Purple Sweet Potato Puree

SWEET POTATOES

I love making my own baby food for my little one. She gobbles it right up! I know exactly what goes into her food rather than the unknown of store bought baby food. I go crazy for ROASTED SWEET POTATOES and when I fed my baby the following recipe, she went crazy for roasted sweet potatoes too! Sweet potatoes are considered a superfood in the food world. Superfoods have many amazing benefits that can lead to a long healthy life. Though most foods provide nutrition, superfoods provide more than just nutrition, they come with medical benefits. Superfoods have been known to protect against heart disease and cancers, lower blood pressure and cholesterol, regulate metabolism, protect the body from harmful toxins, and promote digestive health to name a few. When you incorporate the superfood sweet potato into your baby’s puree, you’ll know that every bite counts towards a healthy life for your little one.

Sweet potatoes have many nutritional qualities including potassium, vitamin C, fiber, and the antioxidant beta-carotene. They are superior to white potatoes and also contain a slow-release carbohydrate that provides sustained energy for our bodies. Sweet potatoes are also easy for most babies to digest. Follow my easy step-by-step instructions to learn how to make your baby the healthiest way to make sweet potato puree.

HOW TO MAKE (PURPLE?) SWEET POTATO PUREE

What Kind of Sweet Potatoes Should You Use to Make Sweet Potato Puree for Your Baby?

Sweet Potatoes are such a healthy/delicious first food to start feeding your little one. They are often incorrectly called yams and yams maybe mislabeled as sweet potatoes! You can use either one. They both are a good source of needed fiber and B vitamins, Manganese and Potassium. I love buying my daughter organic sweet potatoes.  I happened to stumble upon these purple sweet potatoes, which I thought would be fun and different! You can buy any type of sweet potatoes or yams and follow this recipe and steps to making your baby a healthy puree. I do highly recommend buying organic sweet potatoes for your baby.

I always try to go with the organic option if it’s available for my little one because according to the EPA (United States Environmental Protection Agency), “Children’s internal organs are still developing and maturing and their enzymatic, metabolic, and immune systems may provide less natural protection than those of an adult. There are ‘critical periods’ in human development when exposure to a toxin can permanently alter the way an individual’s biological system operates. Children may be exposed to more certain pesticides because often they eat different foods than adults.” Organic foods are a smart choice for your little one because it protects their health from future illness and disease.

Wash and Peel the Sweet Potatoes

I always wash the sweet potatoes first and then peel them after washing. This is because I don’t want to push any dirt, pesticides or other unwanted contaminants that can be living on the outside of the sweet potato in deeper with the peeler tool. After I peel them I give them a quick little rinse too. Next, I slice the sweet potatoes and then cut those slices into one inch cubes.

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How to Cook the Sweet Potatoes

When it comes to cooking sweet potatoes, I recommend roasting the sweet potatoes because it brings out their natural sweetness and keeps their nutrients as well. The same goes for all other root vegetables like regular potatoes or carrots.  Baking/roasting and steaming are the preferred methods to use when cooking homemade food. Boiling food can actually remove some of the nutrients within a vegetable or fruit.

Foods such as carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes, squash, parsnips, pears and peaches are especially flavorful when baked.

STEP 1

Roast the Sweet Potatoes

Toss the sweet potatoes lightly with some extra virgin olive oil (Costco’s Kirkland brand is actually a top pick with olive oil experts!) and spread the cubes evenly out on a cooking pan.

Bake at 425 degrees for 20 minutes and then flip the sweet potatoes over and bake for 20 minutes more until soft when punctured by a fork. So delicious, you will probably want to make plenty for you and your baby!

STEP 2

Blend the Sweet Potatoes

Using my Blendtec (always blends my baby purees perfectly with its high horse power motor) blend the sweet potatoes until they’re a silky smooth puree. I add small amounts of water until I get the consistency that is best for my daughter.

When your baby first starts on solids, you want to blend their food to silky smooth because they are not ready to handle textures quite yet. Once your baby starts to grow you can leave the puree a little chunkier and then chunkier as they age.

STEP 3

Freeze the Sweet Potatoes

When you make your baby purees; I always recommend making it in a large batch so you can easily heat up the frozen batches on another day. I love using these silicone trays because they are easy to remove the purees from and they freeze in small honeycomb shapes, which are much easier to defrost than the large square cubes that other companies offer and take longer to defrost.

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Once the puree is frozen in the silicone trays, pop out the honeycomb ice cubes and store them in an airtight container or ziplock freezer bag in the freezer.

I tend to make sweet potatoes a lot for my daughter because keeping plenty of these carotene-rich wonders on hand helps with keeping her full, happy and healthy!

STEP 4

Reheat the Sweet Potatoes

Warm the sweet potatoes in a microwaveable safe dish (I like to use the OXO Tot baby block glass container for heating up my baby’s food) in the microwave for 30 seconds (pausing half way to stir). At the moment I like to use 8 honeycomb cubes for my baby (about as much as she eats at the moment per feeding). Make sure the sweet potatoes are not too warm/hot before feeding your baby! You can also reheat over the stove as well.

You can also combine other whole foods in your baby’s puree that you have previously frozen, for optimal flavor and nutrients. The following list is a general guide, so feel free to be adventurous and combine and build your own meals for your little one:)

Sweet Potato Flavor Compatibility Guide

Apples	Bananas	Beets	Black Beans
Broccoli	Cannellini Beans	Chard	Carrots
Lentils	Green Beans	Northern Beans	Kidney Beans
Parsnips	Cauliflower	Edamame	Garbanzo Beans
Pears	Navy Beans	Pinto Beans	Split Peas
Sweet Peas	Spinach	Kale	Summer Squash
Turnips	Whole Grains	Cereal

If you have read my post on the importance of probiotics for your child (linked here); you can sprinkle a little probiotics on top of your homemade baby food for added nutritious value.

If you make something from Herb’n Sage, I would love to hear about it in the comments! Don’t forget to rate this recipe and follow along on Instagram and Youtube for more recipes and inspirations for your creations for your little loved one(s)<3

Bon Appétit!

xoxo -Sage

Purple? Sweet Potato Puree

• Servings: 4-6
• Time: 40 min + 10 min prep
• Difficulty: easy
• Print

Homemade Baby Sweet Potato Puree is so easy to make and tastes so much better than store bought varieties!

Ingredients

• 1 pound sweet potatoes (I used one hugeee sweet potato)
• extra virgin olive oil

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F
2. Wash/scrub and peel the sweet potatoes
3. Slice into one inch rounds and then chop those rounds into one inch cubes
4. Spread the sweet potatoes evenly on a baking pan and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil
5. Bake at 425 degrees for 20 minutes; flip and bake for an additional 20 minutes
6. Add the sweet potatoes to a blender and blend (add water, to get your desired consistency until smooth if needed)
7. Freeze excess sweet potatoes puree in the freezer (I like to freeze my purees in these silicone trays)

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