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Explore nutrition tips, kids’ meal plans, kids’ activities, recipes and more from pediatric nutritionist, Melissa Halas, MA, RDN, CDE.

10 Ways for Kids to Enjoy Soy Foods

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10 Ways for Kids to Enjoy Soy Foods

Soy can be a tasty healthy snack or meal for kids and the whole family!

If you haven’t liked soy foods in the past, don’t let your food biases affect your kids’ tastes exposure. I’ve seen toddlers ask for plain tofu right out of the fridge, watched teens love spring rolls with baked tofu or eat roasted soy nuts as a snack food. Give soy a second! Here are 10 ways to enjoy soy!

Try Edamame

  • Buy it fresh or frozen and steam or microwave it as an appetizer, snack, or side dish with ginger and soy sauce.
  • Let the kids pop it out of the shell or buy it shelled and ready to eat.

Tofu Boost

  • tasty ways to eat tofu for kidsMix chopped tofu into kidney beans and ground turkey along with spices  (smoked paprika, red bell pepper, cumin, garlic, and onion powder) and serve in taco shells.
  • Give baked tofu a try -it’s delicious in this ginger honey tofu recipe.
  • Add silken to tofu to soup recipes like homemade chicken noodle soup or tofu and fish soup.
  • Mix in 1/3 soybeans to your chickpeas when making hummus. Soybeans contain much higher isoflavone content than chickpeas.
  • Occasionally replace scrambled eggs with tofu scramble, like this black bean tofu scramble.
  • Enjoy tofu in spring rolls or veggie wraps.
  • Try tofu nuggets in place of chicken nuggets -yep they’re delicious!

Tasty Tempeh

  • Add tempeh to your barbecue – marinate it with a citrus tamari sauce.
  • Crumble tempeh into your salads
  • Serve it as a healthy snack for the kids

Enjoy Soymilk

soy milk is safe and healthy

  • Use fortified soymilk in place of regular milk for smoothies or cereal at least 1/2 the time.
  • Try making flavored soy milk like black sesame soy milk, vanilla or chocolate-cinnamon.
Select References
  1. Nieves JW. Skeletal effects of nutrients and nutraceuticals, beyond calcium and vitamin D. Osteoporosis international: a journal established as result of cooperation between the European Foundation for Osteoporosis and the National Osteoporosis Foundation of the USA. Mar 2013;24(3):771-786.
  2. Eilat-Adar S, Sinai T, Yosefy C, Henkin Y. Nutritional recommendations for cardiovascular disease prevention. Nutrients. Sep 2013;5(9):3646-3683.
  3. Nieves JW. Skeletal effects of nutrients and nutraceuticals, beyond calcium and vitamin D. Osteoporosis international: a journal established as result of cooperation between the European Foundation for Osteoporosis and the National Osteoporosis Foundation of the USA. Mar 2013;24(3):771-786.

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About the Author

Picture of Melissa Halas, MA, RD, CDE

Melissa Halas, MA, RD, CDE

Melissa is a registered dietitian and certified diabetes educator with a master's in nutrition education. She is the founder of SuperKids Nutrition Inc. Read more about her Super Crew children’s books and her experience as a registered dietitian on the About Melissa and Shop page. Discover how nutrition can help you live your best health potential through her plant-based books and newsletter on Melissa’s Healthy Living.

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