This Sweet Potato with Curry Baby Food Puree is a fun and exciting first puree for baby! Creamy, smooth and filled with a ton of essential nutrients for growing baby. Great baby food for 4+ months (stage 1 baby food).
Sweet Potato Baby Food Puree
This deliciously creamy baby food puree will take your little one on a fun culinary adventure✈️, without ever leaving their highchair!
Sweet potatoes are one of my all-time favorite vegetables to puree for baby! Not only do I find that most baby’s love their naturally sweet taste and creamy texture, but sweet potatoes are loaded with essential nutrients for a growing baby.
It’s a winning combo in my book🏆!
In this recipe, we are going to roast the sweet potatoes to bring out their natural caramely-earthy goodness before we add in a pinch of mild curry powder and blend to a super light and creamy consistency.
Don’t be afraid to eat this delicious puree right alongside baby 👩👧- it’s that good!
Reasons to Love sweet potato puree
- creamy and smooth
- great for 4+ months
- stage one baby food
- healthy – full of essential nutrients for baby
- easy to make – 5 minutes of hands-on time
- baby loves the sweet and earthy taste
- homemade
- freezer-friendly
- budget-friendly
Health Benefits of Sweet Potatoes
- A good source of fiber and can prevent and resolve constipation.
- They contain a lot of beta-carotene which converts into vitamin A.
- Contains vitamin C and E to help strengthen immunity.
- A good source of calcium to help strengthen bones.
Ingredients
- Sweet Potatoes: are at the top of the list when it comes to first foods to introduce to your baby. The nutritional value of sweet potatoes is outstanding! And the sweet taste of the sweet potato makes it super easy to introduce to your baby from their very first bite. Sweet potatoes are high in beta carotene as well as the ultra-important electrolyte mineral potassium! Sweet potatoes also contain good levels of Vitamin E, calcium and folate. Due to their high fiber content, sweet potatoes help support a healthy digestive tract and promote regular bowel movements for your baby. This recipe calls for 2 sweet potatoes, but you can easily use more or less depending on how much you want to make.
- Mild Curry Powder: we are kicking up the flavor profile with a fun mild curry powder to bring out the sweet potatoes earthiness. This is the curry powder I use in all of my baby food purees. You can skip the curry powder if you prefer.
how to make sweet potato puree
- Wash the sweet potatoes while ignoring the fact that you probably need a manicure.
- Dry and prick sweet potatoes before popping them onto a baking sheet and into the oven to bake for 50-60 minutes or until tender when pricked with a fork.
- Let cool.
- Peel away the sweet potato skin and discard.
- Place the sweet potato and curry into a blender or food processor and add liquid of your choice.
- Puree for 1-2 minutes or until completely smooth.
- Serve or freeze for a later meal.
Other Cooking Methods
While I love the deep flavor of roasted sweet potatoes, there are several different ways you can cook sweet potatoes for baby food.
Steaming
Peel and roughly chop 2 sweet potatoes before placing them into a steamer basket over 2 inches of boiling water for 10-15, or tender when pricked with a fork. Puree in a blender as directed below.
Boiling
Place 2 peeled and roughly chopped sweet potatoes into a medium saucepan, add enough water to cover the sweet potatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce to simmer and cook for 15 minutes or when tender with pricked with a fork. Puree in a blender as directed below.
Adding Spices
In this recipe, we are adding in a pinch of mild curry powder, but feel free to use the following spices instead of the curry – cumin, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, garlic, thyme, mint, basil or fresh ginger (see quantity recommendations in the recipe card).
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.
How to Store Sweet Potato 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 and this are my favorite freezer storage containers) – 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 stager bag for future reference.
Great Sweet Potato Combination Purees
While Sweet Potato Puree 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
- Carrots
- Pears
- Parsnips
- Beets (golden or red)
- Quinoa Baby Cereal
- Chicken
- White Beans
- Soften Tofu
- Pumpkin
- Mango
- Cauliflower
- Yogurt
- Beef
- Canned Coconut Milk
- Salmon
MORE BABY FOOD RECIPES
- 7 Organic Starter Baby Purees for Under $20
- 15 Stage One Baby Purees (that actually taste delicious)
- 10 Super Starter Purees for Baby (Tips, Recipes and Starters Guide on How to Feed Baby)
- 5 Minute Mango Baby Food Puree
- Sweet Potato Baby Puree – 3 Delicious Ways
Tools Needed
DID YOU MAKE THIS SWEET POTATO BABY FOOD PUREE?
I’D LOVE TO KNOW HOW IT TURNED OUT! LEAVE A COMMENT AND A ⭐️ RATING BELOW 👇
The Best Sweet Potato Baby Food
Ingredients
- 2 large sweet potatoes
- 1/4 tsp mild curry powder (optional)
- 1/4 cup water, breast milk, formual or sodium-free chicken stock
Instructions
- Heat oven to 400°. Line baking sheet with tin foil, parchment paper or a silicone mat.
- Wash and dry the sweet potatoes. Prick with a fork in several places and then place the sweet potatoes on the baking sheet. Bake for 45 minutes – 1 hour or until a fork can easily prick the sweet potato. Let sit until cool to touch.
- Make a cut into the skin of the potato lengthwise and peel away the skin of the potato. Scoop out the sweet potato meat and place into a blender or food processor, adding in the mild curry powder and water.
- Puree on high for 1-2 minutes or until smooth, adding in additional liquid in 1/4 cup increments if needed. I had to add in 1 cup of water to the puree pictured.
