Top 10 Baby Food Recipes for 8- to 10-Month-Olds

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup boneless chicken or turkey, chopped and cooked
• 1/4 cup soft cooked apple (no skin or seeds), or 1/4 cup natural applesauce
• Handful of diced carrots (optional)
• Pinch of cinnamon (optional)

Directions:

1. Place chicken with cooked apple in a food processor or blender.
   
2. Add cinnamon.
   
3. Puree or mash to a consistency suitable for baby, adding water to thin if necessary.

Quick Tip! This recipe freezes with mixed results. It may thaw to a gritty and watery texture. For best results reheat in a saucepan so that ingredients may easily be recombined.

Ingredients:

• 1 sweet potato, peeled and diced
• 2 ripe peaches, pitted and cubed
• Water
• Pinch of cinnamon or ginger

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375° F
   
2. Combine sweet potato and peaches in a shallow baking dish and add just enough water to slightly cover the food. Sprinkle a pinch of cinnamon or ginger over the dish and stir, cover with foil.
   
3. Bake for approximately 20 minutes or until peaches and sweet potatoes are fork tender—check on the water level often.
   
4. Once fully baked, reserve any remaining water and transfer sweet potatoes and peaches to a bowl to cool.
   
5. Puree or mash as needed for baby’s texture preference.

May be frozen but some wateriness may occur upon thawing—try adding some plain whole milk yogurt to reconstitute.

Quick Tip! You can double, triple or even quadruple this recipe and turn it into a delicious holiday side dish for the grown-ups and bigger kids in the family. Simply mash all the ingredients together, add a ½ cup whole milk yogurt per each doubling of the recipe and then return the mix to a baking dish. Drizzle with maple syrup, sprinkle on some chopped nuts and warm in a heated oven for 15 minutes.

Ingredients:

• 3 medium sweet potatoes
• 1 large apple (Macintosh or Granny Smith work well!)
• 2 cups water or broth (low sodium, all natural chicken or vegetable broth) for the lentils
• 1 cup water (to steam sweet potatoes and apples)
• 1 cup yellow lentils (or any dried type of lentils)
• 2 Tbl. olive oil
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. (or a small pinch) cardamom

Directions:

1. Peel the sweet potatoes and cube in 1 inch cubes.
   
2. Peel, core and dice the apple into small dices.
   
3. Bring 2 cups of water or broth to a boil in one saucepot and add the lentils.
   
4. Return the lentils to boil and then turn heat to low.
   
5. Simmer lentils on low heat for 20 to 30 minutes or until the lentils have become soft.
   
6. Add 1 cup of water to the other saucepot and insert a steamer basket into the pot.
   
7. Add the sweet potato cubes and diced apple to the steamer basket and steam for approximately 20 minutes, until the sweet potatoes are fork tender.
   
8. Once the lentils and sweet potatoes and apples are cooked, remove from the stove top and drain excess liquid from each saucepot.
   
9. Allow foods to cool to warm.
   
10. Once foods have cooled, combine the foods together in a large bowl with 2 Tbl. of olive oil.
    
11. Sprinkle in the spices and toss well.

Quick Tip! Mash the salad and serve as a finger food meal or puree for babies who are not enjoying lumps and bumps. Sweet potatoes, apples and lentils are a powerful combination. This salad is great for grown-ups too and will serve up lots of iron, protein and vitamin C as well as vitamin A.

Ingredients:

• 4 parsnips
• 4 carrots
• 2 apples
• Pinch of cinnamon
• 1 Tbl. olive oil

Directions:

1. Peel and dice carrots, parsnips and apples then add them to a bowl with olive oil and a pinch of cinnamon, stir to combine.
   
2. Dump the contents of the bowl into a lightly oiled baking dish and bake at 400° F for approximately 25 minutes or until all the foods are fork tender.
   
3. When finished roasting, allow to cool and then puree as needed, adding water to thin if required.

While this dish may be frozen, upon thawing you might find a mushy or gritty texture. For best results, freeze in portions that have not been pureed and then thaw and puree as needed.

