Cauliflower Puree For Baby + Combinations
Introduce your baby to cauliflower by making a silky-soft cauliflower puree. Nutrient dense cauliflower can be used in a variety of ways to make healthy baby food great as stage 1 baby food, baby led weaning or stage 2 by trying different cauliflower puree combinations.
There are many different methods of cooking cauliflower for babies, choose the most appropriate for your baby’s age. As cauliflower finger food for toddlers you could try these Cauliflower Thins or Cauliflower Nuggets.
Cauliflower Puree For Baby – Benefits
- Cauliflower is a good source of vitamin C, the B vitamin folate, and potassium.
- It’s also provides dietary fiber, omega-3 fatty acids, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, and protein.
- Cauliflower is also a source of choline (also present in breast milk), is an essential nutrient that influences the mood, memory and inflammatory markers.
- The cauliflower is also rich in flavonoids like quercetin and sulphur compounds which have anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties.
- Making pureed cauliflower for baby food is simple, easy and doesn’t require too much effort and time.
Related: Broccoli Puree For Baby By Stage + Combinations
Ingredients For Cauliflower Baby Puree
- Fresh cauliflower – you can choose any color, white, orange or purple they all are rich in antioxidants with a slight difference in nutrients. Fresh is always better than frozen. But frozen cauliflower is the next best option.
- Liquid – to thin out the puree. You can use some water, breast milk or some homemade chicken stock without salt.
How To Make Cauliflower Puree For Baby
- First step: remove the leaves and wash the cauliflower head. Cut the florets.
- Step: Cook. Now, there are many ways to cook cauliflower, but the best option in terms of nutrition retention is steaming. Bring 1 inch of water to boil in a saucepan fitted with a steamer basket and cover with a lid. Steam on medium-low heat for approximately 12-15 minutes (it depends on the size of florets) or until the cauliflower florets are soft when pierced with a fork.
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Step 3. Blend: Once the steamed cauliflower cools a bit, transfer into a small blender, then add the liquid of your choice and puree until smooth. Add little by little (starting with about 4 tablespoons). As liquid you can use the water you used for cauliflower steaming. It has some of it’s leached nutrients, so you could take advantage of that.
Preserve The Cauliflower’s Benefits By Preparing It Properly
In order to preserve the beneficial properties of cruciferous plants, it is important to store and prepare them properly:
- Choose methods that require a small amount of water, like steaming. This will help preserve the nutrients.
- The nutrients are considerably reduces after 6 hours of chopping the vegetable (the enzymes produced accelerate the decomposition).
- High-temperature cooking practices such as boiling, frying, blanching, and high-power microwave processing can degrade the bioavailability of cauliflower’s beneficial compounds.
- The most efficient method for processing the cauliflower is steam cooking.
- When pureeing the cauliflower add some fat, like butter, ghee, avocado or a healthy oil. The fat helps absorb the fat soluble vitamins present in cauliflower.
Cauliflower Baby Food Combinations (Stage 2)
- cauliflower and carrot puree;
- hard boiled eggs pureed together with cauliflower;
- cauliflower and cooked chicken or beef;
- apple/pear/peach and cauliflower puree;
- potato/sweet potato and cauliflower puree;
- mashed avocado and cauliflower puree;
- cooked beans (black, white, chickpeas) and cauliflower puree;
- cauliflower puree and apple sauce;
- pureed cauliflower with a some stock/broth or cream plus seasonings of your choice;
- prune avocado cauliflower puree;
- pureed cauliflower with rice or oatmeal porridge.
Cauliflower Taste & Smell
Cauliflower contains phytonutrients that release odorous sulfur compounds when heated. These odors become stronger with increased cooking time. If you want to minimize odor while retaining the vegetable’s crisp texture and nutrients content, cook the cauliflower for only a short time like 10-13 minutes.
To Improve the taste of cauliflower puree, add one or two of these:
- Butter, ghee, or cream.
- Steamed onion or garlic (steam together with cauliflower);
- As the blending liquid use stock instead of water.
How To Store Pureed Cauliflower
- Store leftovers for up to 3 days in the refrigerator. You can use these 4oz reusable baby food storage containers.
- Freeze for longer storage in a portioned freezer tray for up to 3 months.
- Thaw / reheat – just pop them out of the freezer and place them in the refrigerator to thaw overnight. Reheat at low temperature in a covered pot or serve at room temperature.
Need more puree recipes? Check out the puree category for more ideas!
More Baby Foods & Cauliflower Recipes For Kids
- Cauliflower Thins – Healthy Bread Alternative For Kids (GAPS)
- Cauliflower Nuggets Baby Finger Food (BLW)
Have you tried making this cauliflower puree recipe? Your feedback is really helpful, please rate and leave a comment below recipe card!
Cauliflower Puree For Baby + Combinations
Ingredients
- 8-10 florets of cauliflower (raw)
- 4 tbsp liquid (water, stock, milk or breast milk)
To Improve Taste Add (1 or 2):
- 1/2 tsp butter (or ghee)
- 1 tsp sour cream
- 1/4 onion (steamed with cauliflower)
- 1 clove garlic (steamed with cauliflower)
- pinch of pink or sea salt (for older babies)
Instructions
Prepare the cauliflower:
- Remove the leaves and wash the cauliflower head. Cut the florets. For 1 cup of cauliflower puree you will need approximately 8-10 cauliflower florets (the size may vary).
Cook the cauliflower (by steaming):
- Bring 1 inch of water to boil in a saucepan fitted with a steamer basket and cover with a lid.
- Steam on medium-low heat for approximately 12-15 minutes (it depends on the size of florets) or until the cauliflower florets are soft when pierced with a fork.
Blend into puree:
- Once the steamed cauliflower cools a bit, transfer into a small blender, then add the liquid of your choice, the extras for taste (optional) and puree until smooth. Add little by little (starting with about 4 tablespoons). Blend and see if you need more.Tip: Use the water you used for steaming the cauliflower as the blending liquid. It has it's nutrients leached in there.
Notes
Cauliflower Baby Food Combinations (Stage 2)
- cauliflower and carrot puree;
- hard boiled eggs pureed together with cauliflower;
- cauliflower and cooked chicken or beef;
- apple/pear/peach and cauliflower puree;
- potato/sweet potato and cauliflower puree;
- mashed avocado and cauliflower puree;
- cooked beans (black, white, chickpeas) and cauliflower puree;
- pureed cauliflower with a some stock/broth or cream plus seasonings of your choice;
- prune avocado cauliflower puree;
- pureed cauliflower with rice or oatmeal porridge.
Nutrition
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