Lunch Ideas for Babies
Lunchtime can sometimes seem daunting, especially if you have no idea what to make for your baby. Whether you pack a lunch for day-care, or your baby eats at home, check out these amazing lunch ideas!
1. Lunch Ideas for Babies: Banana, Blueberry, and Avocado Purée
This banana, blueberry, and avocado purée is a delicious meal that is super easy to make but it’s packed with nutrients that help with bone, heart, and brain development!
Bananas: are filled with vitamin B6, manganese, potassium, and fibre which aids in developing cardiovascular health, helps improve digestion and supports the baby’s heart.
Blueberries: are a superfood that is loaded with fibre, potassium, folate, vitamin C, vitamin B6 and antioxidants that help ward off illnesses, aides in the development of healthy bones, prevents cancer and helps promote healthy cognitive function.
Avocado: are known for being an almost perfect food because they are filled with a ton of vitamin E, potassium, iron, and healthy fats that are important for the development of the central nervous system and brain in both babies and toddlers.
Ingredients: 1 banana, a cup of blueberries, and 1 avocado.
Directions: Toss all the fruits into a blender and puree until it reaches the desired consistency, which is about two minutes.
Scrape the sides of the blender down every 20 seconds and puree for at least 90 seconds, so the blueberry peels break down enough for a smooth puree.
2. Lunch Ideas for Babies: Broccoli, Asparagus with Tarragon Purée
This puree is filled with 3 different greens vegetables and rounded out with a touch of pear sweetness and refreshing tarragon.
Broccoli: is a good source of vitamin C, which helps in strengthening the immune system. It’s also good for eyesight due to also being a good source of vitamin A and beta-carotene. Plus, it helps fighting anaemia due to containing iron.
Asparagus: is a good source of antioxidants and vitamins such as vitamin A, C, E, K and minerals like folate, thiamine, niacin, iron, and potassium. It offers liver protection, it possesses diuretic properties, it can stimulate the immune system and it reduces the chances of night blindness.
Green Beans: contains vitamin B1, iron, potassium, and magnesium. It boosts the immune system, improve symptoms of anaemia and promote health and help lower cholesterol.
Tarragon: is amazing for relieve toothaches, helps ease an upset stomach and even promotes a good night sleep.
Ingredients: ¾ cup broccoli florets,
½ cup asparagus trimmed and chopped,
¼ cup green beans trimmed and chopped,
2 pears peeled, cored, and chopped,
½ tsp fresh tarragon finely chopped.
Directions: In a medium saucepan, bring 2″ of water to a boil over medium heat. Place the broccoli, asparagus, and beans into a steamer basket over boiling water, cover and cook for 10 minutes.
Add in pears and tarragon and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Reserve steamer water. Let cool slightly.
Transfer all ingredients into a blender or food processor and puree until you reach your desired consistency, adding reserved steamer water in ¼ cup increments if needed.
3. Lunch Ideas for Babies: Roasted Butternut Squash Purée
This recipe is not only full of nutrients needed for healthy growth, but it is also a deliciously smooth way to introduce butternut squash to your baby!
Butternut: is full of calcium, great for building strong bones, vitamin A that boosts the immune system and reduces inflammation. It also contains high levels of potassium which helps keeps bones healthy.
Ingredients: 1 butternut squash,
1 tsp fresh thyme or rosemary, roughly chopped,
1-2 tsp olive oil (optional),
1/2-1 cup liquid (water, fresh breast milk, formula, stock, or bone broth).
Directions: Heat the oven to 245C/ Gas Mark 9. Line baking sheet with a silicone mat, tin foil, or parchment paper.
Cut butternut squash in half, deseed and place flesh side up, skin side down. Optional – Feel free to drizzle the squash with 2 teaspoons of olive oil for some added healthy fat.
Place the baking sheet into the oven and bake for 45-60 minutes or until you can easily prick the squash with a fork.
Let cool until you can handle the squash with your hands. Scrape the flesh off the skin and place it in a blender or food processor. Then add the thyme or rosemary to the butternut squash.
Turn on the blender or food processor and puree, adding liquid in ¼ cup increments until you have the desired consistency.
4. Lunch Ideas for Babies: Peach with Cauliflower and Ginger Purée
This recipe is a sweet and creamy combination with a little jazziness from a pinch of freshly grated ginger! It’s full of fibre, vitamins A, C, E and K and a ton of antioxidants.
Peach: are known to help reduce the risk of cancer and high cholesterol. This because peach contains chlorogenic acid, but it also has selenium, offering anti-inflammatory properties, and potassium that facilitates muscle and nerve cells in their functions.
Cauliflower: helps detoxification and promotes healthy liver function.
Ginger: is a wonderful spice that promotes the elimination of internal gas.
Ingredients: 1 cup cauliflower roughly chopped,
2 cups peaches, fresh or frozen, pitted and chopped,
¼ tsp freshly grated ginger.
Directions: In a medium saucepan with a steamer basket, bring 2 inches of water to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the cauliflower into a steamer basket, cover, and cook for 7 minutes.
Add the peaches into the steamer basket on top of the cauliflower, fresh or frozen, cover and cook for an additional 3 minutes. If using frozen peaches, you may need to steam for an additional 2-3 minutes or until thawed. Reserve steamer water. Let slightly cool.
Transfer the cauliflower and peaches into a blender. Add in ginger. Blend on high for 1-2 minutes or until smooth, adding in ¼ cup of reserved steamer water if your puree is too thick.
5. Lunch Ideas for Babies: Pumpkin Chicken Purée
This meal is a delicious fall-inspired recipe for your baby. Made with pumpkin, chicken, parsnips, and ginger for a fun and nutritious take on the tastes of the season.
Pumpkin: include a good source of essential nutrients for baby’s development, such as calcium, iron, magnesium, vitamin C and A, and more. All this helps build a stronger immune system, kills intestinal worms, antimicrobial properties, and supplies antioxidants.
Chicken: is full of protein, great for muscle growth, iron, for helping the growth of red blood cells and potassium, for keeping the blood vessels in a healthy condition. Chicken also boosts immunity and helps with brain development.
Ingredients: ½ small pie pumpkin, de-seeded and cut into wedges,
¼ lbs boneless skinless organic free-range chicken breast,
1 parsnip, peeled and roughly chop,
½ tsp fresh ginger, minced,
1-2 cups liquids – water, breastmilk, formula, no-sodium stock.
Directions: Preheat the oven to 175C/ Gas Mark 4. Line a baking sheet with tinfoil or a silicon mat.
Lay a large piece of tin foil on top of a cutting board or counter. Place the chicken breast and parsnips onto the piece of foil. Wrap the chicken and parsnips it up tightly in the foil like a package, leaving the seams of the foil at the top. Place onto one side of the baking sheet.
Place the wedges of the pumpkin on the other side of the baking sheet. An then place the baking sheet in the oven and bake for 30 minutes.
Remove the chicken tin foil packet and let cool. Bake the pumpkin for an additional 10-15 minutes or until easily pricked with a fork. Let pumpkin cool slightly.
One pumpkin is cool enough to handle, scrape the skin off the pumpkin and discard. Cut chicken into cubes.
Place the chicken, parsnips, pumpkin and ginger into a blender or food processor and puree for 1-2 minutes, adding in 1/4 cup of liquid at a time if needed.
