20 Healthy Breakfast Recipe Ideas For Your Baby

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Adequate infant nutrition is important for ensuring proper growth and development. Since breakfast is the first meal of the day, it should be nutritious and filling. Breakfast for infants typically offers a balanced diet, with a combination of the food groups, including carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, and minerals, and is important for nurturing a growing baby. Therefore, parents should ensure that the breakfast foods for babies are a perfect blend of nourishment and taste. Introducing fruits, vegetables, meats, grains, and millets can help you provide diverse tastes and nutrition to babies. However, coming up with new breakfast ideas every day may be challenging. Therefore, this post provides you with a list of healthy, wholesome, and easy-to-prepare breakfast recipes that your babies will enjoy. But, before that, let us understand the benefits of breakfast.

Why Is Breakfast Important?

Breakfast is crucial for babies for the same reason it is for adults. It provides calories for initiating the body’s metabolic processes. Even if your baby is fed in the middle of the night, his body would have surely depleted the resources by morning.

Data from the CDC National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) indicates a decline in breakfast consumption among children and adolescents as they age. The percentage drops significantly from 95.8% for children aged 2 to 5 years to 72.9% for adolescents aged 12 to 19. These findings emphasize the importance of establishing a regular breakfast routine and cultivating a positive attitude toward food in children from an early age.

Quick fact

Babies who eat their breakfast are more likely to meet their nutritional requirements. Introducing and establishing a breakfast routine early in life might help them form lasting healthy food habits (2).

How Much Should A Baby Eat For Breakfast?

Experts recommend around one-third of an adult portion or one tablespoon of food for each year of your child’s age (1). However, babies exhibit different eating habits daily. For instance, they may eat four teaspoons of banana puree for three days in a row and then reject it altogether. On another day, they may prefer to eat only a single grape.

The role of the parent here is to remain responsive and offer the child a variety of foods covering all food types in different textures and tastes. The baby will decide how much to eat. Do not try to distract the child to make them eat more.

Learning some breakfast recipes will let you know what exactly you need to make in the morning.

16 Breakfast Recipes For Babies

These are some amazing breakfast ideas for your baby’s menu. Remember, breastmilk is the only food your baby must consume until the age of six months. Thereafter, you can introduce solid foods that can make great breakfast foods for babies. Many of these recipes use formula or breast milk. You can use expressed breast milk in the place of formula milk, or simply add water (as you will subsequently read in the recipes). All these breakfast recipes are for babies between six and 12 months of age. This is the age when the baby develops a taste for solid food. Therefore, these recipes can actually be baby-led weaning breakfast ideas.

1. Multi-vegetable puree

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It is a simple and classic breakfast for babies and quite popular as the first breakfast for the baby.

You will need:

• Vegetables of your choice such as potatoes, peas, carrots, etc.
• Water

How to:

1. Start by choosing a mix of vegetables that you would normally give your baby. Cook the vegetables in a pressure cooker or steam or bake until they are soft and tender.
2. Transfer the vegetable and the stock to a blender and blend them till they reach a thin consistency. Vegetable stock contains a lot of vital nutrients so never drain it away.
3. Add some boiled water, breast milk or formula to further thin the consistency of the puree if required. Once done, let the mixture cool down and feed it to your little one.

2. Fruit puree

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This is the fruit equivalent of the vegetable puree that has all the goodness of fresh fruits.

You will need:

• Fruits of your choice such as apples, mangoes, bananas
• Water

How to:

1. Fruit puree for babies is a healthy and nutritious breakfast choice. Start by peeling and pureeing the fruits of your choice. You can do this by putting the fruits in a blender.
2. Add water to thin the mixture if required. Once done you can serve the puree as a breakfast food to your baby.

3. Banana and rice porridge

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Porridge is healthy for adults but also makes an amazing breakfast for babies. A conventional porridge is made using milk, but since we are preparing it for babies, you can opt out of it or use formula or expressed milk instead.

We use rice here since it is gluten-free, unlike wheat, therefore, you need not worry about allergies. It is for this reason, rice flakes can make a great breakfast cereal for babies.

