These 7 Organic Baby Food Recipes for Under $20 can be made in 2 hours and will last you for 2 months! A complete guide to get your started on making homemade baby food – includes a grocery list, step-by-step instructions, 7 organic baby food recipes, list of which purees to serve in which order. Basically, I took all the work out of making your own starter baby purees and left you with just the fun part, your welcome:)
Starting to make homemade baby food can be a little intimating for most parents.
Thoughts of ‘what if I mess up the food’, ‘where do I even start’ or ‘I can’t even cook for myself let alone for my baby’ often fill the heads of new parents. I know those thoughts all flashed through my mind when I started making baby purees.
But I am here to tell you, that not only CAN you make your own baby food, but you can totally ROCK AT IT!
Below, you will find my most comprehensive guide on how to make your first baby purees.
With this guide you are not only going to make 1 puree, nope that would be too easy.
Instead,you are going to make 7 purees all at one go!
Yup, 7!!
You can do it, trust me!
I am going to be right here walking you through everything you need to do. And if you get stuck, just comment below and I will continue to walk you through it.
Because here is the thing about making your own baby food, and parenting in general, all your baby wants from you is for you to do your best. It doesn’t have to be perfect or over the top or on schedule. They just want you to love them and do your best. So even if your burn the bottom of the pears (totally what I did on the recipe below) or add in cinnamon instead of curry, who cares?
Your baby won’t.
Regardless if you did it perfectly or mess it up a little, they will either eat it with a smile or rub the food all over their faces/hands/body.
But what they will know is that you loved them enough to make them that puree that is all over their adorable little faces.
And after reading all the information below and still having a slight panic attack over making your own baby food, then enlist some help.
Call upon your spouse, your own parents or some mommy friends and have a baby food making party.
I made my very first batch of baby food in my mom’s kitchen. And readers are always writing to tell me that they have had a group of mom friends over for have a baby food making party (with wine, of course). So gather up some friends from stroller strides, your mommy group or place an add on nextdoor.com and gather up your own mommy friends to help.
New experiences are always more fun in groups!
Okay, your mommy inspirational talk if over. Time to get pureeing!
Jump straight to Organic baby food recipes —>
- Butternut Squash + Thyme Baby Food Puree
- Broccoli + Chives Baby Food Puree
- Mango + Vanilla Baby Food Puree
- Green Bean + Coconut Oil Baby Food Puree
- Simmered Apple + Cinnamon Baby Food Puree
- Sweet Potato + Mild Curry Baby Food Puree
- Simmered Pear + Cloves Baby Food Puree
Grocery List
1 medium organic Butternut Squash ($1.79)
1 head organic Broccoli (roughly 16 oz) ($2.29)
1 16oz bag of frozen organic mango (can also use 3 fresh mangos) ($2.49)
1 16oz fresh or frozen organic green beans ($2.99)
6 medium organic apples, I used Fuji ($2.99)
5 small or 3 medium organic sweet potatoes ($1.99)
6 medium organic ripe pears ($1.49)
Fresh Thyme and Chives ($3.58)
Total Price = $16.62
If you want to get exactly to $20, you can add in a couple of bananas and 1 avocado to your grocery list. You can smash bananas and avocados with the back of a fork right before feeding it to baby. Which makes them the easiest instant baby food in the world!
I did not count the pinch of cinnamon, curry or cloves in the price above since most people have those on hand and they are completely optional.
Cost per Ounce of Organic Homemade Baby Food
All of this produce makes roughly 116 ounces.
Homemade Baby Food – $0.14 per ounce
Store Bought (average price) – $.43 per ounce
Homemade Baby Food for 116 ounces – $16.24
Store Bought (average price) – $49.88
Saving you over $33!!
Kitchen Equipment You will Need
- Baking Sheet
- Small and Medium Saucepan
- Steamer Basket
- Blender or Food Processor
- Knife and Cutting Board
- Vegetable Peeler
- Measuring Cups and Spoons
- Spatula
- Forks
- Freezer Ice Cube Trays, small glass jars or glass bowls
- Freezer bags and sharpie
Check of my guide on which kitchen tools I love and use.
Step-by-Step Guide on How To Make Baby Food in 2 Hours:
This guide is going to have your multi-tasking like a master. So if multi-tasking isn’t your thing, then you can follow each recipe one at a time and still come up with the same results. You can also team up with a mom friend and work as a team to get these recipes made in no time at all (while having some wine of course;).
1. Start Butternut Squash –Preheat oven to 425 degree F. Line a baking sheet with foil or parchment paper.
2. Cut and de-seed the butternut squash. Put onto the baking sheet skin side down, place in oven and set timer for 40 mins. Squash should be easily pricked with a fork when done. Let cool
3. Start Broccoli – While butternut squash is roasting,bring 2″ of water in a medium saucepan to a boil.
4. Chop Broccoli into florets, peel apple if using and add to a steamer basket. Place the steamer basket on top of boiling water, cover and steam for 7 minutes or until tender. Let cool.
5. Start Mango – While broccoli is steaming, add frozen mango, vanilla and water to a small saucepan and simmer for 3 minutes on low or until just thawed. Let cool.
