How to Make Baby Food & Easy Starter Recipes

Want to make your own baby food but don’t know where to start? The good news is that learning how to make baby food is quick and easy, so you can get started in no time! Not to mention, it’s cost effective and more nutritious than store-bought baby food since you’ll know exactly what you’re feeding your baby.

Check out our listing of the basic first foods that are great to start out with, along with recommended supplies for making food and feeding, as well as resources for homemade baby food recipes to get you in the baby food making groove.

Basic First Foods

Below are a few of the most common basic first foods to start feeding your baby with once he or she is ready for solids.

Barley
Rice Cereal
Mashed bananas
Apples
Peaches
Pears
Carrots
Peas
Sweet potatoes

Recommended Supplies for Food Making and Feeding

There are a variety of tools and equipment available that will make the process of making homemade baby food more convenient and enjoyable. We’ve listed the essentials you’ll want to make sure you have so you’ll be ready to go:

Cutting board
Good knife
A pot and steamer basket (or an electric steamer)
Immersion blender
Ice cube trays
Freezer bags and Freezer™ Silicone Storage Cups
Permanent marker

And, of course, once the food is made, you’ll want everything you need for feeding your baby, including baby utensils, dishes and bibs.

When you’re ready to begin introducing your baby to fresh fruits and vegetables in solid form, a fresh food feeder is a safe start, as it reduces the risk of choking.

Easy Starter Recipes

Fruit purees and vegetable purees are the go-to starter recipes. For a variety of great homemade fruit and vegetable puree recipes, including peach puree, apple puree, sweet potato puree, carrot puree and more, check out this resource. It even groups recipes according to age, which is extremely helpful when trying to figure out what foods are appropriate for your baby’s age.

Once you’ve pureed your fruits or vegetables, spoon the mixture into ice cube trays and freeze for up to 24 hrs. Defrost on your kitchen counter until you can easily remove the cubed purees. Place cubes into a labeled freezer bag and put back into the freezer.

Note that homemade baby food can last in the freezer for up to 6 months. Once you get comfortable making baby food, you can save yourself even more time by making large batches on certain days of the month and have a convenient supply of different types of baby food that will last a while.