Vegetable Puree for Baby: Broccoli, Spinach, Cauliflower
This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Please read my disclosure.A nutrient rich vegetable puree for baby with three of the healthiest green vegetables. Broccoli, cauliflower, and spinach have tons of health benefits and essential nutrients for young babies. This green vegetable puree has a mild flavor baby will love! Make sure your baby gets their veggies by introducing this puree into their daily repertoire!
Get your greens! This vegetable puree for baby is one of the most nutritionally dense purees out there. It combines two of my favorite superfoods and cruciferous veggies: cauliflower and broccoli; with one of the healthiest green veggies out there: spinach! When you’re starting out on solid foods, this is a great way to make sure your baby gets their greens daily in a simple, homemade baby food puree recipe.
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All three veggies contain phytonutrients, which have significant anti-cancer effects. They are all rich in vitamins, minerals and fiber too, and spinach is a veggie friendly source of iron.
I typically recommend introducing this recipe after a food like avocados or green beans, which are mild and make a great first food for babies. Because these greens have a stronger flavor, it’s best to introduce this recipe in small amounts after your baby has already had a few different types of food and a few basic purees.
Why This Recipe Works
- Stage 1 Baby Food
- Three nutrient rich vegetables in one puree
- Simple 3 ingredient recipe plus water
- Easy and quick to prepare
- Budget-Friendly
- Healthy for baby’s diet
- Makes a large batch
- Keeps in the freezer for 4 months
How to Make Vegetable Puree for Baby
Recipe Ingredients and Notes
Organic Broccoli: Use frozen or fresh organic broccoli florets. Using organic produce helps to reduce pesticide exposure for your baby. Broccoli is rich in fiber, iron, calcium, antioxidants, folate, potassium, vitamins A, C and K, all of which are important for your baby’s growth and development.
Organic Cauliflower: Use fresh or frozen organic cauliflower florets. Cauliflower is high vitamin C which helps to support the immune system.
Organic Spinach: Use fresh or frozen leaf spinach. Leafy greens contain numerous essential vitamins and minerals. It is rich in fiber, omega-3 fatty acids, and protein.
Equipment Needed
- Steamer basket or a large pot.
- A high-speed blender or food processor to puree the sweet potato. You don’t need a baby food maker!
- Mumi & Bubi Trays for storing
Step by Step Instructions
Prepare and steam vegetables: Put all of the frozen veggies in your steamer and steam for 5 minutes until the broccoli and spinach is bright green.
Puree and Store: Put into a blender in batches (there will be too much to put in all at once) and blend until it has a smooth consistency. Add water to thin the puree as needed. Pour into ice cube trays, allow to cool, cover or wrap with plastic wrap, and freeze.
Thaw and Serve: Thaw in the fridge the night before use, or thaw by putting the ice cube in a bowl over a bowl of hot water on the counter to defrost.
Recipe FAQs
What makes broccoli, cauliflower, and spinach healthy for baby?
The combination of broccoli, cauliflower, and spinach provides a rich source of vitamins and minerals for your baby. It’s high in fiber to help with constipation and digestion. Additionally, broccoli, spinach, and cauliflower are sources of vitamin C that help support baby’s immune system. Spinach also contains Omega-3 fatty acids, and protein that helps with brain development.
What vegetables can I puree for baby?
Some of the best vegetables to puree for your baby include broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, carrots, kale, green beans, peas, sweet potato, butternut squash, and zucchini. These vegetables are mild in flavor, and rich in vitamins and nutrients. They are simple to puree.
Can you boil vegetables for baby food?
Yes, you can boil vegetables and then puree them to create baby food. If you boil veggies for baby food purees, I recommend pureeing the veggies with the water you boiled them in – to ensure you retain any nutrients that seeped into the water during the boiling process. You can also steam or roast vegetables and use them to puree.
How do you store and keep vegetable puree?
Store the vegetable puree in ice cube trays, or transfer the frozen puree cubes to freezer safe zip-top bag. It will keep for 4 months in the freezer. Be sure to label with the date and contents. This puree will keep in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. When ready to use a frozen cube, place cubes in an airtight container in the refrigerator to defrost overnight. Serve at room temperature.
