recipes your whole family will eat.