How to Make Baby Food at Home

When it comes to solid foods (between 4-6 months old), you’ll be delighted to know exactly what they’re eating. By making your own baby food, you’ll keep track of each ingredient in your baby’s new menu. You don’t need a lot of tools to make your own baby food. With just a few tools, fresh food and following the instructions, you can prepare a nutritious or quick meal for your baby. Let’s start with Step 1 below.

Table of Contents

Prepare

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Choose fresh, good quality food. The first step when cooking a nutritious and delicious meal for your baby is choosing fresh, quality food.

Buy organic if possible, and make sure the vegetables are ripe, not crushed. Try to run out of food 2 or 3 days after you buy it.
Give your baby a taste of fruits and vegetables like apples, pears, peaches, and sweet potatoes first. Avoid foods that are high in fiber or hard to swallow, such as green beans with seeds, unless you filter them after cooking and pureeing.

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Cleaning and preparing food. The next step is to prepare foods to prepare them for cooking or eating — this includes washing and discarding any parts your baby can’t chew or digest — like skins, eyes, seeds, seeds, and fat.

Wash vegetables thoroughly. Peel or core. Cut vegetables into equal portions so that they cook evenly. 900g of clean, chopped food will cook 2 cups (300g) of baby food.
You can prepare meat and poultry by washing, removing skin and fat before cooking. Grains such as quinoa and millet should be prepared according to the instructions on the package.

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Cook food by steaming, boiling, or baking. If you’re preparing ripe fruit — like pears or avocados — you can simply mash it with a fork and eat it right away. Vegetables, meat, and other grains need to be cooked before eating. You can choose from a few ways to cook:

Steaming is the best way to cook vegetables because it preserves the most nutrients. Use a steamer basket or simply place a sieve over the boiling water. Steam for about 10-15 minutes until the food is soft.
Boiling can be used with grains, vegetables and some meats. You can boil food in meat broth to enhance the flavor if desired.
Oven usually goes well with sweet potatoes, cruciferous vegetables, meat and poultry. You can add spices and herbs as you bake to enhance the flavor (don’t be afraid to let your kids try other flavors!)

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When cooking for children, try to divide them into small portions. Make sure that the ingredients are mixed together. Remember that some foods have to add other liquids to get the right consistency — this could be water, breast milk, formula or a little broth (if the food is boiled).

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Cool and mash food. Allow food to cool after thorough cooking. Make sure meat and poultry are fully cooked as children are more susceptible to food poisoning.

Choose how to prepare food. For younger children, food needs to be finely ground before eating, while older children can eat solid foods. How you prepare food depends on your baby’s age and your preferences.
Some parents choose to invest in expensive all-in -one baby food processors that can cook, mash, defrost and reheat vegetables, fruits, and meats. These machines cost a bit of money but make it easier for you to make your own baby food!
Alternatively, you can use a food processor , food processor , or hand blender to puree food. They are easy to use and prepare fast food (so you don’t need to buy additional tools) but take time to install, clean and disassemble because the amount of food each time is usually small.
You should also try a hand-cranked food processor or baby food blender . These two tools are non-electric, portable, work well, and are fairly inexpensive, but are slower and laborious to use.
Finally, with soft foods such as ripe bananas, avocados and baked sweet potatoes, you simply need to use the very convenient traditional method of a fork to mash food to the desired consistency.

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Use and store food. Once the food you prepare for your baby is cooked, cooled, and mashed, you can feed a little bit right away and save the rest for later. Careful storage of leftovers is very important to avoid spoilage or bacteria invasion affecting the baby’s health.

