When your little one is about 10 months old and is used to solid foods, he or she is ready for stage 3! In this stage, you can introduce certain foods to your little one and offer more chunky purees and even small slices or pieces of food. 

In this article, we explain what exactly stage 3 is, what to keep in mind and we give you 8 easy and tasty recipes. 

What is stage 3 baby food? 

Stage 3 is suitable for babies around the age of 10 months. These babies are used to solid foods in the form of a puree with a slightly thicker consistency. Now it is time to move on to puree with chunks and/or small pieces of food.

Your baby might already be able to feed himself with a spoon. 

How much food does my baby need?

Dry cereals – 5 to 8 tbs. any variety mixed with formula per day.

Fruits – 2 to 4 tbs., mashed or strained, cooked/2 times per day.

Vegetables – 2 to 4 tbs., mashed, soft, bite-sized pieces/2 times per day. 

Meats – 2 to 3 tbs., finely chopped, table meats, fish without bones, mild cheese/2 times per day. (source)

You can now introduce these foods:

  • Cooked, small pasta
  • Fruits and vegetables, cut-up or mashed
  • Shredded meat
  • Small pieces of tofu
  • Soft cheese

Wait with eggs, regular cheese, cow’s milk, and honey until your baby is 1 year old.

Also don’t give your baby nuts, grapes, popcorn or other hard, round foods. These are dangerous and could get stuck in their throat and make them choke. 

Recipe 1 – Spinach, blueberries, and avocado

Healthy and full of antioxidants! 

Ingredients:

  • 2 Cups of spinach
  • 1 Cup of blueberries
  • 1 Avocado

Instructions:

Step 1 – Boil or steam the spinach, drain the water and add the spinach to a blender.

Step 2 – Wash the blueberries and add them to the blender.

Step 3 – Using a sharp knife, cut your avocado into two halves just around the pit lengthwise.

Step 4 – After that follow by score pitting with your knife and twist it to pull out the avocado pit.

Step 5 – Using a spoon, scoop the avocado meat out of the avocado skin and place it in the blender. Mix the ingredients into a chunky puree. 

Recipe 2 – Chicken, broccoli, zucchini, and sweet potato

Read the print file. 

Recipe-Chicken-Broccoli-Zuc

A sweet and soft puree with a beautiful light green color.

Ingredients:

  • 2.2 oz of chicken (65 grams)
  • 4-5 medium-sized broccoli florets
  • 1/2 zucchini
  • 1 small sweet potato

Instructions:

Step 1 – Make sure the chicken is skinless, boneless and muscles etcetera are removed.

Step 2 – Chop the chicken in small pieces.

Step 3 – Cook the chicken in a saucepan with water, for about 8-10 minutes. Until the chicken is soft and white and there isn’t a pink spot left.

Step 4 – Peel the sweet potato and cut it in pieces. Cook the sweet potato for about 10 minutes in a saucepan with boiling water.

Step 5 – Cut the end off the zucchini, peel it and chop it into pieces. Add them to the pan with sweet potato for about 5 minutes.

Step 6 – Pour off the water and shortly let the sweet potato and zucchini cool down.

Step 7 – Add all the ingredients to a blender and add a little bit of water or formula.

Step 8 – Blend the ingredients into a smooth puree.

Recipe 3 – Lentils, chicken, zucchini, and rice 

A tasty curry that isn’t too spicy for your little one.

Ingredients:

  • ½ Cup lentils
  • 2 oz (50 gms) Chicken
  • ½ Zucchini
  • ½ Cup of rice (white or brown)

Instructions:

Step 1 – Cook the lentils following the instructions we mentioned earlier.

Step 2 – When preparing baby food recipes, make sure the chicken is cooked until it is very soft and easy to blend. In a saucepan, cover the chicken with water.

Step 3 – Bring to a boil and simmer very gently for about 10 minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat. Cover and let stand for 10 minutes.

Step 4 – Wash and chop up the zucchini and cook it for 5-8 minutes.

