Make Your Own Baby Food

One of the greatest things about making your own baby food is the complete control of what your baby eats for a fraction of the cost of buying the store-bought variety. Try reading the labels on commercial baby foods, and they often contain more water, salt, starch, and sugar than homemade versions, and there's added preservatives, and fillers and other ingredients in there as well.

Preparing your own baby food is easy, fun and healthy! Homemade baby foods contain more nutrients, and no added fillers and artificial ingredients. As a side benefit, babies start acquiring a taste of the regular foods that the family normally eats.

Start from scratch, or if it's more convenient when cooking vegetables for the family meal, just set aside one or two servings for baby before adding any salt or other seasonings. Then just drop the veggies into a food processor or blender with a bit of the cooking liquid and viola -- perfect baby food!

At four to six months most babies are ready for solid foods, but check with your pediatrician for specifics on what's best for YOUR baby.

What's On This Page?

Equipment Needed

Storing Baby Food Cubes

Cost of Homemade Baby Food

Food Savings

Equipment Needed

In addition to the pressure-cooker, your kitchen is probably well stocked with everything you need to start making your own baby food. A stand or handheld blender, and/or a food processor is needed. Either type of blender will make a very fine and smooth liquid puree or juice. The food processor can also make a puree, but it is a little coarser and not as smooth. The food processor can also slice, dice, chop, shred all kinds of raw and cooked foods, including meats, and that makes it a great time saver as well.

The Cost of Homemade Baby Food

One of the most commonly asked questions is "Is it worth it to make my own baby food when the jars are so convenient? Have you taken a look at the cost of commercial baby food? Why does is cost so much to buy those little jars of smashed up regular food for little ones that don't quite have all their teeth?

Prices may vary, but remember that the actual cost savings is an additional benefit compared to good health and the added nutrition and peace of mind in knowing exactly what is going into your baby's tummy,

Money Savings
Just using the sale ads from a local grocery store, you can see this is a potential cost savings of hundreds of dollars annually.
Fruit or Veggie	Gerber or Beechnut 2 1/2 Ounce Jar	Homemade 16 Ounce Fresh or Frozen
Peas	$0.28 per oz $0.69 Total	$0.09 per oz $1.50 Total
Pears	$0.28 per oz $0.69 Total	$.06 per oz $1.00 Total
Sweet Potatoes	$0.28 per oz $0.69 Total	$.05 per oz $.89 Total

Preparation

Special care should be taken when preparing foods for babies because they are more vulnerable to germs than are older children and adults. Food preparation tools, ingredients, work surfaces, and hands should be as clean as possible before preparing baby food. Raw food contains bacteria. Never let cooked food come into contact with raw food. Thoroughly wash cutting boards and utensils that have been used with raw foods to avoid the cross-contamination.

All fresh produce must be washed, peeled, cored or seeds removed, and cut into uniform 1 inch chunks for best results. Don't add salt, spices, fats, seasonings or condiments. Don't add any kind of sugar, honey, syrup or any other form of sweetener. Babies do not need the extra flavors.

Pressure Cooking Baby Food

Using a pressure to steam foods preserves the most nutrients , and that ensures that your family and your babies are getting the best nutrition. Steamed in the pressure cooker, your baby's fruits and vegetables will have the most nutrients because the food cooks so quickly using very little water.

Researchers cooked food in four ways: microwaved, steamed, boiled and pressure cooked. Among the things they measured was the healthful flavonoids, antioxidants that destroy free radicals which can damage our DNA, possibly leading to cancer, stroke and other diseases. The results have been widely reported, with microwaving removing 97.2 percent of the flavonoids, boiling removed 66.0 percent, steaming removed 11.1 percent and pressure-cooking removed only 8.8 percent.

Start with my main recipe to make countless variations of this basic puree by mixing fruit and vegetable combinations according to your baby's age and needs. Mix-N-Match to vary the taste, color and texture that best suits baby's taste likes and dislikes.

Use the directions in the Cooking Time Charts for Vegetables and Fruits to determine cooking times.

Cook small amounts of several different fruits and vegetables at the same time using ramekins or custard cups. Place the rack in the cooker and add 1/2 cup water. Fill each cup with different chopped fruits and vegetables. Arrange the cups on the rack, offset and stack a second and third layer [depending on the height of you cooker] of cups and cook as directed. The cups can be removed to a wire rack to cool using long handled tongs or oven mitts.

Fresh Fruits	Fresh Vegetables	Master Baby Food Recipe
cut into uniform 1 inch chunks except where noted		Fruits and Vegetables Place the rack in the pressure cooker and add 1/2 cup water. Add up to 1 lb. cut fruits or veggies, or combinations to a steamer basket. Position basket on the rack, above the water level. Alternatively, place small amounts of several different fruits and vegetables in ramekins or custard cups. as outlined above. Lock the lid in place. Bring to 15psi over high heat, immediately reduce the heat to the lowest possible setting to stabilize and maintain that pressure. Cook 3 minutes. Remove from heat and use the cold water release method to stop the cooking immediately. Open the lid as soon as the cooker is depressurized and quickly remove the food. Use whatever appliance you have to make a puree of good consistency for the age and needs of your baby. Add a little water, milk or formula, plain unsweetened and unsalted fruit or vegetable juice, or defatted broth or stock to thin the puree to the desired consistency. Blend the ingredients long enough to make a smooth consistency for the youngest babies, and increase the texture as babies grow. Refrigerate in a tightly closed container and serve within two days. Or pack into ice cube trays to freeze and then store in sealed plastic freezer bags and use within 1 month.
Blueberries	Asparagus
Cherries	Beans
Grapes	Beet Greens
Mangoes	Beets - cut 1/2 inch pieces
Nectarines	Bell Peppers
Papayas	Broccoli flowerets
Peaches	Brussels Sprouts
Pears	Cabbage
Pineapples	Carrots - cut 1/2 inch pieces
Plums	Cauliflower flowerets
Rhubarb	Celery
	Collard Greens
	Corn kernels
	Dandelion Greens
	Eggplant
	Green Beans
	Green Peas
	Greens
	Kale
	Mushrooms
	Mustard Greens
	Okra
	Onions
	Parsley
	Peas
	Peppers
	Potatoes - cut 1/2 inch pieces
	Pumpkins - cut 1/2 inch pieces
	Rutabagas - cut 1/2 inch pieces
	Shell Peas
	Spinach
	Summer Squash
	Sweet Corn
	Sweet Green Peppers
	Sweet Potatoes - cut 1/2 inch pieces
	Swiss Chard
	Tomatoes
	Turnip Greens
	Turnips - cut 1/2 inch pieces
	Waxed Beans
	Winter Squash - cut 1/2 inch pieces
	Yams - cut 1/2 inch pieces
	Yellow Beans
	Zucchini

Storing Baby Food Cubes

Ice cube trays are perfect for freezing single servings of baby food. Fill the trays, freeze until firm, and store the cubes in a freezer bag. One or two cubes make the perfect serving size, and they can be reheated very quickly. If you do not plan to freeze your homemade baby food, make the puree on a day to day, or every other day, basis. It is recommended that fresh pureed baby food be stored no longer than 48 hours in the refrigerator. Baby food cubes may be safely kept in the freezer for 3 months, but it is preferable to use the cubes within 1 month for best taste.