Soups For Baby

Cheesy Broccoli Soup

From Virginia in the United States

2 tbsp unsalted butter

1 leek (optional)

1 onion (optional)

1 clove minced garlic (optional)

1/4 tsp nutmeg

2 cups broccoli, frozen or fresh

2-3 cups chicken stock

1/2 c milk (breastmilk, formula, or whole milk)

1-2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1. Melt butter in a large soup pot.
2. Chop the leek and the onion, if using. Saute leeks, onion, and garlic in the pot until softened.
3. Sprinkle with nutmeg.
4. Add the broccoli and cover with the stock.
5. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 10 minutes or until broccoli is tender.
6. Place in food processor or blend in batches until smooth, then return to the pot.
7. Stir in milk and cheese and heat until cheese is melted and soup is heated through.

If you have a baby who enjoys smooth textured foods, further process the soup with a hand blender, or baby food blender. If your child is enjoying texture, leave a few chunks for them to try. My son really loves this soup: he likes to eat it with his fingers though, which is very messy!!!! Enjoy!

Ultimate Soup of the Day

From Diana in the United States

For babies 6 months and up. This recipe intentionally doesn’t include salt as babies shouldn’t consume any before 12 months of age.

1/2 cup carrot

1/2 cup onion

1/2 cup broccoli

1/2 cup celery root

6 oz (boneless/skinless) organic chicken breast

1/4 cup black beans (uncooked)

1/2 cup red bell pepper

avocado (2 tablespoons per meal)

1. Boil 3 cups of water in a small size cooking pot.(Tip: Boiling water boils faster with a lid on the pot).
2. Add uncooked black beans and boil for 1 hour over low heat with a lid on.
3. In the meantime coarsely chop all the ingredients (around 1 inch size). Place avocado aside – served fresh.
4. Boil 4 cups of water.
5. Add carrots, onions, celery root, chicken and boil for 10 min.
6. Then add broccoli, red bell pepper, and black beans with its fluid (already cooked for 1 hour).
7. Cook everything over low heat for 15 minutes.
8. Cool, then transfer 2 cups of the chilled soup (picking equal amounts of the vegetables and meat with a spoon) into the blender; add avocado and blend until smooth.

Recommendation: Refrigerate the soup and blend, as needed, adding avocado every time for the next 2-3 days. (This way the soup has minimal chances of contamination.) Your baby will enjoy every single spoon of it! It’s The Ultimate Soup of the Day!

Vegetable Scrap Broth

From Tiffany in Canada

Ingredients: Vegetable Scraps! Whenever you have a few left over veggies from dinner, the left over ends from cutting up a carrot, onion, broccoli, etc.. or you bought too many veggies and know you won’t use them all up before they go off, throw them in a freezer bag and into the freezer. Once the bag is full, add…

* A few cloves of garlic

* A bay leaf

* Some onion if you don’t already have some in with your vegetables

1. Empty frozen veggies into large pot along with additional seasonings & fill with water.
2. Bring to boil.
3. Once boiling, reduce heat to medium low, & simmer for up to two hours, or until all vegetables are mushy, & broth is a deep, golden colour.
4. Let cool, then strain out vegetables & discard. Broth can be used immediately or frozen.
5. For making baby food, cook vegetables or meat in broth, & save some to add while blending to create desired consistency. It can also be used to cook pasta or as a base for soup. You’ll add a lot more flavour than using plain water, & save money over using store bought broths.

Cumin-Pumpkin Soup

From Atulya in Sri Lanka

200 grms (around 7 oz or almost 1 cup) diced pumpkin

pinch of dry roasted cumin seeds

1 1/2 cups (12 fl oz) of chicken stock (we recommend using homemade chicken stock)

2 small onions, finely cut

1 clove of crushed garlic

1 teaspoon ghee (clarified butter)

1. Add the teaspoon of ghee to a pot on a low fire.
2. When the ghee is dissolved, add the garlic followed by the chopped onions and let it fry till golden brown. Stir constantly to prevent the onions from burning up.
3. Add the pumpkin pieces and mix well.
4. Add the chicken stock and simmer until the pumpkins are well cooked.
5. Add the cumin seeds just before taking the pot off the cooker. Puree in a blender.

