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This nutritious Green Bean Puree is perfect for babies just starting their solid food journey. Its easy to make and packed with vitamins, minerals and fibre.
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Reasons to Love this Puree
- Stage 1 Puree: Offering green vegetables early may help to increase the acceptance of these foods later on in childhood (and adulthood).
- Nutritious: Green beans are rich in vitamin K, A & C, protein and fibre, which make them an excellent choice for baby food.
- Side Dish: This puree is a fantastic baby food, but with a touch of seasoning, it can also transform into a delicious side dish the entire family can enjoy.
- Easy to Make: Just trim, stream and blend.
- Freezer friendly - This recipe makes lots of portions that you can easily freeze for later, making mealtimes more convenient and stress-free.
Ingredient Information
For the full recipe, with ingredient amounts, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
- Green Beans: You can use fresh or frozen green beans.
- Olive Oil: Yo may find that you don't require any liquid .If you do olive oil provides a good source of healthy fats. You can replace with a different liquid (e.g baby milk or baby friendly stock)
- Liquid:
- Basil: This is an optional extra. Try blending the green beans, separating the puree and adding different flavours. Basil and / or parsley work particularly well.
Process Shots and Cooking Tips
- Prep: Wash the beans, trim and remove any stringy bits (if any).
- Cook:In a medium saucepan, add roughly 5 cm ( 2 inches) of water and bring it to a boil over medium heat. Put the green beans a steamer basket above the boiling water, cover, and steam until the beans are tender, about 8-12 minutes, depending on the size of the beans. Reserve the steaming water.
- Transfer the cooked beans to a blender or food processor along with the olive oil and basil (optional).
- Puree the green beans until smooth and creamy. Add a little liquid (reserved water, baby milk or baby friendly stock) as needed to reach desired consistency.
Storage Instructions
- Refrigerate: Store in an airtight container are refrigerate for up to two days.
- Freeze: Portion the puree into ice cube trays and freeze until solid. Once solid, remove the cubes from the ice cube tray and transfer to a freezer safe bag or container. Store for up to 2 months.
- Reheat: Use a microwave or stovetop. You can re-heat from frozen, but for food safety reasons, the purees should be reheated until piping hot throughout. Allow it to cool before serving.
More information on storing and reheating baby food.
Recipe FAQs
Green beans can be introduces as soon as baby is ready to start solids, generally around 6 months of age.
Green beans go with a range of other foods. Why not try mixing it with carrot puree, corn puree, sweet potato puree, mashed potatoes, chicken puree, apple puree, mashed egg or yogurt.
Adding spices and herbs to baby food helps to cultivate an adventurous little foodie, don't be scared to experiment. You can make a batch of green bean puree, seperate it out and try adding different herbs/spices to the different portions.
These herbs all go great with green beans - basil, cumin, dill, garlic, ginger, marjoram, parsley, tarragon & thyme.
Green beans are not a common allergen, but it is still possible for an individual to be allergic to any food.
Yes, frozen green beans work really well, I would avoid canned due to sodium levels.
If your baby doesn't like the puree don't be discouraged to serve it again. There were many foods that my sons didn't like on first try, especially when very new to solids, but after a few tries they were more accepting.
You can also try adding different flavours with herbs and spices or by coming with other purees (suggestions given in question above).
If your baby is used to finger foods you could offer cooked whole green beans instead or finger foods that they can dip into the puree.
More Green Vegetable Purees
Full Recipe
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Green Bean Puree
Equipment
- Blender / Food Processor
Ingredients
- 450g (1lb) green beans fresh or frozen
- 2 teaspoons olive oil Optional (see notes)
- 3 basil leaves Optional (see notes)
Instructions
- Wash the beans, trim and remove any stringy bits (if any).
- In a medium saucepan, add roughly 5 cm (2") of water and bring it to a boil over medium heat. Put the green beans into a steamer basket above the boiling water. Cover, and steam until the beans are tender, about 8-12 minutes, depending on the size of the beans. Reserve the steaming water.
- Transfer the green beans to a blender or food processor along with the (optional) olive oil and basil.
- Puree until smooth. Add a little of the reserved steaming water (or baby milk / baby friendly broth), as needed to reach desired consistency.
Video
Recipe Notes
- Olive oil is optional, it adds some healthy fats and makes the puree a little smoother and creamier in texture,
- Basil is added for flavour. Parsley also works great as do many other herbs. If you want to make different flavours, blend the green beans and separate the mixture into quarters. Keep one plain, blend in basil with one, parsley with another and a pinch of dill with the other.
- I found I needed to add just under ¼ cup of liquid to help blend.
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