Why Your Child Loves Cooking But Won’t Eat the Food (and What to Do About It)

It’s a familiar scenario for many parents—your child excitedly helps with meal prep, eagerly chopping vegetables, stirring sauces, and setting the table. But when it’s time to eat, they refuse to take even a bite. If this sounds like your child, you’re not alone! While it may feel frustrating, there are logical reasons why kids enjoy preparing food but don’t want to eat it.

Understanding the Disconnect Between Cooking and Eating

1. Sensory Overload: Cooking engages multiple senses—touch, sight, smell, and even hearing. While some children love the process of handling food, smelling new ingredients, and watching transformations happen, actually eating the food can be overwhelming. The final dish may have a texture, flavor, or aroma that feels too intense for our fussy eaters, causing them to reject it.

2. Control Over the Process vs. the Outcome: Many children like to be in control, and helping in the kitchen gives them a sense of ownership. However, once the food is plated, they may feel like the final product is unfamiliar or different from what they expected, leading to hesitation in eating it.

3. Exposure Without Pressure Is Still Progress: Being involved in cooking is a form of exposure to new foods. Just because they aren’t ready to eat them now doesn’t mean they won’t in the future. Building familiarity and comfort around different ingredients is a crucial step in expanding the diet of fussy eaters.

4. Too Much Excitement or Anticipation: For some kids, the excitement of making a meal might be enough on its own. By the time the food is ready, they may have lost interest, be overstimulated, or simply not feel hungry anymore.

5. Food Play and Eating Are Two Different Skills: Cooking allows children to explore food in a fun, no-pressure way. However, eating requires an additional level of readiness and willingness. Some children need repeated exposure through food play before they feel comfortable enough to take a bite.

6. Anxiety Around Trying New Foods: If your child is a picky/fussy eater or has food aversions, they may enjoy the process of cooking but still feel anxious about tasting unfamiliar foods. Cooking is a safe way for them to interact with food without the stress of having to eat it.

How to Encourage Your Child to Try the Food They Help Make

Keep involving them—Even if they don’t eat it, their participation in meal prep is still a valuable experience.

Remove the pressure—Avoid statements like “You made it, now you have to try it.” Instead, keep the experience positive and light-hearted.

Encourage taste-testing during cooking—Some kids are more open to tasting ingredients as they prepare the meal rather than at the dinner table.

Offer a “safe” food alongside the meal—Providing a familiar food they enjoy can make them feel more comfortable at the table.

Praise the effort, not the outcome—Instead of focusing on whether they eat the food, acknowledge their role in cooking: “You were such a great helper today!”

Make cooking a fun, sensory experience—Let them engage with food through touch, smell, and play without the expectation of eating.

The Big Picture

Even if your child isn’t eating the meals they help prepare yet, they are still making progress. Cooking fosters curiosity, builds confidence, and helps them develop a more positive relationship with food. Over time, with repeated exposure and no pressure, they may start tasting and eventually enjoying more of what they cook.

Would you like more tips on encouraging your child to try new foods? Let us know in the comments!