Cheap & Easy Tips for Making Homemade Baby Food

I had so much fun making baby food for K-Dub when he was an infant but when I started to consider it I was overwhelmed by the idea. I didn’t know how I would change the consistency as he got older and wondered if I needed to buy a fancy baby food maker. It seemed like a lot to figure out but you know what? It’s not. Making baby food was so easy that there’s almost no reason not to!

I never did buy a baby food maker like the Baby Bullet or Babycook. I had a stick blender and a food processor so I didn’t think I needed to spend more money on another gadget and neither do you. Everything you need for making baby food is most likely already in your kitchen.

The tools of the trade:

• blender and/or food processor
• saucepan
• steamer basket (optional)
• ice cube trays
• freezer bags
• fifteen minutes

Don’t be afraid to buy your fruits and vegetables from the discount bin.

This is the produce that’s already ripe and needs to be sold quickly before it goes bad. It is perfectly fine to use as long as you are going to use it within a day or two, so when I was ready to make baby food I raided the discount bin. This way I saved a ton of money and didn’t have to wait a few days for the fruit to ripen. 

Skip the fancy baby food recipe books.

I bought a few and guess what? I never used them. Sure, I got a few recipe ideas from them but I ultimately found it much easier to make single fruit and vegetable purees and mix them together for different flavors and if K didn’t like a mixture I didn’t have a bag of it that was going to go to waste. This is also good for starting out when you are supposed to add each new food individually.

How to make baby food.

I chopped up my fruits or vegetables and put them in a steamer insert inside a regular old saucepan. Steam them instead of microwaving so you retain the most nutrients. Once it’s soft, put it in your blender or food processor and puree away. As baby gets older you can gradually puree a little less for more texture. 

How to store baby food. 

I put my pureed baby food in ice cube trays and put it in the freezer. Once the cubes were frozen I would put the cubes in marked freezer bags and kept them in the freezer for easy feeding. To feed, defrost and warm to room temperature.  Even after K-Dub was tired of purees and we moved more toward a baby led weaning style of feeding we still used the leftover purees to add to cream of wheat, oatmeal, and rice or potatoes to give them a little more flavor.  You are only limited by your own imagination when it comes to making baby food. Have fun with it!