Green Bean Puree: Baby Food Recipe
This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Please read my disclosure.This green bean puree for baby is smooth, creamy and full of vitamins, minerals and fiber. A great first food for babies that you can start at 6 months of age, and it’s a simple recipe that will help your baby get used to less sweet flavors.
So for the record, my kids weren’t huge fans of green bean puree when I first introduced them to it. They’d gag, cough, make faces… it was actually kind of entertaining even though they weren’t very happy with me for giving them green beans 🙂
But green beans are so great for babies! They are rich in vitamin A and fiber, and they’re a green veggie which is a great way to get babies used to not-so-sweet things. I’d recommend using organic frozen green beans for this recipe – it’s the easiest prep and clean-up wise. It’s simple to make this baby food puree recipe.
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My trick for getting my kids to eat green beans was to mix it with whole milk organic yogurt! It sounds gross, but for some reason they loved it!
Why This Recipe Works
- Simple and easy homemade baby food recipe
- Healthy green vegetable to introduce to baby
- Less sweet than other baby foods
- Rich in vitamins, minerals, and fiber that baby needs
- Less expensive than store bought baby food
- Makes 12 servings you can easily freeze for later
- No fancy equipment needed
How to Make Green Bean Puree Baby Food
Ingredients and Notes
Frozen Green Beans: I recommend using 2 bags of organic green beans. You can also use organic fresh green beans. You’ll usually see these at the grocery store as “french beans” or “string beans”. When buying fruits and vegetables for your baby it’s important to get organic produce to reduce their exposure to pesticides. Learn how to cook fresh green beans perfectly.
Cold Water: The water helps to thin out the puree to make it easy for baby to eat.
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
Cook Green Beans and Add To Blender: Place the green beans in a steamer and cook for 3 to 5 minutes, over medium heat, or until tender. Drain green beans and place in blender with a little water. The more water you use, the thinner your puree will be. I recommend a couple tablespoons of water to start, you can always add more if needed.
Puree and Store: Puree the green beans until smooth. Pour the pureed green beans into ice cube trays, allow to cool, wrap/cover, 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. Serve at room temperature.
Recipe FAQs
Are green beans good for baby?
Yes! Green beans are good for baby! It is a healthy green vegetable full of vitamins, minerals, and essential nutrients. It is particularly high in vitamins A, C, K, fiber folate, potassium, iron, and calcium. Fiber helps with digestion for baby. Vitamin C helps build your baby’s immune system. They are mild in flavor, and most children do not have an allergy to them, thus they are a great food to introduce to your baby at the early stages of solids.
When can babies eat green beans?
Babies can eat green beans during the first stage of introducing solids (around 6 months of age). Make sure that you achieve a good puree so that baby can easily eat and enjoy this healthy green vegetable!
What can I add to green beans puree for flavor?
If your baby is not a fan of green beans at first, don’t give up! Both of my kids didn’t like green beans the first few times I served it. However, you can add some flavor to the green beans to make them more appealing to your baby. For my daughter, stirring in a bit of whole milk yogurt helped to give it a creamy texture that she enjoyed. You can also add breast milk or formula instead. As far as different flavors, I recommend a touch of garlic powder, onion powder, ground cumin, or ground coriander.
Do green beans cause constipation or gas in babies?
Foods that are higher in fiber and lower in starch (like green beans) can cause constipation in some children. This is typically because fiber, without enough water, can cause constipation. However, not all babies react the same way to the same foods. When eaten in moderation, and when served with a sippy cup of water to drink, green beans should not cause too much gas or constipation. Although I recommend paying attention to how your baby reacts to each food you introduce them to, and adjust accordingly.
Variations and Substitutions
Make Other Green Vegetables: Use this same method to make other green vegetables such as broccoli, spinach, and zucchini.
Add Fresh Herbs: Flavor up your green beans by adding fresh herbs to your puree. Cilantro, basil, parsley, mint, or chives can help enhance the flavor and make the green beans more palatable for baby, while also still keeping the puree fresh and healthy for baby!
Add Healthy Fats: Feel free to add some avocado into your puree to increase healthy fats.
Cook in Skillet or Pot: Cook your green beans in a pot or skillet. If you don’t have a steamer, prepare your green beans in pot of skillet. Place frozen green beans in a large pot, add a half cup of water. Cover, and cook the green beans for 5 minutes or until they are softened and cooked through.
Roast Green Beans: For a more enhanced flavor, roast the green beans. I recommend roasting with fresh beans vs. frozen green beans. Toss the green beans in 1-2 tsp of olive oil. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Roast for 20 minutes at 400 F. Puree in blender with water as directed in the instructions. It will have a stronger flavor.
