Injera
Soft, spongy and a little sour. Tear it into strips for scooping up mild lentils and stews.
Checked against official guidance on October 18, 2026 · How we review
Quick answer
Babies can eat injera from around 6 months, once they show signs of being ready for solids. Prepare it as shown below.
How to serve injera by age
6 months+
Soft injera strips
Tear soft injera into narrow strips. Serve it plain, or for dipping into a smooth lentil or vegetable stew from the family pot, taken out before salt, berbere or chili go in. Check what your injera is made from: injera made only from teff is wheat-free, but some is made with wheat or barley flour too.
- Size
- Strips about the size of an adult finger, roughly 6–8 cm long and 2 cm wide (2½–3 × ¾ in).
- Check before serving
- Bend and squash a strip. It should be soft and spongy and tear easily, with no dry or crisp edges.
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 or strips
Tear injera into small pieces for pincer-grasp practice, or keep serving narrow strips for scooping up mashed lentils, split peas or soft-cooked vegetables.
- Size
- Pieces no bigger than about 1 cm (just under ½ inch).
- Check before serving
- Each piece should be soft and spongy and squash easily.
12 months+
Injera with family stews
Serve injera with mild family stews such as lentils, split peas or soft vegetables, taking your toddler's portion out before salt goes in and keeping the spice mild. Your toddler can practice tearing and scooping. In meat stews, shred the meat finely: the CDC lists tough or large chunks of meat as a choking hazard.
- Size
- Narrow strips, or bite-sized pieces about 1 cm (just under ½ inch).
- Check before serving
- The injera should be soft, and any meat in the stew finely shredded and tender.
18 months+
Family injera, torn small
Share the family's injera, torn into strips or pieces. Keep your toddler's stew mild and lower in salt, and have them sit down to eat rather than grazing from a shared platter while walking around.
- Size
- Narrow strips, or bite-sized pieces about 1 cm (just under ½ inch).
- Check before serving
- Check for dry or crisp edges, and tear off any that are hard.
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 injera
- 1
Read the label or ask what's in it: some injera is made with wheat or barley flour as well as teff. Before 12 months, check there's no honey in the ingredients. Compare labels to pick a lower-salt one.
- 2
If you make injera at home, the batter is fermented for 2 to 3 days before it's cooked. Don't let your child taste the raw batter: the CDC lists raw batter made with uncooked flour as a riskier choice for children under 5. Cook each injera until the top is set, with no wet batter left.
- 3
Let it cool, then tear it into narrow strips (6 months) or small pieces (9 months+). Serve it plain the first time.
- 4
If your injera contains wheat or barley, offer it once your baby has had wheat on its own. First time? Pick a day your baby is well, at home, when you can watch them for a couple of hours afterward.
How much to offer
For the very first taste, offer one or two strips. If there's no reaction, offer more next time. Your baby decides how much to eat: stop when they turn away or close their mouth. Lots of squashing and dropping is normal at first.
Common mistakes
Assuming all injera is gluten-free
Teff is naturally gluten-free, but injera can be made from teff blended with barley or sorghum, and some blends use wheat. Barley and wheat both contain gluten. If your child must avoid wheat or gluten, choose injera made only from teff and labeled gluten-free, and ask at restaurants.
Salty or very spicy stews
The NHS says not to add salt to your baby's food or cooking water, and not to use stock cubes. Take your baby's lentils or vegetables out of the pot before salt goes in, and keep berbere and chili out of their share or very mild.
Big wads of injera
Injera is soft and spongy, and a big piece is a lot to manage. UK early years guidance says to cut all types of bread into strips for very young children. Tear narrow strips or small pieces.
Injera made with honey before 12 months
Most injera has no honey, but recipes vary: FoodData Central's standard injera recipe includes a little. The CDC says not to give honey or products made with it to infants, so check the label before 12 months.
Questions parents ask
Can injera be a choking hazard for babies?
Injera is soft and spongy, which makes it easier than crusty bread, but big pieces can be hard to manage. UK early years guidance says to cut all types of bread into strips for very young children, and the CDC lists tough or large chunks of meat, like those in some stews, as a choking hazard. Tear injera into narrow strips or small pieces, shred any meat finely, and stay with your child during meals.
