Pumpkin Baby Puree
This Pumpkin Baby Puree is a creamy and flavorful way to introduce your baby to the flavors of the season! It’s so good you can serve it plain or with a swirl of plain yogurt, cottage cheese for older babies, or with a spoonful of ricotta. It’s a nutritious stage 1 baby food for 4-6 months and up.
Medically reviewed and co-written by Jamie Johnson, Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN), and Lauren Braaten, Pediatric Occupational Therapist (OT).
Pumpkin Baby Puree
You’re not the only one that will be obsessed with pumpkin this fall!
Pumpkin baby puree 🎃 is a fun and flavorful way to introduce the taste of the season to your little pumpkin 👶!
Filled with a ton of essential nutrients for babies, this recipe is an easy, hassle-free way to make a pumpkin puree for your baby without all the fuss 🙅♀️.
This recipe is a yummy and smooth starter puree for your baby, and you can even mix it into yogurt, oatmeal, pancakes, muffins, or apple puree for toddlers and kids.
Is it your first time making homemade baby food? Then I suggest you start this journey by reading my in-depth Guide on How to Make Homemade Baby Food. The detailed guide 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!
Pumpkin Puree Video
Watch this video to see how easy this Pumpkin Puree recipe is to make!
Reasons to Love Pumpkin Puree for Baby
- creamy and smooth
- great for 4-6+ months
- stage one baby food
- healthy — full of essential nutrients for baby
- easy to make – requires only 10 minutes of hands-on time
- babies love the sweet and earthy taste
- homemade
- freezer-friendly
- budget-friendly
Ingredients
Make sure to read the recipe card below for full ingredients and instructions!
- Pumpkin: For the best pumpkin baby puree, you should use a pie or sugar pumpkin, not the huge pumpkins you use for carving. Most grocery stores carry pie pumpkins in the fall.
- Sage or Thyme: To round out the pumpkin’s natural sweetness, we will add a pinch of freshly chopped sage or thyme. You can also use cumin, nutmeg, cloves, garlic clove, basil leaves, chopped rosemary, or even a big pinch of fresh ginger.
Health Benefits of Pumpkin
- A good source of fiber and can prevent and resolve constipation
- Contains a lot of beta-carotene, which helps aid eyesight
- Contains antioxidants and vitamin C to help strengthen immunity
- A good source of potassium to help heart health
How to Make Pumpkin Puree
- Preheat Oven: Preheat the oven and line a baking sheet.
- Cut Pumpkin: Start by slicing off the top of the pumpkin, then cut lengthwise down the middle until you have 2 halves of a pumpkin.
- Scoop Out Seeds and String: Don’t be too obsessed with getting all the strings out; they will puree nicely with the rest of the pumpkin.
- Chop Pumpkin: Chop the pumpkin into smallish pieces and place onto a baking sheet, with the skin side down.
- Roast: Place the pumpkin in the oven and then roast until tender.
- Peel the Skin.
- Blend: Place the pumpkin inside a food processor or blender. Add thyme and start blending for 1-2 minutes, adding the liquid in 1/4 cup increments until you get the desired consistency.
- Serve or Freeze for Later.
More Ways to Cook Pumpkin
There are several ways you can cook pumpkin to make a baby puree. While I prefer to roast the pumpkin to save on the labor of peeling it, you can also steam or boil it.
Steam
Cut a pie pumpkin into bigger chunks, peel, and then roughly chop into smaller pieces. Place the pumpkin cubes into a steamer basket over 2 inches of boiling water and steam for 10-15 minutes or until tender when pricked with a fork. Puree in a blender as directed below.
Boiling
Cut a pie pumpkin into bigger chunks, peel, and then roughly chop into smaller pieces. Place these pumpkin cubes into a medium saucepan, add enough water to cover the pumpkin, and bring to a boil. Reduce to simmer and cook for 15 minutes or until tender when pricked with a fork. Puree in a blender as directed below.
Note: Boiling will not be the most nutritious method, as a lot of the nutrients leach out of the pumpkin when boiled and then thrown out with the water after boiling. If you’re boiling and using liquid to get the desired consistency, use some of the leftover water as your liquid of choice to save some of those nutrients.
Time-Saving Tip: I have seen pre-peeled and cubed pumpkin in grocery stores in the produce section and the frozen food aisle. Both of those are excellent options if you want to save time and steam/boil the pumpkin.