Colorful Chicken ‘n’ Squash Soup

From Rebecca in the United States

1 broiler/fryer chicken (4 lbs.), cut up

13 cups (6-7 pints) water

5 lbs. butternut squash, peeled & cubed (an easy way to soften squash so it’s easier to peel and cube is to cook it in the microwave for a few minutes)

1 1/4 lbs. fresh kale, chopped

6 medium carrots, chopped

2 large onions, chopped

salt and pepper

1. Place chicken and water in a large soup pot. Bring to a boil.
2. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 1 hour or until chicken is tender.
3. Remove chicken from broth. Strain broth and skim fat.
4. Return broth to pot; add squash, kale, carrots, and onions. Bring to a boil.
5. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 25-30 minutes or until veggies are tender.
6. When chicken is cool enough to handle, remove meat from bones and cut into small pieces. Add chicken and pepper (if baby has had pepper) and heat through.
7. Puree for baby as needed.

This is a great soup for the whole family and you can add salt and pepper to taste for the rest of the family.

Yields about 14 servings.

Winter Vegetable Soup

From Carolyn in the London, UK

1/2 swede

1 parsnip

1 carrot

16 fl oz (2 cups) low sodium or homemade vegetable stock

1 small onion

1. Peel the swede and cut into small cubes.
2. Peel the parsnip and carrot and chop them.
3. Peel and chop the onion.
4. Place in a saucepan. Pour in the stock and bring to the boil.
5. Simmer for 15 to 20 mins, until all the veggies are tender.
6. Puree in a blender and serve warm.

Roasted Garlic and Red Pepper Pumpkin Soup

From Carina in Canada

Please note: This recipe contains garlic and spices. Some parents may prefer to wait until towards the end of their babies’ first year before introducing these ingredients – although many little ones enjoy these flavours much earlier. Herbs, spices and garlic should be introduced to your baby individually – as with all new foods – to identify any possible allergic reaction or digestive upset.

You’ll find more information about introducing spices, herbs and garlic here

This recipe also includes salt. We would recommend omitting this for baby and allowing other family members to add their own if necessary.

Learn more about adding salt to baby food

3 carrots

2 large or 3 small parsnips

1 red pepper

2 bulbs garlic

1 tbsp + 1 tsp olive oil

1 tbsp cumin

1 tsp coriander

dash of cayenne

1/2 tsp salt

dash of pepper

2.5 cups (20 fl oz) water or vegetable stock

28 oz can of pumpkin (ensure that this is pure pumpkin with no added ingredients)

1 cup (8 fl oz) coconut milk

1 lime (can be left out until baby old enough to be taking citrus)

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. Chop the carrots and parsnips, mix with 1 tablespoon olive oil and place in a roasting pan.
3. Halve the red pepper, strip the seeds, and place face down on a baking sheet.
4. Cut the top off the garlic bulbs, place them on aluminum foil and drizzle them with 1 tsp olive oil before wrapping them up in the foil.
5. Place the vegetables in the oven.
6. Roast the red pepper, carrots and parsnips for 30-35 minutes. Roast the garlic bulb 45 minutes.
7. Take the vegetables out of the oven and slice the red pepper into strips.
8. Combine all the roasted vegetables in a food processor.
9. Allow the garlic to cool and then squeeze the cloves out of their skin into the food processor.
10. Add the cumin, coriander, cayenne, salt (please see note above), pepper and 1.5 cups (12 fl oz) water or stock, and blend until nearly smooth.
11. Combine the puree in a large soup pot with the pumpkin, coconut milk and 1 cup (8 fl oz) water or stock.
12. Add the juice and zest of 1 lime (if using).
13. Simmer 20 minutes.
14. Ladle into bowls and garnish if desired with yoghurt or sour cream.

This is a thick, rich, sweet and flavorful soup that is more like a creamy puree, power-packed with nutrients, and the excellent fats of a little coconut milk. The delicious sweetness of the carrots and parsnip is brought out by roasting, blending in perfectly with the pumpkin, while the roasted red pepper adds its distinctive flavor to the unique vegetable medley.

Altogether it’s an unexpected combination of flavors that seem to go together perfectly.It also tastes great garnished with a dollop of sour cream or yoghurt. This is one of my personal favorite homemade soups and I’m glad my baby likes it too – and that it’s so good for her.

Italian Bread Soup

From Katarina in Australia

1 small handful whole meal Ciabatta bread, cubed

3 large tomatoes, deseeded

1/2 clove garlic

1 tsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

3-4 basil leaves

2 tbsp water

tiniest pinch of salt (optional) / fine ground pepper

This is actually a quick microwave lunch I used to prepare for my 8 month old. She’s now two and still loves it!

1. Dice the tomatoes finely and place in a microwave dish, along with the seasoning, (if any) olive oil, and water.
2. Using a microplane, grate the garlic clove over the tomatoes. If you don’t have one of these, dice it as finely as you can and add it to the dish.
3. Chop the basil as finely as possible and add this to the tomatoes, stirring to combine.
4. Microwave on high for 1 minute, or until the tomatoes break down but don’t completely lose their shape.
5. Add the bread cubes, a few at a time and stir into the tomatoes. Microwave for a further 30-50 seconds and stir again, the bread should absorb the moisture and break down into a sort of thick soup with the other ingredients.
6. Allow to cool thoroughly before serving.

