This Beef and Vegetable Purée is a nutritious homemade purée to give to baby as their first beef meal when starting solid foods. High-quality beef and vegetables don’t need any additives to make them delicious! With no added salt, this homemade baby food can be given from 6 months. Beef is protein-rich and a great source of haem iron [1], which is crucial for baby’s development. Fuel baby’s growth with this yummy beef purée.
This was my favourite meat purée when Baby LJ started solids. It’s easy to make, tasty, and has common ingredients we use in family cooking. It was one of the only beef purée recipes I cooked for Baby LJ before moving on to chunkier baby food and finger foods. We had beef, chicken, lentil, and fish purées on rotation for dinner so he didn’t get bored! Babies generally don’t stay on purées for an extended length of time after starting solids anyway. It’s recommended that by 12 months of age [2] the texture of their food move from purée to mashed/lumpy to normal texture. By about 9 months Baby LJ was wanting (demanding!) to feed himself and loved finger foods. This Beef and Vegetable Purée was great as a pasta sauce while he made the transition. Give it a try!
Ingredients in this purée recipe
High-quality whole foods are used to make this baby food:
Beef – Use good quality, lean rump steak in this recipe.
Sweet potato and carrot – Root vegetables like carrot and sweet potato are great first vegetables to give baby. They are naturally sweet, and help to balance the richness of beef and mushroom in this recipe. Plus, they are an amazing source of Vitamin A to support baby’s healthy eyesight [3].
Mushroom – Use flat or button varieties, whatever looks fresh and plump at your grocer.
Leek – I like to use leek in this recipe for variety, but you can substitute it with brown onion.
Olive oil
How to make Beef and Vegetable Purée
This is a quick, delicious and nutritious meal to create for baby in a thermo cooker/all-in-one appliance – I used my Thermomix. You can just as easily use the stovetop and a food processor or blender, or other baby food maker. After sautéing the leek, just add the beef, veggies and water to cook. Blend at the end and it’s done!
See the full recipe card below for ingredient amounts and detailed steps for both thermo cooker and conventional methods.
Serving this beef purée for baby
First stage weaning or second stage weaning? Offer this homemade purée as a first food when your baby starts solids. This beef baby food recipe is ideal for both Stage 1 (around 6 months of age) and Stage 2 (around 6-9 months) weaning. For first stage/younger babies, try offering this dish for the first time as a very smooth purée by mixing through a little cooled boiled water, formula milk or expressed breast milk immediately before serving. For second stage weaning/older babies, increase the texture by blending/puréeing for less time to get the desired consistency.
You can also use it as a pasta sauce for self-feeding and Baby Led Weaning (BLW). You decide which option works best for you and your baby!
Storing this homemade purée
This homemade baby food can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days. It can also be frozen. I used baby food freezer trays/ice cube trays for freezing individual portions, so that I had them available at the ready. Be food safe when freezing, defrosting and reheating baby food. For helpful tips on this, Annabel Karmel has a great go-to guide [4] on preparing, freezing and reheating foods for baby 👍.
Looking for more ideas on what homemade baby food to make? Check out the Purée category. Another delicious homemade purée which is great to either serve on its own or as a pasta sauce for self-feeding and BLW is this Chicken, Sweet Potato and Thyme Purée.
If you try this Beef and Vegetable Purée, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how you go in the 📝 comments below. I love hearing from you! ❤️. Don’t forget to follow me on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest too for more delicious baby food recipes.
Happy feeding,
Chloe x
Beef and Vegetable Purée
Category: PuréeTap or hover to scale
Ingredients
- 60 g leek washed and roughly chopped
- 1 tbs olive oil
- 150 g lean beef steak cut in 3cm cubes
- 75 g / 3 button mushrooms quartered
- 250 g sweet potato peeled and roughly chopped into 3cm pieces
- 75 g / 1 carrot peeled and roughly chopped into 3 cm pieces
- 225 ml water
Thermo Cooker Instructions
- Put the leek into the mixing bowl. Chop for 3 seconds, speed 5, MC on. Scrape down the mixing bowl.
- Add the olive oil. Cook for 3 minutes, 100°C, speed 1, MC off.
- Add the beef, mushroom, sweet potato, carrot and water. Cook for 15 minutes, 100°C, Speed 1, MC off. Put the simmering basket on the lid to prevent splatter. Scrape down the mixing bowl if needed.
- To purée, chop for 15 seconds, speed 6, MC on. Scrape down the mixing bowl and lid, and repeat until you are happy with the consistency (Note 1).
Conventional Instructions
- Chop the leek into small pieces.
- Heat the oil in a saucepan and sauté leek for 4 to 5 minutes until tender.
- Add the beef, mushrooms, sweet potato, carrot and water. Bring to the boil, and then let simmer for 15 minutes until vegetables are cooked through. Remove from the heat.
- Using a food processor or stick/immersion blender, blend until you are happy with the consistency (Note 1).
Recipe Notes
Nutrition Information
[1] Iron for toddlers and children, 2017, The State of Queensland.
[2] Infant Feeding Guidelines: Summary, 2013, National Health and Medical Research Council.
[3] Eat a rainbow, 2021, Nutrition Australia.
[4] Go to guide: preparing, freezing and reheating foods for baby, 2022, Annabel Karmel.
