Food diversification is exciting: your little adventurer's taste buds awaken to new flavors, textures, colors, and aromas. It’s also a great opportunity for you, as parents, to create new recipes that will delight your little gourmet. In this article, you’ll discover all our tips for cooking delicious meals for your little one, along with three ideas for tasty, balanced recipes.

Tip 1: vary the flavors with spices and aromatic herbs

Just like adults, little ones enjoy eating. This pleasure is based on three pillars: flavor, color, and texture. So, to make your little one marvel at mealtimes, gentle spices and aromatic herbs are your best allies. They help add flavor and fragrance to foods, enhance dishes, and vary meals while broadening your baby's taste palette . They’re also a great way to add color to compotes and purées. What’s more, they’re natural and offer many benefits, especially for digestion; some have relaxing effects, while others have antiseptic qualities. Sweet spices (with mild, non-spicy flavors) and aromatic herbs can be introduced into your little one's diet from six months old. However, it’s best to offer them after the first stage of complementary feeding—that is, once you’ve finished introducing fruits and vegetables. Find all our tips for starting complementary feeding in our article « Weaning: when and how to start ». In other words, your little adventurer should already have tasted the pure flavors of fruits and vegetables.

You can start introducing spices into your little adventurer's vegetable and fruit purées. For example, add a pinch of cumin to a carrot purée or a pinch of turmeric to a cauliflower purée. And for fruit purées? Cinnamon and vanilla pair perfectly with apple, pear, banana, or quince.

As for herbs, you can also incorporate them into purées and compotes. For example, basil pairs very well with melon or strawberries, while thyme perfectly complements ratatouille or sweet potato purée.

Spices and aromatic herbs also pair well with animal proteins such as meat or fish, especially if you practice baby-led weaning with your child.

Tip 2: save your time by preparing baby meals in advance

Have you heard of "batch cooking"? Literally “cooking in batches,” it’s the big trend that has taken over our kitchens! Straight from Anglo-Saxon countries, it involves setting aside a few hours of your free time—usually on the weekend—to prepare the week's meals in advance . You cook in large quantities, then simply reheat and assemble your preparations when the time comes. It’s ideal for avoiding the classic evening question: « What are we eating tonight? ». Batch cooking helps you save time, eat healthily, vary meals, and reduce the mental load . The key to successful batch cooking? Organization! It’s divided into four steps: meal planning, shopping, cooking, and assembly. Take a few minutes to plan your little one's meals for the week. When you return from the supermarket—or once your groceries are delivered—all that’s left is to spend a few hours at the stove preparing the basics. To store your meals, choose airtight containers and glass or plastic jars, as long as they are BPA-free.

We’ve prepared a few basic ideas to help you vary your baby's meals during the week (from twelve months old).

You are preparing:

• Sweet potato (steamed)

• Mushrooms (steamed)

• Steamed salmon

• Rice

Our assembly ideas:

• Sweet potato purée with cumin

• Rice and mushrooms

• Rice and sweet potato purée

• Sweet potato and salmon mash

Let yourself be guided by your inspiration! You’ll find plenty of recipes on our website, on Pinterest, or in books dedicated to batch cooking.

Tip 3: choose the right cooking method

Choosing the right cooking method not only delights your little adventurer's taste buds, but also helps preserve the nutritional qualities of food. There are no good or bad cooking methods, but it’s important to choose the right technique depending on what you’re preparing. Three cooking methods are particularly well suited to baby meals.

At the top of the list: steaming . It’s an ideal method because it preserves both flavor and nutritional value. It’s also fat-free. Another advantage is that you can steam almost anything: fruits and vegetables, meat, or fish. You can invest in a baby food maker or a steam cooker, but a steaming basket placed at the bottom of a pot works just as well.

Boiling is also a good option. Because it cooks without fat, it’s particularly healthy. However, it preserves fewer vitamins and minerals. If you use this method, it’s best to avoid cutting foods into very small pieces. You can also scrub fruits and vegetables instead of peeling them, which helps preserve the vitamins found in the skin. Finally, cooking en papillote is another safe choice, especially for meat and fish—have fun creating delicious, colorful papillotes. Just remember to swap aluminum foil for a sheet of parchment paper.

Recipe for babies from 6 months old

From six months, your little explorer's meals can be enriched with animal proteins. You can diversify their dishes by adding ten grams of well-cooked animal protein—meat, fish, or eggs—which is the equivalent of two tablespoons. You can also add a little fat to enhance your recipes.

Notre idée recette pour le déjeuner : Parmentier de poisson, pommes de terre et carottes

You will need to:

• 10 g of fish (hake or cod)

• 100 g of potatoes

• 100 g of carrots

• 1 drizzle of oil

• 1 pinch of thyme

Preparation:

1. Peel the potatoes and carrots, cut them into pieces, and cook them for 15 to 20 minutes in a pot of unsalted water.

2. When the pieces are tender, mash them into a purée, then add a drizzle of oil and a pinch of thyme. Set aside.

3. Cook the fish (making sure there are no bones) by steaming it for 10 minutes. Once it is well cooked, blend it.

4. Place a layer of fish on the baby's plate, then add a layer of carrot and potato purée. Serve immediately.

Recipe for babies from 8-9 months old

At this age, your little one is eager to discover new tastes! You can prepare more elaborate dishes and combine different ingredients. Their chewing is improving, allowing you to introduce new textures and ingredients such as starchy foods or dairy products like cheese.

Notre idée recette pour le goûter : Semoule au lait et à la vanille

You will need to:

• 30 g of fine semolina

• 300 ml of milk (plant-based)

• ½ vanilla bean

Preparation:

1. Split the vanilla bean in two. In a saucepan, pour the milk and add the split vanilla bean.

2. Bring the milk to a simmer, then gradually add the fine semolina, stirring, and reduce the heat to low.

3. Let it simmer for about 5 minutes over low heat, stirring regularly.

4. At the end of cooking, remove the vanilla bean, then pour into your containers (small glass jars, for example).

5. Let cool and serve very cold.

Recipe for babies from 12 months onwards

From twelve months, little ones already have a rich taste palette. In fact, they can almost eat like an adult, which is convenient because you can now offer them a portion of the family meal. Of course, without seasoning!

Notre idée recette pour le dîner : Gaufres aux légumes

You will need to:

• 75 g of flour

• 1 egg

• 120 ml milk

• 3 tbsp of olive oil

• 1/2 tsp baking powder

• 1 small onion

• 1/2 zucchini

• 1 handful of grated Gruyère (optional)

• 1 pinch of salt and pepper

• 1 tsp of sweet paprika

Preparation:

1. Wash and grate the zucchini and onion very finely.

2. In a mixing bowl, add the flour, baking powder, and olive oil, then mix and add the beaten egg.

3. Gradually add the milk, then incorporate the vegetables and paprika into the batter. Season with salt and pepper.

4. Pour a ladle of batter into your hot waffle maker and let it brown for a few minutes.

5. Serve with hummus or a yogurt-based preparation.

Our tip: vary the recipe with different seasonal vegetables: carrots, leeks, cauliflower, etc.

You see: with good organization and a bit of imagination, preparing baby meals can be a piece of cake! Have fun trying different recipes—you’ll quickly discover what delights your little one the most.