You will need:

• 1 cup rice or rice flakes
• 1 cup chopped banana
• 3 cups water
• 1 cup formula or expressed milk (optional)

How to:

1. Start by cooking the rice or rice flakes by boiling them in a cooking pot till they are soft and mashy without any presence of solid grains.
2. Once the rice is cooked, add some chopped bananas and formula or expressed milk (optional) in the same cooking pot and cook them together for two to three minutes. Keep stirring the mixture so that the banana and rice mix well. In case you would like to dilute the porridge, add some water and cook for an additional three to four minutes.
3. Once done, let the porridge cool before feeding. This makes a highly nutritious breakfast for your baby.

4. Oatmeal Banana Porridge

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This is similar to the previous porridge recipe with the replacement of rice with oatmeal. Oatmeals are usually flat, but you can coarsely grind them again using a hand pounder or a blender with a blunt blade. This is to ensure that there are no fine bits of oats when the porridge is ready and that the oatmeal cooks thoroughly.

You will need:

• 2 cups ground oatmeal
• 1 cup chopped banana
• 3 cups of water
• 1 cup formula milk (optional)

How to:

1. Add the ground oatmeal to the water and boil the mixture together. Cook the oats till they are absolutely soft and are easy to mash.
2. Once the oats are cooked, add bananas and the optional formula milk to the cooking pot and cook the mixture for two to three minutes while stirring it all together. Add water and cook for an additional three to four minutes in case you need to dilute the porridge.
3. Your oatmeal banana porridge is ready. Serve this healthy breakfast to your little one once it is cold enough to feed him.

5. Rice flour and vegetable porridge

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You can make porridge using rice flour instead of rice grains or rice flakes. Here you can use vegetables in place of fruits to give this healthy breakfast for babies a unique flavor.

You will need:

• 2 cups rice flour
• 1 cup chopped carrots and peas
• 3 cups water

How to:

1. Mix the rice flour and water in a cooking pot. Cook the mixture for five to seven minutes, stirring continuously to prevent the formation of lumps. Keep cooking till the rice flour completely mixes with the water and becomes soft. Once you reach this stage simmer the flame and let the mix cook slowly.
2. In a separate vessel boil some peas and carrots till they are soft. Once done, blend them together using the vegetable stock as thinner.
3. Add this vegetable puree to the rice flour and water mixture. Continue boiling the mixture till they mix well. The porridge is done. Cool it well before feeding it to your baby.

6. Mango and rice porridge

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The natural sweetness of mango combined with the goodness of rice makes a healthy breakfast recipe for a baby.

You will need:

• 1 cup sliced and diced mangoes
• 2 cups rice
• 3-4 cups of water
• 1 cup formula or expressed milk (optional)

How to:

1. Start by boiling the rice and water together to cook the rice. While the rice is boiling, blend some mangoes into a puree.
2. Once the rice water begins to boil, simmer the flame and let the rice cook for four to five minutes. Thereafter, add the mango puree and the optional formula or expressed milk to it. Cook them together for two to three minutes while stirring the mixture to make it homogenous.
3. After completion, serve the porridge to your baby once it is cooled.

7. Barley apple porridge

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Barley makes a great food for babies, and you can use finely powdered barley flour to make some breakfast porridge for your baby.

You will need:

• 1 cup barley flour
• 3 cups water
• 1 cup mashed apple
• 3tbsp formula or expressed milk (optional)

How to:

1. Mix the barley flour with water and cook them together in a cooking pot for seven to ten minutes. Barley takes a longer time to cook than rice so make sure the barley is cooked properly. Keep stirring the mixture to prevent the formation of any lumps. Once the barley is cooked simmer the flame and let the mixture cook slowly on a low flame.
2. Separately, cut an apple into small pieces and then mash it into smaller pieces.
3. Add the mashed apple and the optional formula or expressed milk to the cooking pot and cook the mixture for five minutes. Stir and mix the porridge while cooking. Once done, let the porridge cool before serving it as a breakfast to your little one.

