Zucchini puree for babies: how to prepare a healthy dish, recipes for complementary feeding. Zucchini puree for first feeding Zucchini puree for first feeding recipe

The introduction of zucchini in the first complementary feeding is recommended by WHO, and zucchini puree for complementary feeding of the baby can be prepared independently without any problems. There is nothing difficult in growing zucchini and the ripe fruits of many varieties can be stored throughout the frosty period. The pulp of the fruit with elementary heat treatment retains its beneficial properties and is easily absorbed by the child’s body even from an early age.

How to cook zucchini for first feeding

If you decide to start introducing solid foods to your baby, start with zucchini. This will be the best addition to breast milk or adapted formula. Zucchini is a hypoallergenic product and contains a large amount of useful substances that a child needs.

Zucchini puree recipe

We prepare zucchini puree for the first feeding at home. The only ingredients you need are zucchini and water. Let's start by rinsing the zucchini under cool running water. Peel and cut into cubes. Then there are 2 options. Either put it in boiling water and cook the zucchini for 6-10 minutes, while preserving the benefits of vitamin C. Or steam it, which will undoubtedly be tastier and healthier. Next, rub through a sieve or grind with a blender.

You need to start complementary feeding with one teaspoon, gradually day by day, increasing the number of spoons. It is important to introduce your child to this product at a very young age. When a child grows up, he will still need nutrients. And you can pamper him with many different zucchini dishes.

How to cook zucchini and how long to cook it

For the first feeding, it is recommended to cook the zucchini for up to 10 minutes. Usually this time is enough to soften the cut pieces. Do not forget that the longer the heat treatment of a vegetable occurs, the less vitamins and beneficial microelements remain. Then everything is thoroughly crushed into puree and the first complementary food is ready. Depending on the period of introduction of the puree to the baby, you can add a little vegetable oil to the puree if the mass of the puree portion has reached 100 g (usually on the 6-7th day of complementary feeding).

To prepare the puree, the baby needs to select only young and fresh zucchini fruits: without rot, cracks or dents. The fruit is thoroughly washed under running water. Then its side parts are cut off: the tail and the “butt”; the peel is removed. The zucchini is cut lengthwise into several pieces, from which the central soft part with seeds is removed. The remaining parts are cut into cubes. If the vegetable is purchased at the market or in a store, it is recommended to soak the zucchini in clean water for about 2 hours to remove unnatural microelements from the fruit in the form of fertilizers and pesticides.

How to freeze and defrost zucchini? Cooked, chopped fruit cubes in the required quantity are placed in plastic bags or containers and then in the refrigerator. To prepare puree from frozen fruits, it is recommended to use defrosted vegetables. To speed up the process, bags or containers with zucchini are placed in water at room temperature or under running tap water. After 1-2 hours, you can start cooking according to the known scheme.

Zucchini for complementary feeding in baby food

Due to its unique properties, zucchini is widely used in baby food. In addition, vegetable zucchini purees are considered the most popular when introducing the first complementary foods to a child. Manufacturers recommend using one-component zucchini puree for children from 4 months.

Baby food products recommended for first complementary feeding include Heinz zucchini puree, which additionally contains corn flour and water. A similar product is Hipp zucchini puree, which contains coarse rice flour. These products are sold in glass jars with a net weight of 80 grams, and the puree contains no salt, sugar, starch, preservatives or dyes.

At a later age, zucchini is used in baby food in combination with vegetables, fruits, cereals and meat. For children over 5 months:

It is recommended to try Tema beef and zucchini baby puree no earlier than 6 months from birth.

Composition of zucchini

Zucchini is a source of substances that have a beneficial effect on digestion. They contain a small amount of calories when cooked (per 100 grams - from 20 to 25 kcal), so you can use them in food during therapeutic diets.

What are the benefits of zucchini for children and adults?

Zucchini has a very pleasant taste. Doctors advise using them for those who have undergone surgery on the stomach or intestines. I would like to mention that these fruits are very useful for those who suffer from edema.

