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October 14, 2022 · 8 Comments

8 Easy Recipes for Autistic Picky Eaters

Parents

Use these easy recipes for autistic picky eaters.

Cooking for autistic picky eaters is a difficult task for even autistic adults at times! Here are some easy, autistic-approved recipes to get started.

Easy recipes for autism picky eater
Here are 8 simple and yummy recipes for picky eaters.
Table Of Contents
  1. Sensory-friendly recipes for autistic picky eaters
    • 1. Apple-Dapple Crunch Wrap Supremes
    • 2. Oil-Free Vegan Potato Soup
    • 3. Instant Pot Banana Chips
    • 4. Pasta e Fagioli aka Pasta and Beans
    • 5. Mini Keto Corn Dog Muffins
    • 6. Turkish Fig Pudding
    • 7. Easy Stovetop Mac and Cheese
    • 8. Pizza Bun Recipe
  2. Tips for finding autistic-friendly recipes

Sensory-friendly recipes for autistic picky eaters

If your autistic child is a picky eater, you’re not alone. These recipes are verified favorites by autistic children and adults. Click on the title of each one to go to the recipe.

1. Apple-Dapple Crunch Wrap Supremes

Peanut butter spread onto a wheat tortilla with fruit and granola
These granola wraps come together in minutes.

These wraps will be known to you by their less echolalia-worthy name: Granola Crunch Apple-Peanut Butter Sandwich Wraps. (Check the notes for allergy-friendly options.) They’re loaded with fruit and granola, which make these perfect for snacks or meals when your autistic kid refuses to eat spaghetti because it feels like worms.

2. Oil-Free Vegan Potato Soup

Vegan potato soup
Try this soup blended if your child prefers smooth textures.

This dairy-free, gluten-free soup is hearty and versatile. The food blogger’s own neurodivergent kid requests this chunky soup be blended, which is something I never considered doing with soup before.

Since blending doesn’t require too much extra prep, this recipe would be great for those nights when you’re too tired to fight with your autistic kid at the dinner table because they won’t eat what you’ve made.

Additionally, the potatoes don’t need to be peeled, which makes this recipe wonderful for disabled adults as well.

3. Instant Pot Banana Chips

Banana chips on a plate
Banana chips are a healthy option full of nutrition.

Instant Pot makes cooking quicker — and they’re easier on people with low-energy who want to eat healthy. Autistic picky eaters often despise bananas because they’re gooey, sticky and squishy.

Banana chips are similar to freeze-dried bananas, but with more flavors and less expensive since you can make them at home. If your autistic child won’t eat bananas, these might become their new favorite snack.

4. Pasta e Fagioli aka Pasta and Beans

Soup on a spoon
This hearty soup takes just a few canned ingredients.

One of my favorite meals is pasta a fagioli, so finding a recipe that doesn’t require me to dice tomatoes (poor motor skills) is comforting. This hearty soup uses 5 ingredients and can be made with canned items.

Picky autistic eaters may find comfort in the sensory input of the soup. I personally love noodles “with holes” for any dish that isn’t spaghetti or chicken Alfredo. When the sensory input is satisfying, I’m motivated to eat more.

5. Mini Keto Corn Dog Muffins

Mini corn dog muffins on a pan
Corn dogs are easy on the eyes, and these are easy to freeze and reheat quickly.

Does your autistic child love their beige foods? It’s probably because it’s easier on the eyes, less distracting, and predictable in taste. Mini corn dog muffins are freezer-friendly, which means you can make them ahead of time and reheat them when you or your kid want them.

The ketogenic diet is known to decrease epilepsy symptoms, an occasionally co-occurring diagnosis in autistic people.

6. Turkish Fig Pudding

Pudding in a small jar with molasses running down the side
Puddings are easier to eat than foods that are lumpy.

This recipe is included because it has “pumpest plums”, and that’s music to my echolalia. More than that: sometimes, chewing is hard. It’s easier to drink a smoothie, a shake, flavored gelatin, or applesauce than it is to chew food.

