Blueberries? For Baby? Absolutely! While blueberries may not be the first food you introduce to your little one, they are certainly one you should introduce within the first year. And let me tell you, this Roasted Blueberry Puree is *chef’s kiss*!
Medically reviewed and cowritten by Jamie Johnson, Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN), and Lauren Braaten, Pediatric Occupational Therapist (OT).
Are you looking for THE BEST blueberry puree that you and your baby will fight over who gets to lick the bowl?
Then, I’ve got you.
This Roasted Blueberry Puree is everything! I know, I know…you will have to turn on the oven and let them bubble away for a few minutes, but I promise you, it is worth it. Roasting the blueberries with a pinch of cinnamon, which is optional but highly recommended, brings out the natural sugars in the blueberries, giving them the most intense and lip-smacking blueberry flavor.
After I made the reader-fave roasted banana puree 12 years ago, I knew I had to try roasting other fruits. So I moved on to blueberries – and it’s one of the best things I’ve ever done! Years later, I still make this roasted blueberry puree for my kids. Nowadays, they eat the puree over yogurt or ice cream;) though.
I am also going to show you how to feed blueberries for baby-led weaning, as well as give you a plethora of blueberry recipes for your baby. Are you excited? I’m excited!
Blueberry Baby Food Video
How to Serve Blueberries to Baby
There are several different ways to prepare blueberries 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 serve them whole for baby-led weaning or a finger food. Here are 10 of my favorite ways to serve them:
STAGE ONE PUREES
- Roasted Blueberry Puree
- Simmered Blueberry Puree
- Beaba Babycook Blueberry Puree
- 2-Minute Blueberry Puree
STAGE TWO PUREES
- 6 Delicious Combination Purees
STAGE THREE PUREES
- Mashed Blueberry with Chicken & Avocado
- Chunky Blueberry Puree with Yogurt
BABY-LED WEANING OR FINGER FOODS
- Blueberry for Baby-Led Weaning or Finger Foods: flattened, halved or quartered
- Mashed Blueberry with Chicken & Avocado
- Chunky Blueberry Puree with Yogurt
Frozen vs. Fresh Blueberries: if fresh blueberries are not in season or in your budget, frozen blueberries would be a great option for you. They are nutritionally similar and easy to find in most grocery stores.
Let’s Get Pureeing
This is the type of recipe you make for your baby but end up eating yourself. It’s just that good! Roasting the blueberries is key to getting a deep rich blueberry flavor that highlights their natural sweetness while keeping their crisp taste. It does require you to turn on your oven, which can be a deterrent in the hot summer months, but it is well worth it.
More Ways to Make Blueberry Puree
Simmered Blueberry Puree
Since blueberries have such a high water content, it is sometimes hard to get a thick enough puree for baby by just blending them raw (which you can still do). For this recipe, we simmer the blueberries so that some of their water gets cooked off, leaving you with a thicker puree. This cooking method also lets the blueberry’s natural sweetness come through, which calms down the blueberries, sometimes overwhelming, tartness.
BEABA Babycook Blueberry Puree
One of my favorite ways to make a fresh, flavorful, and nutrient-dense blueberry baby food puree, with the touch of a button, is with the ! It couldn’t get any easier or more hands-off than this. All we do is load up the blueberries into the Babycook, hit steam, and let the machine do all of the work.
2-Minute Blueberry Puree
Want to make a tasty blueberry puree for baby but are short on time? Then this puree recipe is for you! We are simply going to blend up some fresh blueberries and call it a day! Yes, it can be that easy.
Blueberries for Baby-Led Weaning
Blueberries 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, which is at 9 months.
6+ months – Flattened: the best way to serve your baby blueberries as a solid food at 6+ months is to gently pinch the blueberry into small, flattened discs. Pinching them into discs makes the blueberries not as big of a choking hazard and gives your baby a nice, flat surface to grab onto. You can also offer a blueberry puree on a self-feeding spoon.
9+ months – Quartered: you can easily quarter blueberries with a small sharp knife or kitchen scissors for your baby when their pincer grasp starts developing, which is roughly 9 months of age.
10+ months – Halved: once your baby has mastered the quartered blueberries, you can move into just halving the blueberries with a sharp knife or kitchen scissors. You can start serving halved blueberries to your baby around 10+ months.
6 Blueberry Combination Purees
You can mix and match blueberries with many other great fruits and veggies to make fun combination purees. Here are my 6 favorites:
- Blueberry Banana Puree: Place one ripe banana, 1 cup of blueberries, and 1 tsp fresh lemon juice into a blender, and puree for 1-2 minutes or until smooth. Serve to baby, store in the fridge for up to 4 days or freeze for a later meal.
- Blueberry Avocado Baby Food: Place one ripe avocado, 1 cup blueberries, and 1 tsp fresh lemon juice into a blender, and puree for 1-2 minutes or until smooth. Serve to baby, store in the fridge for up to 4 days or freeze for a later meal.