Hearty Potato Soup

From Namrata in the United States

1/2 stick of celery, finely chopped

1/4 small onion, finely chopped

1/8 bulb fennel, finely chopped

2 small carrots, diced

2 medium sized red potatoes, cubed

1/4 cup broccoli florets, chopped

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

few fresh thyme and basil leaves

olive oil

ground black pepper per taste

1. Saute the onion, celery, fennel and garlic on medium heat till soft and translucent in olive oil in a medium saucepan.
2. Add the potatoes and carrots.
3. Cook, stirring frequently to prevent the vegetables sticking to the bottom of the pan.
4. After 5 mins, add the broccoli florets, herbs and pepper.
5. Saute for a minute and add water to cover the vegetables.
6. Cover and bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer checking once in a while if more water is required.
7. Remove once the vegetables are tender and cooked through, then cool.
8. Mash roughly and serve baby with either formula or breast milk mixed in to create a ‘creamy’ texture.

‘Baby’s Got A Cold’ Soup

From Aysha in the United States

6 crushed Saltine crackers (we recommend using low sodium crackers with NO salt topping)

1/2 cup (4fl oz) chicken stock/broth, unseasoned

1/2 tsp fresh pressed garlic

1/2 tsp fresh, finely chopped parsley

2 tsp very finely chopped carrot

Great for when your little one feels sick and/or can’t keep most foods down.

1. Just crush saltines and put them in a small, microwavable, bowl.
2. Add stock, garlic, parsley, and carrot. Mix well.
3. Cover bowl with lid, leaving a small gap for steam to escape.
4. Place bowl in microwave and cook on high for one and a half minutes.
5. Remove bowl from microwave, uncover and stir well. Let soup cool for up to five minutes, or add a small ice cube to soup and stir it in.
6. Once soup is warm, and not hot, let your little one enjoy.Depending on age, this can also be used in a sippy cup.

Spring Pea Soup

From Angela in the United States

1 cup (8oz) frozen peas, thawed

1/3 cup (approx 3oz) light sour cream

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 cup (8 fl oz) chicken stock (homemade, or low sodium)

4-6 fresh mint leaves

1/2 teaspoon salt (please note – although Angela has listed salt in this recipe, we recommend avoiding it for AT LEAST the first year) pinch nutmeg

1. Puree all ingredients in the blender until smooth. Serve hot or cold – great for adults, too!

Pumpkin, Apple and Potatoes Yummy Soup

From Molly in Malaysia

1 small potato

pumpkin – half of a quarter

1-2 apples

1. Skin and cut potatoes, apples and pumpkin into small cubes.
2. Cover with just enough water and cook over low heat for about 20 minutes or until soft.
3. Blend the three ingredients and serve immediately at right temperature for your baby.
4. For older babies, for adults ….and for greater taste, add some olive oil and a pinch of sea salt.

Note: It tastes really great, a naturally good and yummy pumpkin soup, thickened with potatoes and sweetened with apple. Perfect for young babies and adults too. My husband and baby love this!

Baby Vegetable Soup

From Amrita in India

1 potato, peeled and diced

1 carrot, peeled and diced

1 medium beet, diced

1 turnip, peeled and diced

1 small onion, chopped

2 oz (1/4 cup) peas, fresh or frozen

2 oz (1/4 cup) green beans, chopped

2 oz (1/4 cup) cauliflower, diced

1 cabbage leaf, chopped

pinch cumin

1 bay leaf

1 tbsp butter

2 pints water

1. Melt the butter in a large saucepan.
2. Add the cumin and bay leaf and cook for 2 mins.
3. Add the vegetables and cook very gently for 10 mins, stirring occasionally.
4. Pour in the water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for one hour.

Apple Vegetable Soup

From Deepti in India

1 apple , deseeded , peeled and diced

1 medium sized carrot , peeled and diced

1/2 potato , peeled and diced

1 tbsp chopped coriander

salt to taste (not recommended for babies under 12 months)

2 cm stick of cinnamon

1. Combine all the ingredients in a pressure cooker.
2. Add 2 cups of water mix well and pressure cook on high flame for 4 whistles.
3. Allow the steam to escape, before opening the lid.
4. Remove the cinnamon stick.
5. Blend with the mixer till the required consistency.
6. Heat the pan and pour the soup and simmer for 5 minutes.
7. Serve hot.
8. Optional: You can add a pinch of cumin seeds powder if necessary.