Make Finger Food: If you are following baby led weaning, or your baby is older and ready for finger foods, then I recommend roasting the green beans according to the directions above, and then letting your baby pick up the pieces and gum them!
Add Breastmilk or Baby Formula: It’s totally fine to mix this green bean baby food with formula or breastmilk immediately before serving. But do not add formula or breastmilk to the puree before freezing it since formula can’t be frozen, and breastmilk has a different frozen shelf life than baby purees do. If you choose formula, I recommend using one of these best organic baby formulas for the cleanest ingredients, and a close formulation to breastmilk.
Expert Tips for Making Baby Food
- Use organic green beans to reduce your baby’s exposure to pesticides.
- Use frozen green beans to reduce prep time.
- Make sure to puree your green beans long enough so that you get a completely smooth puree.
- If you steamed your beans, add fresh, filtered water to your blender or food processor before pureeing. Don’t use the same water you steamed your green beans in. If you boiled your beans, then I recommend adding the water you boiled the beans in into the blender, to retain any nutrients that might have leached into the water during the boiling process.
- Freeze in ice cube trays, or baby food trays. You can also freeze them in an airtight container, but you will have to use a few small airtight containers to get individual portions. Keep frozen until ready to use.
- When ready to use your frozen baby food, transfer as many small cubes as you need to the refrigerator to thaw overnight. It will be ready for baby the next day. If you’re crunched for time, you can also defrost the cubes in the microwave but watch the temperature so that it doesn’t get too hot and burn your baby’s tongue!
- When introducing new foods to your baby, I recommend introducing one new food every 2 days, and then watching for any allergic reactions in the 48 hours after you introduce that food, before moving onto another food.
More Vegetable Purees and Baby Food Recipes!
- 10 Easy Baby Food Recipes for Beginners
- Sweet Potato Baby Food
- Zucchini Baby Food
- Butternut Squash Puree
- Peas Baby Food
If you have tried this Green Bean Puree Recipe for your baby, or any other recipe on my blog, then please rate it and let me know how it turned out in the comments below! Then, FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, TWITTER, INSTAGRAM, and PINTEREST to see more delicious, healthy, family-friendly food!
🎥 Watch How to Make It
Green Bean Puree: Baby Food Recipe
This green bean puree for baby is smooth, creamy and full of vitamins, minerals and fiber. A great first food for babies that you can start at 6 months of age, and it's a simple recipe that will help your baby get used to less sweet flavors.
Servings: 32 ounces
Calories: 23kcal
Ingredients
- 32 oz bags organic frozen green beans 2 (16 oz) bags
- 6 oz Water for pureeing use as much as you need for the consistency you want! start with 6oz and work your way up.
Instructions
- Place the green beans in a steamer and cook for 3 to 5 minutes, or until tender.
- Drain green beans and place in blender with water.
- Puree until smooth.
- Pour into ice cube trays, allow to cool, 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.
Notes
Expert Tips
- Use organic green beans to reduce your baby’s exposure to pesticides.
- Use frozen green beans to reduce prep time.
- 1 ice cube = 1 oz of food
- Make sure to puree your green beans long enough so that you get a completely smooth puree.
- If you steamed your beans, add fresh, filtered water to your blender or food processor before pureeing. Don’t use the same water you steamed your green beans in. If you boiled your beans, then I recommend adding the water you boiled the beans in into the blender, to retain any nutrients that might have leached into the water during the boiling process.
- Freeze in ice cube trays, or baby food trays. You can also freeze them in an airtight container, but you will have to use a few small airtight containers to get individual portions. Keep frozen until ready to use.
- When ready to use your frozen baby food, transfer as many small cubes as you need to the refrigerator to thaw overnight. It will be ready for baby the next day. If you’re crunched for time, you can also defrost the cubes in the microwave but watch the temperature so that it doesn’t get too hot and burn your baby’s tongue!
- When introducing new foods to your baby, I recommend introducing one new food every 2 days, and then watching for any allergic reactions in the 48 hours after you introduce that food, before moving onto another food.
Nutrition
Calories: 23kcal | Carbohydrates: 5g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 5mg | Potassium: 160mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 522IU | Vitamin C: 9mg | Calcium: 28mg | Iron: 1mg
I was not expecting my baby to like it…but guess what, she ate it all. Thanks for the idea and such a clear and to follow write up.
Aw yay I’m so happy to hear that Meenakshi!
I always made my own babyfood when my kids were babies! So rewarding and delicious!
I know right?? It’s totally worth it!
I love how this keeps its bright green color. No additives and full of nutrients.
Totally!! It’s all natural and so easy to make at home!
I have shared this recipe with all my mom friends and they love it! I don’t have kiddos, but ran across this one and thought how awesome is it to skip the store and make at home!
