Best Dinner Recipes - Your Baby Will Love

Best Kids Dinner Recipes Your Kids Will Love Check out these expert tips to make sure your baby gets a balanced and delicious meal!

Doctors recommend that babies should be exclusively breastfed for the first six months of their lives. Some mothers may formula-feed their babies if they are unable to breastfeed. Once your baby completes 6 months, you can start feeding him solid foods like fruit puree, dal, khichuri, etc. Babies can be picky about food and may not like the taste or texture of foods you introduce them to. This article gives you delicious and nutritious baby dinner recipes, which your baby will definitely love.

Babies should be introduced to solid foods gradually. Their food should not contain salt or sugar, as these are bad for the baby's health. For sweet dishes, you can use date puree or other fruit puree and add flavorings like cardamom powder, cinnamon powder, cumin powder, coriander powder, ginger, etc.

Best dinner ideas for baby

Our country has various food recipes which are both tasty and healthy. These recipes have been used for generations. Here is a list of healthy and tasty homemade recipes for kids:

Lentil soup with vegetables

Red lentils are high in protein and fiber. Red lentils are really quick to cook. Red lentils are easily digested by children. Vegetables in soups provide other valuable nutrients like vitamins and minerals that your baby or toddler needs for healthy growth and development.

Ingredients:

• An onion, finely chopped
• 1 small carrot, chopped
• 1 small sweet potato, diced
• 1/2 teaspoon ghee and water
• Lentils 2 tbsp

How to make:

• Add ghee to a pan and heat on low flame.
• Add onion and fry until fragrant.
• Add carrots and sweet potatoes and fry for a few minutes.
• Add lentils and water to it. Let it boil.
• Cook for at least 20 minutes, until the lentils are fully cooked and the vegetables are tender.
• Blend this soup in a food processor until smooth.

Oatmeal with fruit

Oatmeal is a very safe and nutritious food for babies to start solid foods. Oats contain calcium, B-complex vitamins, protein, and fiber. Fruits are excellent sources of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants that are essential for good health.

Ingredients:

• Powdered oats and water
• Fruit puree like banana or apple
• A pinch of cardamom powder is optional for taste

How to make:

• Add water and oat flour together in a pan and cook on low heat for about 8 minutes.
• Stir constantly to avoid lumps.
• Once cooked, remove and cool.
• Mix the fruit puree and add a pinch of cardamom to make it tastier.
• Oatmeal with fruits is ready for your baby.

Dal, rice and carrot khichuri

This is a delicious and healthy dinner for a 1-year-old baby. You can add other vegetables like greens or potatoes to the khichuri. Khichuri is a nutritious and balanced meal as it contains protein from pulses, carbohydrates from rice, and vitamins and minerals from vegetables. Turmeric contains antioxidant bioactive compounds that have anti-inflammatory and healing properties. Turmeric also has anti-microbial properties and helps the baby fight viral and bacterial infections.

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons of mung beans
• A pinch of turmeric
• Rice 3 tbsp
• 1 small carrot, diced
• amount of water
• 1/2 teaspoon of ghee

How to make:

• Wash the rice and dal together and then keep them for soaking. This should take about 90 minutes to do.
• Put carrot, turmeric, and water in a pressure cooker along with rice and dal.
• Cook the khichuri for about 4 whistles until it becomes soft and light.
• Let it cool and feed the baby properly.

You can boil khichuri with mustard and cumin seeds for children above 1 year.

Smooth fruit puree

It's easy stuff for your baby. This is a great food to start baby on solid foods. Fruits are healthy, nutritious, and naturally sweet in taste. They are also easily digested. Most kids prefer crunchy or pureed fruit. 6-month-old babies can easily digest it.

Ingredients:

• Fruits like bananas, pears, apples, peaches, mangoes or avocados. You can definitely use berries like strawberries, blueberries, or raspberries and dates.
• Water, boil in a shallow pot, with a steamer and mixer for steaming.

How to make:

• Bananas can be directly mashed or pureed with a blender and fed to babies. It does not require steam.
• Apples and pears need to be steamed. Blueberries and other berries can be boiled in a small amount of water. Avocado can be served plain without steaming. Boil water in any vessel and steam it. Place the fruit pieces in the steamer basket, place it in the pot, and close it for 7-10 minutes. If you don't have a steamer, boil the fruit pieces in a little water until the fruit is soft and cooked.
• After steaming or boiling the fruit, blend it in a food processor until it becomes a smooth puree. Feed it to the baby.
• You can use a variety of fruits such as apples and bananas, apples and peaches, bananas and berries, avocados, and bananas, or apples and dates.

Ragi porridge

Ragi or finger millet is a whole grain that contains several nutrients beneficial for a growing baby. Ragi is high in calcium. It also contains iron and B vitamins. Ragi contains about 80% carbohydrates that provide energy for your active, growing baby. Ragi is a good source of protein and dietary fiber.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 teaspoon of ghee
• A pinch of cardamom
• Date puree or a teaspoon of grated jaggery for sweetening
• 1 tablespoon ragi flour and water.

