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My kid only eats mac and cheese. Now what?

If mac and cheese is one of your child's few safe foods, that's a great place to start. Kids who love mac and cheese usually like a creamy, salty, cheesy flavor and a soft texture. This food chain keeps those qualities and changes just one thing at each step, so every new food feels like a close cousin of something they already trust.

The mac and cheese food chain

  1. ✓
    Start: Their usual boxed mac and cheese
    The safe food, served exactly how they like it.
  2. 1
    Step 1: A different boxed brand or noodle shape
    Slight changes in color and flavor, same idea.
  3. 2
    Step 2: Homemade stovetop mac and cheese
    Real cheese sauce — a little richer, a little less uniform.
  4. 3
    Step 3: Mac and cheese with tiny broccoli bits
    A green vegetable chopped small enough to hide in the sauce.
  5. 4
    Step 4: Baked pasta with cheese on top
    A firmer, golden top and a new shape of dish.
💡 Tip: When you add a vegetable, start with just a few pieces. Two bits of broccoli they eat beats a spoonful they push away.

How to use this chain

  • Serve the next step alongside their usual mac and cheese, never instead of it.
  • Start with a single bite-sized piece. Seeing it on the plate is progress too.
  • Stay on a step for as long as it takes. It's common to need 8 to 15 tries.
  • Skip the pressure and the bribes. Let them touch, smell or lick the new food without having to eat it.
  • Once a step is easy, it becomes a new safe food you can chain from.

Plan a whole week around mac and cheese

PickyPlanIt builds a free 7-day family meal plan around your kids' safe foods, with personalized food chains, stealth-nutrition tips and plating notes.

Build my free plan →

More food chains and free picky-eater meal plans: pickyplanit.com/food-chains

More food chains

chicken nuggets · plain pasta · cheese pizza · grilled cheese · french fries · pancakes · yogurt · apple slices · crackers · hot dogs · fish sticks

PickyPlanIt offers general information for everyday picky eating, not medical advice. If your child has a very limited diet, gags or vomits when eating, or isn't growing as expected, talk to your pediatrician about a feeding evaluation.