Variations and Substitutions
Add Fresh Herbs: Bring a fresh earthy flavor to this recipe be adding fresh leafy green herbs such as cilantro, mint, parsley, or basil.
Add Spices: Spice up your baby’s food! Serve with a pinch of garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, coriander, or mild curry powder.
Boil Vegetables: Place all of the vegetables in boiling water. Boil until vegetables turn bright green and are soft when pierced with a fork. Drain the water. Place in a blender and add fresh filtered water. Puree until smooth.
Roast Cauliflower and Broccoli: Instead of using frozen produce, you can use fresh broccoli and cauliflower. Place the florets on a parchment lined baking sheet. Roast for 20-25 minutes at 425 F. Then blend with water and spinach. Roasting the vegetables will give them a deeper flavor.
Try a Different Combination of Vegetables: You can add just about any vegetable purees into this mix of cruciferous veggies! Any fresh vegetables turned into a puree would work: Sweet potato puree, green peas puree, carrot puree, pumpkin puree, beetroot puree or any roasted root vegetables (pureed) would taste great!
Add Breast Milk or Formula: Feel free to add breastmilk or organic baby formula right before serving to thin out this puree a bit more.
Add Protein: For babies over 8 months of age, you can combine this puree with a red lentils puree for added protein. For even older children and once you have checked for nut allergies, you can combine this with peanut butter or any nut butter too!
Expert Tips for Making Vegetable Puree for Babies
- There is a ton of fiber in this puree, so there is the potential for gas and/or tummy troubles if you introduce too much of it at once. As with any new food, introduce it slowly, early in the day so any after-effects or any allergic reaction is dealt with before bedtime.
- This puree does not have a sweet flavor. If your baby rejects it outright, try mixing it with a baby puree that’s a bit sweeter like banana puree, pear puree, or any simple fruit purees with non-acidic fresh fruit (apples, ripe avocados, etc). You can also try mixing it with whole milk organic yogurt and a little bit of a different fruit puree.
More Baby Food Recipes and Tips!
- Green Bean Puree
- Sweet Potatoes Baby Food
- Pineapple Puree
- Carrots Baby Food
- Zucchini Baby Food
- Butternut Squash Puree
- Pea Puree For Baby
- 10 Easy Baby Food Recipes for Beginners – Your Ultimate Guide to making baby food at home!
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🎥 Watch How to Make It
Vegetable Puree for Baby: Broccoli, Cauliflower, and Spinach
A nutrient rich vegetable puree for baby with three of the healthiest green vegetables. Broccoli, cauliflower, and spinach have tons of health benefits and essential nutrients for young babies. This green vegetable puree has a mild flavor baby will love! Make sure your baby gets their veggies by introducing this puree into their daily repertoire!
Servings: 100 tablespoons
Calories: 17.4kcal
Ingredients
- 5 cups frozen organic broccoli
- 5 cups frozen organic spinach
- 10 cups frozen organic cauliflower
- At least 16oz water – more for a thinner puree
Instructions
- Put all of the frozen veggies in your steamer and steam for 5 minutes until the broccoli and spinach is bright green.
- Put into a blender in batches (there will be too much to put in all at once). Add water to thin the puree.
- Pour into ice cube trays, allow to cool, cover/wrap and freeze.
- Thaw in the fridge the night before use, or thaw by putting the ice cube in a bowl over a bowl of hot water on the counter to defrost.
Notes
Expert Tips
- There is a ton of fiber in this puree, so there is the potential for gas and/or tummy troubles if you introduce too much of it at once. As with any new food, introduce it slowly, early in the day so any after-effects or any allergic reaction is dealt with before bedtime.
- This puree does not have a sweet flavor. If your baby rejects it outright, try mixing it with a baby puree that’s a bit sweeter like banana puree, pear puree, or any simple fruit purees with non-acidic fresh fruit (apples, ripe avocados, etc). You can also try mixing it with whole milk organic yogurt and a little bit of a different fruit puree.
- This recipe makes 100 tablespoons of puree. One serving is about 4 tablespoons of vegetable puree.