8. Lentil, carrot and pumpkin mash

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Lentils are a healthy food option for your baby and when combined with vegetables the nutritional value of the preparation increases, thus making it an ideal choice for a healthy breakfast for babies.

You will need:

• Peeled and diced pumpkin
• Red lentils
• Diced carrot
• Water

How to:

1. Boil the pumpkin and carrot together while cooking the lentils separately till they are completely soft.
2. Once the vegetables are done, transfer them to a blender to blend them coarsely or mash them using a masher.
3. Transfer the mashed vegetables into the cooked lentil vessel and cook them together for three to five minutes.
4. Let the mash cool before serving it as a breakfast to your little one.

9. Mashed oatmeal and bananas

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You can mash oatmeal and bananas together to give your baby an amazing start for the day.

You will need:

• 2 cups oatmeal
• 1 cup mashed bananas
• 2 cups water
• 1 cup formula or expressed milk (optional)

How to:

1. Add the oatmeal to the water and cook for ten minutes on a low flame.
2. Once the oats have become soft, add the mashed bananas and the optional formula or expressed milk to the mix and simmer for three minutes. Keep stirring the mix so that it cooks well.
3. Let it cool and feed it to your baby.

Charity Curley Mathews, a mother of two and a blogger, shares tips on how to use bananas for baby food. She writes, “For beginners, add enough water so the puree easily pours off the spoon but know this: very ripe bananas are good for slowing things down in the diaper department. If your baby seems constipated, try an underripe banana (i).”

10. Meat-vegetable puree

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The age between eight and 12 months is the time when you will introduce your baby to foods such as meat and eggs. Meat is nutritious and can make a great breakfast food for your baby.

You will need:

• 1 cup sliced vegetables of your choice such as peas, carrot, potatoes, etc.
• 1 cup boneless and minced meat

How to:

1. Start by cooking the vegetables and blending them together once they are cooked. Do not drain the excess vegetable stock since you can use it during blending.
2. The next step is to prepare some meat puree. For this, you need the boneless minced meat of your choice namely cattle, poultry, or fish. Cook the meat till it is soft and tender. Do not drain the meat stock since it can be used to make the meat puree.
3. Once the meat is cooked, blend it into a fine puree. Thereafter, mix the meat puree to vegetable puree and give them a round of blending for a minute. Add some boiled water if you want to thin the consistency. Cool it well before you serve it to your baby.

11. Banana and apricot porridge

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Apricots are packed with nutrition and make excellent baby food. Combined with the delicious and nutritious banana, this porridge will make the little ones ask for more.

You will need:

• 1 cup oatmeal
• 1 banana
• ½ cup apricots, pitted and finely chopped
• 3 cups water

How to:

1. Place apricots in a cup and soak in boiling water for 10-20 minutes.
2. Cook oats in boiling water. The cooking time will depend on the variety of oats used.
3. Combine cooked oats, bananas, and apricots in a blender until smooth.
4. You may add milk (breast milk or formula) to adjust the thickness of the porridge.

12. Banana split pancakes

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Pancake is one of the easiest dishes to make for your baby. This Banana Split Pancake will surely be a hit with your baby and the adults.

You will need:

• 1 banana (overripe)
• 1 egg
• 1 cup wheat flour or oat flour
• Cinnamon (optional)

How to:

1. Take the banana in a bowl and mash until smooth.
2. Add egg, flour, and cinnamon and whisk until they are combined well. Do not over-whisk.
3. Place a skillet over medium heat and pour the batter into small circles.
4. Cook for three to four minutes on both sides. The pancake should be golden brown.
5. You can serve the pancakes with nut butter or yogurt.

13. Blueberry muffin cereal

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Blueberry muffin cereal is easily available in the market. However, you can make it at home easily. This way, it will be a more nutritious breakfast for your baby.

