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Baby Led Weaning Food Prep – baby meal prep

June 2, 2015 By Morgan Last Updated: December 12, 2020

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Baby led weaning food prep can help cut out what can be seen as a large time commitment. BLW is a great way to introduce babies to solid foods. But it can be time-consuming to create baby-friendly meals each day. These baby food prep tips will help you prepare BLW food for your little without spending hours each day chopping, steaming, and cooking.

overhead image showing prepped food for baby led weaning

The key to easy BLW food

When I first started baby led weaning with Ryan, I was so excited to get going. I steamed a few sticks of sweet potato and off we went.

And then I did the same thing for his next meal. And the next. As I started adding more and more fruits and vegetable to his diet, each meal took longer and longer.

Soon I was trying to figure out why on earth I had decided to do baby led weaning any way. Those store bought baby foods were looking more and more appealing.

Eventually, I came to my senses. What was I thinking, making each and every meal from scratch? Yes, he was eating bits of what we were eating, which made his meals a little bit easier. But I was very adamant about giving him a wide range of foods and some days I ate the same thing over and over. #momlife, amiright?

Once I started a weekly baby led weaning food prep session, life got so much easier.

We’ve all heard about meal prepping, right? Chop up veggies for the week, make some quick snacks. Maybe all of your lunches, some jar salads, overnight oats.

These little things make your week and your meals healthier and easier. So why don’t aren’t you applying these ideas to baby led weaning food prep?

Baby food prep will 100% make life simpler. The biggest question I got from people about baby led weaning was always the same. “Doesn’t it take so much time?”

And yeah, if you’re making every single meal from start to finish for your baby, it’s going to take a while. But my answer was always no. I just learned to work smarter.

Making baby meal prep easier

For example. Are you steaming some broccoli for yourself or a few florets for baby’s next meal? Steam the whole bag! Throw whatever you aren’t using into a container and use over the next few days. Just pull a few out with each meal. Rinse and repeat, people.

Simple steps for baby led weaning food prep

How to meal prep for baby

  1. List the essentials.

    Make a list of your baby’s favorites that you’d like to make that week.

  2. Try some new ones.

    Add a few new fruits or vegetables that you hope to introduce.

  3. Note family meals.

    Make note of any meals you are having that you could make BLW friendly.
    For example, if you’re doing spaghetti and meatballs. Don’t add salt to the sauce until you remove a cup or two for the baby and set it aside. Same with the meatballs – season the meat after you form a few unsalted ones for your little.

  4. Make an emergency stock.


    Stock up on quick frozen veggies that you can quickly steam in case of emergency.

You may need…

Steamer basket
Storage containers

BLW Meal Prepping

This is what a typical baby led weaning food prep session looked like for me in general.

  • Sauteed green beans
  • Steamed broccoli and cauliflower
  • Frozen then steamed carrot coins
  • Steamed brussels sprouts, sliced in half
  • Poached chicken, chopped into BLW appropriate shapes.*
  • Eggs squares (scramble eggs and pour over cooked veggies in a large pan. Bake until set and cut into sticks or squares.)
  • Baby cookies

*this is totally going to depend on the stage of baby led weaning your child is at. I would start with “sticks” and move on to shredded chicken before moving to diced chicken.

Tips for how to cut food for baby led weaning


How long does baby food prep take?


This all took me about an hour and a half, while doing other things like cleaning, dealing with nuggets, and wasting time on Instagram. It really depends on how much you make, though.

Something like steam-in-a-bag veggies will speed this up too! We don’t have a microwave so I have to steam them one by one.

Baby food prep was a real game changer for my family. It took the stress out of something we loved for our family.

I think one of the reasons people are so hesitant to try baby led weaning is because they fear the time aspect. But it doesn’t have to be that way!

Between meal prepping and chopping the (unsalted) ingredients of whatever meal you’re making yourself up into BLW appropriate sizes and shapes, there is little to no time suck in baby led weaning.

Not only that, but you also get the peace of mind in knowing exactly what your child is eat for every single meal – no weird ingredients, no preservatives, no worries about allergies.

blw meal containers

Other Baby Food Prep Ideas

  • Batch cook and freeze pancakes.
  • Chop fresh fruits.
  • Wash fresh vegetables.
  • Cook meat a crock pot. Remove a portion and freeze the rest.

Do you meal prep? Do you meal prep for your kids? What are your favorite make ahead meals? 

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If you’re new to baby led weaning, or just want more information on the process, check out the other posts in my baby led weaning series:

Why We Chose Baby Led Weaning
The First Steps
Step 2
First Foods, Fruits and Vegetables
On the Go
Clean Snacks

Benefits of Baby Led Weaning


First Proteins

Pincer Grip Foods

Filed Under: Baby Led Weaning, Parenting

Comments

  1. sarah@creatingbettertomorrow says

    June 2, 2015 at 2:35 pm

    Why didn’t I think of this!?! We eat SOO OMUCH with the twins and the chopping, steaming, etc takes a lot of time and when they are hungry they are HUNGRY!!! This is a great plan!

    Reply
    • Morgan says

      June 2, 2015 at 11:42 pm

      SO glad I could help! I know one little dude eats an astonishing amount of food, I can ONLY IMAGINE TWO. When I first stared BLW I tried to find more information about make ahead things to make life easier and I was shocked to see nothing.

  2. Julie @ Running in a Skirt says

    June 3, 2015 at 5:10 pm

    What a great idea. You don’t waste time and control the good food for your baby. Props to you Mama!

    Reply
    • Morgan says

      June 4, 2015 at 11:47 am

      Thanks! Time is a hot commodity as a mom, so gotta make it worth it!!

  3. Sabby says

    March 12, 2019 at 2:21 am

    Hi

    I am just starting with solids for my little one.. she doesn’t seem interested in purées so I want to try baby led weaning.
    Can u tell me how long do u steam the veggies or fruits so it’s easy for babies to hold it..
    thank u

    Reply
  4. Caitlin says

    May 19, 2019 at 12:52 pm

    I currently meal prep w purées (w thick consistencies) in freezer… I am having trouble transitioning from purées to my baby feeding himself… he wants too but in all honesty it’s me that’s holding him back. It’s there ways to meal prep these types of foods but pull them from freezer night before and just nuk them? I only have time to meal prep biweekly on weekends? That’s what I do currently. I make all my purée from fresh raw materials, freeze them, take them out the night before and microwave them and then dinner is served.

    Reply
    • Morgan says

      May 20, 2019 at 6:34 am

      Hey Caitlin!

      You definitely could! I actually don’t have a microwave, (my house didn’t come with one and we never added it) but that would be a great way to do it. Another option would be to cut everything up, then use a microwavable steamer to steam veggies fresh. Lastly, those microwavable frozen (or fresh!) steam in a bag veggies would be a great addition!

      Hope that helps!

  5. Madelyn says

    April 17, 2021 at 11:47 am

    Did you freeze this? Or was this all the food for one week? And you had it in the fridge?

    Reply
    • Morgan says

      April 28, 2021 at 5:32 am

      This was for one week, I did not freeze it, just kept in the fridge. I do freeze the cookies typically and pull out a few each day. If your baby eats less, you can easily freeze some or make less. Whatever works for your family!

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