Health
Avocado Puree (Homemade Baby Food)
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My creamy avocado puree recipe is a perfect first food for your baby! Packed with essential nutrients for growth and development, it requires no special equipment and is ready in less than 5 minutes. This avocado baby food will quickly become one of your favorite baby food recipes, and the best part is that babies love it!
Avocado is one of the best first foods to introduce to your baby. It is buttery, creamy, and super soft and has amazing health benefits to aid in your baby’s growth and brain development.
It was actually my daughter’s first solid food and it quickly became a favorite of hers! When I was first introducing avocado to baby, I mixed avocado and breast milk together to form a creamy liquid. Making avocado puree for babies is totally effortless.
With just a quick mash up I was able to create a healthy food that I felt good about giving both of my kids when they were starting on solids!
My baby avocado puree requires no special equipment and takes just minutes to make. All you need is a ripe avocado, a little liquid, and a fork or blender. I would often double or triple the recipe and store it in the fridge or freezer, which made it great for meal prep. It’s also incredibly convenient for busy parents.
Avocados are also a nutritional powerhouse! They are rich in omega-3 fatty acids, and just half an avocado provides a good portion of your daily values of Vitamins C, E, K, Folate, Magnesium, Potassium, most B Vitamins, and about 19% of your total fat needs (source).
Plus, my homemade avocado first baby food is less sweet than many other types of baby puree and has a similar fat content to mother’s milk, making it easier for babies to digest. I have found, through my experience with my own kids and with working with other parents, that it’s important to keep a baby’s diet simple and limit the amount of sugar.
My recipe is 100% baby approved! Babies love the creamy, buttery texture of this puree and it’s easy for them to swallow. And as your baby grows, you can try different variations and mix-ins to keep things interesting like combining it with my blueberry baby food or my green bean puree.
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🥘 Ingredients
My avocado baby food recipe is the easiest recipe ever. At its most minimal form, you will only need 1 avocado! Scroll down to the recipe card at the bottom of the post for more details.
Avocado: Nutrient-rich avocado makes a wonderful first food for babies with healthy fats and vitamins (source). I always used organic avocado when making baby food.
Breast Milk, Formula, Or Water: You’ll need a small amount of liquid to create the perfect creamy texture. If using water, I’ve found that you just need a little or it can get runny. If you’re mixing avocado and breastmilk or formula I recommend doing it right before serving. You can’t store this baby food after it’s been mixed with breastmilk or formula.
🔪 How To Make Avocado Puree For Baby
The great news is that learning how to make avocado baby food is super easy! If you’re wondering do you cook avocado for baby food, the answer is no! It requires no cooking at all, and there are two simple ways to do it: blend or mash!
Watch my video below for a step-by-step guide on how to puree avocado for baby.
Prepare Avocado: To begin, I cut open my ripe avocado, remove the pit, scoop the flesh out, and discard the peels. When making my avocado puree recipe for baby all of the skin should be removed.
Blend: There are two methods for how to puree avocado. You can blend the whole avocado in a small food processor or use a fork to make mashed avocado for baby. If you’re using a blender, I recommend a high powered blender to make the puree in bulk – like a Vitamix!
Serve: If serving immediately mix pureed avocado with breast milk, formula, or water to reach desired consistency. If freezing for later use, divide into an ice cube tray, cover, and store in the freezer. When ready to serve, thaw out the prepared avocado, mix milk, and feed.
✔️ How To Choose The Best Avocado
Most grocery stores have avocados available at various stages of ripeness. If you plan to make my avocado baby puree in a few days from now, I suggest choosing hard avocados that have time to soften. If you want to make the puree right away, select an avocado that is dark brown on the outside and slightly indents when pushing against the skin.
Avoid an overly ripe and mushy avocado. Also, if you can afford it, I recommend using 100% organic ingredients for your baby’s food.
🥑 How To Cut An Avocado
I cut fresh avocados in half with a sharp knife, gently twisting to separate the two halves. I remove the pit either with my hands or by carefully hitting my knife into it and then twisting to remove the seed from the flesh. Then, I scoop the avocado flesh out with a spoon.
Once the flesh is removed, you don’t have to cut the avocado any further. My avocado recipe for baby has you mash or blend the whole fruit.
My #1 Secret Tip when making my easy avocado puree for your baby is to mix it with breast milk or formula right before serving. Mixing just before serving prevents bacterial growth, maintains the best texture, and ensures your baby gets the maximum nutritional benefits from both the avocado and the milk.
Other Tips To Keep In Mind:
- Prevent Browning: Avocado can brown quickly once exposed to air. To minimize browning, you can add a small amount of lemon or lime juice to the puree. Another option is to store the puree in an airtight container with plastic wrap pressed directly onto the surface to limit air exposure.
- Use A Fine Mesh Sieve: For an ultra-smooth puree, pass the mashed or blended avocado through a fine mesh sieve. This ensures there are no lumps, making it easier for younger babies to swallow.
- Speed Up Avocado Ripening: To ripen avocados quickly, I’ll place them in a brown paper bag with an apple or banana. The ethylene gas produced by these fruits speeds up the ripening process. Check the avocados daily to ensure they don’t become overripe.
🍽 How To Serve To Baby
If you prefer a clean space with minimal clean up, you will want to spoon feed your baby. However, if you are opting for baby led weaning, you can place the puree in front of your little one and let them explore on their own terms. I did both types of feeding techniques with my kids, and found a combination worked best.