I’m a picky autistic eater and consider eating a conscious act. Instead of “just eating”, I have to remind myself to chew until the pieces are small enough that I won’t choke, and I will sometimes still choke.

7. Easy Stovetop Mac and Cheese

Macaroni and cheese in a skillet
Macaroni and cheese is a favorite food of many autistic people.

Making macaroni and cheese in a skillet changed my life. Macaroni and cheese is a samefood/safefood for many autistic people and doesn’t require a lot of ingredients or time to make.

If you’re trying to work veggies into your autistic picky eater’s diet, offer something green — like green beans or asparagus. Let them spit it out if they don’t like it — putting it in their mouth for a few seconds is success enough!

Autistic people who struggle with sensory inputs of foods will be traumatized if you make them swallow those foods, which will cause them to avoid them in the future. One bad experience with a food is enough to turn us off for good.

8. Pizza Bun Recipe

Close up of pizza bun
Pizza is always a favorite.

No list of recipes for picky autistic eaters is complete without a pizza recipe. Despite its association with junk food, pizza is a great meal because it contains several food groups (dairy, grains, meat, veggies/fruit).

Tomato sauce kind of counts as both a vegetable and a fruit, since it’s botanically a fruit but sold as a vegetable. Loopholes are your friend when it comes to feeding your picky autistic kids.

Tips for finding autistic-friendly recipes

I often google “quick easy toddler recipes” when I’m meal planning. Toddler recipes are typically freezer-friendly finger foods. Every now and then, I’ll happen across a gourmet toddler recipe — I skip those.

Learning how to cook a few basic, versatile recipes helps me plan semi-nutritional meals on a budget. I like to choose one or two versatile meals that share ingredients, plus one big batch comfort meal that doesn’t. I fill the rest of my grocery budget with premade meals for the days when I can’t cook or need something quick.

Go for recipes that meet your autistic child’s sensory needs. If they’re craving crunch, take advantage by offering crunchy nutritional foods.

When introducing new foods, your maximum goal should be that they put the food in their mouth and spit it out. As an autistic adult, I have the agency to do this. As an autistic child, I did not have this agency and thus do not like a lot of nutritional foods today.

Forcing your autistic child to eat food they don’t like is about more than your child refusing to eat. Non-autistic people feel and intuit. Autistic people think and explore, which means that sensory input has a great influence on how autistic children experience the world.

Not sure what your autistic child might eat? Comment below with what your picky autistic eater will eat, and I’ll match you with some recipes to try.

easy recipes for autism

About Jane E. Lively

Jane E. Lively is an autistic adult whose life fell apart due to autistic burnout, during her second year of independence. She considers herself a cat mom to Galaxy, her emotional support cat. She shares what life is like as an autistic adult on her blog, Autistic Jane.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Kayla says

    December 30, 2022 at 3:30 am

    my kiddo will eat plain butter noodles, mcdonalds French fries, Super Pretzels (frozen pretzels with salt on top), ravioli filled with cheese, top ramen, Kraft Macoroni and cheese, and alot of different sweets. I’m so concerned with her nutrition. my anxiety is at an all time high worrying about it

    Reply
    • Amy says

      January 5, 2023 at 3:50 pm

      Kayla, im right there with you and it can get really rough. There is a program for eating issues…im on a waiting list but they are supposed to look at the factors involved and try to help kids with autism eat better.

      Reply
  2. Nicki Mashl says

    February 3, 2023 at 7:36 pm

    Hi! My nephew is 3 yrs old and likes rice, hamburger, any kind of meats, pasta, French fries, chicken and pork, cheese and hot dogs.

    Glad I found your site! Thank you!