Step 5 – Put rice and water together in a pot with a lid. Use the ratio of 1.5 cups water to 1 cup rice. Bring to a boil and once boiling, lower heat to a simmer and cover. Cook for about 15-25 minutes.

Step 6 – Add all the ingredients to a blender and blend until it is a chunky puree.

Recipe 4 – Minced beef, tomatoes, and leeks 

Go to the print version

baby food minced beef cherry tomatoes leeks

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 in 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 chunky puree.

Recipe 5 – Kale, potato, and tomato 

A very sweet tasting, dinner recipe that your baby will love.

Ingredients:

  • 2 handful of kale
  • 1 Potato
  • 1 Tomato

Instructions:

Step 1 – Boil the kale for 5 minutes, pour it off and let it cool down.

Step 2 – Peel the potato, slice it up and cook for 20-30.

Step 3 – Wash the tomato and slice it in pieces.

Step 4 – Add the kale, potato, and tomato to a blender or use a hand blender to blend it into a chunky puree.

Recipe 6 – Spinach, sweet potato, and chicken 

This recipe is a perfect and tasty dinner recipe. 

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups sweet potato (peeled, cubed)
  • 2 cups spinach leaves
  • 1 cup skinless, boneless, chicken (cubed)
  • cup breast milk or formula
  • cup water

Instructions:

Step 1 – Put a steamer insert into a saucepan and fill the pan with water until it is just below the steamer. 

Step 2 – Bring the water to a boil before placing the sweet potatoes in the steamer. Steam for about 8 minutes until softened. 

Step 3 – Add the spinach and steam for about 5 more minutes until the sweet potatoes can be mashed easily

Step 4 – Bring another saucepan of lightly salted water to a boil.

Step 5 – Add the chicken and cook until no pink is left. This will take roughly 10 minutes

Step 6 – Combine the chicken, sweet potatoes and spinach and mix them into a chunky puree. 

Recipe 7 – Minced beef, cauliflower, and squash 

View the print version.

minced beef squash cauliflower baby food

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 in pieces.

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

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

Recipe 8 – Chicken, broccoli and cheesy pasta 

View the print version.

recipe-chicken-broccoli-cheesy-pasta

This recipe is not only yummy for babies, but we would also like a bite of it! 

Ingredients:

  • 2.2 oz. of chicken (65 grams)

  • 4-5 medium-sized broccoli florets

  • 1.1 oz. of macaroni (about 30 grams)

  • A Tablespoon of grated cheese

We use macaroni because it is easy to use for baby food recipes. 

Instructions:

Step 1 – Make sure the chicken is skinless, boneless and the muscles etcetera are removed.

Step 2 – Chop the chicken into small pieces and cook it for 10 minutes. Make sure there are no pink spots left.

Step 3 – Cook the macaroni for 8-10 minutes until soft. In this case, we don’t want the pasta to be al dente.

Step 4 – Clean the broccoli and cut off 4-5 medium-sized florets. Cook them for about 10 minutes or steam them for 8-10 minutes.

Step 5 – Add all the ingredients to a blender and add a little bit of water or formula.

Step 6 – Blend it into a nice puree. Add some more water or formula if needed.

Step 7 – Serve the dish warm or pour the puree into small food storage containers to store or freeze it.

As early said, you should consider providing your baby these meals in small quantities as too much of it might cause diarrhea to the baby due to too much soluble fiber in the baby food. Seek the help of a baby pediatric before you can introduce the baby to broccoli and chicken.

Are these recipes freezable?

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

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

Which kitchen tools to use

In order to prepare these baby food recipes, you will need the following kitchen tools:

  • Blender or food processor

  • Knife

  • Tablespoon

  • Cup

  • Vegetable peeler

  • Cutting board

  • Saucepan

  • Steamer pan

  • Food storage containers or an ice cube form

Final words

So, your baby is around 10 months old and is used to smooth purees. Time to move on to stage 3, where your little one is ready for chunky purees and small, solid pieces of fruit and vegetables or shredded meat. 

You can now also introduce them to soft cheeses, tomatoes, and spinach.