Artichoke

How to serve artichoke by age

6 months+

Soft-cooked artichoke heart, mashed

Cook the artichoke until very soft, pull off every leaf, scoop out the fuzzy choke, then mash the heart and serve it on a pre-loaded spoon or stirred into a food your baby already eats. Never offer the leaves or the choke.

Size

Mashed or blended into soft foods, such as potato, lentils or yogurt.

Check before serving

Squash some of the heart between your thumb and finger. It should mash easily, with no fibers or fuzz.

US and UK advice differ here. The AAP suggests mashed food or soft pieces no larger than ½ inch; the NHS suggests soft finger-sized pieces your baby can hold in their fist. Both agree the food must squash easily.

9 months+

Small soft pieces of heart

Chop the soft-cooked heart into small pieces for pincer-grasp practice, or stir them into pasta, rice or lentils. Leaves and choke stay off the plate.

Size

Pieces no bigger than about 1 cm (just under ½ inch).

Check before serving

Each piece should squash flat between your thumb and finger, with no stringy bits.

12 months+

Heart pieces or in dishes

Serve soft-cooked artichoke heart chopped into family meals, in pasta, risotto or mashed into dips. Choose canned hearts packed in water with no added salt, and skip marinated hearts in salty oil.

Size

Small soft pieces about 1 cm (just under ½ inch).

Check before serving

Still do the squash test: soft enough to flatten with gentle pressure.

18 months+

Heart pieces, plus flesh scraped from the leaves

Keep serving the heart cooked soft and chopped. If your toddler wants to join in with leaves, scrape the soft flesh from the base of each leaf with a spoon and mix it into their food. Whole leaves are tough and fibrous: don't hand them over to chew.

Size

Bite-sized pieces about 1 cm (just under ½ inch), or chopped into dishes.

Check before serving

Still do the squash test, and check for leaf fibers or fuzz from the choke.

Always have your child sit upright in a high chair or at the table, and stay with them the whole time they eat. Keep to the size and texture for their stage. Every baby develops on their own timeline.

How to prepare artichoke

1. 1

   Rinse the artichoke under running water, letting the water run between the leaves. Trim the stem and cut off the top.

2. 2

   Boil or steam it for about 25 to 40 minutes, depending on size, until a knife slides easily into the base. Don't add salt.

3. 3

   Let it cool, then pull off all the leaves. Scoop out the fuzzy choke in the center with a spoon, and scrape away every hair.

4. 4

   Mash the heart (6 months) or chop it into small pieces (9 months+). Do the squash test before serving.

How much to offer

Start with a teaspoon or two of mashed heart, on its own or mixed into a food your baby already knows. Your baby decides how much to eat: stop when they turn away or close their mouth.

Common mistakes

Questions parents ask

If your baby refuses artichoke

• Many babies need 10 or more tries before they accept a new food. Keep offering it alongside foods they already like.
• Try it mashed into potato or lentils, or stirred into pasta, instead of on its own.
• Eat some yourself at the same meal. Babies copy what they see.
• Funny faces don't mean they dislike it. They're getting used to a new taste and texture.

Never force or pressure your baby to eat. Some days they'll eat more, some days less, and that's normal.

Buying and storing artichoke

• Keep raw artichokes in the fridge.
• Cooked artichoke heart keeps for 3 to 4 days in a covered container in the fridge. Rice dishes are the exception: cool them within 1 hour, keep them in the fridge for no more than 1 day, and reheat them only once.
• Cooked artichoke heart, mashed or chopped, can be frozen and used within 3 months. Thaw it in the fridge, use it within 24 hours of thawing, and reheat it only once, to 165°F (74°C), until steaming hot, then let it cool before serving.
• Throw away any food left out at room temperature for more than 2 hours (1 hour if it's hotter than 90°F / 32°C).