How to Hide Fiber in Food

Fiber is essential for your family's digestive health. Fiber helps to keep the intestines clean and functioning well. Unfortunately, fiber is usually found in the foods often listed as your family's dislikes. Fruits, vegetables, legumes and beans top the list of fiber-rich foods, all of which may have your family holding their noses at dinnertime. To be sneaky, hide fiber in flavorful foods your family already loves. It makes for a smooth transition as your family develops a taste for healthier fare.

Step 1

Serve fruits as a side for another sweeter dessert, suggests BodyBuilding.com. Toss a handful of raspberries into a bowl of chocolate pudding. They'll add texture, sweetness, and most importantly, fiber to an otherwise nutrition-less snack. Try the same trick with cereals in the morning; add sweet fruits to cereal without telling your family.

Step 2

Swap your typical white, refined pasta for whole wheat pasta. Easily found in most supermarkets, whole wheat pasta serves up more fiber with the same taste as regular pasta, notes CVS Health Resources. If your family complains about the texture, try going half and half with regular pasta until they become accustomed to the texture, then make the switch without complaints.

Step 3

Blend smoothies that contain vegetables, fruit and yogurt to make a healthy, filling and fiber-rich breakfast. The sweetness of the fruit overwhelms the often bitter taste of vegetables. By blending to a creamy texture, it's easy to talk your child into gulping one down before school to increase his daily fiber intake, says registered dietitian Evelyn Tribole in her book, "Stealth Health: How to Sneak Nutrition Painlessly into Your Diet."

Step 4

Slice a peeled sweet potato into fries to trick everyone into thinking they're indulging in their favorite fast food fare. A regular sweet potato boasts almost 15 percent of your daily recommended intake of fiber, notes WH Foods. By laying sliced sweet potatoes on a baking pan, seasoning with olive oil and salt and baking for 40 minutes in a 400-degree oven, you create sweet potato fries that are sneaky and delicious.

Step 5

Serve sandwiches, tacos and breakfast burritos in whole wheat tacos. You may turn your nose up at whole wheat bread, but whole wheat tacos have a similar flavor and texture as their white counterparts. It makes for a better choice over refined white bread, and interesting fillings and toppings can entice your family to eat more fiber.