Zucchini juice for men and women can help with obesity. Helps the body get rid of toxins and waste, relieves constipation well, strengthens the heart. The glycogen they contain has a positive effect on liver activity. Zucchini significantly improves blood formation and helps restore strength after prolonged exercise. Zucchini seeds will help get rid of worms. For hepatitis, regular consumption of zucchini will lead to a significant improvement in well-being.

Thus, using zucchini in first feeding- this is the most optimal option for both the child and the parents (of course, excluding the case of individual intolerance).

There are not many foods on the menu for children under one year old that do not cause allergies or intestinal discomfort. With the start of complementary feeding, mothers are scratching their heads about what to introduce the baby to first? Pediatricians consider zucchini to be the best vegetable for babies.

Benefit

For low birth weight babies and bottle-fed babies, complementary foods are introduced from 4 months - and here you can’t do without zucchini.

Absence of allergies and negative reactions of the child’s body to vegetables.
The delicate fiber of zucchini is remarkably digestible.
If your baby has an allergy, zucchini will support the body during its treatment.
The sodium and potassium contained in the product help strengthen the immune system and improve the supply of oxygen to the brain.
The pulp contains vitamin C and essential minerals.
Zucchini puree is a preventative against constipation, stimulates digestion and does not cause bloating.
The vegetable normalizes water-salt balance and heart rate.
Has a beneficial effect on nerve and muscle cells.

Zucchini is a “close relative” of pumpkin; it also has an Italian “brother” zucchini with a spicy taste, as well as squash, which differs in the shape of the flower. But it is the white-fruited variety of zucchini that needs to be cooked for babies. The cooking recipe should not include sugar or salt, otherwise it will be difficult to accustom the baby to healthy and healthy foods in the future.

Portions

As a first complementary food, ½ teaspoon of one-component puree is enough. It is advisable to offer the product to the baby in the morning to monitor the body’s reaction. However, pediatricians say that there is no cause for concern, since an allergy to zucchini is a rare phenomenon. The portion increases daily until it reaches 100 g.

Procurement for future use

Store shelves are full of canned products, but pediatricians insist on natural baby food. If in the warm season there are no problems with a variety of vegetables, including zucchini, then in winter the alternative is either canned zucchini puree for baby food or overseas varieties. The latter can cause allergies, so it is advisable to stock up for future use in the summer or autumn.

The procurement process is simple and straightforward:

Wash the zucchini, remove skin and seeds
cut into medium-sized cubes, place in plastic bags and freeze

To prevent the chopped vegetable from forming a “lump” in the bag, you can place the chopped cubes on a cutting board and place them in the freezer for a few minutes so that they “set.” The best option would be to prepare it in bags designed for one serving.

Preparation

You can cook zucchini in plain water, in a double boiler, or in a slow cooker, but without adding fat, salt, sugar or spices. The baby is unlikely to be able to handle the whole vegetable, so it is enough to cook 1/3 or ¼ of the zucchini. Since babies cannot chew food at the time of their first complementary feeding, zucchini should be prepared in the form of a puree.

The recipe for a dish for infants is simple:

Wash the zucchini, peel the skin, remove the seeds.
Cut into medium cubes and cook for 10 minutes.
Rub through a sieve or grind with a blender.
Heat the resulting puree for an additional 2 minutes over low heat, cool to an acceptable temperature.
Before serving, dilute a little with breast milk or formula to make the dish more liquid.

During normal cooking of zucchini for complementary feeding, the chopped vegetable is dipped only in boiling water. There shouldn't be too much of it. Calculating how much liquid you need is simple: enough so that it barely covers the vegetable cubes.

Steaming

Before preparing the puree, even in a slow cooker, the zucchini must be soaked in cold and lightly salted water for about 2 hours. For the first complementary feeding, young zucchini of small size are selected. Be sure to pay attention to ensure that there are no cracks, dents from impacts or other defects.

Peel the vegetable, remove seeds, cut into large pieces.
Place in the steamer bowl and turn on the “cooking vegetables” mode, which is available in any model.
Cooking in a double boiler is convenient and quick - the time does not exceed 10 minutes.

