Around the age of 4-6 months, you’ll likely be looking into starting your baby on solids foods to go along with their breast milk/baby formula diet. When starting a baby on solids, you’ll want to go with soft semi-liquid foods such as applesauce, pureed fruits and veggies, or single grain cereals mixed with breast milk or baby formula. While many parents purchase pre-made baby food, it’s extremely easy to make your own homemade baby food. Making baby food at home can be a great way to save money, to create your own tasty baby food puree recipes for your baby, to ensure that meals are organic and clean, or just because you enjoy preparing food for your baby.
How To Make Homemade Baby Food
So you’re wondering how to make baby food? It’s actually very easy to make your own homemade baby food. All you really need is fresh produce, something to puree food with, and a little knowledge. In order to puree the food, you can use any of the following appliances, depending on your preference:
- Hand turned food mill
- All-in-one baby food maker
- Baby food grinder
- Hand blender
- Kitchen blender or food processor
- Just a fork
It will also be useful to have Tupperware and ice cube/baby food trays around in order to freeze and store extra baby food, as baby food tends to perish quickly.
Once you have your grinder/blender, you can head out to your favorite supermarket to buy some fresh produce. The best part about making homemade baby food is that you know that you’re getting wholesome baby food, because you can control exactly what goes into your baby’s food. Start with fruits and vegetables if your baby is being introduced to solids for the first time. It’s important to be aware of the type of foods babies eat at different stages of development when you’re preparing your homemade baby food.
Homemade Baby Food Recipes
Stage 1 homemade baby food recipes are meant for infants between the ages of 4-8 months. This is usually when most babies are introduced to solid foods, which are introduced as supplements to their regular liquid diet.
Stage 1 baby foods refer to highly pureed and strained fruits and veggies, as well as baby cereals mixed with formula and breast milk. These meals should be prepared with single ingredients only, and new homemade baby food recipes should be introduced at intervals of 3-4 days to ensure that your baby is not allergic. These homemade baby food recipes are easily digestible by the developing stomach that is just getting ready for solids. Below are a few basic homemade baby food recipes you can implement during stage 1, as well as a list of foods that can easily be prepared in similar slow-cooked, pureed and strained fashion.
Baby Oatmeal Cereal (Appropriate For Ages 4-6 Months)
Ingredients:
- ¼ cup ground oats (grind finely in food processor or a blender
- ¾ cups of water
Directions:
- Start by bringing the water to boil. Add ground oats while stirring.
- Let simmer while whisking the mixture consistently until oats are at a soft, mushy consistency
- Reduce heat and mix formula or breast milk and continue stirring
- Serve warm
Mashed Avocado (Appropriate For Ages 4-6 Months)
Ingredients:
- 1 avocado
Directions:
- Peel and remove pit of ripe avocado
- Mash avocado with a fork until consistent
- Serve mashed
Apricot Puree (Appropriate For Ages 6-8 Months)
Ingredients:
- 1 lb of dried apricots
- 2 cups grape juice (white), pear juice, or apple juice.
Directions:
- Bring juice to a boil
- Add dried apricots and simmer for 15 minutes
- Place into blender or food processor and puree
- If a thicker consistency is desired, add baby cereal to the mix
Examples of other good fruits and vegetables to buy to make your homemade baby food recipes include:
Fruits
- Apples
- Bananas
- Apricots
- Blueberries
- Mangoes
- Peaches
- Pears
- Plums
- Prunes
Vegetables
- Asparagus tips
- Sweet Potatoes
- Avocados
- Carrots
- Green beans
- Peas
- Cherries
- Potatoes
- Sweet Peppers
- Winter Squash
The ideas we’ve given for homemade baby food recipes can be applied to virtually any fruit or vegetable. While the fruits and veggies listed above are the most commonly used ingredients for baby food, nothing is stopping you from trying different recipes, provided the food is pureed and strained.
How To Store Homemade Baby Food
You can store homemade baby food in storage containers in the fridge, or ice cube trays in the freezer. Ensure that you utilize the freezer if you’re storing baby food for longer than a day or two, as bacteria forms quickly in pureed baby food. Discard any unfinished meals and be sure to never pour unfinished meals back in with the rest of the baby food, as the food contains bacteria.
Making Baby Food & Feeding Your Baby
There is no need to stick to a rigid baby feeding schedule. As your baby starts to eat more and more solid foods, you can start introducing more stage 1 solid foods to their feeding, and gradually move beyond pureed and semi-liquid foods to include mashed and strained foods and eventually small, bite sized finger foods. Keep in mind that children should still have breast milk or formula in their diet until at least the age of 1.
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