Baby Food Recipes with Minced Beef

It’s always great to see your baby grow. We want them to be strong and healthy. A healthy diet helps in their mental and emotional wellbeing. Eating healthy foods can prevent diseases and makes their immunity grow. We can help them to absorb healthy eating habits and enjoy activities during their growing years.

In this article, we talk about introducing minced beef to your baby’s diet and we name 3 recipes for tasty homemade baby food.

The recipes in this article:

Recipe 1 – Minced beef and Apple
Recipe 2 – Minced beef, potato, and celery
Recipe 3 – Minced beef, Sweet potato, and Zucchini
Recipe 4 – Minced beef, carrots, and peas
Recipe 5 – Minced beef, cauliflower, and squash
Recipe 6 – Minced beef, tomatoes, and leek

You might also be interested in our recipes with chickpeas, fish or chicken.

When can a baby eat minced beef?

From the age of six months, your baby can start having solid food. Most pediatricians recommend that meat proteins like beef can be introduced to the baby between 8-10 months of age. You can introduce your baby to minced beef and include it in your baby food recipe.

We recommend that you consult with your baby’s pediatrician on introducing solid foods as generalities may not apply to your infant.

How to prepare minced beef for baby food?

You must be happy to introduce your baby to new types of food. All babies have a liking for meat. You can either bake, cook or poach the meat.

Cooking

Cooking the beef will make it lose some of its nutritions, but will make the beef very soft and suitable for baby puree. It’s also a quick and easy option. When you cook beef you might see white foam forming on top of the water. This is just protein, don’t flush the foam away but add it to the puree.

Place ground beef and about a ½ cup of water in a saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat until meat is cooked thoroughly and no longer pink (approximately 6 to 8 minutes). Ground meat should be cooked to an internal temperature of 160°F.

Once cooked, you need to grind the meat to a fine powdery substance. You can keep the juices as soup. You need to try with a little soup first. These experiments are necessary to suit the preferences of your baby. Then, as the baby becomes accustomed to it, you can increase the amount.

Poaching

Poaching the meat will keep most of the nutritions and make the meat soft and tender. But it takes more time than cooking or baking meat.

You need to cut the meat into smaller pieces. Sprinkle oil, season the meat and then stir. Add water and cover the meat. When the contents start boiling, turn the heat down. Simmer for 20 minutes. Cut and test the meat, whether done.

Baking

Baking minced beef is a quick option and it will prevent the beef from losing a lot of nutrition. But it will make the beef a little harshly. So this might not be the best option if your baby is still very young. In this case, make sure the beef is very well pureed.

First, turn the oven temperature to 375 degrees F. Then, lightly grease a baking sheet with oil. You can lightly season it. Place the beef into the baking sheet; put it in the oven and bake until cooked.
While most mothers prefer to store the cooking water and serve as soup to their baby, most infants may, initially, refuse it due to its strong taste.
You may also include some vegetables and chicken in the beef or pork that you may be cooking. You can start with the vegetables that the baby is accustomed to. Babies usually refuse food they did not have before.

Recipe 1: Minced beef and apple (age 8-10 months+)

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A very easy recipe a lot of babies will like a lot!

Ingredients:

• 2.2 oz of minced beef (65 grams)
• 1 apple
• Water

Instructions:

Step 1 – Bring a saucepan with water to a boil.

Step 2 – Cook the beef in the saucepan for about 8 minutes, until done.

Step 3 – Put the cooked beef in a blender and mix until the beef is powdery.

Step 4 – Peel the apple and remove the core. Slice the apple into pieces.

Step 5 – Cook the apple for a short while. This will make the apple softer and sweeter.

Step 6 – Add the apple and some water to the blender and mix them with the beef puree. You need to add the liquid necessary to make the consistency appropriate for your baby.

Recipe 2: Minced beef, potato and celery (age 8-10 months+)

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The perfect recipe for a nice dinner!

Ingredients:

• 1 Potato
• 2.2 oz minced beef (65 grams)
• 1 stalk of celery
• 4 cups of water

Instructions:

Step 1 – Wash and peel the celery and potato and chop them into small pieces.

Step 2 – Boil the potato and celery until soft, for about 10-15 minutes.

Step 3 – Cook the beef in a pan with boiling water for about 10 minutes.

Step 4 – Add all the ingredients to a blender and add a little water. Mix the ingredients into a smooth puree.

Recipe 3: Minced beef, sweet potato and zucchini (age 8-10 months+)

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A nice and healthy dinner recipe.