If you don’t have such an assistant on your farm, you can cook the zucchini in any other container while maintaining the quality composition:

Fill a regular saucepan ¼ full with water and place a sieve or colander on top.
Wash the vegetable, remove skin and seeds, place in a colander.
Steam will rise from boiling water, so this preparation is no different from a double boiler.
To avoid cooking for a long time, it is better to cover the pan with a lid.

A multicooker is becoming increasingly popular in the kitchen of a young mother, which is also capable of preserving all the vitamins and microelements in zucchini, which is important for a child’s diet. In a slow cooker, the vegetable will be cooked quickly and without additional intervention in the process:

Wash the zucchini with warm water, peel off the skin, remove the seeds.
Cut into medium cubes or rings and place in a slow cooker.
Set the “cooking” or “stewing” mode, wait 20 minutes and start preparing the puree.

It is ideal if the multicooker has a steam cooking function.

Basic cooking rules

Each mother must choose for herself which recipe to choose for her baby’s diet, but there are basic rules for use:

Zucchini goes very poorly with milk, with the exception of breast milk. Therefore, it is better to leave the idea of mixing vegetables with regular milk for a later date.
Zucchini makes friends with other vegetables, fruits, herbs, proteins and fats, but mixing the listed products at the first feeding stage is not recommended.
An allergy from zucchini is completely excluded, but discomfort in the intestines can be caused by its seeds, so any recipe recommends removing them. It is important not to be lazy and remove them before cooking - even in young vegetables.
You can include zucchini juice in the menu for infants, offering your baby the drink half an hour before meals. The juice must be consumed within 10 minutes from the end of the extraction process. If you want to treat your baby to raw zucchini, first douse the vegetable with boiling water.

Take note of the video tutorial in which an experienced mother explains how to cook zucchini in a double boiler for a baby.

Any young mother sooner or later wonders where to start complementary feeding. Doctors most often adhere to certain rules.

If weight gain is poor, complementary feeding begins with cereals.
If the baby is gaining weight well, it is recommended to start complementary feeding with vegetables.

Zucchini is the most common vegetable that starts a baby’s introduction to vegetables.

Benefits and harms

Zucchini has proven itself very well as a first complementary food:

due to the fact that zucchini is a hypoallergenic product, you can start complementary feeding with it even for babies with allergies;
this vegetable improves intestinal motility, so for children suffering from systematic constipation, this vegetable will be a good helper;
It is perfectly absorbed by a small organism thanks to pectin.

The composition of zucchini amazes with the variety of beneficial substances. It contains all the substances necessary for a growing organism:

vitamin A;
vitamin B1;
vitamin B2;
vitamin B5;
vitamin B6;
vitamin B9;
vitamin C;
vitamin E;
vitamin H;
vitamin PP;
potassium;
calcium;
magnesium;
phosphorus;
iron.

There are also a few negative aspects to using zucchini for food. For example, if you have diarrhea, it is not recommended to consume this vegetable, as it will only intensify its negative symptoms, which dehydrate the child’s body, which is extremely dangerous.

Rare cases of allergies can be triggered by zucchini in children with allergic rhinitis caused by ragweed and wormwood pollen.

Zucchini has a mild diuretic effect, so parents of a baby with problem kidneys and suspected pyelonephritis should consult a pediatrician.

How to choose a vegetable?

If mom decides to make zucchini puree with her own hands, then she should know that not all zucchini is suitable for this dish.

For baby food, you should choose only young specimens that have practically no seeds. You can buy them in a store, supermarket, or you can grow them on your own plot. The latter will be the optimal solution for a mother who advocates a healthy diet, because she knows exactly how her zucchini was grown, in what soil and what they were fed with.

How to cook?

Of course, buying vegetable jars for complementary feeding is the easiest way. They are hermetically packaged, stored for a long time at room temperature, and the manufacturer guarantees the quality of the products. But if parents decide to start complementary feeding with homemade puree, then this is undoubtedly the right decision, because the child will receive vitamins without the possibility of poisoning from various chemicals that are used in growing this crop.

