The Best Broccoli Baby Food
This Broccoli Baby Food with olive oil recipe is a great way to introduce healthy green vegetables into your baby’s diet. A delicious puree that is full of essential vitamins and healthy fats for a growing baby. If you’re looking for an easy green starter puree for your baby, this is it! Great baby food for 4-6 months and older – stage 1 baby food!
Broccoli Baby Food
Broccoli 🥦 just isn’t my thing.
I like the thought of it – a super green vegetable that contains iron and calcium, is high in vitamin C and folate, may help reduce asthma symptoms and the risk of cancer, and can help boost your immune system- but in reality, I just can’t get into it.
We all have our thing, broccoli no matter how many times I try it, just isn’t mine.
But that doesn’t mean that I won’t buy it and serve it to my baby.
Heck no!
I won’t let my weird aversion to an awesome vegetable deter my baby from being able to experience and make a judgment for herself on whether she likes it or not. She will probably love it and then hold it over my head for the rest of her life.
To that I say, game on baby!
At first bite, baby Parker gave some rather perplexed looks to this new puree but when served alongside a peach puree and a beet puree, she quickly gobbled it up… like in gobbled up not 1 but 2 servings of this tasty green puree!! Turns out that baby Parker loves her some broccoli puree!
Broccoli eating score:
Baby – 1
Mom – 0
First time making homemade baby food? Then, I would suggest that you start by reading my very in-depth Guide on how to Make Homemade Baby Food – which goes over all the important information such as the best cooking tools to have on hand, safe storage, how to know when baby is ready for solids, how to introduce purees, the best first foods for baby, and more! You can also check out my best-selling cookbook for even more information and recipes!
Reasons to Love this Broccoli Baby Food:
- nutrient-dense – contains fiber, iron, calcium, antioxidants, folate, potassium, vitamins A, C and K
- creamy green puree baby will love
- filled with healthy fats for baby’s growing brain and bones
- 4+ months and older
- freezer-friendly
- stage 1 baby food puree
- homemade
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Prep Broccoli: roughly chop a bunch of broccoli and one small apple or white potato.
- Steam: place the broccoli and potato/apple into a steamer basket and steam until tender.
- Puree: transfer cooked produce into a blender or food processor and add a drizzle of olive oil. Puree until smooth.
- Serve or freeze.
OTHER COOKING METHODS
While I love the clean flavor of steamed broccoli, there are several different ways you can cook broccoli for baby food.
ROASTING
Place broccoli and small chunks of potato onto a baking sheet and roast in the oven at 425 degrees F, for 20-25 minutes or tender when pricked with a fork. Puree in a blender as directed below.
BLANCHING
Bring medium saucepan filled with water to a boil, add in the potato and cook for 6 minutes, then add in the broccoli and cook for 2 minute or when tender with pricked with a fork. Drain the water, let cool slightly. Puree in a blender as directed below.
ADDING SPICES
In this recipe, we are adding in a small drizzle of high-quality olive oil into the puree, but feel free to use the following spices instead – chopped chives, mint leaves, chopped cilantro, cumin or a squeeze of fresh lemon juice.
Tip on Spices: I always added in spices to my baby food purees, but you can add or leave out spices in all of your baby food. You do you! Either way, this puree will taste amazing.
WHEN CAN BABY EAT BROCCOLI?
Baby can have broccoli as one of their first foods. When a baby can start on solids is determined by their own rate of development, which generally comes between 4-6 months of age. Some of the developmental milestones babies need to reach in order to start solids include: if your baby has solid control of their head and neck, if your baby has doubled in weight, and if your baby is reaching for or opening their mouth when you eat (see my guide here). Before you start baby on purees, you should consult with your pediatrician to make sure your child is developmentally ready.
Other ways to serve this puree to baby + toddler
- Mix with a serving of chicken puree for baby’s first chicken and broccoli meal.
- Add frozen cubes of broccoli puree into a toddler smoothie with pineapple, almond milk, spinach and an apple.