Use a spoon to divide food into glass jars or safe plastic containers with tight-fitting lids and refrigerate. Stick the cooking date on the food container to keep track of the freshness of the food, and throw it away if it’s been more than 3 days.
Alternatively, you can use a spoon to divide the food into a square ice mold with a lid and place it in the freezer. When the food is completely frozen, remove it from the mold and place it in a zippered plastic bag. Each block of frozen food is one serving for your baby, so defrost just enough.
You can slowly defrost frozen food by leaving it in the fridge overnight, or placing the container in warm water for 20 minutes (do not put food directly in hot water).
Frozen mashed fruits and vegetables have a shelf life of 6 to 8 months, while frozen meat and poultry will stay fresh for 1 to 2 months. ^{[1] X Research Source}
Because making baby food will take a lot of effort, you should make a lot at once and freeze it for later use.

Let Your Baby Try Different Food

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Start with traditional foods. It is usually fruit and vegetables that are soft, naturally sweet, and easy to prepare.

Such foods include fruits such as bananas, pears, blueberries, peaches, apricots, plums, mangoes and apples, root vegetables such as sweet potatoes, squash, sweet peppers, avocados, carrots and beans.
These foods are popular because they are easy to prepare and most children like them. You should start solids with these foods, but don’t be afraid to let your baby try other foods.
This will help children develop their taste buds and make mealtimes more enjoyable. However, be careful not to overwhelm your child — try one new food at a time and wait at least three days before trying another. That will make it easier to spot the cause of any allergic reactions. ^{[2] X Research Source}

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Try casseroles. Stewed meat is a great food for your baby to try — it’s delicious and nutritious, and everyone in the family loves it, which is always a treat to keep your baby motivated!

Try making a beef stew with a touch of Mexican or Chinese condiments, such as soy sauce or less spicy poblano (yes, chili!). Children around the world are often given solid foods with strong flavors from a very young age.
In addition, try cooking pork shoulder with sweet and sour sauce for dinner, which is also attractive to both children and other family members. ^{[2] X Research Source}

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Let your baby try fish. In the past, parents were often advised to avoid giving their children fish and other allergenic foods before the baby was a year old. However, views on this issue have since changed.

According to a study by the American Academy of Pediatrics released in 2008, children 6 months and older can eat fish as long as there are no signs of allergies (to food or other things), no asthma. Or someone in your family has the disease. ^{[3] X Research Sources}
So you might consider giving your baby fish like salmon, which is rich in nutrients and healthy fats. Try simmering salmon with water and a bit of seasoning until thoroughly cooked. Let cool before mashing (for babies), mix with carrots or other vegetables that are also well mashed, or simply cut into small pieces (for older children).

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Feed your baby whole grains. Start giving your baby whole grains like quinoa or millet as soon as possible.

Whole grains give babies new experiences with textures and encourage them to use their mouth and tongue, which improves communication later in life.
Don’t just feed your baby plain, bland cooked cereal. You can add flavor by stuffing in chicken or vegetables, or add soft, flavorful vegetables like onions or squash.

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Try giving your baby eggs. Like fish, in the past, parents were often advised to avoid giving eggs under one year of age. Today, it is thought that children can eat egg solids as long as they do not have allergies or have no family history of allergies.

Eggs are very nutritious, high in protein, B vitamins and other important minerals. You can cook eggs however you want — scrambled eggs, boiled eggs, fried eggs or omelets.
Just make sure the yolks and whites are fully cooked — undercooked eggs or peaches can cause stomach upset.
Try mashed hard-boiled eggs with half an avocado, mix mashed eggs with a thick vegetable soup, or add chopped fried eggs with rice or oatmeal (for older children). ^{[4] X Research Sources}

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Let your baby experiment with mild spices and herbs. Many parents struggle because they think their baby’s food should be bland and tasteless — but it’s not! Children can perceive many different tastes.