Before preparing your first complementary foods, you should familiarize yourself with a number of instructions that every mother needs to know:

use only farm products whenever possible;
buy vegetables in season to eliminate the possibility of chemicals getting into your dishes;
use only young vegetables for complementary feeding;
zucchini should not have seeds;
if seeds are still present, then when peeling the vegetable you need to remove them, leaving only the zucchini pulp;
Some home-harvested zucchini should be left to freeze to provide the baby with vitamins during the winter;
In order for the maximum amount of vitamins to be preserved in zucchini, it is necessary to follow all instructions for preparing complementary foods.

For one serving of puree you will need 1 small young zucchini. You can tell the age of a squash by piercing the skin with your fingernail. If this cannot be done, then zucchini should not be used in the baby’s diet, since the vegetable is overripe.

To prepare the baby’s first puree, the vegetable needs to be washed and peeled. After cutting it into circles 1 cm thick, you need to put them in a saucepan, fill with water and put on the stove. You need to cook the zucchini for no more than 10 minutes. This way you will retain most of the vitamins in it. After cooking, use a blender to turn the zucchini pieces into a homogeneous mass.

When cooking, zucchini is not salted or spices are added.

Since zucchini has a fairly neutral taste, it is generally well received and children eat it with pleasure.

Boiling the vegetable can be replaced by cooking it in a double boiler or slow cooker. In this case, more vitamins will be retained in the zucchini. It is recommended to steam the vegetable for no more than 10 minutes, after which the zucchini is turned into puree, and when it cools down, it is offered to the child. After your baby has tried all the vegetables, you can prepare vegetable mixes in the same way, without adding salt and spices.

Many mothers are faced with the problem that the child does not want to eat, and they begin to add salt to the puree. In fact, the child’s taste has not yet been spoiled by anything, and the best thing that can be done for a baby is to add breast milk to the puree. Thus, the taste of the dish will become familiar to the child, and he will eat the offered product with pleasure. In addition, salt retains water in the body, which is absolutely unnecessary for a growing body.

How to enter into the menu?

Every mother should understand that the purpose of complementary feeding is not to feed the child, but to introduce his body to new foods and prepare the digestive system for eating adult food. Some, in turn, misinform young parents about the pointlessness of eating zucchini for infants, arguing that it is low in calories.

But a young mother simply must admit the fact that if she starts feeding her child boiled potatoes, his body’s reaction can be completely unpredictable. Zucchini, as a vegetable, is quite adapted for the unformed gastrointestinal tract. It is true that the product will not satisfy the baby, so after eating vegetable puree you need to offer the baby breast milk or formula to saturate his body with the required portion of calories.

The introduction of vegetable complementary foods depends on what diet the child is on. If he is breastfed, then complementary foods are introduced at 6 months. If the child is bottle-fed and eats adapted formulas, then it is recommended to start complementary feeding from 4 months.

Each mother decides for herself what kind of food she will feed her child. Fortunately, now you have a choice - buy jarred puree in the supermarket or prepare it yourself. The principle of introducing a new dish into the diet, whether purchased or prepared at home, is the same. Start with 1 teaspoon of zucchini puree before milk once a day. In the following days, if the product is well tolerated, its dose is increased every day by 1 teaspoon, bringing it to 7 teaspoons after a week of eating zucchini. If the body does not have a negative reaction to this hypoallergenic product, then the next product is introduced.

If there is a reaction, then it is necessary to postpone the process of introducing complementary foods, once again study the information about introducing new products into the diet, and understand whether the child is ready to learn new things.

The following signs indicate your baby is ready for complementary feeding:

The child does not turn away when asked to try a new product;
he himself tries to reach the plate;
can sit and eat food offered for a long time;
After drinking milk, the child remains hungry.

There are also a few more tips for introducing complementary foods into your baby's diet.

The child should be fed before milk feeding, otherwise, having eaten enough milk, he will not want to eat anymore.
It is allowed to start complementary feeding if the child feels well and all signs are present that he is ready to try a new product at the moment.
At the beginning of complementary feeding, the puree should be one-component.
You should not add any more vegetables until he eats all seven spoons at a time.
Under no circumstances should you force a child. If he doesn't eat, then it's worth trying another time.
If there are any changes in the color of the stool, but the child feels well, then you should not focus special attention on this. Thus, the gastrointestinal tract adapts to the new product.
If any reactions occur, it is recommended to stop introducing complementary foods and contact your pediatrician.