You will need:

• 1 cup oat flour
• ⅓ cup blueberries, chopped finely
• 1tbsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups milk

How to:

1. Combine all the ingredients except milk well in a bowl. Do not over-whisk.
2. Boil milk in a pan.
3. Pour the mixture into the boiling milk in small quantities. Keep stirring to avoid lumps.
4. Keep stirring until the mixture is cooked thoroughly.
5. You can add more milk to adjust the texture of the porridge.

Quick tip

You can add other berries to offer a variety of flavors and textures to your baby’s diet.

14. Boiled chicken chunks and mashed potatoes

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This is a recipe that makes a breakfast finger food for the baby and is quite nutritious at the same time. You can give it to your little one once he is ten-months old by when he will be habituated a variety of solid foods.

You will need:

• 1 cup finely chopped and diced potatoes
• 1 cup boneless chicken minced into small chunks

How to:

1. Chop the potatoes into finer pieces that are small enough for your baby to hold by his finger. The same applies to the chunks of boneless chicken meat.
2. Cook the potatoes and chicken separately till each of them is soft and tender. In fact, they should be tender enough to be swallowed easily without the need of chewing.
3. Once the potatoes and chicken are cooked, mix them together thoroughly. Add some chicken stock to soften the mixture. Once done, serve it to your baby. Let him have it with his own hands and see how he enjoys this delicious breakfast.

15. Berry smoothie

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A mixed berry smoothie is one of the best ways to start the day. This berry smoothie is easy to make and packed with nutrition.

You will need:

• 1 cup mixed berries
• 1 banana
• ½tsp vanilla extract
• Milk of choice (breast milk or formula)

How to:

1. Place the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.
2. Strain the smoothie and blend the rest of the contents until completely smooth.
3. Adjust the thickness of the smoothie by adding milk.

16. Banana spinach pancakes

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Start your baby’s day with a nutritious twist on traditional pancakes! These Green Banana Spinach Pancakes are not only visually appealing but also packed with essential nutrients.

You will need:

• 120g whole-wheat flour
• 1 egg
• 1 ripe banana
• A handful of spinach
• 150 ml whole milk

How to:

1. In a blender, combine 150ml milk and a handful of spinach, blending until the mixture turns green and thin.
2. In a bowl, mash a ripe banana thoroughly with a fork.
3. Add plain flour, green milk, and one egg to the mashed banana. Whisk until a smooth batter forms; adjust thickness with more milk if needed.
4. Grease a frying pan and ladle the batter to make four pancakes.
5. After a couple of minutes, check readiness by tilting the pan; if the pancake moves freely, flip it. Cook the other side for two minutes.
6. Repeat with the remaining batter. Allow the pancakes to cool before serving to the baby.

In addition to these recipes, pancakes, waffles, french toast and smoothies, can also be incorporated as baby food during breakfast.

Quick tip

Choose fresh fruits over canned fruits to prepare baby foods. If using canned fruits, pick options with no added salt or sugar (3).

4 Make-ahead Breakfast Options For Babies

When you are in a hurry, these make-ahead breakfast options are a lifesaver. Whether you are at home or traveling, these easy-to-make recipes ensure your baby always has something healthy and homemade.

1. Overnight oats

Overnight oats are not only great for adults but also for children and babies. It is delicious, easy to make, and one of the highly nutritious recipes with breast milk for babies.

You will need:

• 60g rolled oats, powdered
• 2/3rd cup milk of choice (breast milk or formula)
• 1/4th cup yogurt
• 2tsp chia seeds
• A pinch of cinnamon (optional)
• Fruits of your choice

How to:

1. Place all the ingredients in a container and mix well.
2. Keep the container in the refrigerator for at least four hours or overnight.
3. Before serving, give the ingredients a good mix.
4. Add chopped or pureed fruits of your choice such as banana, mango, blueberries, or strawberries.

2. Chia pudding

Chia seeds may be tiny but they offer many benefits to babies. This make-ahead breakfast is simple to assemble and quick to serve.