Here are some of the different ways to serve my homemade avocado baby food based on age, as well as your child’s preference:
- Avocado puree for 4 month baby: Super simple avocado is a perfect first food for babies! I recommend feeding mashed avocado/puree to babies 4 months and up. Place the puree in a bowl and feed it to your baby with a spoon. Once they get a little older you can explore different textures and shapes.
- Avocado puree for 6 month old baby: If you are exploring baby led weaning, you can offer thick strips of avocado. Place the avocado on their high chair tray and let them experiment. To help with gripping, leave part of the skin on or roll the avocado slices in hemp seeds.
- Avocado puree for 9-10 month old baby: At this age your baby can enjoy more finger food. Try putting cubed avocado in baby’s bowl and let them naturally explore the taste and feel.
Other Ways To Use Pureed Avocado
Ultimately, there are so many suggestions on how to feed a baby avocado. Go with what works best for you and your little one!
📖 Avocado Baby Food Combinations
Avocados are a great first food for babies because of their mild flavor. They pair really well with a variety of other fruits, veggies, and grains to create delicious and nutritious baby food purees. There are so many baby friendly avocado recipes you can try out! Here are some of my favorite avocado puree ideas to get you started:
Avocado Puree Pairings
- Soft Fruits And Veggies: If you aren’t sure of what to mix with my avocado puree for baby, start with foods similar in texture like bananas, apples, or sweet potato puree.
- Other Fruits: Mangoes, peaches, blueberries, pineapple, and strawberries all taste great with pureed avocado.
- Green Veggies: Try other pairings like mixing with spinach, broccoli, zucchini puree or pea puree.
- Root Veggies: Veggies like potatoes, butternut squash, and carrots all mix well with avocado food for baby.
- On Its Own: When your baby is little, it’s great on its own! Most little ones love this avocado stage 1 baby food. Honestly, sometimes my kids, who are older now, will still just eat avocado as a snack!
- With Grains: You can put the smooth puree on small sticks of toast or teething crackers. You could also mix it into baby oatmeal or baby cereal.
- With Dairy Or Plant Based Protein: Try mixing it with yogurt or cottage cheese! You can also puree it with chickpeas, lentils, or white beans for an avocado “hummus.”
- Different Spices: Try a pinch of lemon juice, cumin, coriander, or even curry powder.
- Ideas For Toddlers: As your baby gets older try adding the puree to smoothies, avocado toast, guacamole, or on top of Mexican food! You can pair avocado with small pieces of chicken breast, or if you are vegan, substitute with tofu.
- Baby Friendly Guacamole: Try experimenting with different flavors by blending avocado with lime juice, olive oil, kosher salt, and 1 garlic clove. This is perfect to pair with Mexican recipes or Spanish recipes, and the whole family can enjoy it too!
🧊 Storage Directions
After you learn how to prepare avocado for baby, it’s just as important to know how to store it properly so it stays fresh. And if you’ve been wondering – can you freeze pureed avocado for baby? Yes! You totally can!
Fridge
I store extra puree in an airtight container in the fridge for the next day. I recommend finding small food storage containers that leave less room for air, and evenly portion it out. You can add a squeeze of fresh lemon juice or lime juice to the exposed part of the puree to prevent browning if desired.
Freezer
When freezing, I divide my avocado puree baby food evenly into an ice cube tray. Wrap it tightly with plastic wrap or use a freezer storage bag. You can also find baby food container trays that come with lids to cover like these Mumi & Bubi ice cube trays. I love them because they come with a cover, a recipe book, and the cubes are super easy to get out. One ice cube is equal to 1 tablespoon or 1 ounce of food.
Once the cubes are frozen (takes about 4-6 hours), pop them out of the ice cube trays and transfer them to a ziptop freezer safe bag for easy storage.
Reheating Or Thawing
When preparing avocado for baby, I would always thaw any frozen puree in the fridge the night before use. You can also thaw it by placing the puree cube in a small bowl over another bowl of hot water and letting it sit to defrost. Once defrosted, mix with breast milk, formula, or water to reach the desired consistency.
❓Recipe FAQs
You may be wondering – when can you introduce avocados to baby? This will depend on their own personal development and when they are ready to start solid foods, but typically it’s around 4-6 months of age. I gave both of my kids avocado as their first food when they were around 5 months old.
Pay attention to gross motor skills for an indication that your baby is ready! This could include having strong neck and head control, sitting, and lifting objects to the mouth.
No, avocado is not considered to be a common allergen for babies! However, if this is your first time giving avocado to baby I recommend starting off with a smaller portion of avocado and waiting for 2-3 days to observe for any signs of an allergic reaction such as a rash or upset stomach.
While technically you can steam avocado mash for baby, you don’t have to! There isn’t any need to steam or cook avocado for baby food since it is already so soft and creamy! This makes it super easy – you do not have to worry about extra steps like you might with other produce. Simply cut, scoop, and mash for an easy creamy puree.
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📋 Recipe Card
Avocado Puree: Baby’s First Food
My creamy avocado puree recipe is a perfect first food for your baby! Packed with essential nutrients for growth and development, it requires no special equipment and is ready in less than 5 minutes. This avocado baby food will quickly become one of your favorite baby food recipes, and the best part is that babies love it!
Servings: 4 servings
Calories: 80kcal
If Serving Fresh / Immediately
- Use ripe avocados that are soft and easy to mash.
- Store the puree in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- If you are making this puree to store in the fridge or freezer, do not add breastmilk or formula before storing it. Only add breastmilk or formula right before serving.
- Each ice cube = 1oz of food. Also, as your baby gets used to solids, you don’t have to thin out the avocado at all.
Calories: 80kcal | Carbohydrates: 4g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Sodium: 4mg | Potassium: 244mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 0.3g
