Easy-peasy: Making your own baby food can be a snap

By Lauren Johnson

As parents, we spend so much of our little ones’ earliest years chewing on nutrition, from decisions about breast- versus formula-feeding, to thoughts on introducing solids and expanding kiddo’s palate. While the baby-food phase lasts less than a year for most, this short time offers a delicious opportunity to help infants and tots learn to savor healthy foods, varied textures and a buffet of flavors.

“I want my daughter to interact with real food, to know what she’s eating, and to experience a variety of tastes and textures,” said Nina Thomas of Mount Pleasant.

To that end, many moms and dads choose to dish out homemade purees rather than retail rations.

“Even minimal processing removes essential nutrients from foods and alters their taste and texture,” said fellow Mount Pleasant mom Jen Pulsifer, pointing out that a visual comparison of vibrant homemade pureed peas to their dull-green commercial counterpart made choosing what to feed her children easy.

While producing baby food may seem like a tough task to swallow, cooking up wholesome offerings is actually fairly simple and quick. And when it comes to infant fare, homemade options boast fewer additives, less packaging waste and a lower cost than store-bought jars, tubs and pouches.

“I wanted to know exactly what I was putting in my children’s bodies. With so many different GMOs and preservatives added to food these days, I made sure every bit of what they ate was organic,” said Charleston mom Buffie Lilly.

Baby bites

Though the market offers a smorgasbord of cute equipment for baby food makers, gearing up for DIY purees doesn’t have to take a big bite out of your budget or cabinet space. Chances are your cupboards already hold the basic tools necessary for creating your own infant cuisine: a pot or microwave-safe covered bowl, and a blender or food processor. Other handy but not vital utensils include a strainer, a coffee or spice grinder, a food mill and ice cube trays or small freezer-safe storage containers.

Of course, commercial baby food systems, while certainly not necessary, can speed up the process. If you are looking to invest, many parents like the all-in-one steamer-blender-storage systems from Baeba Babycook and Baby Brezza, which simplify day-by-day preparations.

If your plate’s already pretty full, however, you’ll likely find it more efficient to “power cook” and store enough baby food to last from a week to a few months.

“I bought all of my ingredients during my weekly shopping trip and then spent an hour and a half each Sunday preparing large batches,” Thomas said.

The dish

So what to put in the grocery cart or market basket?

“Making my own foods meant that I could buy fresh and local at the farmers’ market,” said Kristen Cassi, owner of Persimmon Café and mom to two. “Buying in-season foods also tends to be less expensive.”

Stock up on meats like poultry, pork, lean beef, and white fish; whole grains; and fresh fruits and vegetables. If necessary, you can always turn to produce that’s canned (think pumpkin, beans, and pears), jarred (like applesauce) or frozen (peas, please). Just be sure to check labels and steer clear of added sugar, salt, fat and unnecessary additives. Popular produce choices include baby carrots, green beans, butternut squash, sweet potatoes, blueberries and plums.

Easy to prepare and packed with healthy fats that feed brain development, creamy avocados make an ideal early baby food. Simply peel, pit and smash with a fork. (Prep bananas the same way.) Voila! You’ve just made your first baby foods.

Grain cereals such as rice and oatmeal are also common first foods, but commercial infant versions are often made from nutritionally stripped white rice. Create your own mineral-packed cereal powders from brown rice (plain, jasmine or basmati), old-fashioned rolled oats, or barley by milling the grains in a food processor, clean spice or coffee grinder, or blender with a milling blade. These DIY cereals will keep for several months stored inside an airtight container in a cool, dry place. To prepare, add a quarter cup of your powdered grain to one cup of boiling water, then whisk over low heat for 10 minutes.

As a vegetarian, Mount Pleasant mom Kara Skahill relied on protein sources such as Greek yogurt, cottage cheese and tofu. Another option? Fully cooked hard-boiled egg yolks separate easily from the whites and can quickly be smashed with the back of a spoon into a creamy protein paste perfect for fortifying fruit and vegetable purees.

Boil it down

Grilling, roasting, baking and steaming retains food’s water-soluble nutrients, but you can also rely on boiling or microwaving to fully cook meats and soften vegetables and fruits that can’t be smashed raw.

“My favorite way to make baby food is to roast vegetables and meats in the oven with some herbs and olive oil,” said stay-at-home mom Melissa Bowman of Isle of Palms.

Once fork-tender, allow foods to cool so steam won’t pop the blender top (let them chill overnight if you prefer to work in baby steps). Puree using an immersion or upright blender or food processor until desired consistency is reached. Some foods, such as peas and meats, may be dry or gritty without a liquid addition, like a simple broth or the nutrient-packed water that’s left over from cooking your veggies. (Add a spoonful of liquid and then blend for a few seconds, repeating until desired consistency is reached.) To create a variety of textures, experiment with processing times; press purees through a sieve to yield smoother baby foods.

Purees will save in the refrigerator for one to two days, but if you’re tackling big batches, it’s best to divide and freeze. A simple ice cube tray (or lidded tray like those from Fresh Baby and Mumi&Bubi) holds several one-ounce servings, and larger portions can be frozen in silicone muffin cups. Once solid, turn out the cubes and group by type in labeled freezer bags. Additional freezer storage options include OXO Tot Baby Blocks in two- and four-ounce sizes and the Infantino Fresh Squeezed pouch filling station. One savvy mom even funneled her foods into breast milk storage bags.

To serve, thaw a day’s worth of foods in the fridge overnight. In a pinch, pouches can be defrosted quickly in hot water and cubes in the microwave (nuke for 30 seconds, stir and repeat until thawed; stir well before feeding to eliminate hot spots).

Whether you do so during the cooking process or just prior to serving, Thomas’s final advice is to “season, season, season.”

“To expose my baby to many different tastes, I would flavor fruits and veggies with coconut oil as well as herbs and spices like curry, garlic, and onion powder, amaranth, ginger, cumin and cinnamon,” she said.

“Now that my kids are past the baby-food stage, I see very clearly the benefits of exposing them to real flavors and textures early on,” agreed Pulsifer. “We cook one meal for the whole family, and my boys regularly enjoy complex foods such as sushi, grilled fish, steak, sautéed carrots, vegetable stir fry and pork chops.” LCP

Mix It Up


• Peas, carrots and tofu with mild curry powder

• Sweet potatoes with cottage cheese and cinnamon

-Kara Skahill

Salmon with yogurt dill sauce

- Kristen Cassi

• Brown rice with chicken or turkey

- Buffie Lilly

• Mashed salmon with pesto

• Pureed spaghetti

- Jen Pulsifer

• Roasted chicken with Parmesan risotto

- Melissa Bowman

• Sweet potato, avocado, & quinoa

• Beets and apples with cinnamon

- Nina Thomas

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