Five Soft Food Options Your Senior Might Try

Your senior might need to eat soft foods for a variety of different reasons. With a little planning, you can make sure that she gets plenty of nutrients and that the foods she’s eating are tasty and easy for her to chew and swallow.

Smoothies and Milkshakes

Milkshakes and smoothies might be the first thing you think about when you think about soft foods or foods that don’t require chewing. They’re an easy way to add both fruits and vegetables into your senior’s diet, even if those foods are difficult for her to eat otherwise. Smoothies and milkshakes are easy to make, too, especially if you have a powerful blender.

Cold and Warm Cereal

Cereal is a typical soft food choice, particularly if it’s warm. But your senior can still enjoy cold cereals with a little bit of patience. Letting cold cereal from a box soak in milk before eating it can help. Overnight oat recipes can also be eaten either hot or cold and they’re usually quite soft. You simply add the oats and some liquid into a container and leave it in the fridge at least overnight. Your senior can warm it up when she’s ready to eat it or eat the oats cold.

Soft Cheeses

Cheese is an excellent source of calcium, protein, and other nutrients. But some cheeses might be too hard to eat easily. Some soft cheeses, like cottage cheese or even ricotta, can be eaten with savory or sweet accompaniments. These can offer a nice change of pace for your senior, especially if she’s found that relying on smoothies or cereal is getting old for her.

Egg Dishes of All Sorts

Eggs are another option that are full of protein and other nutrients. You can make hard-boiled eggs and keep them in the fridge for up to a week. These make a great snack right out of the container they’re stored in or your senior can chop them up for an easy egg salad. If your elderly family member likes cooked eggs, she can have them poached, fried, or scrambled on different days of the week.

Pasta and Rice

Pasta can be cooked to an extremely soft texture, as can rice. You can add in sauces and purees made of vegetables and other foods to change up the taste, too. Something else to consider is that you can make a big batch of soft pasta or rice for a few days at a time and your elderly family member can heat it up as she’s ready to eat.

If it’s difficult for your elderly family member to cook, she might need some help keeping up with a variety of soft food options. Home care providers can take over these simple preparations for her and make sure she’s getting the nutrients she needs.

If you or an aging loved one is considering hiring home care in Cave Creek, AZ, please call the caring staff at Golden Heart Senior Care of Scottsdale at (480) 284-7360. We are here to help!