Lentil and Vegetable Purée is a delicious and nutritious first food for when baby starts solid food. Lentils are an amazing first food! Packed with protein, iron, fibre and zinc amongst other nutrients, lentils can be extremely beneficial for babies [1]. Combined with the range of vegetables in this recipe, it makes for a yummy lentil purée that tastes just like vegetable soup.
This Lentil and Vegetable Purée tastes like delicious homemade vegetable soup. In fact, you can use this as a soup base for the whole family and add extra veggies, stock and noodles or pasta for a really hearty meal on a cold winter’s day. Once baby is over 12 months of age (and can have small amounts of salt), why not try this Pumpkin, Carrot and Red Lentil Soup instead😋.
Ingredients for Lentil and Vegetable Purée
This homemade baby food recipe is full of simple whole-food ingredients:
Red split lentils – Lentils are a great source of iron, protein and fibre, amongst other nutrients. Split red lentils work best in this recipe. If you use whole lentils instead of split, you’ll need to adjust your cooking time.
Carrots – I peel my carrots, but if using unpeeled then be sure to wash them thoroughly.
Red capsicum – Capsicums are loaded with Vitamin C [2], which helps the body to absorb the iron found in lentils.
Brown shallots – Shallots have a milder, sweeter flavour than brown onions. You can substitute in equal amounts if you’d like.
Zucchini – I don’t peel the zucchini in this recipe, just wash it before chopping.
Sweet potato – I use orange sweet potato, which are packed with nutrients [3] including Vitamin C.
Olive oil
Water
How to make Lentil and Vegetable Purée
Thermomixer? This is a very straightforward recipe to make in a thermo cooker/all-in-one appliance. I simply weigh all ingredients into my Thermomix, cook and blend to a smooth purée.
Conventional cook? If cooking the conventional way, you’ll need to cook in a medium saucepan on the stovetop, and then use either a hand mixer, stick blender or food processor to purée.
See the recipe card below for ingredient amounts and detailed steps for both thermo cooker and conventional cooking methods
How to serve this baby purée
Serve this Lentil and Vegetable Purée as a runny purée when baby starts solids; make it more mashed for introducing texture; or use it as a pasta sauce when baby is learning to self-feed. Add vegetable stock and veggies for a comforting soup for the family. This red lentil purée recipe is very versatile!
If you try this Lentil 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 baby food recipes.
Happy puréeing,
Chloe x
Lentil and Vegetable Purée
Category: PuréeTap or hover to scale
Ingredients
- 50 g / 2 brown shallots peeled and halved
- 75 g / 1 carrot peeled and roughly chopped
- 100 g / 1 zucchini roughly chopped
- 90 g / 1/2 red capsicum/bell pepper roughly chopped
- 1 tbs olive oil
- 175 g sweet potato peeled and roughly chopped
- 40 g / 1/4 cup split red lentils rinsed well
- 150 g water
Thermo Cooker Instructions
- Put the shallots, carrot, zucchini and capsicum into the mixing bowl. Chop for 4 seconds, speed 6, MC on. Scrape down the mixing bowl.
- Add the olive oil. Cook for 4 minutes, 100°C, speed 1, MC off.
- Add the sweet potato, lentils and water. Cook for 15 minutes, 100°C, speed 2, MC off. Put the simmering basket on the lid to prevent splatter.
- To purée, chop for 10 seconds, speed 6, MC on. Scrape down the mixing bowl, and repeat until you are happy with the consistency (Note1).
Conventional Instructions
- Chop the shallots, carrot, zucchini and capsicum into small pieces.
- Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan and sauté the chopped vegetables over medium-high heat for 4 minutes.
- Add the sweet potatoes, lentils and water. Bring to the boil, and then let simmer for 15 minutes until lentils are cooked. Remove from the heat.
- Using a food processor or immersion blender, blend until you are happy with the consistency (Note 1).
Recipe Notes
Nutrition Information
[1] Lentils, 2023, Solid Starts Inc.
[2] Bell pepper, 2023, Solid Starts Inc.
[3] Australian Sweet Potatoes, 2016, Horticulture Innovation Australia.
[4] Homemade baby food, 2023, Raising Children Network Australia.
