If you’re just starting the journey of making homemade baby food, boiling and poaching is a very simple technique. TIP Save the water you use to cook the food, because it is a great ingredient to thin the puree.
I find both poaching and steaming vegetables, and some fruits, to yield a simple flavor profile. This method of cooking lends itself well when you’re exposing Baby to foods for the first time and beginning to add solids to breast milk or formula.
- When it comes to poaching, I put just enough water in the pot to cover the food by about an inch. This yields a more intensely flavored broth.
- I find most food does best when the water is gently boiling or simmering (over a rolling boil).
- I recently came across this trick from Farmers’ Almanac. Add vegetables that grow above ground after water is boiling. Add vegetables that grow below ground before water is boiling.
- Pierce the food with a fork to check the level of doneness. I typically begin checking texture after 2 minutes, and most ingredients don’t require more than 15 minutes.
- We generally prefer a bit of firmness … look for the food to be pierced with a bit of light pressure. Foods that you plan to mash you may want to cook until the food is pierced easily, as it yields a better texture.
- The length of time you boil the food will have a dramatic impact on texture. The longer you boil, the more “mushy” the food will become.
Once the food is cooked, you have several options. You can serve the food whole, mash it with a fork, or puree it. If you puree the food, add breast milk, the formula, or the cooking water to thin the puree to the desired consistency.
Starting from the left: 3 parts peas to 1 part water, 2 parts peas to 1 part water, 1 part pea to 1 part water.
Big and Little Faves
Below is a list of single ingredient baby food purees that were well-loved by both Big and Little. Remove the skin where necessary (or desired) and cut into cubes of a similar size. Simmer until the food can be gently pierced with a fork.
You can change the texture of the puree by adding the cooking water, breast milk, or formula.
- Apple
- Asparagus
- Blueberries (I recommend buying blueberries frozen, if you plan to boil them.)
- Broccoli
- Butternut Squash
- Carrot
- Cauliflower
- Celery Root
- Cherries (Save time and buy these frozen. Pitting cherries is the pits. Sorry … couldn’t help myself.)
- Haricovert
- Nectarines
- Peaches
- Pear
- Peas (Another good one to buy frozen.)
- Pineapple
- Plum
- Spinach (Another good one to buy frozen.)
- Sweet Potato
