10 Options For Making Healthy Baby Meals

Healthy cooking for your child is much easier than you might think. In this article, discover the best tips and some ideas to incorporate into your cookbook.

If you’ve started complementary feeding, our article is timely! We’ll show you how you can prepare healthy meals for your baby with little effort. How about exploring all of our options?

Food should always be included as recommended by your pediatrician. It should be noted that it is during these first moments that the child develops an appetite for different flavors. For this reason, you should expose your child to a wide variety of different tastes.

Of course, you can adapt the recipes to foods that your child has already tried. Remember that it is often recommended to incorporate foods one at a time in order to detect possible food allergies.

Preparing healthy baby food

Before you get down to work and prepare healthy meals for your baby at home, it’s important that you know what foods you can incorporate for their age. Here are some general suggestions:

• Up to 6 months : exclusive breastfeeding. In the case of bottle feeding, the incorporation of food can be done between 4 and 6 months
• Between 6 and 12 months : fruits, vegetables, cereals, legumes, eggs, meat, chicken, fish and olive oil
• Between 12 and 24 months : soft cheese, yogurt and whole milk
• From 3 years old : nuts, apples in pieces, raw carrots in pieces and any food that was previously prohibited because it could cause a risk of suffocation

Healthy cooking tips for your child

When it comes to shopping:

• Buy fresh fruits and vegetables : try to use them within a maximum of three days so that they do not lose their properties.
• Choose Lean Meats : A good way to prepare healthy meals for your baby is to buy lean meats to avoid excess fat. If necessary, degrease your meats before cooking. Consult your pediatrician for the best options and quantities.
  • If you opt for independent feeding of the baby instead of purees, remember to present the soft meats in small pieces. Remember to talk to your doctor about your decision so that they can advise you.

When it comes to cooking:

• Remember to wash vegetables and fruit well, clean your work surface, and use clean utensils for each food. It is important to avoid cross-contamination of food.
• Minimize the use of salt when cooking : the amount of salt should be really minimal so that the kidneys of infants are not overloaded. Thus, up to a year, consumption should not exceed 1 gram of salt per day. And between a year and three years, 2 grams per day.
• Choose olive oil over other fats : olive oil provides monounsaturated fatty acids, unsaturated fatty acids and also vitamin E. Experts recommend consuming it from the start of complementary food, always in small doses and raw.
• The best cooking options are boiling, baking, and frying (as long as you use little fat).

Other ideas

• Use cooking broth : Vegetable cooking broth, for example, can be wonderful for cooking rice or other grains like quinoa. It will make the cereal taste different (and tasty). Don’t waste it!
• Add milk to purees : If you prepare your child’s porridge and notice that it is too solid, instead of adding water, opt for milk. You can use the milk your baby is currently consuming, including breast milk.
• Freeze foods that you don’t use during the day : It’s a good idea to use an ice cube tray to freeze small portions of food.

10 healthy food ideas for your baby

Baby meals:

1. Rice with chicken and vegetables : choose the vegetables you want. Then boil them with the chicken in small pieces. Remove and reserve. Then cook the rice in the cooking broth. When it’s ready, you can put everything in a blender if you want a puree, mash with a fork or serve in chunks.
2. Zucchini Cream : Boil a large potato, a large zucchini and half an onion (all vegetables should be peeled and cut) until cooked. Then use a potato masher or fork, depending on the texture you desire.
3. Lentils with vegetables : boil the lentils with a peeled and chopped carrot, half a chopped onion and 2 peeled and seeded tomatoes. When the dish is ready, you can mix it or serve it as is.
4. Macaroons in Tomato Sauce : Prepare a sauce with an onion, tomato and carrot cut into small pieces to add nutrients to the macaroni.
5. Vegetable tortilla : if you have already incorporated the egg into your child’s diet, you can make a tortilla with a variety of chopped boiled vegetables and an egg. Easy and delicious!
6. Mashed vegetables and fish : boil a zucchini, a small potato, half an onion, a leek and 80 grams of lean fish. When everything is cooked, go to the blender.
7. Meatballs & Vegetables : These meatballs can be frozen so you always have healthy baby food ready in a minute. Boil a carrot, a leek, 40 grams of green beans and 40 grams of lean meat. Remove excess water, grind and shape your meatballs. Instead of frying, bake in the oven.

Desserts for babies

1. Apple, pear and banana porridge : cook an apple with a pear. They must be peeled, seeded and cut into cubes. When they are tender, remove them from the heat and mix them with the banana. If you want more liquid fruit pulp, stir in the milk your child usually drinks. Do not add sugar.
2. Banana and Orange : This dessert is super easy. Mash a banana with a fork and mix it with the juice of half an orange. It’s ready !
3. Fruit yogurt: add fruit pulp to your baby’s yogurt. Or just small pieces of fresh fruit! Your child will love it!

General considerations

Preparing healthy meals for your baby can be really easy. Just choose healthy ingredients, opting primarily for fresh fruits and vegetables, lean meats, and whole grains. Cook them without adding fat, excess salt or sugar.

Remember that your child’s stomach is small, so don’t force him to eat. What seems like little food may be more than enough for him. Doctors recommend letting the child guide the intake according to their needs.