Preparing healthy baby food recipes is not as complicated as thinking about what healthy and varied combinations you should prepare. Often, mommies have difficulties with (or lack inspiration in) finding new, healthy, age-appropriate recipes for their infants. That is the reason I wrote this article. I want to help moms leave aside their worries regarding healthy baby foods, produce, dairy, cereal, and meat combinations, ease their daily life and make it less stressful and more enjoyable from this point of view.
My top 10 favorite books with healthy baby food recipes for babies and toddlers
This is a list I made with care. It contains some of the books I bought or borrowed from my friends and relatives. They turned out extremely useful for me (as a mom of a 10mo daughter). That is why I had to share them with you, too.
![]() | 1. Little Foodie: Baby Food Recipes for Babies and Toddlers with Taste, by Michele Olivier – A playful cookbook wrote by Michele Olivier, baby food chef and founder of the lovely blog Baby FoodE. The author shows you how to easy make healthy and tasty baby food, from first purees to toddler finger food, regardless how much time you have. |
![]() | 2. Real Baby Food: Easy, All-Natural Recipes for Your Baby and Toddler, by Jenna Helwig – The author helps you fit this loving act into a busy day’s routine by making the process easy, fast, and flexible. 100 meals to begin a lifetime of healthy eating – from the moment your baby takes her first bite of solid food through her toddler years when she’s happily ensconced in a booster seat at the family table. |
![]() | 3. 201 Organic Baby Purees: The Freshest, Most Wholesome Food Your Baby Can Eat!, by Tamika L. Gardner – The author teaches readers to blend well-balanced meals right in their own home. The recipes include: basic fruit and veggie blends; classic combinations such as turkey, sweet potato and corn; super-foods like avocado and spinach; puree-based transition recipes including soups, biscuits, frozen desserts, and much more. The purees promote a strong immune system designed to protect tiny tummies. |
![]() | 4. The Baby and Toddler Cookbook: Fresh, Homemade Foods for a Healthy Start, by Karen Ansel – This book, along with its companion volume, Baby and Toddler On the Go, offers a fresh and nutritious approach to feeding children from 6 months to 3 years. It helps cooking healthy meals easy, even for busy parents. Therefore, the book covers each of the baby’s stages, from starting solid foods and introducing new ingredients and textures, to easing into toddlerhood with plenty of ideas for fun meals, snacks, and desserts. |
![]() | 5. Fast & Fresh Baby Food Cookbook: 120 Ridiculously Simple and Naturally Wholesome Baby Food Recipes, by Jacqueline Burt Cote – The idea of this book is simple: even if you are always busy, you can still make easy, wholesome, and delicious food for your baby in minutes. It covers: nutritional and developmental advice for ages 4 to 18 months; the latest information on which foods to introduce and when; easy-to-follow instructions for a wide variety of first purées, flavorful and nutritious combination purées, and fast and healthy toddler meals; a sample meal plans for babies and toddlers. It helps you take comfort in knowing that when everything else is out of your control, you can still make the best food for your baby in 30 minutes or less. |
![]() | 6. The Amazing Make-Ahead Baby Food Book: Make 3 Months of Homemade Purees in 3 Hours, by Lisa Barrangou – This is the perfect book for busy parents. It contains innovative plan features instructions for preparing, freezing, and effortlessly combining puree “building blocks” into quick, tasty meals. It’s purpose is to help your baby cultivate an adventurous palate while providing a rainbow of nutrients. |
![]() | 7. The Best Homemade Baby Food on the Planet: Know What Goes Into Every Bite with More Than 200 of the Most Deliciously Nutritious Homemade Baby Food Recipes, by Karin Knight and Tina Ruggiero – The book has been announced as a 2012 nominee for the International Association of Culinary Professionals annual Cookbook Awards competition. It is full of recipes to suit every age and stage – from six months all the way to twenty-three months. The recipes also contain a complete nutritional analysis, so you can be sure you’re giving your child the best possible start. |
![]() | 8. Cooking for Baby: Wholesome, Homemade, Delicious Foods for 6 to 18 Months, by Lisa Barnes – The eighty recipes in Cooking for Baby make preparing delicious meals for babies and toddlers a breeze, even for busy parents. The recipes are organized by age, showing how to introduce cereal grains and simple vegetable and fruit purees to your infant at six months. It also explains how to move on to chunkier foods by eight/nine months, and how to graduate to real meals for toddlers of twelve to eighteen months to enjoy along with the entire family. |
![]() | 9. Top 100 Baby Purees: 100 Quick and Easy Meals for a Healthy and Happy Baby, by Annabel Karmel – A book with recipes suitable for children aged six months and older. It contains recipes for fruit and vegetable favorites, and innovative fish, meat, and chicken purees. In addition, it also includes information on: weaning your baby and transitioning to solid foods, food allergies, time-saving food preparation tips, info on freezing and reheating your homemade baby food, tricks on finding the hidden nutrition in everyday foods. |
![]() | 10. Bébé Gourmet: 100 French-Inspired Baby Food Recipes For Raising an Adventurous Eater, by Jenny Carenco – The book features: dishes inspired by culinary traditions from France and other international cuisines, nutritional guidance at each stage from Dr. Jean Lalau Keraly – Pediatric Nutritionist and Endocrinologist, quick and easy recipes that take under 30 minutes to prepare (many under 15!). It gives us “Yummy Tips” on adapting recipes for the whole family. The recipes come along with cooking tips and organizational tricks to help you awaken your baby’s taste buds and encourage healthy eating habits. Moreover, recipes for lunches, dinners, and snacks are organized by the major stages of development: 4 months, 6 months, 9 months, 12 months and up. |
I really hope you find this list helpful. What are your favorite books with baby food recipes for babies and toddlers?
Happy cooking!