Is your baby about to cross 6 months? Is it on its way to start solid food? Do not worry. Making baby food at home is a lot easier than you think!
We know that as parents you do not want to threaten your baby’s health by feeding it commercially packed food when it is just starting its eating journey. At this juncture, both your baby and you need to acclimate with new situations. We have sorted out your stresses!
Take a quick look at these effortless, heatless, and low-cost homemade baby food recipes that would save your time and ensure proper nutrition for your baby’s health.
Things You Need to Make Baby Food
- Blender/Mixer-grinder
- Water/breastmilk/ formula to liquefy it
- Bowls and spoons
- Storage containers (if you want to store it for further use)
A Common Recipe that Fits Every Baby Food
If you are a working mom or need to spend a whole lot of time doing other chores, making food for your little one can be a little tiring. You need something simple and easy-going recipe to meet both you and your needs. To aid you from this nuisance,we present you the common formula to almost all baby foods
Since babies cannot accommodate with solid foods at the first stage, every sort of food that you want to feed your baby needs to be smashed or blended. Foods like gravy, puree, soup is appropriate for baby’s digestion. To make such food, follow the instructions:
- Pick some fresh ingredients (fruits/nuts) and chop them into small sizes.
- Add a little water or breastmilk or formula to make it as thin as you want.
- Take a blender and blend them all. Food is ready to for feeding!
Bottom Line
For stage 1 babies, it is better to use single-ingredient food. Once your baby’s digestive system adapts the single ingredient, you can gradually increase the amount and ingredient to add flavor and taste.
How to Make Homemade Baby Food (Step by Step Discussion)
According to the babies age we are presenting here step by step recipes how to make homemade baby foods.
Stage-01 Recipes (4-6 Month Babies)
Although pediatricians say that babies need at least 6 months to develop their digestive system before they can be exposed to solid foods, some of them show these developments early at four months. Hence, the first stage starts from 4 to 6 months.
These are the recipe for your 4-6 months old baby:
1. Banana Puree
Bananas contain potassium and iron and are very healthy for new-eaters. Making puree of a fully ripe banana can be the easiest way to satisfy your baby’s hunger. Its sweetness suits the baby’s taste and helps to digest. A mixture of nutrition and taste, bananas can also cause constipation if you overfeed it to your baby.
2. Avocado Puree
Best known for its healthy fats, avocado is good for baby’s growth and development. Like all the other purees, you need to chop an avocado and blend it with a little mixture of water. If the avocado is ripe and soft, you can do the smashing part with a fork. Avocado is healthy for baby’s brain and its soft, creamy texture is appealing to the baby’s taste.
3. Strawberry Puree
You can make a good blend of strawberries without adding any extra water or liquid substance. Its lively color can entertain your baby and at the same time provide a good taste. Make sure to find sweet strawberries as they can be a little sour in taste. You can also add a little honey or applesauce for sweetness.
4. Mango Puree
Rich in vitamins, mangoes are one of the fruits that babies love most. Its natural softness makes it easier to smash it with a fork or spoon. You can still use a blender to make a smooth puree. Its vibrant, colorful and full of nutritional elements.
5. Pineapple Puree
A great source of growth-boosting elements, this exotic fruit puree is creamy, smooth, and a lot tastier than the other fruits. Blend this beauty with a little applesauce and entertain your little pineapple!
6. Peach Puree
You can certain make it with the blender method, but make sure to peel it before blending. Peach peels do not blend well even if you use a high-powered blender. You can also use it to sweeten other purees instead of honey or applesauce.
7. Rice Cereal
No matter which corner of the world you visit, you will always find rice cereal as baby food. It is free of any harmful or allergic elements and healthy recipe for introducing carbohydrate to your baby. Adding a little milk or water can give it a thinner texture and help the baby digest the solid food at its first stages. With this procedure, you can also make baked/boiled sweet potato puree for your baby.
Bottom Line
Apart from the ingredients mentioned above, you can pick other fruits or nuts and blend it into a smooth puree. Honey and applesauce is always there to enhance its taste
Stage-02 Recipes (7-9 Month Babies)
Food for stage 2 babies are usually thicker than stage 1. Unlike the single-ingredient stage 1 baby food, they are open to more than 1 ingredient and sometimes variety of foods other than gravy or fruit purees. Usually stage 2 starts from 7 months but as we always say, who knows your baby better than you do! Introduce your baby with food varieties whenever he/she is ready.
Here is a list of food recipes for your stage 2 baby:
1. Veggies and Fish Puree
Green vegetables and fish are something your baby need when it is around 7 months. Pick any kind of vegetable that is available, boil them with a little salt and add some cooked boneless fish. That’s it! A marvelous combination of taste and nutrition.
2. Mixed Fruit Puree
It is time to make some fruit purees for your sweetie pie. You can go for soft fruits like mango, banana, and avocado and make a smooth paste of it. Adding a little sweetness will enrich its taste and flavor. Other than avocado, mango or banana, you can pick any fruit that your baby likes.