- Spice up your baby’s food! Serve with a pinch of garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, coriander, or mild curry powder. You can also bring a fresh earthy flavor to this recipe be adding fresh leafy green herbs such as cilantro, mint, parsley, or basil.
Nutrition
Serving: 4tablespoons | Calories: 17.4kcal | Carbohydrates: 3.5g | Protein: 1.6g | Sodium: 22.5mg | Potassium: 204.6mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 1g
thanks so much for this recipe. the little guy gobbled this up!!
Hooray! So happy to hear that!
Thank you so much for sharing this! I mush prefer to make my own baby food, so it’s helpful to know exactly what to put in it!
I know right?? It’s so nice when you can control what goes in it! 🙂
I’m so glad I came across this recipe! I passed it on to my daughter in law who is actually making it as we speak. I can’t wait to see the results!
Yay!! I’m so happy to hear that – can’t wait to hear how her little one likes it!
Perfect time saver for moms and healthy! Love that you can add fruit to it or even breastmilk.
Totally!! Thanks Tara!
Homemade baby food like this is so much better for little ones. I really like this flavor combination.
Thanks so much Andrea!
Can you leave more recipes with spinach? This is the only one I can see on here.
Hi Annie! Spinach is so versatile you can actually mix it with any of the purees on my list! Butternut squash + spinach, apple + spinach, pear + spinach are all great combinations to try! Hope that helps!
I can’t get my little one to eat this.. how old until I can introduce yogurt he is 6 months right now
Hi Kimmy! You can introduce yogurt at 6 months as long as your pediatrician is ok with it! Some ideas to help him accept the taste of this (other than mixing with yogurt): alternate bites between this and a puree he likes, mix a tiny bit of fruit puree into this to make it a little less bitter, mix it with my lentil puree or any kind of lentil/chickpea puree and add a few spices! Hope that helps!
Can fresh veggies be used instead of frozen?
Yes absolutely! You’d just cook and puree the same way as if they were frozen 🙂
Hi! Once the food is defrosted how can I warm it up? I don’t have a microwave and don’t want to use one. Thanks
You can warm it up on the stove! Just in a small sauce pan on low heat.
We’ve started my baby early on solids and so far he’s loving everything I made for him. I would like to try this recipe!
Yay! So glad to hear it! I’m sure he’ll love this recipe – and if you need help getting him to adjust to the more bitter flavors of these veggies, try mixing it with a little whole milk plain yogurt, or alternating bites with a puree he likes until he adjusts to this one!
Can I use my breastmilk (instead of water) in the blender to thin out the puree?
Hi! Yes you definitely can! The only thing I’d say is — that will only work if you are planning to use the puree right away and/or freeze it in ice cubes (since once you defrost breastmilk you can’t use it again). You can also add breastmilk into the purees after you defrost them — right before you give them to your little one. Hope that helps!
hi, Can I make this for my 6 month old baby?
Hi Abenaa! You can absolutely make this for your 6 month old. I hope your baby likes it!
When I puree broccoli, I can’t seem to get it as smooth as I’d like; there are always fibrous chunks that never seem small enough (my baby’s just starting solids.) Do you have any tips, or is it just my equipment? I’m using a Kitchen Aid immersion blender.
Hi Rachel! It might be your equipment — I used a Vitamix blender for Layla’s purees and I always got a super smooth/creamy puree. The Vitamix has been amazing in general for all kinds of baby food recipes. I think an immersion blender wouldn’t be able to get that same consistency since the veggies are just steamed (not cooked down to the point of being super super soft), and there isn’t a ton of water you’re adding to the puree (if you add too much water the immersion blender might work better, but then when you defrost the purees, they will be super super runny). Have you tried a regular blender? That might work better than the hand version. Another option is to boil the broccoli in water to get it super soft — but then you should make sure to use all the water you boiled it in for the puree so you don’t lose any of the nutrients from boiling. Hope that helps, let me know if you have any other questions!
Should I introduce these 3 different veggies all at once if my baby just started solids at 6 months old? Or should I introduce them separately?
Hi Sonia! If your baby just started solids, I’d introduce them separately. Broccoli, cauliflower and spinach are all unlikely allergens but you never know, so to play it safe you can separate them!