How to Make Instant Pot Baby Food

This is how to make homemade baby food yourself. Instant Pot baby food is easier than you think. From mashed sweet potatoes, carrots, applesauce and more. Now ou’ll know exactly what you’re feeding your baby.

Instant Pot baby food is where it’s at and now listed as 1 of 101+ Instant Pot recipes on The Typical Mom site. I will say that with my first two daughters I didn’t make any homemade baby food for them. It was inconvenient and took too long in my opinion but once my third daughter came around it was a bit easier. But not as easy as it is today!! (affiliate links present, originally published 6/19)

If you’re wondering how to make homemade baby food it is a cinch now using a pressure cooker and blender. Now you will know exactly what is in the baby food you feed your child and can add different vegetables and fruits together creating just the right consistency and flavors they will love. 

How to make Instant Pot baby food

This recipe is specific to pureed carrots that are great for babies, but using these steps you can make baby food of any kind at home the same way….like our pressure cooker applesauce that is naturally sweetened and even my kids nowadays love it.

You can use this process to make pureed vegetables for little ones who are just starting on solids. As they get bigger you can certainly move on to cooking frozen chicken Instant Pot style to so tender that it can be cooled and ground until smooth for them.

1. A pressure cooker – I have this 6 qt. Instant Pot
2. A small food processor – or immersion blender / baby bullet
3. Vegetables – we used rainbow carrots, sweet potato or butternut squash work great too
   1. You can use this pressure cooker cook times for vegetables chart for timing

Instant Pot Baby Food Stage 1

So there are stages right? We are talking most specifically to really little ones who are just beginning. How to steam vegetables (mostly) and fruit until so tender that they are pureed and very very smooth. As they get bigger you could leave a bit larger chunks too.

Is homemade baby food better

• Of course the answer would be subjective depending on who you asked, but the general consensus is YES!
  • It is less expensive than store bought.
    • Average store bought is $45/mo vs. homemade that is $15/mo. That is a huge savings
  • You know EXACTLY what you’re feeding your baby. You can omit all preservatives, salt or sugar this way.
  • Homemade avoids any possibility of allergic reactions or cross contaminations.

Is making your own baby food worth it?

I would say before the invention of inexpensive hand held blenders and pressure cookers such as the Instant Pot I would say no. BUT now it is so simple to throw in fresh vegetables with a bit of water and have them come out SO tender in no time at all.

Now here is seriously how easy it is to make homemade baby food.

• Peel and slice your carrots into dials – or cut your vegetables into 3″ pieces
• Put 1/3 c water per 2 c or so of chopped up vegetables into your Instant Pot
• Use the vegetable cook time chart to determine how long to cook them
• Do a quick release
• Drain the water but keep it on the side
• Chill your vegetables under cold water or in the fridge
• Put into your food processor and puree until it’s the texture you want
• Slowly add the vegetable juice back in and mix until it’s the right consistency
• Serve

What is the best food for baby to start with?

You could easily make peas, green beans, and put a bit of fruit in them as well to sweeten it up naturally.

1. Ground, cooked, single-grain cereal or infant cereal mixed with breast milk or formula.
2. Followed by mashed bananas, avocado or cooked beans that have been mashed.
3. Pureed carrots (like these), peas or sweet potatoes.
   1. We’ve made sweet potato in the air fryer too and it comes out super tender for mashing.
4. Cooked and pureed meat or poultry.

How long does homemade baby food last?

In the refrigerator stored in a closed container it is safely stored for 48 hours, 72 hours by some has said to be fine. Here’s how we made pressure cooker pumpkin too that would be a great addition to these carrots or applesauce.

• Here are printable directions to make Instant Pot baby food so you can try it too.
• If you want to make a batch of pressure cooker carrots for everyone else in the family to enjoy too at dinnertime we have that!