Homemade baby food or not..? The easiest way to go is to just ignore all baby food recipes and buy canned baby food. That is also by far the most expensive alternative. And there is no guarantee that your baby will like canned food.
Our oldest son hated canned baby food. Our daughter hated my homemade food. Our youngest son hated everything but breast milk and banana for a looong time.
Anyway, if you want to cook some homemade food for your baby, you’ll find some super easy baby food recipes stage 1 here – i.e. for introducing solid foods to your baby!
Most babies (and parents…) are ready for solid food at some point between 4 and 6 months old.
Remember though, that the general recommendation at present is to start with solid foods when the baby is 6 months old.
Baby Food Recipes Stage 1 (to Start With)
- General Instructions
- Mashed Potatoes the Baby Way
- Roast Sweet Potato
- Carrots
- Vegetable Puree
- Super healthy Avocado
- Yummy Banana
- Apples or Pears with Star Anise
- Apricot mash
- Apple and Pear Sauce
General Instruction
First a few general pieces of advice for cooking baby food:
- Use fresh, organic ingredients as much as you can! Organic vegetables are often lower in nitrates.
- No salt ever until your baby is 1 year old.
- Steam vegetables as often as possible. This will preserve the vitamins better that boiling.
- When boiling, use as little water as possible without risking to burn the food. This way you’ll keep more of the vitamins in the food.
- Add some oil or butter to the baby recipes, a teaspoon or so per serving, since babies need the fat to grow and develop properly. (I know in some countries this is not recommended for some reason. If so follow the guidelines provided by your baby’s health nurse. However, you can read about the health benefits of adding oil or butter to baby food here.)
- The more inexperienced your child is with eating solid food, the soupier the food should be when you serve it. Add a lot of breast milk or formula in the beginning. Reduce the amount when your baby gets more used to eating solid food.
- If you want to save time and cook many portions at once, be sure to cool the food down and freeze it quickly. This way you avoid bacteria growth in the food. Use an ice cube tray for example.
- Always try new baby food recipes before making many portions. Otherwise, you might have throw away a lot of food if your baby doesn’t like it.
For some more instructions on how to make baby food, click here.
Before you start experimenting, you might want to take a quick look at this list of foods to avoid for babies.
And after a while, when your baby is a bit older and more used to baby food, you can try some more “advanced” baby food recipes here.
Mashed Potatoes the Baby Way
Ingredients:
- 1 potato
- 1/2 – 1 teaspoon of oil or butter
- some breast milk or formula
Instructions:
- Peel the potato.
- Boil it in pieces in water without salt until tender.
- Puree the potato by using a strainer or a blender or food processor.
- Don’t overdo the pureeing. Potatoes transform into something reminding of glue if processed for too long!
- Add the oil
- Add breast milk, formula, or possibly some of the water use used for boiling the potato to get the right consistency.
Potatoes have a mild, neutral taste and can easily be used to mix with other vegetables to vary the food. This is a good way to introduce new tastes to your baby if he has gotten used to potatoes.
Roast Sweet Potato
(Shared by Natasha Yeates, UK)
Roasting sweet potato rather than boiling makes it tastier!
Ingredients:
- 1 sweet potato
- 1/2 – 1 teaspoon of oil or butter
- some breast milk or formula
Instructions:
- Roast sweet potato in its skin
- Scoop out the flesh (about 1-2 dessert spoons per portion)
- Add the oil or unsalted butter
- Blend with a bit of breast or formula milk depending on the age of the baby.
Carrots
Ingredients:
- 3-4 ounces (75-100 gr) of carrots (organic)
- 1/2 – 1 teaspoon of oil or butter
- some breast milk or formula
Instructions:
- Peel, wash, and cut the carrot in small pieces.
- Steam it or boil it in water without salt until tender.
- Puree the carrot by using a strainer or a blender or food processor. You can also use a garlic press that you only use for baby food.
- Mix with some potato if you want a milder taste.
- Add the oil.
- Add breast milk, formula, or possibly some of the water use used for boiling the carrot to get the right consistency.
Note that carrots can make your baby constipated (or help a baby with diarrhea). Mix the carrots with potatoes to reduce this effect. Carrots are an excellent source of antioxidant compounds, and the richest vegetable source of the pro-vitamin A carotenes.
