Grain Free Baby and Toddler Food Recipes + Tips

I get a lot of questions about how we feed our daughter a grain free diet. She’s been eating this way for over a year and is thriving and loves food. If you are wondering why we are feeding her grain free and what we started with for solid foods, you can find previous posts below:

• Podcast on why we feed Ottava grain free
• Ottava’s First Foods (Liver and Broth)
• Raising a Paleo(ish) Baby
• How to start feeding your grain free baby (and what foods to feed them)

This post is more of a resource post. What are our favorite recipes and what spoons, bowls and gadgets did we use to make feeding a baby easier.

I don’t remember if I wrote this in previous posts. But starting feeding Ottava was one of the more stressful and overwhelming parts of motherhood. There was so much to do with a meal. Make the food, nurse before the solid food, hope she doesn’t gag or dislike the food, make sure she’s full, clean up, and do it over again in a few hours. But, like everything in motherhood, you get used to it and it becomes a normal part of your life.

Hopefully my very imperfect and trial and error ways in feeding Ottava can help you out a bit. I did lots of research and came up with a plan I think worked very well and will be how I will feed future kiddos.

Recipes

• Grain Free Teething Biscuits: This is probably our top recipe. Ottava has been eating them almost daily since 11 months old. They are perfect for a snack and at the beginning it took her a long time to eat them and kept her busy. They also taught her how to bite food. Babies have to learn to chew, right? And we double the batch and freeze them. Because they take a while to make, form, and bake!
• Coconut Flour Pancakes: Pancakes make the best breakfasts. They are easy for her to grab and they can be reheated from the fridge of freezer.
• Banana Peanut Butter Cookies:
• Loaded Sweet Potatoes: This is one of Ottava’s favorite foods. It is pretty much a complete breakfast because it has protein, carbs, and fat!
• Egg Crepes: These are like pancakes, but pretty much just eggs. We all love them with butter and peanut butter slathered on top
• Smoothies: Ottava isn’t huge on smoothies. But I know they are wonderful meals and snacks for babies. You can throw anything into a smoothie and can’t really taste it.
• Baked Veggie Nuggets: A way to give veggies in a easy to grab form
• Coconut Blueberry Jigglers: Any kind of “jello” made from gelatin and good fruits and coconut milk or water. You can omit sweetener for little ones. I didn’t give Ottava many sweet things when she was little because I didn’t want her to love sweet/ sugar.
• Egg Bake: I don’t have a specific recipe for this. But eggs, coconut milk, and veggies make a great baby/ toddler friendly breakfast
• Chocolate Banana Avocado Pudding: This is a really simple and whole food pudding. It’s a great sweet treat that has good fats from avocado.

Snacks and Foods We Eat Often (outside of regular veggies and fruits)

• Sardines
• Salmon Roe
• Canned Salmon (only high quality salmon)
• Frozen Veggies
• Cauliflower Rice
• Broccoli Rice
• Dip-Dip (any kind of mustard, healthy salad dressing, or sauce)
• Dairy-Free Cream Cheese (Kite Hill is the brand)
• Freeze Dried Fruit
• Pouches: Yep, I put them here. I’m not a huge fan of these, but then in the name of simplicity and ease, they can be used very well. I think babies before 1 year old should be spoon fed pouches or baby food when you’re out and about and don’t have other food on hand. I believe kids and babies need to feel food and learn to feed themselves by opening their mouth and “chewing” vs just drinking from a pouch. You can make your own pouches (the best option with reusable pouches) or buy ones that are lower in sugar content. None of them have added sugar, but some pouches have very sugary fruit like mangos and bananas together. In my options, that’s just a little bit too much sugar for a little one. Then all they will want to eat is mangos and bananas, and broccoli and green beans don’t sound so good anymore.

Baby Gadgets + Feeding Tools

• Spoons, Plates, Bowls, Freezer Trays, Pouches, Immersion Blender, Food Chopper (see below)
• Cups: We use straw and 360 cups because they are the best for palette development.
• Food Chopper: I use this ALL THE TIME and I wish I would have thought of it sooner when she was little. I chop up a lot of meat and big veggies. I would have used this daily or more
• Glass Storage Container: I love storing in glass as much as I can. We use these little glass jars so often. If we are going somewhere and need to pack a snack or at home in the fridge or freezer. The tops have a little silicone ring that seals it in so well and doesn’t leak. These are well worth the money.

Further Baby Food Resources

Food checklist chart on what to introduce and when

Making Your Own Baby Food