How to make:

• Add ragi flour to water and mix well to ensure no lumps.
• Add ghee to the pan and melt it on low flame.
• Add the ragi mixture to the pan and cook on low flame.
• Add cardamom powder.
• Remove from heat after cooking and let cool.
• You can mix in some fruit puree if you want.

Rice porridge

Highly digestible rice is very safe and extremely gentle on your baby's stomach. Rice is rich in B-complex vitamins carbohydrates and protein. Feeding rice porridge to a child will increase the child's immediate energy.

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons of rice
• water or milk
• Ground cardamom to taste
• Powdered jaggery for date puree or sweet

If the baby is under 1 year old, use formula or breast milk instead of milk!

How to make:

• Cook the rice in a pressure cooker with milk or water until soft and thick
• Add cardamom powder and jaggery and mix until the mixture becomes smooth.

Various vegetable soups

Vegetable soup is very nutritious and delicious. You can enhance the flavor by using a small pinch of asafoetida, cumin powder, or coriander powder. This soup is made with vegetables like carrots, greens, potatoes, and beans. Spinach is very beneficial for children as it contains iron, folate, vitamins A, C, K, and B-complex, and dietary fiber. It is an excellent source of potassium, phosphorus, and calcium.

Ingredients:

• Half a carrot
• 5-6 spinach leaves
• 1 small potato
• 2-3 beans
• A teaspoon of beans
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1/2 tsp ghee and water

How to make:

• Chop all the vegetables and put them in a pressure cooker with water.
• Cook for 4-6 minutes until the vegetables are soft.
• Add ghee and mix until the mixture is smooth.

Blended multigrain porridge

Since this porridge is made of various whole grains, it is very nutritious and beneficial for your growing baby. You can make larger quantities of multigrain porridge powder and store it in an airtight container for up to a month.

A few tablespoons of this powdered multigrain mixture can be used to make porridge whenever your baby needs to be fed. You can make both a sweet version and a spicy version of the porridge mix. A combination of lentils, rice, and wheat, makes this porridge a good concentration of protein and carbohydrates. Almonds provide vitamins minerals and dietary fiber.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup green gram dal
• 1/2 cup yellow moong dal
• 1. 1/2 cup rice
• 1/2 cup roasted chickpeas
• 7-8 cashew nuts
• 1 cup of barley or barley
• 1/2 teaspoon jaggery (ajwain)
• 7-8 almonds
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1 cup dalia (broken wheat)
• 1 cup lentils
• 1 cup urad dal (whole black lentils)
• Powdered cardamom for a sweet taste
• 1 tsp salt for a spicy taste

How to make:

• Dry roast till all the ingredients turn slightly golden brown! and let it cool.
• After that, you can add cardamom powder if you want to make a sweet porridge mixture or you can add salt if you want to make a spicy porridge mixture.
• Grind the fried ingredients to use in the mixture.
• Use the mixer to make sure the porridge mixture is a smooth batter.
• Mix this powder with 1 to 2 tbsp of water to make a porridge.
• Keep stirring continuously to ensure that it does not curdle and cook it on low flame.
• Add fruit puree for sweet porridge.
• You can add vegetable puree for a delicious taste.
• Mix 1/2 teaspoon of ghee, and feed your baby this nutritious porridge.

So, babies and toddlers can be really apathetic about eating. Try a new food 3 to 4 times to see if they like the taste and texture. Salt added to the food of children under one year of age should not exceed 1 gram per day. So use spices and herbs instead of salt to flavor the food. Sugar is not good for children either.

Conclusion:

You can use date puree or other fruits to sweeten the food. You can use honey for babies above 1 year. Follow the 3-day rule by slowly introducing new foods and increasing the amount each day. Give the baby 1 tablespoon on the first day, 2 tablespoons on the second day, and 3 tablespoons on the third day to make sure he likes the food and is not allergic to it.

For babies aged 1 year and above, you can try dishes like Mussoorie Dosa, Carrot and Sesame Idli, Oats Upma, Methi Parotta, and Oats and Banana Pancakes with Eggs. Using Indian spices and herbs to flavor baby food will enhance the taste and your baby will definitely love its taste.

FAQs:

When can I introduce solid dinners to my baby?

Most babies are ready for solids around 6 months, but consult your pediatrician for personalized advice.

What specific foods should be avoided in the child's dinner?

Yes, common allergens like nuts and honey can usually be avoided until after the first year. Consult your pediatrician for guidance.

What are some tips for overcoming the habit of picky eating?

Introduce new tastes gradually, involve your child in food preparation, and be patient. Consult a pediatrician if concerns persist.

How can I make dinner economical for a growing family?

Buy ingredients in bulk, plan meals in advance, and consider batch cooking to save time and money.