    Reply
  3. Shannon says

    February 5, 2023 at 3:06 pm

    I have twins who are both autistic and each one of them eat completely different but both are extremely picky. so any recipes would be amazing . first one eats fettuccine Alfredo (only the Knorr Pasta Sides) spaghetti, turkey sandwich, chicken patty sandwich, chicken nuggets , mcdonalds cheeseburger, yogurts , apple, oranges , strawberries bananas. she loves cream cheese . second one LOVES cereal . could eat cereal all day everyday. loves cheeseburger hamburger helper, Mac n cheese, chicken nuggets, icecream , strawberries, grapes and oranges, yogurt and he hates chocolate…
    help! lol

    Reply
    • Jane E. Lively says

      February 21, 2023 at 12:13 am

      Shannon,

      Thanks for being so detailed in what they’ll eat! I just want to let you know that I saw this and will get back to you soon!

      A treat if you want to try it that I can think of off the top of my head: broiled oranges. I’m bad at describing the recipe, but it’s basically oranges + sugar (brown, white, coconut, honey or syrup), broiled. They’re sweet and candy-like, and it works with oranges, grapefruit, similar fruits. Cut them in half (or round slices), oil the skin, and sprinkle or drizzle sugar on top. Broil for 5-10 minutes. The sugar crystallizes and it’s 🤌

      If you get them to help you cook, it might encourage them to try more foods. When I make something, I’m more keen to try it — but not necessarily. I was making shrimp stir fry before I ever started eating shrimp. 😅 But I did try more “safe” foods, like rice + cilantro (too grassy/citrus for my liking).

      I’ll get you more recipes in a few days. 😊 I’m currently having to do low FODMAP, so I won’t be able to test them myself, but I’ve worked with those ingredients plenty to know what might taste good or not. I know Knorr sides for sure can be used in a foil pan dish 🤌

      Anyway, I’ll get back to you. Just wanted to make sure your comment doesn’t go unanswered. 💖

      Reply
      • Shawanda says

        February 22, 2023 at 10:02 pm

        My son is 3 and autistic. He eats chicken nuggets, pizza, cereal bars, chips, ritz crackers, cookies and Vienna. I have tried so many things and he will take the imposter nugget and put it on his chin to see if the texture is the same as the nuggets he usually eat. All this processed food is bad on him. He is already 50 pounds. I give him baby food pouches to get fruit and vegetables in him and he eats that by squeezing it into his mouth and licking it. These pouches and any 100% juice messes his stomach up. These appetite choices are not healthy. Is there anything else I can get him to try and help increase his food preferences?

        Reply
  4. Kimberly says

    March 16, 2023 at 10:01 pm

    My grandson is 6, he will eat only junk food. Cereal, breakfast bars, donuts, chips, cookies, yogurt. I have had to dehydrate veggies and mix them in his yogurt or pudding. He refuses to eat meat. Any help would be appreciated.

    Reply
  5. Olivia says

    March 17, 2023 at 7:59 pm

    Thank you for posting this!! I’ve been at my wits end recently. My son is almost four and has autism. He has started to venture out a little, but he mostly just eats the same thing over and over again and I don’t know what to do. I wish there were more resources or recipes out there.

    What he will eat consistently (and does eat basically daily since he’s so picky):

    Waffles w/ Syrup (I’ve added waffles with peanut butter which he tolerates)

    Peanut butter and jelly Sandwhich (he’s not picky about what flavor jelly or what type of bread which is nice)

    Chef Boyardee Beefaroni

    Chips (spicy chips, bbq chips, etc) and popcorn

    Quesadillas (this is a food that comes and goes. He will eat it for like a week or two and then he’s completely over it. Only recently have I been able to sneak some shaved deli meat in there)

    Spaghetti w/ meat and tomato sauce (most of the time he won’t eat this, and when he does he eats around the veggies and meat)

    Dan Dan Noodles (the frozen of Chang one—again, he eats around the meat and vegetables)

    Bananas (ONLY while we are grocery shopping. No idea why)

    Rice cakes, some granola bars, pretzels, pouches (it’s the only way we get veggies and fruit into him)

    Pediasure

    Frozen pizza (also super hit or miss)

    Some dried fruit chips

    He’s basically missing dairy (he drinks milk), meats, veg and fruit). He only likes carbs. Pls help!

    Reply

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