- Serve or freeze for a later meal.
Notes
NEW TO MAKING PUREES?
THEN CHECK OF MY GUIDE ON WHICH KITCHEN TOOLS YOU ACTUALLY ARE GOING TO NEED TO MAKE THE CREAMIEST AND SMOOTHEST BABY PUREES. HINT, IT’S NOT MANY!
Me again. 😉 I have a question about spices. How do you know which spices are safe for baby and at what age? I absolutely love to cook and bake, and I happen to love adding spices in recipes for myself. I think this is a fab idea! But I don’t want to make a mistake either. And I’ve never heard that you could do this. Are there any concerns I should be aware of when adding spices?
Hello!!
Allergies from spices are extremely rare, only 2% of people with allergies report having reactions to spices. The most common spices that cause allergies are garlic, onion, cumin and coriander. But again, cases of people reacting to these spices are very few. I would recommend you start with just a pinch of spice in your purees and work up to a larger quantity with a more noticeable taste. So don’t be afraid, have fun and experiment!
Besides having medicinal qualities to them, spices and herbs make food flavorful for your baby. In many other cultures, they start adding spices and herbs to their foods from the get go. I personally found that both Ellie and were board eating the same tasting puree over and over again so I mixed in some spices and WOW did she love it! Now of course, she won’t eat bland food (chicken nuggets, grilled cheese, plain noodles, etc) and has to have some sort of spice or flavor in everything she eats! It kinda makes me a proud mama when she is a food snob and turns down bland food!! lol!!
Hope that helps!
XOXO,
Michele
My second child would not eat ANYTHING when we started feeding her purees, but seemed really interested in the food we were eating. I mentioned this to her pediatrician at her next visit and he said give it to her, as long as it was free of things like nuts and honey. Other cultures don’t worry about this as much as americans seem to. After that it was kind of a joke- baby won’t eat? Put cumin on it, done. She’s still a flavor glutton 2 years later.
PS-Michele, love you site!
Hannah,
I LOVE THIS!!!…and will probably use flavor glutton in my writing, just perfect.
Glad you are here! 🙂
Michele
Loved this recipe!! I ended up using 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon and then adding one ripe banana (one of your other recipe ideas). My 6 month old absolutely devoured this! Thank you!
Hi Michele,
What other spices or herbs would recommend with sweet potato? We are not big fans of curry 🙂
Many thanks,
Marilia
You can do nutmeg, cinnamon, thyme, basil, parsley or cilantro. Those would all be super yummy 🙂
xoxo,
Michele
Hi Michele,
Love your site. Where were you when my older two were babies?! One question about the use of curry powder. Does curry powder include a little bit of chilli powder? Is this okay to feed to baby?
Hello Adelyn,
Thanks!! So glad you found me now:)
As far as the curry goes – I use a mild yellow curry that has these ingredients – coriander, turmeric, ginger, fenugreek, anise, cumin, cinnamon, black pepper, yellow mustard, mace and cardamom. All totally fine for baby (first 3 are awesome for babies growth). Some of the red curry’s do have chili powder in them, which is totally okay to give baby as well. I prefer to start with mild curry and chile powders and introduce spicier mixes when they get older. Hope that helps!
xoxo, Michele
Hi Michele,
I want to first start off by saying that I love your site and I didn’t think all this was possible until I found your page. Just a quick question though about this dish, can I use purple sweet potatoes instead of the reg sweet potatoes? I don’t know what it is about the colored veggies that attracts me more to them but I love using them. Also in general, can I substitute any reg veggie for a colored one; purple califlower, purple pot, rainbow carrots, etc?
Hello Saudi,
YES!!!! Purple versions of all those those veggies are amazing!! I have a hard time finding too many of the purple potatoes or cauliflower here where I live but by all means if you have them at your market, then go for it!!! If mixing with other veggies that are orange or green, just know you will get a brownish color puree, which is fine and will still taste amazing but will be brown!
Thanks for reading!!
xoxo, Michele
Hi Michele,
What brand of spices do you use?
I use Savory Spice Shop spices because they are local and let you try everything in the store – http://www.savoryspiceshop.com. They also ship!!
xoxo, Michele
I couldn’t find Matcha curry in the Savory Spice Shop website. Is there another you would recommend using?
Sorry, the Matcha curry is from Whole Foods, the Madras Curry is form savory spice shop, but you can use any mild curry that you can find at the store.
Would it be possible to add spices to food after it’s already cooked and pureed? I have all this food I’ve already made, but it’s plain.
Yes! You can totally add spices in after the puree is cooked. Dried spices are easier to add in then herbs (a pinch of cinnamon, cloves, cumin, curry, nutmeg can all be added and then stirred into any puree). Herbs are best if you blend them up a little bit so baby doesn’t get a huge mouthful of basil, but this can be done even after you have made it.
xo, Michele
The picture you have posted the potato looks redish. Did use a yam or sweet potato. My mother tells me they are pritty interchangeable.
Yams and sweet potatoes are very interchangeable! I used the more redish version, which was called a yam in my grocery store, but when I lived in california it was called a sweet potato. You can use whichever you want in this recipe, or you can go crazy and even use a purple sweet potato!
Have fun!
xo, Michele
Ooo I don’t think I have seen one of those 🙂 I live in alaska so we are slightly limited 🙂 thank you for answering my question
hi michele, I have a son that will be eating soon. Can i ask you about the puree in the freezer how to reheat it?