Vegetable-potato-meat-porridge for your baby

After about six months of life, some of the nutritional reserves that the baby had after birth start to run out. This applies above all to the iron stores, which over time can no longer be sufficiently replenished with breast or baby milk. Therefore, the vegetable-potato-meat mash is recommended as the first porridge of the complementary food, as it not only contains a lot of iron and zinc , but is also a good supplier of essential fatty acids and vitamins . Since it consists of at least four different ingredients, it is introduced in several steps:

• When you start complementary feeding between the 5th and 7th month, you should initially offer your baby pure vegetable puree . Sweet vegetables are best to start with, as breast milk and infant formula also taste slightly sweet and the baby accepts the new food more easily. For example, use carrots, parsnips, or squash.
• When the baby has gotten used to handling the spoon and the new consistency and is already eating a real portion of the vegetable puree, but at the earliest after about five to six days, you can add potatoes . These should also be processed into a puree, as your baby cannot chew properly yet.
• If your baby gets along well with the expanded porridge, after another five to six days you can mix some oil into the porridge as a third ingredient. Oil is very important so that the body can better utilize the fat-soluble vitamins contained in vegetables and also contains vital, essential fatty acids. Rapeseed oil is best, but olive oil is also a good alternative.
• As a fourth ingredient, you can add lean meat to the porridge , which not only provides your baby with high-quality protein, but is also very important for iron supply. Beef in particular contains a lot of iron, but you can also use poultry or lamb. Since only about 20 percent of the iron contained in meat can be utilized by the body, it is advisable to add a shot of fruit juice containing vitamin C to the porridge after you have gotten used to the meat as a new ingredient. This supports the absorption of iron by the body and makes optimal use of the nutrients provided. The meat can be replaced with oily sea fish
  once or twice a week, for example salmon, which provides your baby with valuable omega-3 fatty acids and iodine.

If you want to feed your baby a vegetarian diet, you should make sure that it still gets enough iron. You can simply replace the meat in the vegetable-potato-meat mash with an iron-rich grain, such as oatmeal. You can find out more about this topic in our article “Vegetarian complementary foods” .

No spices in the vegetable-potato-meat mash

Babies’ taste buds are still very sensitive. Therefore, make sure that the food you feed your baby does not contain any salt or other spices. You might find the baby food bland yourself, but for your little one the taste of pure vegetables is exciting enough as it is a completely new experience. Therefore, when buying jars, make sure that there are no spices or flavorings listed in the list of ingredients.

Feed the mashed vegetables, potatoes and meat at lunchtime

At what time of day you feed the vegetable-potato-meat-porridge is basically up to you and can be made dependent on what fits best into your daily routine. However, many recommend that the first porridge should be introduced as a mid-day meal. On the one hand, this prevents any intolerances that may arise from disturbing your baby’s sleep in the evening. On the other hand, stomach activity is greater during the day than in the evening, which is why your baby can digest food better during the day. Later, the milk-cereal porridge will be introduced as an evening meal and the cereal-fruit porridge as an afternoon meal.

Recipes for vegetable-potato-meat porridge

Here we have put together some simple and delicious porridge recipes for you, with which you can introduce the vegetable-potato-meat-porridge step by step:

• carrot mash
• Parsnip Mash
• Zucchini porridge
• pumpkin mash
• Carrot Potato Mash
• Broccoli Potato Mash
• Pumpkin Potato Mash with Lamb
• Fennel potato mash with turkey
• Spinach Potato Mash with Veal
• Parsnip Potato Mash with Beef