You will need:

• ½ cup milk (breast milk or formula)
• 2tbsp chia seeds

How to:

1. Mix small portions of chia seeds with milk in a container to avoid lumps.
2. Stir well, let it sit for five minutes, stir again, and then place in the refrigerator for at least two hours or overnight.
3. Before serving, give it a good stir once again.
4. If you want it to be thicker, you can add more chia seeds. But make sure there are no lumps before serving it to your baby.
5. You can add toppings of your choice such as nut butters, fruit purees, or yogurt.

3. Flavored yogurt

Yogurt is a powerhouse of energy and nutrition within each spoon. Flavored yogurt can quickly become your baby’s preferred breakfast option. These homemade options also have much less sugar than the store-bought ones.

You will need:

• 1/4th cup plain Greek yogurt or regular full-fat yogurt
• Flavors or fruits of your choice

How to:

1. Take yogurt in a container.
2. Mix with flavors or fruit purees of your choice.
3. Best additions include vanilla essence, mango, or strawberry puree.

4. Waffles

Waffles offer an interesting variety of textures and flavors to babies. You can make these waffles in a batch and pop them in the freezer for whenever you are short of time.

You will need:

• 1 cup milk of choice
• 1 egg
• 3tbsp unsalted butter, melted
• 1tbsp vanilla extract
• 175g rolled oats
• 2tsp baking powder
• 1/4tsp salt

How to:

1. Add all the above ingredients to a food processor in the order listed.
2. Blend until smooth. Do not overprocess. The blending should be done in under a minute.
3. Let the batter sit for five minutes.
4. Preheat the waffle iron.
5. Grease with butter or oil.
6. Pour the batter gently and cook until golden brown (around 2.5 to 3 minutes).

Quick Tips For Busy Parents

Preparing nutritious meals for your baby doesn’t have to be time-consuming. Here are some tips to help save time while ensuring your baby gets healthy breakfasts.

• Freeze breakfast portions: Make and freeze baby-friendly foods in small portions so you can quickly thaw or reheat them when needed. Remember, frozen baby food can only be thawed or heated once.
• Use pre-cut ingredients: Keep pre-cut fruits, vegetables, and grains handy to organize a quick meal easily.
• Prepare overnight: Set up easy breakfast options, such as overnight oats, the night before to save time in the morning.

Infographic: Breakfast Recipes For Babies

There are many healthy and nutritious options for babies’ breakfast. The following infographic includes some ideas for simple and easy breakfast recipes. It is a good idea to start with small amounts and gradually increase them as your baby gets used to the new food. Keep in mind that every baby is different, so it is important to consult their doctor before introducing new foods. Read on!

Illustration: Momjunction Design Team

Illustration: Healthy Breakfast Ideas For Babies

Image: Stable Diffusion/MomJunction Design Team

Start your day off right with these ten quick and easy breakfast recipes for kids! Perfect for 10+ months to two-year-olds, these breakfast ideas are sure to please.

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Reviewer Author Editor Fact Checker

Laura LaceyLMT

Laura Lacey has been working with expectant and new moms for over 15 years, helping them focus on eating right and healthy. She provides the right direction to them whether it is boosting their energy level, milk supply or feeding solids to their babies.

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Rohit GarooBSc, MBA

Rohit Garoo is a writer-turned-editor with over 9 years of experience in content writing, editing, and content marketing. He did his bachelors in Science at St. Xavier's College, Hyderabad, and masters in Business Administration at Osmania University.

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Swati PatwalM.Sc. (Food & Nutrition), MBA

Swati Patwal is a clinical nutritionist, a Certified Diabetes Educator (CDE) and a toddler mom with more than a decade of experience in diverse fields of nutrition. She started her career as a CSR project coordinator for a healthy eating and active lifestyle project catering to school children.

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Vidya TadapatriMSc (Biotechnology)

Vidya did her post-graduation in Biotechnology from Osmania University, Hyderabad. Her interest in scientific research and writing made her pursue a career in writing, in which she now has over five years of experience. She has done certified biotechnology-related training programs under renowned organizations such as Centre For Cellular & Molecular Biology and Department of Biotechnology.

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