Homemade Pumpkin Baby Food

Making our own baby food is ratcheting up into high gear this Fall

At four months our pediatrician suggested that we start trying different pureed foods with Fynn. Now that we’re at seven months, we’re starting to expand the types of foods. We have started to explore Fall flavors such as pumpkin, butternut squash, and sweet potato. Fynn had a pumpkin puree that he loved, so I decided to make homemade pumpkin baby food.

I recognize that there are many different schools of thought around how to feed your baby, but I followed my pediatrician’s recommendations and we’re doing great!

Why Make Homemade Pumpkin Baby Food?

Well moms, as I learned in my day job for a breast pump accessory brand, pumpkin is a galactagogue…what’s that? A galactagogue is a really funny word for a food that naturally helps you produce more breast milk. Some of these are strange new foods like fenugreek. But pumpkin is one almost all of us can get behind.

Pumpkin is also great for your skin, eyes, and heart. Turns out, it’s also really healthy for babies. Babies with their developing eyes, digestion, brain, and just about everything else, really benefit from the nutrition in this super gourd. Also, these sneaky little things have tryptophan which can help your fussy baby sleep more soundly at night. Don’t believe – Google it!

Our First Attempt:

We got a Baby Bullet for my birthday in August and I’ve been playing with it a bit. This week, I made pumpkin puree for Fynn. I was so excited to make him new baby food and use some of our favorite flavors.

On the way home from the Sewing Machine Saga Continued, I stopped at the store and grabbed a sugar pumpkin and butternut squash. I thought I’d just puree some of each and the homemade pumpkin baby food was going to be his new favorite!

I had failed to account for what other ingredients might have been in that puree. (Yes I look at labels when selecting his foods, I just couldn’t remember back to what was in this particular option).

I went through all of the steps (which I’ll go through in detail later when I give you the actual recipe for both), got him loaded into his seat, and let the puree warm up.

He actually gagged.

So the plain pumpkin wasn’t a hit. I went back to the internet and started looking for other flavors that I could add to help sweeten it up. Apple was one of the suggestions, and it sounded like a reasonable one to add. That, and I had a whole bag of apples from the same shopping trip. I steamed apples, tossed them and the original pumpkin puree back into the baby bullet, and it was a major success!

How to make homemade pumpkin baby food:

This step is actually really simple, and if you know how to do this, you can add fresh pumpkin or squash to just about anything. Pies, cookies, bundt cakes (like the one I just made yesterday), and even baby food.

What You’ll need:

• Baking Pumpkin
• Butternut Squash
• About 6 Large Apples
• Parchment Paper
• Baking Sheet
• Large Pot
• Strainer
• Blender of some type
• Large knife
• Water

Preparing the pumpkin for baby food

You need to get a small sugar pumpkin, the kind used in baking. I chose also to get a butternut squash, but you can roast any kind of squash or gourd.

First, place your gourds in the sink and give them a good rub. I just wet a sponge and wipe them down. You will be scooping out the inside not eating the outside, but it’s nice to clean them.

Second, grab a big, sharp knife. While a sharp knife sounds dangerous when slicing large hard objects, a dull knife is actually worse. Carefully, starting from the stem and working your way down, slice the pumpkin in half.

You’ll do the same with the squash but with how tall it is partway through you might want to lay it down. Then turn them around, and repeat the same process on the other side.

Grab them from the bottom, and pull the halves apart. The stem will break and you will have two separate halves. I break the stem off but you don’t have to.

Roasting

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Then take your baking sheet and line it with parchment paper. Place the halves of the pumpkin and squash face down on the parchment paper. You could use aluminum foil in a pinch but I prefer parchment paper if you have it.

You’ll roast these for between 8-12 minutes depending on your oven temperature. Remember that ovens can vary and any baking times are relative estimates. You should go by touch/feel. You’ll be able to insert a fork or knife into the flesh of the pumpkin or squash when they are done. Don’t roast them too long or they’ll burn and that flavor will be trapped in your homemade pumpkin baby food.

Steaming

Peel your apples and cut them into chunks. While the pumpkin is roasting, add about 2 inches of water to a pot. Bonus points if this is a pot that has a strainer. If not though, no worries. Bring the water to a boil.

Steam the apple chunks for about 8 minutes or until you can stick a fork in them. Remove them from the heat and allow them to cool

Making the puree for the baby food.

Take the baking sheet out of the oven and allow everything to cool.

Then you can scoop some of it into the Baby Bullet or blender. You might need to add a bit of water or breast milk to blend it. I’ve noticed that to get the consistency that I want, you kind of have to work the blender and move it around to move all of the contents around to get it to all puree nicely).

Add in the apples. It’s a pleasant taste, so you can taste it as you go to see when you have the balance of pumpkin to apple just right. I used about three apples and half of a pumpkin for the homemade pumpkin baby food, and three apples and half of the butternut squash for the second.