Strawberry Puree (Homemade Baby Food)

This simple strawberry puree recipe is great for introducing your baby to a favorite summer fruit or for using in any recipe that calls for strawberry puree.  In oatmeal, on yogurt, in smoothies, in ice cream and even cocktails, this puree is going to become one of your family favorites.  In less than 10 minutes you can go from whole fruit to a beautiful puree that's ready to use!

The best part about making homemade strawberry puree is that it’s super quick and you know exactly what ingredients are in it!  Your little one is going to love it paired with banana puree or chickpea puree. The recipe is so simple and the only ingredient is strawberries.  No added sugars or thickeners, just whole fruit, pureed perfectly.

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Its so easy to make homemade purees

While you can easily fancy things up by roasting the strawberries or adding mint to the puree, my favorite way to make it, is the simplest way.  Simply pureeing frozen strawberries and then storing the frozen cubes of puree for later usage.  

Since homemade purees don't have to just be for baby food, you can also use this strawberry puree for drinks of all sorts. Think mocktails or strawberry milk for the kiddos or in champagne for the adults. The frozen puree is great added to your favorite smoothie as well. Learn the few simple steps to making homemade purees, then let your creativity take over.

Ingredients

A few notes on the ingredients:

• If you use fresh strawberries, use them at the peak of their freshness. Look for berries that are bright to dark red and firm to the touch. Additionally, make sure wash fresh strawberries well and take off the stems and leaves before pureeing.

Cooking strawberries for baby food

To make things even simpler, here are step-by-step photos to help you every step of the way.

If using frozen strawberries:

1. Let the frozen fruit thaw on the counter for 15-20 minutes.
2. Put them into a blender (I use the Vitamix) and puree to desired consistency. You shouldn't need to add anything to this puree to thin it out. When you serve it, you can thicken it by adding rice cereal or yogurt to get this right consistency for your baby.
3. Refrigerate for up to a week, or freeze in cubes for up to 2 months.

If using fresh strawberries:

1. Wash strawberries
2. Hull strawberries (cut off the stems and a bit into the center of the strawberry)
3. Pop into the blender and puree to desired consistency
4. Optional - if you want to strain the seeds out now’s the time to do it. This is not something I do. I would use a mesh sieve and really press the puree through to get as much of the good stuff as you can.

For all measurements and a more detailed guide, check out the recipe card at the bottom of this page.

Frozen v. Fresh Strawberries

Either one works great, although I prefer using frozen berries for two reasons.  First it’s more economical and second I can get them all year long. The frozen strawberries are consistent in taste and super easy to keep in my freezer for whenever I need them.

You can buy either frozen whole strawberries or frozen sliced strawberries. The sliced ones do thaw a bit faster and therefore are ready to use sooner, but both will work well. Keep it simple and use what you can find!

If you are using fresh strawberries, buy them when they are in season. Look for dark berries that are still firm.  You want the freshest berries you can find!

Strawberry picking is a fun way to get your kids involved in what they eat. Any strawberries you pick should be processed the same day as they are at peak freshness. Wash them, hull them, and then blend and freeze in cubes. If you want freeze them for later use, simply lay them out on a parchment covered baking tray and flash freeze them. Once frozen solid, you can pop the whole frozen strawberries into a zip top bag for later use.

Freezing the Pureed strawberries

Once the strawberry puree is at the desired consistency, pour it into a silicone ice cube tray and cover with a piece of plastic wrap. Freeze until the cubes are solid and then transfer to a zip top bag. The cubes are good for up to 2 months in the freezer.

When you want to serve the strawberry baby food to your little one, either defrost in the fridge overnight, on the counter for about 30 minutes or put into a microwave safe dish and microwave in 10 second intervals until the it reaches the desired consistency. Then use in any recipe you'd like.

Serving suggestions for babies

This strawberry puree is great to serve with other purees and pairs well with the following:

• Cooked oatmeal: Either use fresh puree or a frozen cube mixed in
• Spinach: Pair with a spinach cube (same flavors a Strawberry-Spinach Salad)
• Goat Cheese: Mix the strawberry puree into the goat cheese and pair with spinach
• Apple: Pair with homemade applesauce for a yummy pink puree
• Banana Puree:  Use either freshly mashed banana and fresh strawberry puree or defrost both from frozen cubes, mix together and serve.
• Greek Yogurt: Mix the fresh puree into yogurt and then serve immediately or freeze as an already mixed cube for later. This combination is also delicious as a popsicle for bigger kids.

For more info on baby food pairings, check out the Ultimate Guide to Homemade Baby Food.

Strawberry puree for drinks

If you don't want to use a premade puree like the one from, homemade purees are a perfect solution. There are so many drinks (for adults and kiddos alike) that use it as an ingredient. Try your version into any of these drinks for a homemade twist on a classic. Remember, you may need to adjust the sweetness on these, since homemade strawberry puree will not have any added sugar in it.

• Try a strawberry lemonade cocktail on a hot summer day.
• A strawberry daquiri can be made as a cocktail or a mocktail.
• Strawberry margarita is a classic that you can make easily since your blender is already out.
• Strawberry milk for the kiddos is easy to make in the blender too!

Variations

This puree is great in lots of other recipes besides homemade baby food.  You can mix it into no churn ice cream.  Add the fresh puree to vanilla pudding, add frozen strawberry cubes to smoothies, pour it over pancakes instead of syrup or mix it into your favorite yogurt.  You can drizzle it on an ice cream sundae or stir it into your favorite frosting recipe. Looking to go in a more savory direction? Use it as a base for a salad dressing or BBQ sauce. It would even work well as the base of a marinade. The possibilities really are endless.

📖 Recipe

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