Yay! So happy to hear that Jacque!
A million times better than the jarred stuff! Love how fresh and healthy it is.
Thanks so much Elizabeth!!
Hey! I’m wondering after you defrost a frozen purée in the fridge how do you warm it up?
Hi Kim! You can either warm it on the stovetop or in the microwave (in a glass, microwave safe container!)
I don’t have a microwave so this is what I do: I put the frozen baby food cubes in a small sealed Tupperware container to defrost in the fridge for around 12 hours. 10- 15 minutes before I feed baby I fill a bowl with hot water from the tap and place the small Tupperware in the bowl of hot water and it warms quickly without getting too hot.
That’s a great tip, thanks for sharing Caroline!
I’m concerned with my consistency, its a bit chunky. Am I doing something wrong or do I need to add something to it if I want it to be a smoother texture?
Hi Karen! I’d recommend just adding a bit more water and then really pulverizing it in your blender. If you cooked the beans down enough, and you have a good blender (and the mixture has enough water), they should puree really easily. Hope that helps!
Hi, you mention 1 cube is equal to 1oz of food. Can you share the suggested serving of food per feeding for a 7mo old baby? I’m unsure how much to serve my baby per feeding since she’s a big eater and I think I overfed her once and she threw up but I was only following her lead since she wanted to keep eating. Thanks!
Hi Clarissa! Typically at 7 months the guidance is to “follow your baby’s lead.” So 1 serving could be a couple licks of a puree all the way to 4oz of food in one sitting! It really depends on the baby. It sounds like your baby loves food, but maybe doesn’t quite know when to stop? So I would try starting her at 2-3oz of food in one sitting and then work up from there. Eventually, my kids were taking in about 6-8oz of food at each meal around 10 months of age if that helps, and they were also both big eaters!
Hey loving your baby food ideas.
Thank you so much! 🙂
Can a 5 months 3 weeks old baby eat green beans purée ?
Hi Angela! If your pediatrician has said it’s ok to start solids then yes, green beans should be appropriate as one of your baby’s first foods! Anywhere from 4-6 months is ok to start solids so as long as your baby is showing signs of readiness and your pediatrician approves, this recipe would work great!
Can you use fresh green beans? Is there any difference is cooking?
Yes you can! It should be a pretty similar cooking process actually since both frozen and fresh green beans are raw to start 🙂 Hope that helps!
Do you have to defrost the green beans before steaming?
Hi Jess! Nope – you don’t have to – you can steam them right from them being frozen. Hope your little one likes this recipe!
Hi Anjali! I’m absolutely loving your site and getting some great ideas for recipes that I plan to make for my little one (FTM here so anxious/excited about trying new foods!) I noticed you mix several recipes with yogurt when feeding… did you give her plain yogurt first and see how she reacts before mixing it with other foods? After what age can you give a baby yogurt? I’ve been trying the 3 days per ingredient at a time but I feel like I’m pretty behind in introducing new foods to her! Thanks again for such great recipes and suggestions!
Hi Zina! Thanks so much for reaching out – I’m so glad my blog has been helpful for you! 🙂 To your question – yes I tried plain, organic, whole milk yogurt first before mixing it with purees. My pediatrician said that we could introduce yogurt at 6 months! So as long as your pediatrician is ok with it, you should be able to introduce yogurt anytime after 6 months. Just make sure it’s plain with no sugar added 🙂 Hope that helps, let me know if you have any other questions!
What yogurt do you use? I can’t find any with no sugar added. Thank you.
Hi Sandra! Plain, whole milk yogurt is the way to go. You might be getting confused because the nutrition label for plain, whole milk yogurt will still show sugar — but that’s the naturally occurring lactose in yogurt and isn’t the same as added sugars (e.g. in flavored yogurts). So as long as your yogurt is labeled as “plain” and/or “unflavored”, and doesn’t have any type of sugar listed on the ingredients label, you can be sure that the sugar content on the nutrition label is just lactose, and not added sugar. Hope that helps!
Hello, thanks for sharing! My daughter is about to start solids few weeks from now. One question tho, how long can I keep a puree in the freezer?
Hi! No problem at all! You can keep the purees in the freezer for up to 6 months (as long as they are not mixed with breastmilk before they are frozen!) We used our purees a lot faster than that, but 6 months is the limit 🙂 Let me know if you have any other questions!
Hi! Can i add breast milk to the green bean puree? What kind of yogurt is safe for the baby?
Hi Sam! Yes you can add breastmilk to the puree after you have thawed it — you add the breastmilk right before you serve the puree to your little one. You can use any plain, whole milk yogurt for your baby! Just make sure it’s plain (not flavored) and whole milk (not low fat or nonfat). Hope that helps, let me know if you have any other questions!