Can babies be allergic to injera?
Traditional injera is made from teff, which is gluten-free and not a common allergen. But injera can also be made with wheat or barley flour, and you often can't tell by looking, so we list it with wheat. Foods with gluten, including wheat and barley, can be introduced from around 6 months, one at a time and in small amounts. If your child must avoid wheat or gluten, choose injera made only from teff and labeled gluten-free: in the US, these foods must contain less than 20 parts per million of gluten.
Is injera healthy for babies?
Injera provides carbohydrate for energy. FoodData Central's injera record has about 2.6 g of protein, 2.8 g of fiber and 1 mg of iron per 100 g, so it isn't counted as an iron-rich food, and about 226 mg of sodium per 100 g (about 0.6 g of salt), under the NHS 'high salt' level of 1.5 g. That record's recipe uses buckwheat flour rather than teff, so shop-bought teff injera will differ: check the label. Serve it with lentils, split peas or meat for iron.
Can babies eat injera?
Yes, from around 6 months. Tear soft injera into narrow strips and serve it plain or with a smooth, unsalted lentil or vegetable stew. Check what flour it's made from, and if it contains wheat or barley, offer it once your baby has had wheat on its own.
Is injera gluten-free?
Only if it's made from teff alone. Teff is naturally gluten-free, but injera is sometimes made with barley or wheat flour, which contain gluten. If your child has celiac disease, choose injera labeled gluten-free, and ask at restaurants how theirs is made.
Why does injera taste sour?
The batter is fermented for 2 to 3 days before it's cooked, which gives injera its slightly sour taste and spongy texture. Some babies take a few tries to get used to it: offer it with a stew they already like.
If your baby refuses injera
- Many babies need 10 or more tries before they accept a new food. Keep offering it alongside foods they already like.
- Try it with a dip your baby already likes, such as smooth lentils or mashed vegetables.
- Try a different bread for a while, such as toast or chapati strips.
- Eat some yourself at the same meal. Babies copy what they see.
Never force or pressure your baby to eat. Some days they'll eat more, some days less, and that's normal.
Buying and storing injera
- Store shop-bought injera as the package says, and use it by the date on the label.
- Wrap leftover injera well so it doesn't dry out and go hard.
- 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).
When to talk to your doctor
Contact your pediatrician, GP or health visitor if:
- Your baby has had any reaction to injera made with wheat or barley, even a mild one. Stop offering it until you've talked to your pediatrician.
- Your baby vomits a few hours after eating injera made with barley. This can be FPIES, a delayed type of food allergy that grains such as barley can trigger. If they vomited once or twice and seem alert and like themselves, call your pediatrician or GP. If they vomit again and again, or are pale, floppy, very sleepy or hard to wake, call your emergency number.
- You notice mild signs of an allergic reaction after eating, such as a few hives or a little vomiting. See signs of a reaction.
- You're worried about how much your baby eats, their growth, or they refuse most solid food for weeks.
Call 911999your local emergency number (such as 112 in Europe or 000 in Australia) now if your baby has trouble breathing, wheezing, can't cough or cry, has lips, mouth, tongue or throat that suddenly swell, or becomes pale, bluish, floppy or unresponsive. Also call if hives come with repeated vomiting.
Last offered today. Once injera is in your baby's diet, keep offering it regularly.
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Helpful guides
Sources
- NHS: Help your baby enjoy new foods
- CDC: Choking hazards
- Department for Education: Food safety (Help for early years providers)
- NHS: Foods to avoid giving babies and young children
- NHS: Food allergies in babies and young children
- CDC: Safer food choices for children under 5
- CDC: Botulism prevention
- NIDDK: Eating, diet, and nutrition for celiac disease
- Gebremariam et al. (2014): Teff as a raw material for malting, brewing and manufacturing of gluten-free foods and beverages, a review (Journal of Food Science and Technology)
- Baye et al. (2013): Influence of flour blend composition on fermentation kinetics and phytate hydrolysis of sourdough used to make injera (Food Chemistry)
- ACAAI: Food protein-induced enterocolitis syndrome (FPIES)
- USDA FoodData Central: Injera, Ethiopian bread
- NHS: Food labels
- USDA FSIS: Leftovers and food safety
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