How to Store Pumpkin Baby Food
REFRIGERATOR
You can store this puree in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
FREEZER
This puree can be frozen for up to 4 months.
- Spoon puree into a freezer storage container. Do not overfill.
- Place the lid on the storage container or cover with a piece of saran wrap, and label with the date and recipe name.
- Place the tray into the freezer and let it freeze completely — preferably overnight.
- Pop-out the baby food cubes and place them in a ziplock baggie or stasher bag. Don’t forget to relabel 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; by the end of the week, you will completely forget what is in your freezer and how long it’s been there.
Frequently Asked Questions
When can baby eat pumpkin?
Babies can have pumpkin 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 your baby on purees, you should consult with your pediatrician to make sure your child is developmentally ready.
Can you add spices to this pumpkin puree?
Yes! In this recipe, we are adding a pinch of fresh sage or thyme, but feel free to use the following spices instead: cumin, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, garlic, thyme, mint, basil, or fresh ginger (see quantity recommendations in the recipe card).
Tip on Spices: I always add spices or herbs to my baby food purees, but you can choose to leave them out of all your baby food. You do you! Either way, this puree will surely taste amazing.
Great Pumpkin Combination Purees
While this pumpkin puree tastes great by itself, it’s also easy to mix and match with other nutrient-dense baby food purees. So give these fun flavor combos a try!
- Apples
- Carrots
- Pears
- Mango
- Sweet Potatoes
- Pineapple
- Prunes
- Quinoa Baby Cereal
- Chicken
- White Beans
- Soft Tofu
- Carrot + Corn
- Yogurt
Puree Feeding Tips
- Follow your baby’s lead – when feeding purees from a spoon, sometimes there’s a tendency to keep offering bites past the point of your baby being full. Always follow baby’s cues for when they are done eating. Turning away from the spoon, closing her mouth, or pushing food away are all signs that baby is finished with the meal.
- Try adding a little seasoning or spice to purees – babies like flavor! Or consider changing the temperature of purees from time to time, to slightly warmed or slightly chilled. Varying these aspects adds to the sensory experience!
- Throwing spoons is a common phase that all babies go through at one point or another. One of the best ways to handle spoon throwing is to ignore it and keep feeding baby as usual (with an extra spoon you already have at the table). If baby ends up also throwing back up spoons #2 AND #3, simply encourage your baby to eat with their hands until they appear to be finished with the meal.
Tools Needed
These tools will make it a lot easier for you to make this healthy Sweet Potato puree. For more information, here is a post of my favorite kitchen tools to make baby food: Top Tools for Making Baby Purees.
DID YOU MAKE THIS PUMPKIN PUREE?
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Get the recipe: Pumpkin Baby Puree
Ingredients
- 1 small pumpkin, pie or sugar pumpkin variety
- 1 tsp olive oil (optional)
- 1/2 tsp fresh thyme or sage, roughly chopped
- 1-2 cups liquid – water, breast milk, formula or stock
Instructions
- Preheat: Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone mat.
- Prep: Cut up the pumpkin. Start by slicing off the top off the pumpkin, then cut lengthwise down the middle until you have 2 halves of a pumpkin.
- Deseed Pumpkin: Scoop out the seeds and strings. Don’t be too obsessed with getting all the strings out, they will puree nicely with the rest of the pumpkin.
- Cut Pumpkin: Chop the pumpkin into smallish pieces and place them onto a baking sheet, skin down. Brush on the olive oil, if using.
- Bake: Roast in the oven for 45-60 minutes or until a fork can pierce the very tender flesh. Set aside until cool enough to handle.
- Remove Skin: Peel the skin away from the pumpkin.
- Puree: Place the pumpkin inside a food processor or blender. Add thyme and start blending for 1-2 minutes, adding the liquid in 1/4 cup increments until you get the desired consistency. I had to add 1 cup of water to the puree pictured.
- Eat: Serve or freeze for later.
Notes
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5 Comments on “Pumpkin Baby Puree”
My son is 6 – months and I want to start to give him food , but I don’t know now 🙁
Can I used canned pumpkin for this recipe?
You can, it won’t taste exactly the same though.
Can I boil the pumpkin in water on stove without using the oven?
I haven’t tried boiling the pumpkin, but you should definitely steam the pumpkin, it would just have to be peeled first.