Today’s episode is part of our series of how to get kids to eat more of something, and today it’s the turn of pulses or legumes, so beans, lentils and peas.

I don’t think I need to explain in too much detail why it’s great to help kids to like legumes. So you want to have more pulses in your family’s food, but how to get your child to accept them? As with our other epsiodes on this, we’re not actually aiming to get our kids to do anything. We are finding ways to give children opportunities to build familiarity with a food and try it when they feel comfortable, or building foods into or alongside familiar foods so they feel comfortable to eat.

In this episode Joanne gives some suggestions of dishes where the beans or lentils are obvious to see and taste, and some where they are mixed or blended in so their texture might be easier to cope with for some children. But as usual even when we are mixing things in together, the idea is not to hide them and pretend they are not there, if asked you can always tell the truth or allow them to help to prep them. Hiding and sneaking only builds distrust. But there is nothing wrong with blending or mixing things in to make foods easier to approach and just be honest if asked.

The episode gives lots of ways to get more beans, lentils and peas into your family’s food. And there are lots of recipes in the shownotes.

Links in this episode:

Why beans are so good for us: https://foodfoundation.org.uk/sites/default/files/2025-10/TFF_Beans%20Facts_DIGITAL_0.pdf

Food Foundation Bang In Some Beans campaign: https://foodfoundation.org.uk/initiatives/bang-in-some-beans

Recipe ideas in the shownotes at: https://thefoodies.org/ffk101

Music "Happy Days" by Simon Folwar via Uppbeat