Carrot Puree with Optional Ginger is a fantastic baby food puree when starting solids. Nutritious, sweet and vibrant, this homemade carrot puree is so easy to make with carrots available all year round. Added ginger gives a lovely freshness to the creaminess and sweet taste of the carrots. This puree is sure to be a winning combination for baby’s little taste buds.
Carrots are a nutritious first food that contain essential nutrients, and fall into one of the colour categories (orange) that we should eat for optimal health. Carrots are an excellent source of beta-carotene, which converts to Vitamin A in the body to maintain healthy eyes and mucous membranes [1]. Were you ever told that carrots will help you see in the dark? Well, they don’t really, but are great for eye health because of this carotenoid.
Ingredients for Carrot Puree with Optional Ginger
You guessed it, it’s just carrots and ginger in this carrot puree recipe!
Carrots – I ALWAYS have fresh carrots in the crisper; they’re a staple in our house. And so to use them as a first vegetable made perfect sense! Make sure that they’re still nice and crisp though – it goes without saying, no limp carrots for baby! Use standard or baby carrots.
Spice – I use fresh ginger in this recipe, but it’s optional. Leave it out if you’d like, or replace the fresh ginger with 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger, added to the carrot when chopping/blending.
How to make this simple carrot puree
Thermomixer? As with most fruit and vegetables for homemade baby purees, I use the simmering basket in my Thermomix to cook the carrots and ginger. Then simply drain the water, reserving a small amount of water if needed (Note 1). Transfer the carrots and ginger to the mixing bowl and blend.
Conventional cook? If you can, use a steaming basket over a saucepan on the stovetop to cook the carrots and ginger. Steaming (rather than boiling) is often the best way to preserve both taste and nutrients. Remember that the exact cooking time will vary depending on how small the carrot pieces are. Then transfer to a food processor to puree carrots or blend with a stick blender/immersion blender until you achieve the right consistency.
Everyone: The slightly longer cook time in this recipe is for young babies/early weaning, to produce a soft baby food. For older babies who can handle lumps and chew more easily, consider reducing the cook times to better preserve vitamins and add texture to the pureed carrots.
See the recipe card below for ingredient amounts and detailed steps for both thermo cooker and conventional methods.
How to serve Carrot Puree
Early into starting solids, I served this carrot baby puree either on its own or with iron-fortified baby cereal. It’s a great first vegetable! If your baby is ready, why not also give steamed carrots chopped into fingers alongside the puree, so they can try different textures of the same vegetable as finger foods?
Just starting solid foods?
This carrot baby food 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 without the ginger and as a very smooth puree by mixing through a small amount of cooled boiled water, formula milk or expressed breast milk immediately before serving. For second stage weaning/older babies, add the ginger and increase the texture by blending/puréeing for less time. The great thing about making your own baby food is that as baby grows and develops, you can progress to new textures from runny/smooth purees to chunkier mashed foods, to serving appropriately chopped soft foods as you would for the family.
For a helpful little guide on weaning and some more recipe ideas, check out this post on the best baby purees to try when starting solid foods.
Storing this Carrot Puree
This Carrot Puree with Optional Ginger can be stored in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 2 days or freezer for up to 1 month. I found that freezing different fruits and vegetables in individual portions was best, using baby food or silicone ice cube trays. Remember to be food safe when freezing, defrosting and reheating any baby food.
Looking for more great starter purees to make with food you likely have in the refrigerator/freezer? Try this Pea Puree with Optional Mint. It’s another great food to introduce and a very simple recipe.
If you try this Carrot Puree with Optional Ginger, 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 baby food recipes.
Happy cooking!
Chloe x
Carrot Puree with Optional Ginger
Category: PuréeTap or hover to scale
Ingredients
- 2 medium to large carrots peeled and roughly chopped into 2cm/1inch pieces
- 4 g / 1tbs ginger peeled and sliced into thin coins
- 500 g water
Thermo Cooker Instructions
- Put the carrot and ginger into the simmering basket.
- Pour the water into the mixing bowl. Insert the simmering basket and cook for 20 minutes, Varoma, speed 2, MC on.
- Remove the simmering basket, and reserve the cooking liquid in a bowl or jug.
- Put the carrot and ginger into the mixing bowl with 4 tbs of the reserved cooking liquid.
- Chop for 20 seconds, speed 7, MC on, making sure to increase the speed gradually to avoid the carrot immediately sticking to the sides of the mixing bowl. Scrape down the mixing bowl and lid, and repeat 2 to 3 times until you are happy with the consistency (Note 1).
Conventional Instructions
- Steam the carrots and ginger in a steamer basket over a saucepan/pot with lid for 20 minutes or until carrots are tender. Remove from the heat.
- Using a food processor or stick blender/immersion blender, blend carrots and ginger with 4 tbs of cooking liquid until you are happy with the consistency (Note 1).
Recipe Notes
Nutrition Information
[1] Eat a rainbow, 2021, Nutrition Australia.
[2] Homemade baby food, 2023, Raising Children Network Australia Limited.