Ingredients:

• 2.2 oz of minced beef (65 grams)
• 1 small sweet potato
• ½ zucchini

Instructions:

Step 1 – Peel and chop the sweet potato and cook it for 15 minutes in a saucepan.

Step 2 – Wash and chop up the zucchini and add them to the saucepan in the last 5 minutes.

Step 3 – Bring a saucepan with water to a boil and cook the minced beef for about 10 minutes.

Step 4 – Put the minced beef in a blender and puree until powdery.

Step 5 – Pour off the sweet potato and zucchini and add them to the blender. Blend until you reach the desired consistency. You can add some water if needed.

Recipe 4: Minced beef, carrots, and peas (age 8-10 months+)

A really nice dinner recipe that has a sweet taste.

Ingredients:

• 2.2 oz of minced beef (65 grams)
• 2 small carrots
• a handful of frozen peas

Instructions:

Step 1 – Bring a saucepan with water to a boil and cook the minced beef for about 10 minutes.

Step 2 – Cut the green off the carrots and peel the carrots.

Step 3 – Chop the carrots into cubes and cook it for about 10 minutes.

Step 4 – Add the frozen peas to the carrots in the last 5 minutes.

Step 5 – Add all the ingredients to a blender and mix them into a smooth puree. Add some water if the puree is too heavy.

Recipe 5: Minced beef, cauliflower, and squash (age 8-10 months+)

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A very healthy and tasty recipe.

Ingredients:

• 2.2 oz of minced beef (65 grams)
• 4-5 medium-sized cauliflower florets
• 1/4 of butternut squash

Instructions:

Step 1 – Bring a saucepan with water to a boil and cook the minced beef for about 10 minutes.

Step 2 – Clean the cauliflower and cut off 4-5 medium-sized florets.

Step 3 – Cook the cauliflower florets for about 10-15 minutes, or steam them in a pan for about 8 minutes.

Step 4 – Cut off the end of the butternut squash and cut off 1/4 of squash.

Step 5 – Peel the squash and chop it into pieces.

Step 6 – Cook the squash for 15-20 minutes.

Step 7 – Add all the ingredients to a blender en mix them into a smooth puree.

Recipe 6: Minced beef, tomatoes, and leeks (age 10-12 months+)

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Ingredients:

• 2.2 oz of minced beef (65 grams)
• 1 tomato or 4-5 cherry tomatoes
• 1/4 stalk of leek

Instructions:

Step 1 – Bring a saucepan with water to a boil and cook the beef for about 10 minutes.

Step 2 – Rinse the tomatoes, remove the core, and chop them into pieces. You can use the tomatoes raw, or cook/steam them for a few minutes to make them taste less acidic.

Step 3 – Clean the stalk of leek, chop 1/4 of the white and light green off. Chop it in pieces.

Step 4 – Cook the leeks in a saucepan for about 5 minutes, until tender.

Step 5 – Add all the ingredients to a blender and mix them into a smooth puree.

Feeding guide

Keep in mind that this feeding guide applies to minced beef. If you add other ingredients this feeding guide might not be applicable anymore, depending on the ingredient.

We recommend that you consult with your baby’s pediatrician on introducing solid foods as generalities may not apply to your infant.

Are these baby food recipes freezable?

You should store your batch of minced beef baby meals in a refrigerator using an airtight container for up to 72 hours.

You can freeze this baby food into different portions by employing pouring the mixture into ice cubes or in small food storage containers.

Which kitchen tools to use

To prepare these baby food recipes, you will need the following kitchen tools:

• Blender or food processor
• Knife
• Tablespoon
• Vegetable peeler
• Cutting board
• Saucepan
• Food storage containers or an ice cube form

Nutritional benefits

Most red meat, like beef and pork, provides them the necessary micronutrients for babies. It provides lots of protein, Vitamins A, B, and D. It also contains essential minerals like Zinc, Magnesium, and Iron. Most pediatricians recommend starting with chicken and then move to other red meat, like pork and beef. Beef is said to have a high content of iron along with calcium and foliate. Moreover, studies have shown that babies fed pureed beef grew nearly an inch more than babies not eating them.​

Conclusion

It is always encouraging to see your baby being introduced to healthy food. Healthy food ensures the intake of essential nutrients, which in turn enhances the health of the baby. Having said that, the time to introduce the child to different food may vary across individuals. Hence, it is recommended to take the advice of your pediatrician about the nutritional requirements of your baby.
Till then, happy parenting!