Let’s be honest: strawberries will probably not be one of the first foods you serve your baby. Those first foods are usually reserved for those heavy hitters – avocado, sweet potatoes, along with bananas. But once baby gives those a try – it’s strawberry go time! Great for 6+ months!
Medically reviewed and cowritten by Jamie Johnson, Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN), and Lauren Braaten, Pediatric Occupational Therapist (OT).
Strawberries for Baby
Looking to add strawberries to your baby’s meals but not sure how? 🍓
Then, I’ve got you!
We all know serving babies a variety of foods is the name of the feeding game, so let’s not forget about the fantastic strawberry!
And let me tell you – this roasted strawberry puree – is literally.to.die.for! Halved strawberries are roasted along with a pinch of cinnamon to perfection, and I kid you not, I ate an entire batch myself the first time I made it. Is it rude that I didn’t give any to my baby? Probably, but my baby was sleeping. Early bird gets the worm and all of that. Don’t worry; after I licked my bowl clean, I made a second batch from her.
If you are doing baby-led weaning, I also got you covered! For the youngest of eaters, you will want to serve the strawberries whole with the stem cut off. You can quarter or dice them up as they grow and their pincher grip develops. And, of course, a pinch of cinnamon is always recommended.
Strawberries for Baby Video
How to Serve Strawberries to Baby
There are several different ways to prepare strawberries for your baby! You can make them into a smooth puree, a combination puree, a chunky puree for stage three, mashed and spread on toast or whole for baby-led weaning or a finger food. Here are 10 of my favorite ways to serve them:
Stage One Purees
- Roasted Strawberry Puree (literally life-changing)
- Simmered Strawberry Puree
- Beaba Babycook Blueberry Puree
- 2-Minute Strawberry Puree
Stage Two Purees
- 6 Delicious Combination Purees
Stage Three Purees
- Mashed Strawberries with Carrots & Beans
- Chunky Strawberry Puree with Yogurt
Baby-Led Weaning or Finger Foods
- Strawberries for Baby-Led Weaning or Finger Foods: whole, quartered, sliced or chopped
- Mashed Strawberries with Carrots & Beans
- Chunky Strawberry Puree with Yogurt
First time making homemade baby food? Then, I would suggest that you start by reading my very in-depth Guide on how to Make Homemade Baby Food or if you are doing Baby-Led Weaning, then be sure to check out my Complete Guide to Baby-Led Weaning. Also, be sure to check out my best-selling cookbook for even more information and recipes!
Let’s Get Pureeing
This has to be one of my favorite ways to make a smooth strawberry puree for your baby as the high heat of the oven condenses the natural sugars in the strawberries, which brings out the deep rich sweetness from the strawberries. This simple cooking technique is a simple way to make a puree that is truly swoon-worthy! Of course, if you want to take a serving of your baby’s puree and use it on top of ice cream, I, for one, will not stop you;).
More Ways to Make Strawberry Purees
Simmered Strawberry Puree
This simmered puree is a simple and easy way to make a yummy strawberry puree for your baby. While simmering, some of the strawberry’s natural water content evaporates, leaving a thicker and sweeter puree. This is helpful because if you blend strawberries into a puree, the puree will be thinner.
2-Minute Strawberry Puree
Want to make a delicious strawberry puree for baby but are short on time? Then this puree recipe is for you! We are simply going to blend up some fresh strawberries and call it a day! Yes, it can be that easy.
Strawberries for Baby-Led Weaning
Strawberries are a great food for your baby to self-feed, whether for baby-led weaning, which happens around 6 months of age, or during the finger foods stage at 9 months.
6+ Months – Whole: It’s best to start your baby with a bigger piece of strawberry so your baby can chew, gnaw, and take bites without them being a choking hazard.
9+ Months – Quartered: you can serve baby quartered or thinly sliced strawberries at 9 months and older.
9-10+ Months – Chopped: if your baby’s pincer grasp has been developed, you can serve them diced strawberries around 9-10 months.
6 Strawberry Combination Purees
You can mix and match strawberries with many other great fruits and veggies to make a fun combination puree. Here are my 6 favorites.
- Banana Strawberry Puree: place 2 ripe bananas and 1 cup of chopped strawberries in a blender and puree until smooth. Freeze immediately to preserve the color.
- Avocado Strawberry Puree: on a cutting board, mash 1/2 a ripe avocado with 2 chopped strawberries until super smooth. Freeze immediately to preserve the color.
- Sweet Potato Strawberry Puree: follow this sweet potato recipe but add chopped strawberries to the backing sheet when you have 20 minutes left on your cooking time. Puree as instructed in the recipe.
- Apple Strawberry Puree: follow this apple puree recipe, but add 1-2 cups of chopped strawberries when you add in the apples. Puree as instructed in the recipe.
- Carrot Strawberry Puree: follow this carrot puree recipe, but add 1-2 cups of chopped strawberries while blending.
- Pear Strawberry Puree: follow this pear puree recipe, but add 1-2 cups of chopped strawberries when you add the pears to the saucepan. Cook and puree as instructed in the recipe.
More Ways to Serve Strawberries for BLW
Mashed Strawberries, Carrots & Beans
This mashed strawberries, carrots, and beans for your baby is a great way to serve your baby a full meal in one tasty bite. You can serve this chunky puree on a piece of toast, spoon-feed it to baby, toss it with some pasta and let baby self-feed it to themselves, swirl it into some yogurt or ricotta or load a self-feeding spoon with a bite and hand the spoon to your baby.
