I second the pasta idea. If you want to make it a little fancier you can make stuffed shells or lasagna, both with turkey. I find that kids love the idea of their food coming in little shells.

I have an 18-month-old, and at least with her, there's no knowing. She loved curried scambled eggs last week and HATES them this week. Anyway, I'm sure the parents will be touched that you're so thoughtful. If you end up guessing wrong thoough, don't feel bad. Toddlers are weird.

Consider having chicken nuggets and french fries on standby, though ;)

I have a 17 month old, she eats the same as us, and the pasta suggestions are very sensible! I'd maybe add some garlic bread in or something similar, so there's something for the toddler to chew/munch on easily. We cook all our food without the salt, then season after, little people don't need salt, so it's best to leave it it/reduce if you can. Stuffed shells is a great idea... As are individual pies etc.

I made pasta for my friend who's recently had baby #2. Marinated chicken breast fillets in tomato paste, olive oil, lemon juice, balsamic vinegar and a teaspoon of ground ginger. Cook fillets and shred. Make béchamel sauce, with 1 teaspoon ground ginger and a handful of grated cheese. Cook pasta, add 100 g baby spinach leaves, the shredded chicken and the béchamel sauce and mix. If everything is piping hot then the heat will wilt the spinach.

Optionally, adding finely chopped onion that's been sautéed till soft to the sauce is good too, but not for my friend and newborn baby.

I'll also back the pasta idea - my son is almost always game for pasta. He also does well with "soft" meats like meatballs (turkey, beef, pork, whatever you like) or a turkey meatloaf. Sweet potatoes are also always popular with my toddler. Anything you can dip in "sauce" like ketchup, or cheese sauce or buttermilk dressing.

Toddlers are also known to declare everything yucky so definitely don't get upset if the kid gives you a hard time. If you have yogurt and fruit on hand as a back up just in case you should be in good shape.

Keep in mind that many toddlers don't eat much at dinner. An easy option is to make something for the adults and then a "monkey plate" for the toddler -- cut up fruit, diced deli meat or cheese, some crackers, a few peas, some corn, maybe yogurt etc... It's colourful, the child can have some control over what they eat and presumably some of it will be familiar. Less risky than serving one main course that the child doesn't like.

My daughter eats what we eat at dinner, but when we have little guests over of that age I find a monkey plate is just less stress for everyone. And parents don't have to worry about their child not liking dinner, since odds are the child will like some of the things.

Having a side of bread is great (you can try some of the different no-knead recipes here, or just pick up a nice loaf), just hand the toddler a small slice or heel. Usually that's something great to munch away on, I've seen success with everything from white to multi-grain.
Some parents are fairly strict on the "child gets the same food as that available to the rest of us" so you might inquire about that before making any sort of separate meal options.

Soup is great, but can be fairly messy and you may not wish that in your place.

I have a 2 years old, and the rule is: he eats whatever the host has prepared for him. It's simple enough, and I don't want the host to have any extra work ! There's always something he likes, just pay attention to the length of the meal: if it's too long, the child will get bored. Main course with the adults, and a yoghurt while adults talk and then straight to bed is great (if they bring a foldable bed of course).

While pasta often work, I find them to be messy, especially with toddlers; you're not supposed to have them eat too much cheese either. Maybe different mashed veggies ? You can serve them as side dishes to the adults too. Homemade meatballs... yum ! And a peeled and diced tomato. A yoghurt or a fresh fruit for dessert. For a toddler's diner, the simpler the better !

As a mom of an almost 2 year old and a 3.5 year old, I'd recommend asking the toddler's parents what s/he would enjoy. Pasta is usually a good bet with little ones, but some kids hate it. As someone said, toddlers can be so weird about food. The advice about expecting not much eating to happen is great, and I also love the monkey plate idea. I think I may start using that for get togethers involving kids in the future!

Serve pasta, risotto or gnocchi (great finger food) as a first course, then baby gets to eat something straight away and can just graze during the main course. If she is picky, she will have eaten, and will be less grouchy for rest of the meal.

Also, keep some grissini, cherry tomatoes, carrot sticks, slices of salami, etc on the table - toddlers love little morsels they can help themselves to.

I totally agree with a small variety of foods i.e. strawberries, apple slices, crackers, maybe some medium cheddar cheese, yogurt. Simple and delicious. My son hates pasta, it is the weirdest thing I couldn't bribe him with all the dessert in the world to eat a bite of mac and cheese haha, he definitely prefers eating a selection of things. You could make a simple small cheese pizza (get ready made dough, or make your own) prep the night before and then pop in the oven for dinner. Oh even better you could make a "pita" pizza and make it personalized and side of veggies or fruit!

As I'm reading most of these comments I'm thinking, "What? No veggies?" Feeding pasta and cheese sauce and fried foods to kids may seem "kid friendly" but people wonder why they won't eat vegetables when they're older.

Hi All! Thanks for your recommendations! I really like the idea of a monkey plate. It will be easy to create it with the same ingredients I'll be using for the regular dinner (chicken and pasta based dish), I'll just be sure to set some aside for the monkey plate. My friend said its difficult to tell day to day what her daughter will and won't like, but I always have yogurt, crackers, cheese, and fruit in the house if she doesn't like any of the monkey plate I prepare! -Mary

There's a great cookbook called Time For Dinner that fits this situation perfectly because there's an entire section that shows how to make kid-friendly meals using the same ingredients that you're using to make a more adult-friendly meal. Anyone who needs to cook for both adults and kids should check out this cookbook. I haven't tried any recipe yet that wasn't delicious.