- Mixed into some cooked quinoa for a hearty chunky stage 3 puree.
- Swirl puree into some beet and apple puree for a bright and tasty baby puree combo.
HOW TO STORE BROCCOLI BABY FOOD
REFRIGERATOR
You can store in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.
FREEZER
This puree can be frozen for up to 4 months.
- Spoon puree into a freezer storage container (this is my favorite freezer storage container) – do not overfill.
- Place the lid on the storage container or cover with a piece of saran wrap and label with date and recipe name.
- Place the tray into the freezer and let freeze completely – preferably overnight.
- Pop out the baby food cubes and place in a zip-lock baggie or stasher bag – don’t forget to re-label the baggie or stasher bag for future reference.
Need more information on how to store your baby foods – head over to my Best Baby Food Storage Containers – Plus 6 Tips on Freezing and Thawing post!
Label Tip: Don’t forget to label your purees before you place them in the fridge or freezer with the name of the puree and the date you made it. Take it from me, you will completely forget when and what is in your freezer by the end of the week.
GREAT BROCCOLI COMBINATION PUREES
While Broccoli Baby Food is great by itself, it’s also super easy to mix and match with other nutrient-dense baby food purees. Give these fun flavor combos a try!
- Apples
- Asparagus
- Quinoa Baby Cereal
- Chicken
- White Beans
- Softened Tofu
- Spinach
- Green Beans
- Yogurt
- Mango
Tools NEEDED
DID YOU MAKE THIS BROCCOLI BABY FOOD PUREE?
I’D LOVE TO KNOW HOW IT TURNED OUT! LEAVE A COMMENT AND A ⭐️ RATING BELOW 👇
Get the recipe: Broccoli Baby Food
Ingredients
- 2 cups broccoli, chopped into small florets.
- 1 small white potato or apple, peeled and chopped
- 1 tbsp good quality olive oil (optional)
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, bring 2 inches of water to a boil over medium heat.
- Place the broccoli and potato (or apple) into a steamer basket and place over boiling water, cover and steam for 10-12 minutes or until the broccoli and potato are tender. Reserve water from the steamer. Let cool slightly.
- Add the broccoli, potato and olive oil into a blender or food processor and puree until smooth, adding water from steamer in 1/4 cup increments if needed.
- Let cool and serve to baby or freeze for another meal.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
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32 Comments on “The Best Broccoli Baby Food”
This is the first baby food recipe of yours that I have made since recently discovering your blog! It was so delicious. For every bite I fed my 11-month old babe, I snuck one for myself 😉 Thanks!
Hello Brooke,
That is awesome!!!! So glad you both enjoyed it:)
xoxo, Michele
Made this last night and my LO LOVED LOVED LOVED it!! He actually threw a mini tantrum when the 1st serving was over. However, today he has very bad diarrhea that is bright broccoli green. I can tell his little tummy really hurts. Have you experienced this at all with your LO after eating this? I’m worried it might have been the olive oil??
Hello Johanna,
OMG.. I loved that he throw a mini tantrum over finishing his broccoli!! You should definitely take a video of that to show him when he is a toddler!
SOOOO sad about his upset tummy! Parker definitely had green poo the next day but it didn’t seem to upset her stomach (she still has soft poo so it is hard to tell what is diarrhea and what is normal poo). How many ounces did you give him? Has he had broccoli before? What else did you serve with it? Broccoli is in the same family (cruciferous vegetable) as cabbage and Brussels sprouts and can cause gas if you eat too many at one time. Either way, I would back off the puree and depending on how old your little one is maybe give him some water and a tummy rub to ease the gas and see how he feels in a little bit.
Hope that helps, Michele
PS – I ADORE your site and have already referred lots of my friends over!
