Easy Homemade Baby Food (without a blender!)

Easy Homemade Baby Food (scroll down for printable baby food recipes)

I get asked daily what I’m feeding Chef Baby now that he’s old enough for solid food. I’ve been keeping his babyfood pretty simple (until we’re sure he’s not going to react to any foods) but not boring or bland because I want him to develop a broad palate — as much for my benefit as for his! If I can manage to raise a kid who will eat just about anything without a groan or a whimper, I’ll be a happy mama. Here are four of Flint’s favorite homemade baby food recipes.

*About Salt in Baby Foods* As pointed out in a comment below, babies younger than 12 months do not have well-developed kidneys and can handle no more than 1 gram of salt per day. Use caution and to be on the safe side, omit salt altogether. This also applies to families who skip making “baby food” and who choose to blend up “adult food” so that everyone eats the same thing.

Homemade Baby Food Recipes

homemade baby food

Sweet Potato Babyfood

Flint LOVES the sweet potato-coconut combination. Of course he loves it a little on the sweet side with cinnamon added, but he also likes more savory flavors like cumin. Try it on your baby and see! And if they reject it the first time, try again in a couple days.

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Sweet Potato Babyfood

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

5 from 2 reviews

  • Author: Hilah Johnson
  • Yield: 1 cup (8-16 servings) 1x

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 medium sweet potato
  • 1 tablespoon coconut oil
  • Optional (try adding these to individual servings to see how your baby likes the new flavors!)
  • pinch of ground cinnamon
  • pinch of ground cumin
  • pinch of ground coriander
  • pinch of ground ginger
  • pinch of garlic powder

Instructions

  1. Cut the potato into quarters and put into a pot with enough water to cover. Cover and bring to boil on high heat. Boil 5-7 minutes until the potato is quite soft.
  2. Drain and cool to handle.
  3. With very clean hands, peel the skins from the potato and discard. Mash the flesh with coconut oil until fairly smooth. (My baby seems to like some small chunks)
  4. Refrigerate up to one week.
  5. Serve 1-2 tablespoons at a time for 6-8 month old baby. Add optional seasonings to individual servings to offer your baby lots of new flavors he might like!

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Apricot Oatmeal Babyfood

You could really use any dried fruit for this, but I do recommend adding some prunes for fiber. Constipation is a problem when babies first get started on solids and the prunes really help.

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Apricot Oatmeal Babyfood

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

5 from 2 reviews

  • Author: Hilah Johnson
  • Yield: 1 cup (8-16 servings) 1x

Ingredients

Scale
  • 4 dried apricots
  • 4 dried prunes
  • 1/4 cup rolled oats (old fashioned oats, not instant or steel cut oats)
  • 1 cup boiling water
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • Optional (add to individual servings to experiment with new flavors)
  • pinch ground cinnamon
  • pinch ground ginger
  • pinch ground cardamom

Instructions

  1. Finely chop apricots and prunes put into heat-proof bowl with oats, boiling water. Let sit until water is absorbed. Blend with an immersion blender, food chopper or blender.
  2. Refrigerate up to one week.
  3. Reheat 1-2 tablespoons of oatmeal at a time by adding an equal amount of boiling water and stir. Add any optional flavorings you want to try.

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Baby Guacamole

Flint is very sensitive to sour flavors (read: he spits them out) so my regular guacamole recipe doesn’t work. I’ve found though, that avocado makes a perfect vehicle for introducing new herbacious flavors to him. And he also has no problem at all with onion, praise be.

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Baby Guacamole

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

5 from 2 reviews

  • Author: Hilah Johnson
  • Yield: 1 1x

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1/4 ripe avocado
  • pinch salt
  • Optional flavorings (choose one or several)
  • 1 teaspoon finely minced green onion
  • 1 teaspoon finely minced cilantro or parsley
  • 1/8 teaspoon dried basil
  • 1/8 teaspoon dried dill weed
  • 1/8 teaspoon dried oregano
  • pinch ground cumin

Instructions

  1. Peel and mash the avocado with the salt and any other seasonings you want to try. Do not refrigerate, serve right away.

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Baby Lentils and Apples

When I first smelled the combination of chicken broth and apples, I thought of Thanksgiving. So that’s what I decided to go for. No time like the present to get baby accustomed to cornbread dressing! This recipe makes a couple of cups so you probably will want to freeze half of it unless your baby has a really big appetite.

Print

Baby Lentils

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

5 from 2 reviews

  • Author: Hilah Johnson
  • Yield: 2 cups 1x

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1/4 cup red lentils
  • 1 cup chicken or vegetable broth (low sodium, homemade if possible)
  • 1 apple, grated
  • Large pinch each: dried thyme, ground sage, and rosemary

Instructions

  1. Combine all in a small pot and bring to boil.
  2. Cover, reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes.

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Steamed Broccoli

No mystery here, I just cut some broccoli into long florets with plenty of stem, steam them, cool them and then hand them over to Flint. He uses the stem as a handle and chews on the florets for a long time. It is good for his coordination and keeps him busy while we eat dinner. Plus, he likes it! Celery sticks and carrot sticks are good for this, too.

homemade baby food

8 Comments

  1. Diane on July 11, 2015 at 11:03 pm

    Um, is it okay if an adult tries lentils cooked with apples? Can’t wait until October for Flint squeezing!






  2. pat Soltis on July 12, 2015 at 2:08 pm

    Flint seems like a happy child, which is GREAT! Or maybe you just don’t present his unhappy episodes in your videos . . . .

    ps

    • Hilah on July 13, 2015 at 5:38 pm

      He really is a happy baby! Hardly ever fusses and when he does it only lasts as long as it takes for us to figure out what he needs 😉

  3. Katricia on April 30, 2016 at 4:28 pm

    I love these recipes! I haven’t made them for my baby yet, but I totally will. I’ll have to blend them up. My 10 month-old doesn’t tolerate any sort of chunks in his food, but that’s okay. Thanks!

    • Hilah on May 1, 2016 at 9:50 am

      Hope your baby likes them, Katricia. Have fun experimenting with different herbs and spices!

  4. Laura on May 9, 2016 at 4:45 am

    You should never put salt in baby food. Their kidneys have not developed enough to cope with it. Please remove it from your recipes.

    • Hilah on May 10, 2016 at 8:28 am

      Thank you, Laura. I had not heard of that before but you’re right! I’m amending the post.

  5. Tina Smith on May 16, 2016 at 2:31 pm

    Very useful article. I was worried about my baby’s food and after reading this article, I learned some easy recipes for my little baby to prepare by myself. I am going to try the sweet potato one tomorrow.

    Thank You!






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