You should introduce your baby to some of the flavors that your family often uses when cooking so that he will love to eat foods with those flavors later!
Try adding rosemary when roasting squash, sprinkling turmeric or garlic when cooking chicken breasts, adding cinnamon to oatmeal, or finely chopped parsley to mashed potatoes.
Children also eat spicy food better than you think. Of course, you don’t want your baby’s mouth to burn, but you can think about adding a little chutney (a less spicy one like Trung Thanh chili sauce) to things like thick vegetable soups and casseroles. ^{[6] X Research Sources}

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Let your baby try sour fruit. You might be surprised to learn that children love to eat sour berries. You’ll see it when you let your baby try some crushed sour cherries. You can also try slow-cooked, unsweetened rhubarb or mashed plums, both of which have a cool, sour taste. ^{[7] X Research Sources}

Feeding Baby Solid Food

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Pay attention to the temperature. Solid food when feeding your baby should not be hotter than body temperature to avoid burning the baby’s mouth.

You need to be very careful when using the microwave to reheat prepared food, because the microwave does not heat evenly, so there will be very hot places.
So, when taking food out of the microwave, stir it well to distribute the heat evenly, and let it sit for a few minutes until it cools to room temperature.

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Do not keep leftovers. When feeding your baby, try to approximate portion sizes at each meal. This helps you avoid waste because you won’t be able to reuse the leftovers. The reason is because when feeding your baby, the baby’s saliva will stick to the spoon, which will cause bacteria to grow in the food.

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Don’t add sugar to your baby’s food. You should not put sugar in your baby’s food. Children do not need to eat more sugar, especially in the situation of childhood obesity is increasing. You also shouldn’t use other sweeteners like cornstarch syrup or honey because they can cause a fatal form of food poisoning in children, commonly known as botulism.

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Avoid exposing children to nitrate poisoning. Nitrates are substances found in water and soil that can cause a symptom of anemia (also known as methemoglobinemia) in children with botulism. Nitrates are reduced in canned baby foods but can be a hazard in home-cooked foods (especially if you use well water for cooking).

Since most of the source of nitrates in baby food comes from well water, you should have your well water tested to make sure your water has a nitrate concentration of less than 10 mg/l.
Nitrate levels increase over time food is not frozen, so use fresh fruits and vegetables within 1-2 days of purchase, freeze prepared foods immediately after cooking and consider consuming them. Frozen vegetables such as beets, carrots, green beans, spinach and squash because these foods in their raw form contain a lot of nitrates. ^{[8] X Research Sources}

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Feed your baby the same food as everyone else in the family. Instead of making separate food for your baby, to reduce stress, grind or mash the food that the whole family eats for your baby to eat.

This will save time and effort, and at the same time, train your baby to eat like everyone else, he will be easier to adapt when he grows up.
Babies can eat most of the healthy foods the whole family can eat if mashed and mixed properly — stews, stews and soups can be adjusted to suit your baby.
You just need to make sure the food is soft enough for your baby. For example, if you are cooking noodles, it may take a little longer than usual.
Add unsalted broth, breast milk, formula, or water to dilute foods. But avoid adding too much liquid – the food needs to keep its shape when you scoop it up with a spoon.

Advice

Mix different fruit and vegetable mixes only if your baby has tried each food separately and has no allergies. Try mixing vegetables together like apples and plums, squash and peaches, apples and cauliflower.
Talk to your pediatrician about when to start introducing solids. Ask what foods to start with and which foods to avoid during your baby’s first year. Let your baby try each new food and wait 4 days to see if he has an allergic reaction before giving it again.
Add about 5ml of liquid such as breast milk, formula or hot, cold water to dilute the food if it is too thick. Conversely, add 5ml of baby powder if you want to thicken the food.
Use a fork to mash soft foods like bananas or avocados until smooth to feed your baby right away. Add a few drops of boiled milk or water if needed to dilute.
Try combining different flavors, like plum with apple or squash with apple, and make the dish eye-catching to appeal to children. ^{[9] X Research Source}

Things you need

900g fresh vegetables
Filter mesh
Knife
120 ml of water
Cooking pot or steamer with lid
Blender or food processor
Spoon
Containers
Pen
Stickers

Steps

Prepare

Let Your Baby Try Different Food

Feeding Baby Solid Food

Advice

Things you need

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