18 Stage 3 Baby Food Recipes (Easy, Delicious + Homemade)
These 18 Stage 3 Baby Food Recipes are easy to make, delicious for baby to eat and completely homemade! They are combination purees with soft chunks that will get baby ready for the next stage – finger foods. Great for babies 9-12 months.
Medically reviewed and co-written by Jamie Johnson, Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN), and Lauren Braaten, Pediatric Occupational Therapist (OT).
Now that your baby has mastered Stage 1 as well as Stage 2 baby food purees, it’s time to move on to the last phase of their puree journey – Stage 3!
Stage 3, or Chunky Purees, is the last stop of the puree culinary adventure for baby – the next phase is finger foods.
What exactly are Stage 3 Baby Purees? Well, put simply, Stage 3 baby foods are a puree with small chewable chunks inside. Having small manageable chunks in a puree gets your baby ready for finger foods by having them explore similar tastes that they are used to but with completely different texture profiles.
Baby has to learn how to move the chunks around their little mouths, how to chew on those chunks and finally they have to learn to swallow them without gagging or choking. It’s a sensory and exploratory practice that takes some time, but trust me, baby will learn how to do all of these things in no time at all.
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How to Make Stage 3 Baby Purees
You can make any homemade Stage 2 baby food puree into a Stage 3 baby food simply by not blending the produce into a smooth puree.
- Cook the fruits, veggies, grains and meat according to the recipe.
- Place in a food processor or blender.
- Pulse the puree in 5-10 second intervals until you have small ‘pea’ size pieces and everything is incorporated.
- Serve to your baby.
Can you do Finger Foods and Stage 3 Purees at the Same Time?
Yes, you can start finger foods at any age! This stage is all about texture and taste exploration, so the more you introduce to your baby now, the easier it will be for them when they start eating table foods. You can read my Ultimate Guide to Finger Foods for more information.
Stage Three Baby Puree Recipes
Strawberry, Sweet Potato + Farro Baby Food
Peach Rice Pudding with Vanilla + Cinnamon
Chunky Summer Veggie Pasta
Oatmeal with Beets + Carrots
Chunky Peach, Raspberry + Quinoa Baby Food Puree
Green Baby Puree with Chicken
Apple + Mint with Cottage Cheese Baby Food Puree
Blueberry Chickpea with Rosemary Baby Food Puree
Roasted Pear + Date Baby Food Puree
Roasted Carrot, Cherry + Millet Baby Food Puree
Blueberry, Mango + Avocado Baby Food Puree
Peach + Raspberry Oatmeal for Baby and Toddler
Green Pea Hummus for Baby + Toddler
8 Comments on “18 Stage 3 Baby Food Recipes (Easy, Delicious + Homemade)”
Have recent studies shown any long-term benefits or drawbacks to the baby led weaning method compared to traditional spoon feeding? Are there any potential risks involved in letting babies self-feed from the start?”,
“refusal
This roundup post is about stage 3 purees (chunky and combo purees) for babies 9 months to 12 months who are much further along in their feeding journey.
So my little one needs to move on from the smooth purées and I have an entire freezer full of your stage 2 recipes, how could I turn the already made/frozen stage 2 purées into stage 3? Thank you in advance 💕
This is a great question! You can mix the stage 2 purees you have already have with soft-cooked pasta, cooked grains like farro, quinoa or rice, ground meat, soft-cooked and slightly chopped veggies like sweet potato, broccoli or carrots, ricotta or cottage cheese, etc. Hope that helps.
Have tried a few of these and my baby loves these! We use the instant pot to steam the veggies. Thanks for the great recipes and inspiration!
Great idea to use the Instapot to steam the veggies! Glad you hear that baby loves them!
Do you still have to introduce all of these ingredients alone first to baby? I am worried because I need to move on from smooth purees, but she has not had these ingredients.
Nope, as soon as you introduce the basic ingredients you can start adding combination purees with chunks, even if your baby hasn’t had them before.