- Blueberry Sweet Potato Puree: Follow this Sweet Potato Puree recipe and add 4 cups of blueberries to the baking sheet when there are 20 minutes left for the sweet potatoes to cook. Puree as directed in the recipe card using a pinch of cinnamon instead of the curry powder.
- Blueberry Apple Puree: Follow this Apple Puree recipe and add 2 cups of blueberries to the saucepan before cooking. Cook and puree as directed in the recipe card.
- Blueberry Pear Baby Food: Follow this Pear Puree recipe and add 2 cups of blueberries to the saucepan before cooking. Cook and puree as directed in the recipe card.
More Ways to Serve Blueberries for BLW
Mashed Blueberry Chicken & Avocado
This mashed blueberry, chicken, and avocado chunky puree for your baby is a great way to serve them 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, let your baby self-feed it to themselves, or load a self-feeding spoon with a bite and hand the spoon to your baby.
BLUEBERRY OATMEAL
Oatmeal is a great food for your baby, and adding antioxidant-rich blueberries to it, makes it even better! You can make blueberry oatmeal into a smooth puree, as a chunky puree, or you can let clumps of oatmeal cool for an easier way to serve oats for baby-led weaning.
Spoon-Worthy Blueberry Baby Food (puree & blw)
Ingredients
Roasted Blueberry Puree
- 2 cups blueberries
- pinch cinnamon (optional)
Simmered Blueberry Puree
- 2 cups blueberries
- 2 tbsp water
- 1 tsp lemon juice (optional)
BEABA Babycook Blueberry Puree
- 2 cups blueberries
- water
2-Minute Blueberry Puree
- 2 cups blueberries
Baby-Led Weaning/Finger Food Stage
- 2 tbsp blueberries
Blueberry Oatmeal
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
- 1 cup blueberries
- pinch cinnamon
Mashed Blueberry Avocado & Chicken Puree
- 2 tbsp blueberries, chopped
- 2 tbsp avocado chunks
- 2 tbsp cooked chicken, shredded
Blueberry & Yogurt
- 2 tbsp blueberries, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp whole milk plain yogurt
Instructions
Roasted Blueberry Puree
- Preheat oven to 425° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the blueberries 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 blueberries to a blender or food processor and puree for 1-2 minutes until smooth.
Simmered Blueberry Puree
- Place the blueberries, water, and lemon juice into a small saucepan and heat over medium-low heat for 10-12 minutes or until soft and broken down.Note on Blueberries: if using frozen blueberries, there is no need to thaw them before cooking in this recipe.
- Let cool slightly and then transfer the blueberries to a blender or food processor and puree for 1-2 minutes until smooth.
BEABA Babycook Blueberry Puree
- Fill the tank reservoir to level 1 with water. Add the blueberries to the stainless steel basket and place the basket into the glass jar. Place the lid on top and close. Push the steam button.
- Once complete, remove the lid and let cool slightly. Take the stainless steel basket out of it and then pour any excess water into a measuring cup; reserve. Next, pour the blueberries into the glass jar, close the lid, and push and hold the blend button until the blueberries are smooth, adding in any reserved blueberry water if needed.
2-Minute Blueberry Puree
- Place the blueberries into a blender and puree for 1-2 minutes or until smooth. The puree will thicken as it cools in the fridge or freezer.
Baby-Led Weaning/Finger Food Stage
- Serve to baby flattened, halved or quartered depending on your baby's age (see graph).
![Purple baby plate showing different baby foods with blueberries with graphics showing which age they can be served to a baby.]()
Blueberry Oatmeal
- In a small saucepan, bring the water to a boil. Add in oats, blueberries, 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.Note on Blueberries: if using frozen blueberries, there is no need to thaw them before cooking in this recipe.
Mashed Blueberry Avocado & Chicken Puree
- Place the blueberries, avocado, and chicken 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 it on a plate for your baby to eat with their hands, or spoon feed it to your baby.
Video
Notes
- Picking Blueberries: when purchasing blueberries, look for plump and deep blueberries with a dusting of gray on the surface. A blueberry that is too firm or shows any hint of red isn’t fully ripe and will most likely be tart.
- Fresh or Frozen: You can use either fresh or frozen blueberries for any of the puree, mashed or chunky recipes below, you will need to thaw and drain the blueberries first. It is best to use fresh blueberries if serving as a solid as they will easier for your baby to pick up and hold.
- Blender: Because blueberries 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. Another option is to double the recipe if you still want to use your regular-sized blender.
Frequently Asked Questions
Whether you’re starting your baby on purees or are doing baby-led weaning, blueberries 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 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, blueberries can be a choking hazard if presented in a way that baby is not developmentally ready for. To minimize the risk of choking, flatten them with your fingers or quarter large ones, and never leave your baby unattended while eating.
Blueberries are not listed as one of the top eight food allergens, so are not considered a common allergy. However, it does exist. If an immediate family member has an allergy to salicylates, you may need to avoid blueberries.
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