For a one-year-old child, you can already combine products with each other and give a two-component puree, for example, carrots and zucchini or cabbage and zucchini. If these products are correctly introduced to a child under one year old, then the possibility of a negative reaction to vegetable mixes is minimized.

How to store?

If zucchini puree is purchased in a store, then storage of the opened product is indicated on the packaging. Most often it is recommended to store opened puree for no more than 24 hours in the refrigerator. The shelf life of unopened cans varies from 12 to 24 months.

If you prepare the puree yourself, then it must be prepared for every meal. Some mothers store homemade purees in the refrigerator for 24 hours. When a vegetable is just introduced, it is recommended to feed the child only freshly prepared puree in order to avoid a negative reaction to a stale product.

But zucchini, like homemade puree, can also be frozen in the freezer. If possible, only young vegetables should be frozen. Their age can be determined by their small size and thin, shiny and smooth skin.

To prepare the zucchini, you need to wash, peel and cut them into 2 by 2 cm cubes. Then blanch the zucchini in boiling water for no more than 5 minutes to avoid overcooking and loss of vitamins. After drying, they are laid out on a board so that each piece does not touch the next one, and sent to the freezer for 6 hours. Later, the frozen cubes are portioned out into bags so that one bag contains a standard portion that the child eats for lunch.

The bags are placed in the freezer and a portion is removed as needed.

Some mothers prefer to prepare baby food exclusively themselves. This way they know exactly what it is made from, and the possibility of poisoning is completely excluded.

Freezing such purees is the best way to preserve them unchanged.

To prepare, you will need young zucchini, which are washed, peeled, cut into cubes and blanched for up to 10 minutes in boiling water.

Then, using a blender, the zucchini is pureed and placed in containers for freezing the product. As soon as the puree is frozen, the preparations are laid out in portions in bags and taken out as needed.

Storing zucchini puree in the freezer allows you to feed your baby a fresh product every time, which can be stored in frozen conditions for quite a long time.

Fresh vegetables are also frozen. To do this, they are washed, peeled, cut into cubes or circles, the pieces are laid out on a baking sheet covered with plastic, and sent for freezing. After 4-6 hours, frozen vegetables are laid out in portions into small containers and stored in the freezer.

By defrosting such a preparation, you can prepare an excellent puree while preserving all the beneficial substances.

Fresh whole zucchini for complementary feeding can also be stored in the refrigerator. There their shelf life reaches 3 months. In an apartment, zucchini should be stored in the coolest and darkest place.

More and more often you hear from mothers that store-bought baby food does not meet their requirements, and that homemade purees are much healthier for the baby. Indeed, there is some truth in these statements. After all, parents do not know on what soil the vegetables were grown, what fertilizers were introduced into the soil, and what chemicals were used to treat mature vegetables. And also, parents cannot know which specific vegetables were used for puree - young or ripe. In some low-price products, in addition to water and vegetables, you can notice other components, which contradicts the recommendations of doctors.

But one cannot deny the fact that store-bought purees make life easier for young mothers, who in the first year of their child’s life are very tired from constantly caring for him. Therefore, ready-made zucchini and vegetable purees certainly simplify the process of introducing complementary foods.

If the mother is scrupulous about many issues, and it is calmer for her when the child eats homemade purees, then this is purely her choice, which has a right to exist, and the variety of recipes will help caring parents prepare the most delicious dishes for their baby.

To learn how to prepare zucchini for your baby’s first feeding, watch the following video.

The baby is six months old - it’s time to get acquainted with the first vegetables and fruits. It's better to start with zucchini. A dietary vegetable with delicate, colorless flesh and a neutral taste, it almost never causes allergies or tummy problems. You can use commercially prepared purees, but we recommend homemade food, and we will tell you how to prepare zucchini for the first feeding yourself.

About the basic rules of complementary feeding with vegetables

Fruit and vegetable based products are a bridge between dairy and adult nutrition. The baby takes his first steps on it at the age of 4.5–5.5 months. For some, this is their first adult meal, while others have tried cereal porridge. In any case, vegetables are a new important stage not only in complementary feeding, but also in the formation of a nutritional culture, future habits and taste preferences.

