Homemade baby food: Peas, green beans, applesauce, butternut squash and oatmeal is an easy round of batch cooking for 5 wholesome foods in just 20 minutes!

No time for small talk today. We’ve got curious but busy and exhausted mamas who need to know how easy it is to make homemade baby food.

(Answer: Super easy. Pinky promise.)

I made ALL of the food both my kids ate. Never bought a jar, never bought a squeeze pouch, it was all homemade. And I have a full-time job (and had a toddler underfoot with baby #2).

So I get it. You are super short on time — especially time where you have your two hands free and can wield any sort of food or kitchen utensil — and you are short on energy as well.

But I promise you, it’s entirely possible to make some or all of your own baby food, if that’s what you want.

And if you just want to dabble a bit, make a few things here and there, and supplement the rest with store-bought foods, then that’s great, too. We’re in a no judgement zone here. It’s whatever works for you!

But if you want to go the homemade route, I’m here to show you how quick and easy it can be.

Today is the first of 6 rounds of baby food batch cooking I’m gonna share with you.

And we’re starting with the basics - some of baby’s first solid foods or the first foods to introduce to a baby.

By the way, I’ve got a whole list/chart for you to follow for an introducing baby foods schedule by stage. I researched and then wrote down this list when M was an infant and then went by it when J was ready to start solids.

Today’s round-up includes baby food purees for peas, green beans, applesauce, butternut squash and oatmeal.

And we’re going to make all of those in just 20 minutes. Yup, that’s right. Five different baby foods in just 20 minutes.

Told ya I’d make this easy. Cause hopefully you’ll have 5 minutes when this is done to put your feet up and read a magazine.

(HA! I know there’s laundry and cleaning and sleep and maybe a shower that would take precedence. But I’m gonna dream a little for you anyway. )

Easy Instructions:

We are going to be super efficient with our time and have a few things happening at once.

Here's the strategy:

1. Get both your peas and green beans going in separate pots on the stove. I use frozen (easy to have on hand), but you can substitute fresh. Steam each vegetable (or cook in a small amount of boiling water) until tender. About 4-5 minutes for frozen peas, 7-9 minutes for frozen green beans.
2. While the veggies are going on the stove, take turns with your microwave to make the frozen butternut squash and the oatmeal. For the butternut squash, I buy frozen “winter squash” that is already peeled, cooked and pureed. And only 1 ingredient. No funny business here, but they’ve done all the work for you! Find it in the freezer section, transfer the contents to a bowl, cover and microwave for about 5 minutes. Remove carefully (it will be hot) and let it cool before you refrigerate it.
3. For the oatmeal, I use regular old-fashioned or rolled oats and microwave them with some water for about 2 ½ minutes. (See my post on 3-minute breakfast oatmeal for more detailed instructions and tips.) Puree with additional water (or use breastmilk or formula) and keep an eye on it. Oatmeal soaks up liquid as it sits so it’s likely to get hard again, either before it cools or after it’s been refrigerated. You may need to add additional water/breastmilk/formula to it before serving to ensure it’s spoonable.
4. When the peas and green beans are done cooking, puree each one. Make sure to scrape down the green beans as they are stringy and can take a few rounds to get them smooth.
5. For the applesauce… find a jar that is only one ingredient: apples. Preferably organic apples since they are on the Dirty Dozen list (for having a high pesticide content). Then open it and dish out some portions. No, really. I cheat here and it’s so worth it. I made homemade applesauce for M, my first, once or twice and then never again. We started using it so much in baking and I just couldn’t keep up.

If you do want a homemade applesauce, you can see my easy crock pot applesauce recipe. Also check out my homemade flavored applesauce with 5 fruit flavors post with ideas for different fruit mix-ins.

But hey look, you are done! A few simple (read: smart and still healthy) shortcuts and we’ve made 5 baby foods in 20 minutes! #momwin

As for freezing homemade baby food, I use mini ice cube trays and then pop those cubes into labeled freezer bags for storing.

And if you’re wondering, yes, I always re-froze the cooked veggies from the freezer. Was never a problem for us, but you can opt for fresh if you prefer.

You can also freeze baby food in small freezer-friendly containers (I have these and these) and even just straight into freezer bags, but you won’t have the portion control there to pull out just a small amount. And you’ll lose a little that gets stuck to the bag.

(You can also make homemade baby squeeze pouches and freeze those.)

How long can you store homemade baby food? It keeps for 3-4 days in the refrigerator and 3-4 months in the freezer. Be sure to label your containers! New mom brain is no joke.

I hope those are some helpful tips and some easy instructions for doing a first batch of homemade baby food.

Be sure to stay tuned (sign up for my free e-newsletter and also get my healthy weeknight dinners e-cookbook for free!) for more updates on my other homemade baby food batch cooking posts.

And I would love for you to tag me on Instagram if you try this or any of my recipes! It's so fun to see what you make!

Happy cooking!

XO,

Kathryn

Note: This post has been updated with new photographs and revised text. It was originally published in April 2015.