Chicken Carrot Ginger Baby Puree +6M

Can I add spices to my baby food? YESS!!

Spices will give that extra twist to the basic baby food recipe, introducing a new flavor to your little one. Spices and herbs do also have health and medical benefits that will simply add on to the nutritious baby food you prepared.

Pediatricians agree that spices/herbs can be added to your homemade baby food starting as early as 6 months.

Few more important points about spices/herbs and baby food:

1. Moderation. When I say “add some spice/herbs” into your baby food, I’m suggesting a tiny amount, a pinch, to let your baby taste that theres is something new there but not to overpower the flavors. I believe that baby food should have a mild flavor as your baby’s palate and digestive system is still very delicate.
2. Which spice to add. Every spice/herb has a different taste and a different medical benefit. Today I’m using ginger: pungent flavor with an almost citrusy background (that’s why the first point, moderation, is essential here!!). I thought it was a good match for the blend chicken and sweet carrots. Ginger has powerful anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects, perfect for colds and running noses. It also helps with digestion and tummy ache.
3. A lovely sugar/salt substitution. The general recommendation is NOT to ADD any sugar or salt to your baby food (if you want to know more about the reasons, you might be interested in this post too) and that means that spices and herbs come in hand when you want to make your baby food less bland 🙂
4. Start early. Do you know that recent studies demonstrate that your baby’s palate’s development begins in the womb, than keeps going through breastfeeding and increases greatly with the introduction of solid foods. Than, at around 2 years of age, other behavioral development factors come in play (independency, fears…) and it will be difficult to introduce new foods in your picky toddler menu!! That’s why I really suggest to offer the widest range of baby food flavors to your little one, spices and herbs included, so that they will be familiar and trusted when the “picky years” will arrive 🙂
5. Don’t go too HOT! Not every spice is fine to give to your baby: hot spices like black pepper, cayenne pepper, chili pepper and everything that makes your palate burning is not recommended for your baby. Tummy ache, diaper rash, diarrhea might be not so fun side effects. You will have to wait up until your baby’s digestive system will be more mature to cope with the hot flavor. I would suggest 18 months, and even than, with moderation.

Today I decided to jazz up a traditional first food baby recipe: chicken with carrots…with the addition of a tiny zest of ginger. To reduce the powerful ginger flavor I cooked it all together with the other ingredients. In this way the ginger will be a delicate background flavor and will keep at the same time the beneficial characteristics.

Let’s start peeling the carrots and slicing them in circles. Chop the chicken breast in small cubes. You can use chicken thighs too 🙂

Peel the ginger. I have an easy and trusted way to do it: I use a teaspoon and I simply grate the peel out with the tip of the teaspoon. Easy and simple!

In a steamer add the carrots first, than the chicken and grate 1/2 teaspoon of ginger on top. Cover and steam for 10 minutes.

Once cooked, remove few carrots (one tablespoon) to give more texture to the food later. Chop them in small pieces.

In a food processor or using a tall container and an immersion blender, puree the chicken + carrots + ginger + 1/4 to 1/2 cup of thinning liquid of your choice (for more details about how to thin your baby food, check out this other post too). Serve the chicken puree with some chopped steamed carrots on top and, optional, some sesame seeds and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

I would suggest to serve this recipe starting from 6 months of age. You can store the leftovers in an air tight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Enjoy!!