By If you are looking to make your own baby food and want to keep it simple, you have come to the right place! I knew I wanted to make my own baby food when I was pregnant for my first child. I loved the idea of knowing what I was going to be feeding my baby, and it’s super cost effective!
This post may contain affiliate links. To view my disclaimer, click here.
I tried a couple different ways to prep baby food and found that using my Instant Pot was my favorite method. It’s quick, easy, and the most hands-free way to go. After you prep your produce and set it up to cook, the Instant Pot does all the work!
You can check out my post here for a more generalized guide to homemade baby food.
Fruits and Veggies You Can Use
Whether you want to use purees to feed your baby or use the baby-led-weaning approach, this will work for either method. The great thing about using the Instant Pot is you can use pretty much any fruit or vegetable that you would steam on the stove. Below are some fruits and veggies that I liked to use:
- Sweet Potato
- Avocado
- Peas
- Broccoli
- Carrots
- Spinach
- Green Beans
- Squash
- Apples
- Peaches
- Pears
When you’re in the first stage of feeding your baby, you want to start with one ingredient at a time. Give them the same thing for 3 or 4 days to make sure they don’t have any sort of reaction to what they’re eating. Once their pediatrician gives you the okay to move on to the second stage, then you can get creative and start making some fun combinations!
How to Make Baby Food in the Instant Pot
First you’ll want to prep your fruits and/or veggies. Wash, peel and slice for baby-led-weaning, peel and dice into small pieces if you plan on pureeing afterwards.
Then you’re going to place them in the Instant Pot and put about a cup of water in with it.
Close and seal the lid, and set for 4 minutes on manual. Once its done you can quick release the pressure.
Once it’s finished cooking let cool for a bit before placing into a blender or food processor. Then you can blend until it’s a silky consistency. If you find the puree is a little thick, simply add some more water and blend some more. If this is for baby-led-weaning, strain the water and let cool completely before storing.
Storing Baby Food
Once the food has cooled, it can be stored in the fridge for up to four days. Otherwise you can store it in the freezer. You can store purees in silicone molds and freeze them, then place the frozen cubes in a freezer bag and label them with the date and what they are. Or you can store them in airtight containers with the appropriate portion sizes. I personally used small, airtight glass containers and they worked really well for me. Whatever you decide to do, it is really important to label everything so you don’t have to think about when you made it and if it’s still good.
You can make as big of batches of one kind of produce as you want or make smaller batches of different types of produce. I liked to make enough to last a couple weeks.
Thank you for reading and happy cooking!
What do you think?