With vegetables, the baby receives the minerals and vitamins necessary for a growing body, including antioxidants (carotene, ascorbic acid). Dietary fiber (fiber) has a positive effect on baby's intestinal motility. Starch serves as a source of complex polysaccharides, which slow down the absorption of sugar and normalize carbohydrate metabolism.

What do you need to know before introducing your child to vegetables?

The baby is physiologically ready for complementary feeding when he has doubled the weight he was born with, has stopped reflexively pushing food out of his mouth, and shows interest in what mom and dad eat.
The first purees should be made from hypoallergenic vegetables - zucchini, cauliflower, broccoli - for infants it is extremely important to avoid an allergic reaction.
The composition of the puree is one-component. A new product can be offered separately or as part of vegetable puree no earlier than after 5 days. For example, zucchini-carrot puree is given only after the child has been eating zucchini for 5 days.
If the baby refuses this or that vegetable, there is no need to force-feed it, but the product should not be excluded from the diet forever. Offer it again in a few days. Be persistent, but patient - it sometimes takes up to 10 days (attempts) to perceive a new taste.
Vegetables should be introduced before fruits. Sweetness is the only taste that the baby does not need to get used to; children, as a rule, eat fruit with pleasure. But it takes time to taste and love vegetables.
Vegetables are offered to the baby before meals, not after. It’s good if he eats 1 teaspoon for the first time. It's a bad start.

Not only mothers, but also children's nutritionists vote for zucchini as a vegetable for first complementary feeding. The explanation is simple.

It is healthy - it contains potassium, iron, copper, magnesium. It has little sugar, but a lot of vitamins, especially carotene and ascorbic acid.
Safe - does not cause allergies.
It is easily digestible - it consists of 90% water, the fiber does not contain coarse fibers that can injure children's intestines.
Neutral in taste - does not irritate baby's taste buds.

Technology for making zucchini puree

Let's start by choosing a worthy specimen of the vegetable. We recommend zucchini - compared to white-fruited varieties, it contains more useful components, the flesh is tender and dense, less watery. The zucchini for baby puree needs to be young, fresh, preferably directly from the garden, selected, without defects or damage.

It’s easier for winter babies - they reach six months of age just in time for the dietary vegetable season. If the child was born in the summer, by 6 months only greenhouse zucchini will be fresh, which most likely will contain an increased dose of nitrates. In this case, it is better to buy industrially produced baby puree. The second option is to freeze fresh zucchini in the summer and prepare complementary foods from them.

The choice has been made. Let's start preparing the puree.

The vegetable is thoroughly washed under running water, peeled from the skin - even the thinnest and most tender, and washed again.
Cut the zucchini into pieces and place in boiling water or a double boiler.
How long to cook zucchini for the first feeding depends on the variety and degree of maturity of the vegetable. The answer is until it becomes soft, which is about 10 minutes. In a double boiler, the pulp takes a little longer to cook, but retains more nutrients. If you cook in water, there should be a little water, just enough to cover the zucchini. It should boil slowly.
When cooking and then adding salt or any other ingredients to the puree. The mistake moms make is to try a dish and evaluate it according to their taste. We must remember that babies have not developed taste preferences, and vegetables contain salt in the form of sodium. For now it is enough for normal mineral metabolism.
The boiled pulp is ground in a blender until smooth. If it turns out too thick, add the water in which the vegetable was cooked. Alternatively, dilute with a drop of breast milk. You should not mash the pulp with a fork, as lumps may remain, which are unacceptable in complementary feeding, especially the first one.

After getting acquainted with the vegetable, the mother should monitor possible reactions to it - changes in stool, redness, rashes. If something goes wrong, the product is excluded from the diet and resumed only after consultation with a pediatrician.

Zucchini has a mild diuretic effect. If your baby has kidney problems, it is better to avoid this vegetable as complementary food.

Recipes for delicious zucchini puree and more for infants

You learned how to prepare the first zucchini puree for a baby, but the child is developing quickly, and with him, mothers’ need for a variety of recipes for vegetable dishes is growing. From about 7 months of age, the zucchini can be seasoned with a drop of olive oil or butter. At the same time, multi-component dishes begin to be introduced.

