Weaning your baby doesn’t have to cost a lot of money! Here are five simple recipes that you can make your baby early on in their weaning journey that are using simple ingredients you already have in your house and many store cupboard staples!
I’ve made these recipes to be simple, but you can always add to these to offer some extra iron rich foods and also add in some finger foods or small amounts of allergens as part of the recipe. Also don’t forget to adapt the textures as your baby moves through weaning too.
These recipes are all so simple and allow you to make at home, in bulk so you don’t have to rely on baby food pouches – which can actually end up being quite costly!
Basil, pea and lemon puree
This smooth, freezable puree is perfect for introducing fresh new flavours like basil and lemon to your baby. Peas are naturally sweet, making this popular with little ones. Once they move on to more textured purees, you can add a little less water or milk to keep a bit more consistency.
Prep time: 5 mins
Cooking time: 5 mins
Makes: 4 portions
Ingredients
- 250g frozen peas
- 4 basil leaves
- 1 lemon, zested
Method
- Steam the peas and basil 5 minutes. Add the lemon zest.
- Blend the pea mix with a little cooled boiled water or your baby’s usual milk if you prefer to give a smooth puree. You can use a stick blender or mini blender for this.
Fruit yoghurt swirl
This smooth puree is made in moments and you can swap the fruit according to what you have to hand. Just blend a handful of each in the same way and mix with the yoghurt. Note: you can also make this with frozen fruit, either defrost in advance or blend straight from the freezer with a splash of water and serve it to baby once warmed up a little.
Prep time: 2 mins
Cooking time: /
Makes: 1 portion
Ingredients
- 3 strawberries, hulled (or similar amount of mango, pineapple or other berries)
- 2 tbsp full-fat Greek yoghurt
Method
Blend the fruit in a mini blender and swirl through spoonfuls of yoghurt
Herby carrot and sweet potato mash
This puree can be made smooth or chunkier as your little one progresses with weaning. Ensure you remove all the woody stems from the herbs and cavolo nero. The puree freezes well in portions. You can also use frozen chunks of pre-peeled and chopped butternut squash in this recipe for convenience.
Prep time: 5 mins
Cooking time: 15 mins
Makes: 4-6 portions
Ingredients
- 1 medium carrot and 1 sweet potato (or similar amount of butternut squash)
- 1 tsp fresh rosemary leaves (or dried oregano)
- 1 cavolo nero leaf
Method
- Peel and chop the carrot and sweet potato into roughly even cubes. This ensures they cook at the same time (or use butternut squash).
- Remove a few sprigs of rosemary leaves from the woody stem and finely chop until you have 1 tsp (or use dried oregano).
- Rip the cavolo nero leaf from the central stem and rip into smallish pieces.
- Steam the veg and rosemary for 10 minutes. Add the cavolo nero and steam for a further 5 minutes. Blend in a food processor to a smooth or chunky texture, depending on your baby.
White bean humous on toast
Cannellini beans make a really smooth first humous for your baby and the two of you can share this recipe on toast for lunch. Season yours with salt and pepper if you like.
Prep time: 3 mins
Cooking time: /
Makes: enough for you & baby for lunch
Ingredients
- 1 tin cannellini beans, drained
- Half a small garlic clove
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- Half a lemon, juiced
- Granary bread, toasted to serve
Method
- Add the drained beans to a food processor with a crushed half clove of garlic, the olive oil and lemon juice. Blend until smooth adding a splash of water (about half a tbsp) to loosen if needed.
- Serve with toasted bread fingers for dipping or spread on toast and cut into soldiers for your baby.
If you like this post, you might also want to read my complete guide to nutrients during weaning. You can read more about preparing and storing weaning purees for your baby in my separate blog, plus I also break down weaning your baby onto new textures.
Online Weaning Course
If you’re soon to begin your baby’s weaning journey, Charlotte’s Online Weaning Course is your complete step-by-step guide to introducing solids.