Kris Dovbniak • Chef & Recipe Developer

Whether you decide to start with purees or self feeding (or a combo, like us), making baby food at home is not only exponentially more affordable than buying it- it’s EASY! So many mamas are intimidated by the thought of making food for baby, but you truly only need a few ingredients, and a few simple tools to make dozens of cubes of fresh, real food baby food. Today I’m sharing 20 of my favorite (and Wren’s favorite) easy purees using 13 simple, easy-to-find ingredients, packed with nutrition. Stay tuned for her favorite finger foods! 

 

13 ingredients, 20 recipes. With only 13 simple ingredients (plus a few pantry staples, listed below), you can create 20 super easy, delicious recipes for baby. And really, more, I’m sure– you can create any combo you (and your baby) love! The sky’s the limit! Make a bunch and freeze and have food for weeks! 

 

The list: 

1. Bananas 

2. Avocados

3. Apples

4. Frozen peas 

5. Frozen green beans 

6. Frozen berries

7. Frozen mango

8. Fresh spinach 

9. Fresh kale 

10. Carrots

11. Sweet Potatoes 

12. Boneless, Skinless Chicken Thighs 

13. Grass-fed Ground Beef

 

Extras: 
Liquids: Breast milk, formula, filtered water or bone broth
Full-fat greek yogurt
Chia Seeds

Canned Coconut Milk 

 

The tools: 

Pot with a steamer basket 

Tongs or a slotted spoon 

Colander 

Immersion Blender or Small blender (Vita Mix works but requires larger batches)

Containers (freezeable if you intend to freeze) or reusable pouches (I recommend a funnel with these) 

 

 

The combos: 

1. Carrot + Bone Broth Puree

2. Carrot, Sweet Potato + Spinach Puree 

3. Green bean + Bone Broth Puree 

4. Green bean, Sweet Potato + Beef (Puree or Stew)

5. Pea, Spinach and Bone Broth Puree

6. Spinach, Sweet Potato + Chicken or Beef (Puree or stew) 

7. Sweet Potato, Apple + Chicken 

8. Pea, Mango + Kale Puree

9. Banana, Mango + Spinach 

10. Mango, Chicken, Sweet Potato + Coconut (with curry) 

11. Simple Avocado Mash (with cumin) 

12. Avocado, Banana + Greek Yogurt Smoothie 

13. Pea, Green Bean + Avocado 

14. Banana, Berry + Avocado Puree 

15. Banana, Mango + Spinach Smoothie 

16. Berry Chia Coconut Pudding 

17. Easy Applesauce (with cinnamon)

18. Sweet Potato + Apple Puree (with nutmeg) 

19. Pea, Apple, Spinach + Chia Puree 

20. Berry, Avocado + Coconut Smoothie 

The basic recipes: 

 

Simple purees (veggie only- Carrot + Bone Broth Puree, Carrot, Sweet Potato + Spinach** Puree, Green bean + Bone Broth Puree, Pea, Spinach and Bone Broth Puree) 

 

3/4-1 cup chopped organic vegetables (fresh or frozen- peeled if necessary) 
1/2- 1 cup greens (if using) 
1/2-3/4 cup* liquid of choice (bone broth, filtered water or combination of water and breastmilk/formula) 
optional: add 1 tbsp healthy fat at the end (avocado oil, olive oil, coconut oil, ghee) 
 

1. Steam veggies until soft (can pierce easily with a fork). 

2. Let cool slightly and place in blender or mason jar (for immersion blender) and cover with 1/2 cup liquid. Blend until smooth, adding more liquid as needed to reach desired consistency. Add greens (if using) and blend until smooth. 

*Babies as young as 6 months tend to prefer a thinner puree (think tomato soup- just coats a spoon). It’s a good idea to thicken/mash parts after a few days/weeks (especially if not also self feeding) to begin to introduce textures. 

**You can substitute spinach for any green you like– kale, collards, swiss chard. They just might have more of a ‘green flavor’– this is ok! You want babes to get used to different flavors. 

