5 homemade baby food pouches
These homemade baby food pouches are portable, squeezable and a great way to serve healthy fruits, vegetables and grains to your baby, toddler or preschooler. Includes 5 easy recipes and tips on making the pouches.
Yield: 3 pouches per combination
Ingredients
For the apple and carrot pouches:
- ¾ cup cooked carrots (I use frozen and follow the package instructions)
- 1 small apple, cored and roughly chopped (or about ¾ to 1 cup unsweetened applesauce)
- juice of ½ lemon
For the broccoli and apple pouches:
- ½ cup cooked broccoli florets
- 1 small apple, cored and roughly chopped (or about ¾ to 1 cup unsweetened applesauce)
- juice of ½ lemon
For the blueberry, banana and quinoa pouches:
- ½ cup fresh blueberries (or frozen, thawed)
- ½ cup cooked quinoa
- 1 small ripe banana
- juice of ½ lemon
For the black bean, blackberry and pears pouches:
- ½ cup cooked black beans (rinsed and drained if from a can)
- ½ cup fresh blackberries (or frozen, thawed)
- ½ cup fresh or canned pears
- juice of ½ lemon
For the pumpkin, apricot and chickpea pouches:
- ½ cup canned pure pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
- ½ cup apricot puree
- ½ cup pureed chickpeas
- juice of ½ lemon
Instructions
- Make sure all of your grains and veggies are cooked, if indicated.
- Combine all ingredients for each pouch combination in a blender or immersion blender and blend until it’s a smooth, pourable consistency. (See notes.)
- Label your bags, set up your station and add the mixture to the squeeze station containers, filled to the indicated line. Push down with the press tool and fill each bag. Remove the bags from the station and twist on the tops.
- Store pouches in the refrigerator for 2-3 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. To defrost, simply move the pouch to the refrigerator - it thaws in less than a day.
Notes
Adding about 1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice to these helps preserve them. If you plan to use yours within a couple of days, you can skip this.
You can keep the peels on the pears and apples, just be sure to puree them very well so pieces don’t get stuck and prevent the mixture from going into the squeezie bags.
The vegetables and grains need to be cooked and soft, so plan ahead. Or use leftovers. These can be a great way to use up scraps and reduce food waste.
If any of your mixtures seem too thick (because the water content of fruits and veggies can vary), just add a bit of applesauce or a splash of water to the blender until its thin enough.
Each pouch holds about 4 ounces. Most of these batches make about 3 squeezies worth. You can of course always double up if you want to knock out a bunch.
Storage tips: You can keep the baby food pouches in the refrigerator for 2-3 days or pop them straight into the freezer to have on hand later. Let them thaw in the refrigerator (they’ll thaw in less than a day) and then serve.
These should be served cold or at room temperature; they aren’t meant to be heated.
Equipment: The Infantino Squeeze Station is a really great, easy way to make pouches at home. It’s the only specific baby food equipment I’ve bought and was definitely worth it.
You’ll also need to buy refill pouches (they come in batches of 50 and you will go through them!)
You’ll also need an immersion/hand blender or regular blender to make the purees to put into the squeeze pouches.
See my post on how to set up and use the baby food squeezie station if you’re new to using it.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 50kcal
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