Sweet potatoes and pears are a natural combination. This recipe for Sweet Potato Pear Puree is a versatile pairing and a perfect flavor base to many incredible combinations you can make your own. I craft recipes that appeal to both adults and babies. Develop your baby’s palate and save yourself time by cooking once for the entire family. Try this recipe as a side dish.
This recipe freezes beautifully. Check-out this post for a recommendation on the perfect ice cube trays to freeze your homemade baby food.
Introducing Foods to Baby
When introducing a new food to Baby, I err on the side of caution and introduce only one new ingredient at a time to watch for allergies. If 2 of the 3 ingredients in this recipe are new, consider starting with a more simple recipe, Sweet Potato Puree. Alternatively, swap the coconut milk for breast milk / formula or the water used to cook the pears.
On Sweet Potatoes
I prefer jewel sweet potatoes (orange in color). Jewel sweet potatoes have more nutrients (e.g., beta carotene) than their white counterparts and the color is visually vibrant. Our grocery store happened to have white sweet potato, so I decided to give it a go for this recipe. I noticed the white sweet potato had a slightly less sweet taste and a more tacky texture when pureed.
What is the difference between a yam and sweet potato?
An easy visual cue is the skin of a yam has a bark-like appearance. Check-out this explanation.
Sweet Potato Pear Puree
2-3 sweet potatoes
2-3 pears
1/3 – 3/4 cup coconut milk
Preheat oven to 375℉.
Scrub sweet potato to remove residue, and pierce with paring knife 3 times Turn sweet potato over and pierce opposite side 3 times.
Place directly on oven rack. For easy clean-up, place a sheet pan or aluminum foil below sweet potato to catch drippings.
Bake for 60-75 minutes, until the sweet potato is pierced easily with a paring knife.
While the sweet potato cooks, wash and chop the pear into uniform pieces. For tips on chopping pear, check-out this post. Add water to a pot and bring to a simmer. The height of the water should just cover the top of the pears. Add the pears and cook for 4-6 minutes until easily pierced with a fork. Add the cooked pears to a bowl.
Remove the sweet potatoes from oven. Allow the sweet potato to cool slightly. Use a paring knife to score a plus sign. Pinch each side of the sweet potato and push down and slightly in to open the sweet potato. This allows the steam to escape.
Scoop out the flesh of the sweet potato and add to the bowl with pear. Add 1/3 cup coconut milk. Puree with immersion blender. Continue to add coconut milk until the desired consistency is achieved.
Note, if you would rather use a blender (rather than the immersion blender) allow the ingredients to sufficiently cool or puree in small batches to avoid a blender explosion mishap that can occur when blending hot liquids.
Make It Your Own
Sweet Potato Pear is a versatile baby food base, and there are many simple options to make it your own.
- Reserve the water used to cook the pears and substitute for coconut milk.
- Retain the skin … sweet potato skin provides even more nutrient value.
- Create a more intense flavor by roasting, rather than baking, the sweet potato and / or pear. Check-out this post for roasting tips and tricks.
- Add a savory element by swapping the coconut milk for chicken broth. I recommend this approach if you opt for the savory modifications.
- Add complexity by adding a bit of fresh rosemary, thyme, or onion granules.
- Add a warm, earthy note with roasted garlic.
- Add a hint of sweetness with maple syrup or honey.
- Create warm flavor with cinnamon, cloves or nutmeg.
- Add protein with sun or almond butter.
- Make it rich by adding butter or heavy cream.
- Add tang by adding kefir or yogurt.
- Add texture by mashing with a fork instead of pureeing with a blender.
