How to make a nutritious stage 1 Chicken Butternut Squash homemade baby food puree for your baby - from 6 months old onwards. Baby-led weaning option included.
Thinking of great puree combinations for your baby can often be a stressful thing.
I mean sure, the presumption is that babies will pretty much eat anything blended into a puree but you'd want your little one to have a caloric and nutritious meal also.
I know I did. So thinking of purees that provided enough calories, a lot of essential nutrients and were easy to make and tasted good was often a challenge for me.
That's why I'd like to share with you one of the best puree combinations that my son absolutely loved - this Chicken Butternut Squash puree.
Below you will also see a how to serve for baby-led weaning option.
Nutrition And Ingredients
Chicken Breast
- I used chicken breast for this recipe. So it's 100% white meat, skinless and boneless. But you can just as easily use a chicken leg or any part of a chicken. Or turkey for that matter.
- Chicken is a great source of protein for your kids as well as iron, phosphorus, vitamin B3 (niacin) and selenium
Butternut squash
- I just love how the subtle sweet taste of the butternut squash blends beautifully with the chicken
- It's a great source of the vitamins A, C and E as well as the minerals calcium and iron
Olive Oil
- Use the best olive oil you can find, cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil
- A great source of calories and "healthy" fats which can protect the cardio-vascular system
From What Age Can I Give This To My Baby?
From 6 months onwards. See below on how to prepare for baby-led weaning.
If you are ready to transition from purees to more chunkier food see our post here on how to transition.
How To Make Chicken Butternut Squash Puree
Heat the oven. Preheat the oven to 390ºF / 200ºC.
Prepare the ingredients. Wash, peel and slice the butternut squash into cubes (or half inch thick sticks if BLW). Cut the chicken into cubes (or strips the width of two adult fingers put together if BLW).
Bake. Put the chicken and butternut on a baking tray, drizzle with olive oil and bake for 30 mins.
Make a puree. Once cooked, let cool and blend into a smooth puree. Add water tsp by tsp if needed to reach desired consistency.
Cool and serve. Allow to cool a bit before serving.
Different serving options
Mashed
- if you are transitioning from purees to finger food and are in the in between stage you may want to mash the chicken (either with a blender or by cutting into tiny tiny pieces) and mix with the mashed butternut squash.
Baby-led weaning
- butternut squash needs to be so soft you could mash it between your fingers
- chicken should be the size of two fingers stuck together so it is easy for baby to hold. They will mostly just suck on it at this point
This recipe is included in our Wean With Confidence Book.
Tips And Tricks For The Perfect Puree
Allow the chicken and butternut squash to cool a bit before blending. If you want to have a nice and compact puree, I recommend you wait 5 - 10 minutes after the chicken and butternut squash are baked before mixing them into a puree.
FAQ & Puree Variations
Can I use different meat? Yes, you don't really need to use chicken breast for this puree. You can also use any other part of the chicken or another meat for that matter. Turkey or other poultry would be a great substitute but also another red meat will do the trick.
Can I use a different vegetable? Instead of butternut squash, you can use another similar vegetable. The best first substitute would be another veggie from the pumpkin family. But also sweet potato or carrots can provide that subtle sweet taste.
Vary your fats/oils. Although I always recommend going with olive oil as a source of fats and oils in baby meals and purees, if you don't have any you can use another fat or oil. Vegetable oils with a subtle aroma like linseed oil or sunflower oil are great as well as butter which is another nutrient and calorie source for babies.
Make it textured. If your baby is past eating smooth purees, you can easily serve this as a stage 2 (textured) puree instead.
More Baby Puree Recipes
Chicken Butternut Squash Baby Food Recipe
EQUIPMENT
Ingredients
- 3.6 oz chicken breast
- 1 cup butternut squash
- 1 tsp olive oil
Instructions
- Heat the oven. Preheat the oven to 390ºF / 200ºC.
- Prepare the ingredients. Wash, peel and slice the butternut squash into cubes (or ½ inch / 1. 5 cm thick sticks if BLW). Cut the chicken into cubes (or strips the width of two adult fingers put together if BLW).
- Bake. Put the chicken and butternut on a baking tray, drizzle with olive oil and bake for 30 mins.
- Make a puree. Once cooked, let cool and blend into a smooth puree. Add tsp by tsp of pre-boiled or bottled water if needed to reach desired consistency. For stage 2, stage 3 baby food combinations, or for baby-led weaning see notes below.
- Allow to cool a bit before serving.
Notes
- If you are transitioning from purees to finger food and are in the in between stage you may want to mash the chicken (either with a blender or by cutting into tiny tiny pieces) and mix with the mashed butternut squash.
- For stage 2 baby food you want thicker mashable chunks and for stage 3 you want soft, chewable, small chunks of butternut squash and chicken
- See blog post above for image
- Butternut squash needs to be so soft you could mash it between your fingers
- Chicken should be the size of two fingers stuck together so it is easy for baby to hold. They will mostly just suck on it at this point
- See blog post above for image
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