Cauliflower For Baby Ways To Cook & Serve (BLW)

Cauliflower (meaning “cabbage flower”) has been cultivated from wild cabbage and it’s full of nutrients and antioxidants that are essential for our kid’s gut health and immune system. You can definitely add this vegetable to your baby’s diet starting around 8 months – steamed, puréed, mashed, grated, roasted or incorporated in finger foods, it makes a nutritious baby food including for baby led weaning.

What Age Can Baby Have Cauliflower

You can start serving cauliflower to your baby around the age of 7-8 months old. As this cruciferous vegetable is known for causing bloating and gas you should avoid serving it as first food. It’s probably best to wait until your baby’s sensitive gut is more accustomed to insoluble fibers before introducing it.

Every child is different so whenever you choose to start feeding cauliflower to your baby, pay attention if any discomfort occurs.

How To Cut Cauliflower For Baby Led Weaning

1. Remove the stalk, then start removing the florets by cutting each cluster from the core, leaving a little of the stem with each cluster.
2. Keep larger florets for babies who start baby led weaning at 6-8 months. Once your baby develops teeth and a pincer grasp (typically around 9 months), cut the cauliflower into smaller pieces (florets). They will enjoy picking up smaller finger food.
3. Introduce cauliflower rice to your baby at around 12 months when he already knows how to chew and swallow foods. To reduce the chocking hazard help your child bind the individual grains in his mouth by mixing with a sauce or cheese.

Below you’ll find more information about how to cook and serve cauliflower for baby led weaning.

How To Cook Cauliflower For Baby (BLW) & Toddlers

Cauliflower whether is purple, yellow or orange is one of the world’s most nutrient-dense vegetables and it needs proper temperature and cooking time in order to preserve as much as possible of those nutrients.

TIP: High-temperature cooking practices such as boiling, frying and high-power microwave processing can degrade the bioavailability of cauliflower’s beneficial compounds. If you want to minimize the cauliflower’s odor while retaining the nutrient content, cook the cauliflower for only a short time like 10-13 minutes. And choose methods that require a small amount of water.

Some common methods of cooking cauliflower are steaming, roasting, sautéing, and boiling.

Here are the best ways you can cook cauliflower for you baby:

Steaming Cauliflower For Baby

Steaming the cauliflower is one of the best way of preserving its nutrients, due to less contact with water and short time of cooking. Here is how to do it:

1. Add enough water to a pot and bring to a boil ( it should not touch the steamer basket when it is placed in the pot).
2. Place the steamer basket with cauliflower pieces over the pot. Cover and cook for 6 to 8 minutes or until tender when pierced with a fork. Cooking time will depend on the size of the florets.

How To Roast Cauliflower For Baby (As Finger Food)

The remarkable taste of roasted cauliflower comes as a result of caramelization in the oven. Here’s how to roast cauliflower to get the perfect texture and taste:

1. Cut cauliflower into florets. You can keep larger florets for younger babies (6-8 months) or you can cut them down further by cutting each cluster into smaller uniform size pieces. These are perfect as finger food for babies 9 months and older. 
2. Place the cauliflower on a baking sheet in a single layer.

3. Drizzle some oil on top and season with sea salt and black pepper (for older kids).

4. Roast cauliflower in the preheated oven at 425F / 220C, for 35-40 minutes.

Boiling Cauliflower For Baby

Boiling the cauliflower usually is the least preferred method if you need to serve just plain soft cauliflower florets. The most nutrients will leach into the boiling water that you will likely discard. To be more exact, half of nutrients are lost when it is boiled for only 10 minutes. This method is best when you make soups and purees as you would keep the water with all the leached nutrients.

Cauliflower Rice For Baby (BLW)

It’s pretty simple to make cauliflower rice. I like to roast the cauliflower first (just as described above) and then simply grind the roasted cauliflower florets in the food processor until they become roughly the size of rice. Babies (12 months +) will love the cauliflower rice, it’s fun to eat and goes well with other baby food. Cauliflower rice is also great for baby led weaning too!

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How To Puree Cauliflower For Baby (Stage 1)

You can make baby cauliflower puree by itself with a very smooth and soupy texture. This is usually suitable for babies between 6-8 months of age or for baby-led weaning.

After baking, roasting or steaming, you just take the cooked cauliflower, mash or puree the cauliflower in a blender until smooth.

Cauliflower Baby Food Puree Combinations (Stage 2)

After a while of stage 1 (single-ingredient purees), your baby will probably start expressing readiness for the next phase (stage 2 – typical for babies 8-9 months of age and older): more kinds of food, thicker textures and larger portions.

Here are some great cauliflower puree combinations:

Cauliflower Baby Led Weaning / Finger Food Recipes

• Cauliflower Nuggets
• Cauliflower Thins – Healthy Bread Alternative
• Cauliflower egg muffins

Cauliflower FAQ

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