Homemade Baby Food Recipes: Avocado Puree
This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Please read my disclosure.About 2 months ago, we gave Layla her first solid food: Avocado! Since then she has had a variety of fruits and veggies: Sweet potato, Butternut squash, Zucchini, Carrot, Fuji Apples, Plums, Pears, Bananas, Green Beans, Peas, Spinach, Broccoli, Pumpkin, Apricot… and we’ve also given her Oatmeal and Organic Whole Milk Plain Yogurt. She has turned into a wonderful eater! Gobbles up almost everything we give her (peas and green beans have to be disguised in yogurt with a little bit of pear, but then she downs them like you wouldn’t believe).
And since I’ve been making all of her food at home from scratch, I thought I’d start a Baby Food Recipes section on my blog!
I’ll be adding the baby food recipes in the order that we introduced them to Layla – to the extent that I can remember 🙂 Avocado was definitely first – because it was the easiest, and because it’s so nutritious for your little ones.
1/5th of an avocado has only 50 calories but 20 vitamins and minerals! Talk about nutrient dense. Avocados also contain:
- Folate
- Fiber
- Potassium
- Vitamin E
- Iron
- Healthy fats that help with brain and nervous system development
I mashed up the avocado raw, and fed it directly to her mixed with a little bit of breast milk (you can also mix it with formula or water to thin it out at first). Here’s how she reacted 🙂
The first time she was like “what are you giving me??” but soon she couldn’t get enough avocado. It’s definitely one of her favorites. And since avocado gets oxidized so easily, I actually tried freezing it and it worked great!
I used these Mumi & Bubi ice cube trays for freezing. I love them because they come with a cover, a recipe book, and the cubes are super easy to get out. One ice cube = 1oz of food. And once I started making this puree in bulk, I used a Vitamix to puree large quantities of it at the same time – which was super convenient!
Also, if you can afford it, I’d recommend using 100% organic ingredients for your baby’s food. That way you can leave the peels on various fruits and veggies (e.g. you won’t have to peel apples and pears before pureeing them), and it’s much more nutritious for your baby.
Of course, there will be times when you’re on the go and need a healthy pre-made option for your little one. And in those cases, I’d recommend buying one of the pouches on my list of the healthiest baby food pouches!
Below is my recipe for super simple avocado: a perfect first food for babies!
Looking for 150+ more baby and toddler food recipes? Check out my Baby Food Cookbook here!
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Or, are you looking for ideas for healthy, easy family meals that your little one can eventually help prepare in the kitchen? If so, pick up a copy of my newest cookbook: Kid Chef Junior (will arrive on your doorstep on October 9th 2018!)
Baby's First Food: Avocado Puree
Ingredients
- 1 organic avocado mashed
Instructions
If Serving Fresh / Immediately
- Mash the avocado with a fork or blend it in a food processor.
- Mix with breastmilk, formula or water to reach desired consistency.
If Freezing
- Mash the avocado with a fork or blend it in a food processor.
- Divide into ice cube trays, wrap/cover, 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.
- Once defrosted, mix with breastmilk, formula or water to reach desired consistency
Do you need to add anything to the avocado puree to keep it from turning brown? I plan to freeze the puree
Hi Debbie! You can add a squeeze of lemon or lime juice to it to prevent it from turning brown before you freeze it. But if you freeze it immediately after you puree / mash it, and then only defrost what you need (and use it immediately) then it shouldn’t brown!
How long does this stay good in the freezer?
It will keep for up to 6 months in the freezer! But I typically like to use it within 3-4 months.
Nice and simple thank you
No prob! Hope your little one likes it!
Can the avocado be mixed with breast milk and then frozen?
Hi Katie! I think technically, that is ok to do – you can freeze freshly made purees with freshly pumped breastmilk. But, you should never freeze any foods containing previously frozen breast milk, since you can’t freeze, thaw and re-freeze breastmilk. Additionally, personally, I never felt comfortable with adding breastmilk to purees and freezing them because the avocado puree and breastmilk have two different thaw points, and they have two different frozen shelf-life times. I found it much more simple to freeze the puree and breastmilk separately, and to just mix them right before serving them to my kids! Hope that helps!
Hi can I mix avocado with fish or chicken soup for toddlers ?
Hi! I don’t know if that would taste good, but if your toddler likes it, and they have already had fish and/or chicken separately and have had no allergic reaction, then I don’t see why not!
Hi, how much breastmilk to mix with the avocado? Please could you provide a guide according to age? Thanks!
Hi Dylise! You can actually mix as much or as little breastmilk with the avocado as you want before feeding it to your baby! It’s all personal preference, it’s not tied to age at all. So basically, if you want a thinner puree, use more breastmilk, if you want it to be thicker in consistency, use less breastmilk. I hope that helps!
Can you mix rice cereal in it or would it be better to leave it plain?
Hi Hannah! I’d recommend leaving it plain, or mixing it with homemade baby oatmeal (as rice cereal really has no nutritional value, and you should only use rice cereal if your pediatrician recommends it over oatmeal due to allergy concerns). Hope that helps!
Hi,
Can I use natural yogurt instead of milk or water to blend with avocado?
Hi Terri! Absolutely! Plain, unsweetened, whole milk yogurt would work just fine! 🙂