I just want to say I love your site. So many useful hacks and tricks. Just starting my second on solids in a couple of months and can’t wait. Thanks for sharing your recipes 🙂
I’m new to blogging and my blog is not as nearly great as yours, but I’m hoping to get there. You’re my role model 🙂
Anyways, here’s the link: http://www.babyfoodlovingblog.com – have a look when you get a chance. I’d be honoured! 🙂
Amela
Thank you so much for visiting my site!!! Your blog is wonderful, keep up the great work and keep me posted!
xo, Michele
Hi, I just stumbled upon your amazing website! I was wondering what kitchen item you actually use to puree these things?
I started off using a blender for margaritas (used in earlier posts) and now I use either a blendtex or a vitamix. You can really use any blender or food processor but I find that the blender works better to get creamier smoother purees.
Thanks for visiting!
xo, Michele
Hi! I am a new, huge fan of your site! Recently I made a bunch of cubes of potato/broccoli purée that I froze for my little one. The problem is that, as it thaws, the cubes end up a dense, spongey block—which doesn’t seem very appetizing. Any recommendations for how I can get a better texture from the frozen blocks? Thank you!!
What is the texture when the puree thaws out? Usually all the frozen purees have a slightly weird consistency when frozen but are great when thawed, so I want to make sure I didn’t miss something with this puree. I usually either thaw in the fridge or in the microwave for best results.
Hi Michele! Have been LOVING referring to your blog since my friend recommended it for our first steps into the world of solids! Have shared with my mother’s group too and you’ve definitely got fans there too. Question – I’ve read in a few places about the risk of nitrates in veg – like broccoli and carrots… what are your thoughts on that? There’s so much conflicting info. I’m really keen to give my daughter broc for the iron but may have succumbed to the scare mongers out there. And in response to Lindsay’s comment – I’ve made another puree that incl potatoes and found the same odd spongey result. I’ve since read that it potentially relates to overcooking potatoes and/or over working them while in the processor (very likely in my case)… something to do with releasing extra starches.
So sorry on the delay, I missed your comment.
Nitrates do exist naturally in vegetables (mostly carrots) but the last case of nitrate poisoning was from contaminated soil back in the 60’s. With that in mind, you don’t want to overload your little one with a ton of natural nitrates and I would say that anything less then 20 oz a day of carrots would be fine. Which is a TON OF CARROTS! I would also recommend buying organic carrots so there are not any more nitrates on them. Plus, organic carrots are just a few cents more then conventional so that’s nice. But seriously, it is nothing to worry about and I wouldn’t let you stop from serving any vegetable purees.
And yes, if you have too much or cook the potato too long it will get starchy. You can also use apple or pear in this recipe in place of the potato.
Michele
Hi , can frozen brocolli be used for this recipe ?
Yes
Made this as my baby’s first meal at 5 and a half months. She really seemed to enjoy it! I didn’t have a potato on hand so I subbed in an apple. Thanks for the recipe!
Glad she enjoyed it!
Tried this recipe and it tasted and felt like glue. My 9 month old did not like it after the first taste.
Sorry to hear this recipe didn’t work for you. Did you cook for how long the recipe stated? Sometimes if you overcook the produce it will become too starchy.
WOW! I was pleasantly surprised at how good this was! I added a pinch of salt to the purée and about 3Tbso off water. Looking forward to making more wholesome food for my little guy from this blog. Next one on my list is the immune boost purée!
So glad your little guy enjoyed it! Let me know how the next one goes:)
So easy and healthy, thanks for this recipe idea Michele!
My 6 month old daughter loves this!!
So glad to hear this!
Hi! I’m a newly converted fan! I found your site on accident, but loving it eversince. Tried your puree recipe for my LO, and she loved most of it. Broccoli potato puree one being her favorite!
Thank you sooo much!
So glad you are here! Love that your LO is loving her purees!
I love your recipes useful and professional thank you, my baby, loved broccoli and potato
Thank you so much for being here!
What kind of oil did you use ?? Would avocado oil work??
You can use avocado, olive or coconut oil in this recipe for some extra healthy fats.
Could I just use broccoli and not add any other veg/fruit? I want use to single flavours to start off with.
Yes, you can just use broccoli for this recipe:)