Carrots can also contain some nitrates, which can impair oxygen transportation in the red blood cells in small babies. Wait with carrots until your baby is 6 months old and choose only organic carrots for the use in all baby food recipes!
Vegetable Puree
Ingredients:
- 3-4 ounces (75-100 gr)of for example parsnip, sweet potato or celeriac, green peas, cauliflower, broccoli, asparagus, or corn.
- 1/2 – 1 teaspoon of oil or butter
- some breast milk or formula
Instructions:
- Peel, wash, and cut the vegetable in small pieces.
- Steam the vegetable or boil it in water without salt until tender.
- Puree the vegetable by using a strainer or a blender or food processor. You can also use a garlic press that you only use for baby food.
- Peas, corn, and asparagus can be hard to make completely smooth, due to their peels. You’ll have to work a little bit harder! Pressing the puree through a strainer might help.
- Mix with some potato if you want a milder taste.
- Add the oil.
- Add breast milk, formula, or possibly some of the water use used for boiling the vegetable to get the right consistency.
Super healthy Avocado
Ingredients:
- 1/2 avocado
Instructions:
- Take out the pulp using a small spoon.
- Mash the avocado using a small fork or strain it.
Avocado is great food, containing 25 nutrients, including vitamin C, folate, vitamin E, fiber and unsaturated fats. They are also naturally sodium-free, contain no trans fats and are low in saturated fat.
Yummy Banana
Ingredients:
- 1/2 banana
- A dash of cardamom
Instructions:
- Take out the pulp using a small spoon.
- Mash the banana using a small fork or strain it.
- If in someplace where you can put the mashed banana on a plate, try adding a dash of cardamom for variation.
Bananas are also a great to-go snack for babies. Bring one and a small spoon in your baby bag. Just scrape out some pulp and give it to your baby.
Don’t let your baby bite the banana peel. Non-organic bananas are grown using loads of pesticides!
Apples or pears with star anise
Ingredients:
- 1 apple or pear
- (1 star anise)
Instructions:
- Wash and peel the fruit.
- Cut it in pieces and take away the core.
- Boil it until soft together with the star anise.
- Puree it. (Take out the star anise first.)
Apricot mash
Ingredients:
- 3-4 ounces (75-100 gr) of dried organic apricots
Instructions:
- Wash the apricots.
- Leave them to soak in water for a few hours.
- Boil them for a few minutes until soft.
- Puree them.
Apple and Pear Sauce
Ingredients:
- 3 medium apples – peeled, cored and chopped
- 4 medium pears – peeled, cored and chopped
Instructions:
- First, wash the fruits and peel the skin off. Cut up the fruits roughly
- Place the cut-up fruits in a pressure cooker with a little water (1/4-1/2 cup) on the bottom.
- After you cook the fruits for 8 minutes, depressurized the pressure cooker and let cool for 30-40 minutes.
- In a blender, blend the fruits with the water from the pressure cooker until smooth.
- Pour the mix into the icecube trays and freeze.
- After fully frozen, pop out of trays and store in Ziploc bags in your freezer. Label if desired.
And there you have it! When you are ready to use, you can either take a few cubes out and let it thaw out on its own or you can put in the microwave oven for 20-30 seconds on high. Careful to stir completely to avoid hot spots.
I’ve figured out that 2 lbs. of fruits/vegetables last about 3-4 weeks depending on your baby. It’s so worth it to try it at least once. Also, knowing that your baby is getting the best baby food possible is worth that alone.
Did you enjoy cooking? You find many more recipes here!
Now you have a set of super-easy recipes to start with. What do you serve your little beginner-eater? Share your food tips and recipes below! :-)
Paula Dennholt founded Easy Baby Life in 2006 and has been a passionate parenting and pregnancy writer since then. Her parenting approach and writing are based on studies in cognitive-behavioral models and therapy for children and her experience as a mother and stepmother. Life as a parent has convinced her of how crucial it is to put relationships before rules. She strongly believes in positive parenting and a science-based approach.
Paula cooperates with a team of pediatricians who assist in reviewing and writing articles.
Wow, that’s amazing, healthiest, and simple recipes for the babies with their food.