Although it is very easy to purchase a jar of baby food to feed your baby, have you ever thought about making your own baby food? Making food for your baby is quick, easy, and healthy and can save you time and money as you can safely prepare and store food to use another day.
3 Benefits to make baby food at home:
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It’s easy
You can bake, roast, steam, broil, or boil to make your baby food. You just need to make it the right texture for your baby. Try to make a variety of soft textures including:
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- lumpy
- tender-cooked
- finely minced
- puree
- mashed
- ground
You do not need to add sugar or salt to baby food.
Babies only need finely mashed foods for a short period of time so it is important to ensure you offer lumpy foods no later than 9 months to ensure there are no feeding issues later on.
Baby can also eat finger foods such as soft cooked vegetables, finely minced, ground or mashed cooked meat, poultry and deboned fish right from the time you start to introduce foods to your baby.
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It’s healthy
Use Canada’s Food Guide to help you prepare a variety of foods so your baby gets all the nutrients needed for optimal growth and development.
You can also prepare foods rich in iron such as meat, poultry, fish, eggs, legumes and soy to ensure that your baby is meeting their iron needs.
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It saves you money
It is less expensive to make your own baby food at home than to purchase commercial baby food. You can use the same foods that you are preparing for your family to make baby food (minus the added sugar or salt – of course!) in the right textures for their age.
How to get started?
- Wash your hands and equipment with soap and water
- Clean your work area
What equipment do you need?
Use the same equipment you use to make your family food, such as:
- a cutting board
- knife
- pot
- strainer
- fork or blender
If you choose, you can use a baby food grinder.
Here’s a recipe that you can use to make baby food for your baby at home.
Making Meat, Poultry or Fish for Your Baby
Ingredients:
- Meat or poultry or fish
- Small amounts of breast milk or water
How to prepare meat, poultry and fish:
- Bake, roast, steam, poach or boil until soft and well-done
- Drain and keep the cooking water if poaching or boiling
- Remove bones, skin and trim fat
- Cut meat, poultry or fish into small pieces. You may also:
- Mash, grind or blend with breast milk or water (use reserved cooking water if boiled or poached) to desired texture
- Give your baby small, soft, cooked pieces of meat, poultry and fish as finger food
Learn more: Making Your Own Baby Food