Chunky Strawberry Puree with Yogurt
Finely chopped strawberries paired with a thick plain yogurt – yes, please! This is a protein-packed food for your baby! Of course, you can also use cottage cheese or ricotta if you want to get all fancy.
Recipe Tips
- Fresh or Frozen: You can use either fresh or frozen strawberries for any of the puree, mashed or chunky recipes below, you will need to thaw and drain the strawberries first. It is best to use fresh strawberries if serving as a solid as they will easier for your baby to pick up and hold.
- Blender: Because strawberries condense down to such a small amount of puree, I use a small blender when pureeing any of these recipes. You can also use a handheld emersion blender or food processor. You can also double the recipe if you still want to use your regular-sized blender.
Swoon-Worth Strawberry Baby Food (puree & baby-led weaning)
Ingredients
Swoon-Worthy Roasted Strawberry Puree
- 2 cups strawberries, stems removed and chopped
- 1 pinch cinnamon (optional)
Simmered Strawberry Puree
- 2 cups strawberries, stems removed, chopped (fresh or frozen)
- 2 tbsp water
- 1 tsp fresh lemon juice (optional)
2-Minute Strawberry Puree
- 2 cups strawberries, stems removed, chopped (fresh or frozen)
Baby-Led Weaning/Finger Food Stage
- 1-2 strawberries, stems removed
- pinch cinnamon
Strawberry Oatmeal
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup strawberries, stems removed, chopped (fresh or frozen)
- 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
- pinch cinnamon
Mashed Strawberry, Carrots & Beans
- 1 strawberry, stems removed, chopped (fresh or frozen)
- 1 tbsp white beans, canned or pre-cooked
- 1 tbsp steamed carrots, roughly chopped
Strawberry & Yogurt
- 1 strawberry, stem removed and finely chopped
- 1 tbsp plain whole milk yogurt
Instructions
Swoon-Worthy Roasted Strawberry Puree
- Preheat oven to 425° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the strawberries on the baking sheet and sprinkle on cinnamon. Bake for 20 minutes or until soft and bursting with juices.
- Let cool slightly and then transfer the strawberries to a blender or food processor and puree for 1-2 minutes until smooth.
Simmered Strawberry Puree
- Place the strawberries, water, and lemon juice into a small saucepan and heat over medium-low heat for 10-12 minutes or until soft and broken down.
- Let cool slightly and then transfer the strawberries to a blender or food processor and puree for 1-2 minutes until smooth.
2-Minute Strawberry Puree
- Place the chopped strawberries into a blender and puree for 1-2 minutes or until smooth.
- If there are too many seeds, pour the puree through a fine mesh colander into another bowl. The puree will thicken as it cools in the fridge or freezer.
Baby-Led Weaning/Finger Food Stage
- Serve to baby whole, sliced, quartered or chopped depending on your baby's age. 6+ Months – Whole: It's best to start your baby with a bigger piece of strawberry so your baby can chew, gnaw, and take bites without them being a choking hazard.9+ Months – Quartered: you can serve baby quartered or thinly sliced strawberries at 9 months and older.9-10+ Months – Chopped: if your baby's pincer grasp has been developed, you can serve them diced strawberries around 9-10 months.
Strawberry Oatmeal
- In a small saucepan, bring the water to a boil. Add in oats, strawberries, and cinnamon. Cook for 10 minutes or until the oats are cooked, and most of the water is gone. Using a hand mixer or blender, puree the oats to your desired consistency – smooth, slightly chunky, or chunky. If serving for baby-led weaning, dollop a few 2-inch circles of oatmeal on a plate and place it in the fridge. Once cooled, the oatmeal will be easier for your baby to pick up and self-feed.
Mashed Strawberry, Carrots & Beans
- Place the strawberry, carrots, and beans onto a cutting board. Using the back of a fork, mash the ingredients together into a chunky puree.
- Spread the chunky puree onto a 1-3 inch piece of toast, load it onto a gootensil, place on a plate for your baby to eat with their hands, or spoon feed it to your baby.
Strawberry & Yogurt
- Place the strawberry on a cutting board or in a small bowl. Add in the yogurt and stir until incorporated. Serve to your baby with a gootensil, place on a plate for baby to eat with their own hands, or spoon feed it to your baby.
Video
Notes
Frequently Asked Questions
Whether you’re starting your baby on purees or are doing baby-led weaning, strawberries are a wholesome and enjoyable first food for your baby! When a baby can start on solids is determined by their own rate of development, which generally comes between 4-6 months of age for purees and or after 6 months for baby-led weaning. Some of the developmental milestones your baby needs to reach in order to start on solids include: if your baby has solid control of their head and neck, if your baby has doubled in weight, and if your baby is reaching for or opening their mouth when you eat (see my guide here). Before you start your baby’s feeding journey, you should consult with your pediatrician to make sure your child is developmentally ready.
Yes, strawberries can be a choking hazard, depending on how they are served and the developmental readiness of your baby. To minimize the risk of choking, serve soft and ripe strawberries in age-appropriate forms. For babies under 6 months, serve mashed or as a puree. For ages 6-9 months, you can serve them whole (stems removed), larger than a golf ball size. 9 months and older can have quartered or thinly sliced strawberries, and if the pincer grasp has developed, you can serve them diced. Never leave your baby unattended while eating.
Strawberries are not one of the top eight food allergens, so it’s not a very common allergy; however, a small percentage of children do develop an allergy due to a protein in the anthocyanins (what gives them their red color) in strawberries, making white strawberries more tolerable, but many do outgrow it. Cooking strawberries will denature this protein, so people with allergies may still be able to enjoy strawberries in a jam, sauces, and baked goods.
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