Meat + Veggie/Fruit Mixtures (Green bean, Sweet Potato + Beef, Spinach, Sweet Potato + Chicken or Beef, Sweet Potato, Apple + Chicken, Mango, Chicken, Sweet Potato + Coconut) 

 

1 cup chopped organic vegetables 
1/4- 1/2 cup cooked meat (for beef: cook in a pan with a tbsp of oil until no longer pink. seasonings as desired– no salt!. For chicken thighs, I prefer roasting, skin on, seasonings optional- and removing from bone before pureeing. You can then use the bones to make broth!). 
1/2- 1 cup greens (if using) 
1/4-1/2 cup fruit (if using) 
1/2-1 cup liquid  (bone broth, coconut milk as indicated or as you choose)

optional: add 1 tbsp healthy fat at the end (avocado oil, olive oil, coconut oil, ghee) 

1. Steam veggies until soft (can pierce easily with a fork). Cook meat until done. 

2. Let cool slightly and place in blender or mason jar (for immersion blender) and cover with 1/2 cup liquid.

3. Option: Blend until smooth or pulse until chunky consistency. Puree might be very thick– see #5. 
 4. Add greens (if using) and blend until smooth (if you want a chunky puree, I recommend adding the greens first. They might cook slightly, this is fine!).

5. If using fresh or frozen fruit, add right at the end, before adding extra liquid to reach desired consistency (fruit is higher in water and will loosen puree naturally) 

 

Veggie + Fruit Mixtures (Pea, Mango + Kale Puree, Banana, Mango + Spinach, Pea, Green Bean + Avocado, Banana, Berry + Avocado Puree, Sweet Potato + Apple Puree, Pea, Apple, Spinach + Chia Puree) 

1/2 cup organic (fresh or frozen) vegetables
1/2 cup organic (fresh or frozen) 
1/2-1 cup greens (if using) 
1/2-1 cup liquid as desired (water, breast milk or coconut milk work well, here) 
optional: 1 tbsp chia seeds 

1. Steam veggies until soft (can pierce easily with a fork).

2. Meanwhile, add 1/2 cup liquid and greens to blender and blend until smooth. You want to put the greens in first, with these mixtures. If you forget- that’s cool, too. But it will be most smooth this way!
3. Let veggies cool slightly and place in blender. Blend well.
3.  Add fruit to blender. Blend until smooth (or chunky, as desired). Add more liquid as needed. If adding chia seeds, add an additional 1/4 cup liquid AFTER blended. 
 

Simple Avocado Mash 

1/2 avocado 
1 tsp lemon or lime juice (note some babies react slightly to the acidity when first trying citrus fruits) 
cumin, if desired 
dulse, for seasoning 

1. Mash avocado with citrus and seasonings if using. If you want a smoother texture, you can puree– but most babies do just fine with well-mashed avocado as  a creamy way to introduce texture!

 

Easy Applesauce 

1 organic apple, peeled and chopped 
1/4 cup water (more as needed) 
cinnamon + nutmeg
optional: 2-3 tsp ghee 

1. Place apple and water (as well as seasonings and ghee if using) in a small covered pot. Bring to a simmer and cook on very low until soft. 

2. Remove cover and let cool slightly. Puree, adding more liquid if needed (cooking liquid is usually enough!)

 

Smoothies (Avocado, Banana + Greek Yogurt Smoothie, Banana, Mango + Spinach Smoothie, Berry, Avocado + Coconut Smoothie) 

1 cup greens 
1/2-1 cup fruit 
1/2 avocado (if using) 
1/2-1 cup liquid 

1. Place all ingredients in a blender.

2. Blend slowly, starting with 1/2 cup liquid and adding more as desired (you can start to feed smoothies with a spoon, and then thin out when baby can use a straw)

Berry, Chia + Coconut Pudding 

2 tbsp chia seeds
1/3 cup fresh or frozen berries of choice
1/2 cup full-fat canned coconut milk (shake well to incorporate all those healthy medium chain fats! Don’t worry if it’s chunky, it will smooth out). 

1. Add all ingredients to a blender. Blend well and store in a mason jar overnight. 

2. Add more liquid (breastmilk or formula, or more coconut milk) to thin before serving (or serve as is if your baby is cool with the texture!)

Additional Resources:
Homemade Bone Broth Recipe