3. Spinach with Fish and Peas
A perfect blend of protein, vitamins, and fiber, this combination adds fuel to your baby’s development. Instead of peas, you can go with some carrots or sweet potatoes to add some sweetness.
4. Pumpkin Puree with Peanut Butter
Pumpkin contains iron, potassium and beta carotene and peanuts are full of vitamin B-12 which are more than necessary for your baby’s brain and bone development. It is bright, creamy, and full of nutrients.
5. Bean and Yogurt Puree
Beans of different varieties carry different healthy nutrients. For this recipe, you can pick a small amount of beans from different varieties like black beans, white beans, pinto beans, chickpeas and blend it with yogurt or butternuts or even simply with milk. It ensures enough protein and fiber in your baby’s diet.
6. Whipped Butternut with Papaya and Pear
Butternut can be added to any kind of stage 2 baby food to enrich its taste and nutrients, but it becomes more appealing to babies when added to sweet papaya or pear. While butternuts are anti-allergic and contains good fats, papaya is great for baby’s indigestion.
Bottom Line
If you want to make sure that your baby gets enough protein regularly, add some yogurt, or buttermilk, or coconut milk to whatever recipe you make.
Stage-03 Recipes (10-12 Month Babies)
Your baby is now ready for more complex combination of foods and dairy products. Instead of feeding purees all the time, you can now trust him with finely chopped or minced pieces.
Mashed chicken, fish and meat broth can be added to its meal. After all, it’s time to grow up!
1. Cheesy Chicken
Since this is the first time your baby is being introduced to chicken, it is important to keep the recipe as simple and natural as possible. Cook the chicken like you normally do (avoid any spice or chunky tastemaker), you can add some mild herb and a bit of salt. Blend it with cheese or yogurt and its ready!
2. Quinoa Mango Mash
Your baby probably has already been familiar with the taste of mango. Adding it with quinoa makes it a lot healthier for your stage 3 baby. Since quinoa is rich in protein and fiber, it effectively adds more to your baby’s meal.
3. Fish with Carrots and Beans
This food combination is indeed a vitamin-house! Carrots contain antioxidants, beans have protein, fiber, folate, potassium, magnesium and fish are rich in omega-3 fatty acids that are crucial to the development of your baby’s nervous system.
4. Beef Stew with Potato
Another new addition in a stage 3 baby’s diet, beef stew recipe needs more time to prepare than other baby foods. Owning to beef, this stew provides iron for your baby’s growth and development. Instead of potatoes, you can add some other vegetables if you like. All you need to do is cook the beef with some onion, organic herbs and olive oil, add the vegetables and a little salt, and boil it till it is cooked perfectly. Using a good blender, make a puree out of it. You are done!
5. Puree with Mixed Fruits
Unlike the stage 2 mixed puree, this one contains more fruits and a little seasoning. You can add whatever fruit you can find around you, strawberries, blueberries, mangoes, bananas, avocadoes or others. An extra touch of some mild spices like cinnamon powder or chilly can add to its taste.
6. Rice Cereal with fish and Chicken
A marvelous blend of carbs, protein, and fatty acid, this is a recipe your baby needs the most. At this crucial stage, you must make sure that your baby gets everything it needs for its nutrition and growth, and where else you will find all these elements other than this! Cook everything like you always do (with mild spices), and make a smooth blend of it.
Bottom Line
To ensure that your baby gets all the necessary nutrients, you need to give him all kinds of foods (veggies, meat, fish, fruits, dairies etc.) alternatively. Sticking to a specific food item can deny him of other necessary food elements.
A Little Piece of Advice from Us
Babies’ tummies are too small to handle a large amount of food at a time. Hence, they need to be fed repeatedly and of course in small portions. Even if you are a busy mom and do not have time to spend all day making food for your baby, it is important to ensure that your baby gets fresh food that has everything he/she needs for his/her growth.
You also need to be careful whether your baby is shows irritation while eating a specific food. If he/she is allergic to any item, or does not have tolerance to it, you have to stop feeding it to him immediately. Some foods are too complex for the baby to digest and some simply contain allergenic elements like eggs, soya, seafood, wheat etc.
Finally, and most importantly, there is no specific rule to follow while making baby food or maintaining the 3 stages mentioned above. Every baby has its own special way of growing up, and once you know it, you’ll learn to handle your baby in your own way
Concluding Remarks
While some parents worry whether their little ones can swiftly shift from all-liquid zone to a solid food consuming stage and delay in introducing solid food to them, pediatricians suggests not to delay this crucial period. This might cause them lose flexibility to solid food and make it harder to adjust with solid food items.
We have collected these food recipes from parents and experts so that your baby can safely move from their liquid food zones. You can always go through our recipes, change them as you want and feel secured about your baby’s health, growth, and development. And never forget that no one knows and understands your baby better than you do!