Zucchini-carrot puree

Zucchini, which tastes fresh, is transformed in a duet with sweet carrots. To prepare the puree, use equal amounts of vegetables.

After peeling and washing thoroughly, cut them into pieces. We put the carrots into the boiling water first - they cook longer, about 20 minutes. When half the specified time has passed, add the zucchini.

Grind the cooked fruits until smooth using a fork and whisk, but it is better to beat them with a blender. If the puree is too thick, add vegetable broth. Season the finished dish with a teaspoon of aromatic olive oil.

Add cauliflower

From about 8 months, zucchini can be combined with other hypoallergenic vegetables - squash, potatoes, cauliflower and white cabbage, broccoli.

A nutritious and healthy puree in all respects is made from zucchini with carrots and cauliflower. For 1 small zucchini and 1 small carrot root, take 3-4 cabbage inflorescences. We choose snow-white or cream varieties with dense heads, so that there is as little coarse fiber as possible.

To rinse the cabbage well, place it in cold water and let it sit for 10 minutes. Peel the zucchini and carrots.

The cooking time for carrots and cauliflower is approximately the same, so we put them in boiling water together. After 10-15 minutes, add the zucchini pieces. When the vegetables become soft, remove them with a slotted spoon and cool slightly. Grind the vegetables into a puree while warm - this results in a more elastic and homogeneous mass. You can't use a fork with cauliflower; you need a blender that can crush all the fibers and lumps.

Using vegetable broth we adjust the thickness of the dish. For 100 g of vegetables add 5 ml of olive oil.

Trio of zucchini, carrots and potatoes

Pureed zucchini and carrots for babies aged 7–8 months can be supplemented with hearty potatoes. To prepare 150–200 g of puree, take:

half a young zucchini;
small carrot root (50 g);
2 potato nodules (50–60 g total);
olive oil - dessert spoon.

Cut the peeled and washed vegetables into small cubes. Bring purified water to a boil and add vegetables in the following order:

first - carrots;
after 5–7 minutes – potatoes;
after another 5 minutes - zucchini.

When the vegetables are cooked, strain off the liquid (into a clean bowl, since the broth will be needed to dilute the puree). Grind them in a blender to a puree-like consistency, season with olive oil.

The complementary food turns out to be nourishing, it is quite suitable for completely replacing one of the feedings.

With chicken meat

From about 9 months, you can combine vegetables and dietary meat (chicken fillet, turkey) in one dish. We suggest preparing zucchini puree with chicken for babies according to the following recipe.

You will need:

small zucchini 200–250 g;
chicken fillet – 50 g;
butter – 5 g.

Cook the meat and zucchini separately. First, grind the fillet in a blender to a paste, then add the vegetable pieces. We dilute it with vegetable broth to the desired consistency; a little later you can use meat broth for this purpose. Season the soup with butter. At this age, you can already add a few salt crystals.

From zucchini and cottage cheese

A tasty and satisfying puree is obtained if the vegetables are seasoned with a small amount of cottage cheese. This dish appears in a baby’s diet around 7.5–8 months.

Cottage cheese is a source of proteins that break down in the body into more than 20 amino acids - the building blocks of the body. With fermented milk products, the child receives vitamins and minerals, including calcium. At this moment, the baby is teething, so the need for microelements increases.

Every mother should know the recipe for zucchini puree for babies and its advantages compared to analogues from other vegetables and fruits.

Quite often, young mothers have problems feeding their babies. From time to time, the baby may not latch on to the breast and becomes capricious while eating. In such cases, experts recommend switching to special baby feeding, and at an older age, starting from several months, introducing various types of purees into the regular diet.

Today, baby purees are very expensive, and not every average family can afford such a luxury. That is why many parents know how to make puree for babies from various equally healthy vegetables and fruits.

Mashed potatoes can be given to babies only after 6 months and older. In addition, it is recommended to use only 1 ingredient to prepare the first purees, the most successful of which may be zucchini. This vegetable has many benefits.