Did You Know? Parsnips contain a good amount of calcium, vitamin C and even folate. These root vegetables have a delicious nutty and sweet taste that most babies love.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup sweet potato puree
• 2 egg yolks (you may use whole eggs if you wish)
• Butter or olive oil
• Pinch of pepper

Directions:

1. Warm the butter or olive oil in the frying pan.
   
2. Combine sweet potato and eggs in a bowl and whisk together.
   
3. Add mixture to the warmed pan and scramble with a wooden spoon until thoroughly cooked.
   
4. Puree or mash as needed to reach baby’s texture preference.

Not recommended for freezing but makes a perfect finger food and can be stored in the fridge for up to three days.

Did You Know? While eggs may have a bad reputation for being high in cholesterol, making eggs a part of baby’s diet will not lead to dangerously high cholesterol levels.  Babies need more fats and even some cholesterol for healthy growth and development. 

Ingredients:

• 3 or 4 large apples (Macintosh, Gala or Braeburn all work well.)
• Butter (optional)
• Cinnamon (optional)
• Brown sugar and raisins (optional but a must add if you will be serving to the “big kids”)

Directions:

1. Core the apples but leave the peel on.
   
2. Wipe center insides of each apple with butter if desired and/or add a few drops of water-sprinkle some cinnamon over the apples if you like.
   
3. Add raisins and a tiny dash of brown sugar to the inside of each apple if you like.
4. Place the prepared apples upright in a baking pan. Add 2 inches of water to the pan and cover with foil.
   
5. Bake at 400° F for approximately 40 minutes or until skin puckers and/or fruit begins to bubble.
   
6. Once apples have baked, allow them to cool in the baking pan then transfer the apples to a large mixing bowl.

Did You Know? Baked apples may fall apart while baking—this is perfectly fine! You may turn them into applesauce or gently mash them for finger foods.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup cooked brown rice
• 1 cup yogurt
• 1/2 cup peach puree
• Pinch of cinnamon

Directions:

1. Combine all the ingredients in a medium saucepan.
   
2. Bring ingredients to a gentle simmer and continue to simmer on low until creamy and well blended.
   

Freezes with mixed results

Quick Tip! This recipe can be used to make any quick and easy rice pudding. Use whole milk to replace the yogurt if desired and try adding raisins and figs.

Ingredients:

• 1 large tub plain, whole milk yogurt
• Assorted fruits and vegetables, pureed or mashed

Directions:

1. Combine yogurt with a variety of baby’s favorite fruits or veggies, divide into portions and freeze or store in the refrigerator.

Quick tip! Here are some more yogurt combinations to try:

Peary Creamy Oats: Blend yogurt with pear sauce and cooked oatmeal
Creamy Sweet Potatoes and Rice: Blend yogurt with sweet potatoes and rice—add a pinch of cinnamon if you like.
Green Beans with Yogurt and Applesauce: Blend yogurt with green beans and applesauce.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup fresh pumpkin, peeled and diced *
• 2 cups apples, peeled, cored and chopped *
• 1 cup water
• Pinch of cinnamon

Directions:

1. Combine all the ingredients in a medium saucepan.
   
2. Bring ingredients to a gentle simmer and continue to simmer on low until soft and fork tender
   
3. Allow to cool then mash or puree if needed.

Freezes with mixed results. It may be watery upon thawing, stir well to reconstitute

Did You Know? Pumpkin and apples will offer an abundance of vitamin A, vitamin C, folate and even calcium into baby’s diet. This combination just can’t be beat and would be great to help boost iron absorption; serve with meats whenever possible.

*You may use natural ready-made applesauce and canned pumpkin if desired; be sure to use plain pumpkin and not pumpkin pie mix.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound (approximately 4 medium) sweet potatoes
• Olive oil
• Spices like cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg or cardamom

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400° F. Scrub sweet potatoes clean then peel them—leave the skin on if you feel baby can tolerate them.
   
2. Cut sweet potatoes into strips or other shapes that you may then cut down after baking.
   
3. In a large bowl, add about 1/4 cup of olive oil and pinches of the spices you prefer.
   
4. Toss the cut up sweet potatoes into the bowl and stir so that the potatoes are drenched with the olive oil mix.
   
5. Dump sweet potatoes onto a baking sheet, drizzle remaining olive oil over the potatoes.
   
6. Stir and swirl the potatoes on the baking sheet before placing in oven.
   
7. Bake for approximately 30 to 45 minutes or until tender.

*All recipes excerpted from The Wholesome Baby Food Guide and WholesomeBabyFoodGuide.com

Plus, More from The Bump:

Baby-Food Making 101

Creative Ways to Store Baby Food

Life Changing Feeding Gear