I decided to try the classic Annabelle Karmel hidden veg sauce recipe. I used to find it such a cliche to try to ‘hide’ vegetables in kids meals recipes but when we entered the ‘picky’ stage of toddlerhood I was ready to give it a go. I would continue to offer her lots of vegetables regardless but I found it helpful to know she ate something healthy despite her ‘picky’ phase.
As always, I’m using a straightforward recipe, free of dairy and this one is actually vegan too. My favourite thing about this hidden veg sauce is that there are so many uses for it! So far I have used it on pasta, rice, on a flat bread and on an english muffin cut in half to make mini pizza. The last one was Phoebe’s favourite! I grated some dairy free cheese on and put under grill for two minutes to let it melt.
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My husband pointed out that it would make a nice base for curries too. If you eat meat it would go very well with chicken or a fish.
This hidden veg recipe involves some chopping and grating but makes up for it by being freezable, so again, one ideal recipe to make stashes for the freezer. I used mushrooms, courgettes, peppers, carrots and red onion, but the options to adapt this are endless.
Go on and try it:-)
These plastic containers are great for freezing up small portions. I also use them for snacks on the go for my toddler:

Prep Time | 10 mins |
Cook Time | 30 mins |
Servings |
servings
|
- 1 Courgette
- 2 carrots
- 6 mushrooms
- 1 small red pepper
- 400 ml Tomato Passata
- 1 stock cube or homemade broth or stock if you have it
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
- 1 tsp mixed herbs optional
- 1 tsp olive oil
Ingredients
|
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- Chop and grate your vegetables. Saute on a tsp of olive oil and pour over the passata. Mix in your stock or a cube, brown sugar, vinegar, season and let simmer for 20-30 mins. Cool down slightly before blending until smooth. Cool down completely before freezing.