Useful properties for young children

Zucchini puree for first feeding is a fairly old recipe that was used by our grandmothers and great-grandmothers. It is with this vegetable that you should begin to introduce your baby to the rich variety of the human diet.

Zucchini puree has many advantages over other vegetables and fruits. The main advantage of this squash dish is the absence of excessive amounts of beneficial nutrients. These components are present in zucchini, but in concentrations that are normal for a child.

Another advantage of zucchini puree is that it contains a large amount of water, which is necessary for the life and health of everyone, even small people. In addition, the presence of a large amount of plant fiber, which is also necessary for the baby, is beneficial for the child.

Zucchini puree for babies is usually low in calories, so it is absorbed by the baby’s still unstable digestive system. We must not forget about the presence of a whole set of useful vitamins that will strengthen your child’s immunity (C, B, potassium, magnesium and iron).

It is worth noting that this baby dish will not only be useful for babies, but will also be convenient for parents. It takes just a few minutes to prepare, thanks to which the young mother will be able to devote extra free time to herself.

Correct inclusion in the diet

The introduction of new products into the baby’s regular diet should be accompanied by careful monitoring of the subsequent reaction, because until this moment the child consumed only natural products (mother’s milk). This zucchini dish for kids is no exception.

Experts recommend starting with just one ingredient - zucchini. During the cooking process, you cannot add any dressings or spices, since the child’s stomach is not accustomed to such an excessive load. To begin with, you should give babies only 1 tsp. zucchini puree per day. Over the next 24 hours, you need to monitor your body’s reaction. Sometimes the introduction of such a zucchini dish does not cause any changes in the body, but from time to time the appearance of an allergic rash, upset stool of the baby and excessive gas formation may occur.

If you notice that zucchini puree does not cause any negative changes in the functioning of the body, the next day you can slightly increase the dose by 1 tsp.

Experts say that zucchini can slightly loosen stools. If this process is not accompanied by excessive gas production and pain in the intestines, it is necessary to continue feeding, otherwise the child will not be able to adapt normally to adult nutrition in the future. But you also can’t let everything take its course. If you see significant changes in the functioning of the child’s gastrointestinal tract, you should consult with a specialist as soon as possible, who will tell you whether it is possible to continue feeding with zucchini puree.

After you see that zucchini puree is already accepted normally by the baby’s body, you should introduce completely new vegetables and fruits. Each individual component must be allocated at least a week. Only thanks to such a labor-intensive process will the child be able to absorb almost all vegetables and fruits after just a few months.

However, under no circumstances should you use green or sprouted potatoes for baby puree. It is better to replace old potatoes with various cereals and cereals that are similar in composition.

Preparing the vegetable

Not every young mother knows how to prepare zucchini for the first feeding, so sometimes she makes a lot of basic mistakes. Before you start preparing it, you should process this product as thoroughly as possible.

To begin with, every parent should know that they should buy only fresh zucchini for their child, without damage or rot. Naturally, the best option in this case would be young zucchini.

Probably the only negative property of zucchini is the excess of nitrates, which can significantly affect the quality of the resulting puree. In order to eliminate these microelements, experts recommend soaking the zucchini in a 1% salt solution for about 20 minutes. Only after this can you start preparing this healthy dish.

You can also use frozen zucchini for cooking. Still, not every parent understands how to freeze zucchini for complementary feeding. For this process, you should thoroughly wash the vegetable, peel it and get rid of the seeds. This vegetable can be safely added to purees without fear for your baby’s health. In this case, zucchini retains all its beneficial properties.

If we are talking about a fresh product, you should also peel the skin and remove the seeds. Heat treatment of vegetables can occur in several ways. The first one is boiling. Cooking zucchini this way is very simple. Place a certain amount of zucchini in lightly salted water and cook until it is soft enough. How long to cook zucchini for complementary feeding is an open question, since the exact time of heat treatment depends only on the type of vegetable.

Zucchini is often cooked in a slow cooker or double boiler. These are very “lazy” cooking methods, since the woman simply puts the zucchini into the machine, which independently monitors the process. And despite this, zucchini turns out to be dietary and healthy for the baby.