How to make baby purées at home

Why make your own

Homemade purées can cost less than shop-bought ones, and they let your baby try baby-friendly versions of the food the rest of the family eats, the AAP says. You don’t need special recipes: start with what’s already on your menu, cooked without salt.

Purées are only a first step. The NHS suggests moving your baby on to mashed, lumpy and finger foods as soon as they can manage them, and some babies may not need smooth food at all. Many families mix spoon-fed food and finger foods from the start: see combining purées and finger foods.

What you need

• A blender, food processor or hand-held blender. The AAP says any of these works. For soft foods, a fork is enough.
• A saucepan with a lid, or a steamer. The NHS suggests steaming or simmering firm vegetables and fruit until soft.
• Soft weaning spoons and a small bowl (NHS).
• Ice cube trays and freezer containers for freezing small portions (NHS). See batch cooking and freezing.
• A food thermometer if you’re cooking meat, poultry or fish.

Step 1: choose and prepare the food

Good first purées include vegetables that aren’t sweet, such as broccoli, cauliflower and spinach, as well as sweeter ones like carrot and sweet potato. The NHS suggests including the less sweet vegetables so your baby gets used to a range of flavors. Include iron-rich foods often, such as meat, lentils and iron-fortified cereal (AAP): see iron-rich first foods.

Before you start:

• Wash your hands and keep surfaces clean (NHS).
• Rinse fruit and vegetables, and remove pips, stones and hard skin (NHS).
• Remove all fat, skin and bones from poultry, meat and fish before cooking (CDC).

Step 2: cook until soft

The CDC says to cook food until it’s soft enough to mash easily with a fork, and to cook hard vegetables and fruits, such as carrots and apples, so you can easily mash or purée them. Steaming or simmering both work (NHS).

• Vegetables and firm fruit: cook until a fork slides in with no resistance. Apple and pear need cooking for babies.
• Soft ripe fruit: the NHS says you can mash or blend soft ripe fruit, like banana, mango or peach, without cooking. The AAP says most fruits should be cooked until soft for babies, apart from mashed banana (see below).
• Meat, poultry and fish: cook to a safe temperature, checked with a thermometer: poultry 165°F (74°C), ground meat 160°F (71°C), whole cuts of beef, pork and lamb 145°F (63°C) with a 3-minute rest, and fish 145°F (63°C) (USDA FSIS). See chicken.
• Grains: the CDC says to cook and finely grind or mash whole grains like rice and barley. Rotate grains rather than relying on rice: see rice and arsenic.
• Eggs: cook until the yolk and white are firm, and egg dishes to 160°F (71°C) (CDC, USDA FSIS; see egg).

No salt or sugar. The NHS says not to add salt or sugar to your baby’s food or cooking water, including stock cubes and gravy. The AAP says to cook fresh baby food with no added salt or seasoning. Avoid honey completely until 12 months (NHS): see honey. More in salt and sugar for babies.

Step 3: blend or mash

Blend or mash the cooked food until it’s the texture your baby can manage. To loosen it, the CDC suggests mixing in breast milk, formula or water. The AAP’s tip for a first spoonful that dribbles out: thin it the first few times, then gradually make it thicker.

Combinations are fine once your baby has tried each food on its own. The AAP gives the example of blending a little cooked chicken, green beans and quinoa: one dinner the whole family can eat.

Textures by age

The NHS’s guidance runs like this:

• Around 6 months: smooth, blended or mashed food on a spoon, plus soft finger foods. Some babies like mashed or lumpy food from the start.
• From around 6 to 7 months: keep offering lumpy textures. Babies take different amounts of time to get used to lumps, but it’s an important skill.
• 7 to 9 months: more mashed, lumpier food and a variety of finger foods.
• 10 to 12 months: mashed, lumpy and chopped food, bigger chunks of soft food, and a wider range of finger foods.

To move on, blend for less time, then mash with a fork, then leave soft lumps. Moving to lumpier food helps babies learn to chew, move food around their mouth and swallow (NHS). See how babies learn to chew.

Serving

• Let cooked food cool right down, and test the temperature before you serve it (NHS).
• Spoon a portion into a bowl rather than feeding from the main batch. Throw away anything left in the bowl: don’t save it or reheat it again (NHS).
• If you’re using a spoon, wait for your baby to open their mouth, and stop when they close it or turn away (NHS). See spoon-feeding responsively.
• Sit your baby upright and stay with them while they eat.

Gagging on new textures is common and noisy. Choking is quiet: your baby can’t cough, cry or breathe properly. Read gagging vs. choking before you start. If your baby is choking: shout for help, and have someone call 911. If you’re alone, call on speaker and start back blows straight away.shout for help and start back blows and chest thrusts straight away. If the blockage hasn’t cleared after one round of each, call 999.shout for help, and have someone call your local emergency number (such as 112 in Europe or 000 in Australia). If you’re alone, call on speaker and start back blows straight away.

Cooling and storing

• Cool quickly. The NHS says to cool batch-cooked food, ideally within 1 to 2 hours, then refrigerate or freeze it. USDA FSIS says to refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours and to divide large amounts into shallow containers so they cool faster. For a quick cool, the NHS suggests putting the food in an airtight container and running cold water over it, stirring so it cools throughout.
• Rice is stricter: cool it within 1 hour and use it within 1 day (NHS). See rice.
• Fridge: USDA FSIS says leftovers keep 3 to 4 days in the fridge. The NHS is stricter (see below).
• Freezer: freeze purées in ice cube trays. Use fruit and vegetable purées within 3 months (AAP), and meat, poultry, fish or egg purées within 1 to 2 months (FDA).
• Thaw in the fridge, and use thawed food within 24 hours (NHS).
• Reheat until steaming hot all the way through, 165°F (74°C), then let it cool before serving. The NHS says to reheat cooked food only once. Warm meat and egg purées on the stove, not in the microwave, because they can splatter and overheat (FDA).
• 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) (USDA FSIS).

Where US and UK advice differs

• Raw fruit. The AAP says that apart from mashed banana, most fruits and vegetables should be cooked until soft for babies. The NHS says soft ripe fruit can be mashed or blended raw from about 6 months. If you follow US advice, cook the fruit.
• Fridge time. USDA FSIS gives 3 to 4 days for leftovers. The NHS says to use batch-cooked food kept in the fridge within 2 days.
• Eggs. The NHS says hens’ eggs with the red British Lion stamp are safe for babies lightly cooked. US advice is to cook eggs until the yolk and white are firm.
• Seasoning. The AAP says no added salt or seasoning. The NHS says no added salt or sugar, and doesn’t mention other seasoning.