How to Make Your Own Baby Food

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Homemade baby food can be a nerve-racking thing for a new mom. Baby companies help take the guess work out of it all by making safe, ready-to-eat foods to start them off. But as my munchkin quickly approached one year and the amount of teeth multiplied, I knew it was time to switch it up with “big people food” from scratch.

By his 9-month checkup, doc said it was time to start Micah on table foods. I decided to do my version of one of his favorite stage 3 baby foods which included sweet potato, carrots and apple. After trying my hand at it once before, I think I’ve struck gold with this simple recipe.

What You’ll Need

• 1 Granny Smith Apple (or whichever kind you prefer)
• 1/2 Large or 1 Small Sweet Potato
• 1 Carrot
• Pinch of Cinnamon
• Pinch of Salt

Prep Your Ingredients

In my experience, the carrots would take the longest to cook so I’d get busy with those first. I like to cut them kinda thin and on an angle to help speed up the process.

Dump ’em in a small pot, add just enough water to cover them completely and add the salt. Cover and cook for 10 minutes before adding the next ingredient.

While your carrots are cooking, peel and slice your sweet potato as thin as you can.

Peel, core and cut the apple into about 1-inch cubes. Add to the pot of carrots after they’ve cooked for about 10 minutes.

Add the cinnamon and stir. Let everything cook on medium-high for another 10-15 minutes.

I like to cover the pot with just a little space left open so that I can let some of the water boil out but not all. You’ll need some of that liquid to help keep the food a bit loose.

After about 10 minutes, use a fork to check on the softness of the carrots by gently pressing down on a few pieces. The apple chunks and sweet potato will likely have softened by now.

Once everything is to your desired softness, you can divvy up the food into separate containers or these super cute bowls which double as storage with awesome leak-proof lids. Or you may prefer to mash the mixture with a fork before storing. Up to you!

I usually wait until lunchtime or dinnertime approaches before I mash and mix. No particular reason. That’s just how life has been going. 🙂

Even though I filled my bowls with the food, Micah isn’t eating that all in one sitting. So, when it’s time to eat the next day, I apportion what I need and pop it in the microwave.

It’s been hard getting him to eat chicken on its own all this time, so I finally had the genius idea to just add it to the mix. DUH!

I strip off a few pieces of an already cooked chicken thigh (there’s a little cooked spinach in there too), put everything on a cutting board and get to choppin’!

I don’t know about you but homemade baby food has had me so nervous! Will I get the pieces small enough?! Aaaah!

So, I chop, fold, mash and mix until I’m good and happy!

And VOILA!

DINNERTIME!!!

Everything is just soft enough for Micah to mash if he wants but with small, chunky bits that he can chew but are also swallowable (←totally not a word!).

You know your child so just use your better judgement (and common sense) as to how tiny you want your chunks and bits to be according to their age. If you’re nervous about getting the consistency just right (like I was), many have found a food masher to be very helpful.

I’ve found that this recipe gives me just enough for a few portions to keep in the fridge that I can just quickly pop in the microwave. My goal is for the food to be as fresh as possible so I didn’t want to have too much food in “reserve”. You could freeze it to solve this problem or just make less portions.

I really hope this was helpful. I’ve been so nervous about this stage but I think I’m getting the hang of it. 😉

How about you… did YOU go the homemade baby food route the whole way or did you depend on store-bought foods at first? What table foods did you start your little one off with?