6. While Mangos are cooling, peel and chop apples.
7. Puree Mango – transfer mango to blender and puree. Transfer puree to freezer trays, glass jars or a bowl. Wash bender and small saucepan.
8. Puree Broccoli – Transfer broccoli to blender, add in chives and any needed liquids and puree. Transfer puree to freezer trays, glass jars or a bowl. Wash blender and steamer basket.
9. Start Apples –Place apples, cinnamon and water in small saucepan, if overflowing you can use a large saucepan. Simmer on med-low for 15 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. Let cool.
10. Start Green Beans – while apples are simmering,bring 2″ of water in a medium saucepan to a boil. Place the trimmed green beans in a steamer basket over boiling water, cover and stream for 7 minutes or until tender. Let cool.
11. While the green beans and apples are cooking and cooling, peel and chop the sweet potatoes and pears.
12. Puree Green Beans – Transfer the green beans and coconut oil to the blender and puree adding liquids if needed. Transfer puree to freezer trays, glass jars or a bowl. Wash blender and steamer basket.
13. Puree Apples – Transfer the apples with the liquids to a blender and puree. Transfer puree to freezer trays, glass jars or a bowl. Wash blender and saucepan.
14. Start Sweet Potatoes – bring 2″ of water in a medium saucepan to a boil. Place sweet potatoes in a steamer basket over boiling water, cover and steam for 14 minutes or until tender. Let cool.
15. Start Pears – while sweet potatoes are cooking,place the pears, cloves and water in a small saucepan, simmer over low heat for 12 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally.Let cool.
16. Puree Butternut Squash – Once cooled, scrape the squash off of the skin and place in blender along with some liquid and thyme and puree until smooth. Transfer puree to freezer trays, glass jars or a bowl. Wash blender.
17. Puree Pears – transfer pears and liquid to a blender and puree. Transfer puree to freezer trays, glass jar or a bowl. Wash blender and saucepan.
18. Puree Sweet Potatoes – transfer the sweet potatoes, liquid and curry to a blender and puree. Transfer puree to freezer trays, glass jars or a bowl. Wash blender and steamer basket.
19. Wash all dishes and celebrate! You just made over 100 ounces of purees in 2 hours!
20. Next Day – take all of the purees out of the freezer and place in freezer bags. Label each bag with recipe name and date. Keep in freezer.
If you don’t have enough freezer ice cube trays for all of these purees, don’t worry. Start with what you have and then place the rest of the purees into glass bowls or glass storage containers into the fridge. Once the purees in the freezer trays are frozen, transfer the cubes of puree to a freezer bag and put them back in freezer. Now transfer the purees that are in the fridge into the freezer trays and freeze. It’s best to get all the purees frozen within 2 days.
How to Introduce Organic Baby Food Puree:
There is no right or wrong order to introduce different foods to baby. The key is to introduce as many different colors, tastes and variety of foods you can to baby in their first year. So introducing apples or sweet potatoes first won’t matter that much in the long game. But since you will have 7 delicious purees waiting patiently in the freezer for your babes,I have listed below what order I recommend introducing the purees to baby.
Again, there is no right or wrong, so go with what you and baby feel like eating at any given time.
And just remember that your baby might not love a certain puree right off the bat, as it can take them up to 15 different tries before deciding if they like a certain food or not, so keep at it. Also I did add smashed avocado and smashed banana to the list below as I believe they are some of the best foods to start in baby’s diet from early on.
Order To Introduce Baby Food Purees:
- Smashed Avocado (can be thinned with breast milk or formula if needed)
- Sweet Potatoes
- Apples
- Green Beans
- Smashed Bananas (can be thinned with breast milk, formula or canned coconut milk)
- Mangos
- Butternut Squash
- Broccoli
- Pears
If you want to follow the Try 1, Wait 3 Days rule to test for allergies, you would serve one puree at a time, wait for 3 days and then start on the next puree. I would recommend this method to anyone that has any prominent allergies in the immediate family or anyone concerned their baby might already have allergies or food sensitivities. I would not let this rule discourage or deter you, because it totally freaked me out when I first started my girls’ on purees. You can totally introduce foods at a faster rate then this. Just listen to your baby and make sure what you are feeding them is agreeing with them. If you notice any rashes or hives on babies (usually on face or bum) then discontinue that food for the time being and start with something else.
Roasted Butternut Squash + Thyme Baby Puree
jump to recipe —>
Broccoli + Chive Baby Puree
jump to recipe —>
Mango + Vanilla Baby Puree
jump to recipe —>
Green Beans + Coconut Oil Baby Puree
jump to recipe —>
Simmered Apples + Cinnamon Baby Puree
jump to recipe —>
Sweet Potatoes + Mild Curry Baby Puree
jump to recipe —>
Simmered Pear + Clove Organic Baby Food
jump to recipe —>
New to making purees?
Then check of my two beginners guides on making purees –Top Tools for Making Baby Purees (which features products I use and love) and The Ultimate Guide on How to Make and Serve Homemade Baby Food.
