How to cook broccoli for complementary feeding: recipe for broccoli puree for babies

Vegetable complementary foods are very important for the development of the baby’s digestive system. By the age of four months, the baby begins to secrete gastric juice, which is capable of absorbing and digesting solid food. It is from this moment that pediatricians advise introducing the baby to vegetable and fruit mixtures that do not cause allergic reactions in the little body. How to cook broccoli for complementary feeding, and what are its benefits?

Beneficial properties of broccoli for babies

Regular consumption of dishes made from it stimulates the development of the child’s body and improves the functioning of many internal organs.

Benefits of broccoli for children:

Stimulates intestinal motility, accelerates the removal of toxins and other harmful substances from the body, normalizes stool and fights constipation.
Strengthens the immune system, helps fight viruses and infections.
Ensures the formation of a strong skeleton and tooth enamel.
Promotes the rapid destruction of Helicobacter pylori bacteria, which cause diseases of the digestive system.
Normalizes blood sugar and hemoglobin levels, preventing the development of diabetes and anemia.
Improves the functioning of the cardiovascular and nervous system.
The product has a positive effect on the emotional state - relieves anxiety, improves mood and sleep.
Contains special phytoncides that fight cancer cells.

Dr. Komarovsky’s program tells how to make a child eat with pleasure and delight (starts at 2:46):

Children and vegetables – Doctor Komarovsky

Broccoli can be called an excellent alternative to meat, because it contains no less amount of proteins and other useful components. Due to its low calorie content (28 kcal per 100 g), it can become one of the most important products for children who tend to be overweight. The vegetable quickly fills you up and gives you a long-lasting feeling of satiety.

Main advantages

Despite the fact that broccoli is a type of cauliflower, its benefits and nutritional properties are higher than cauliflower, and its taste is more spicy. It contains many useful minerals and vitamins, especially vitamin C and carotene. There is also a lot of protein (almost as much as in chicken eggs and beef), which therefore contains amino acids that prevent the development of a number of diseases.

Many doctors advise including broccoli in the first diet of children who are often sick (especially those who suffer from digestive disorders, infections or poor appetite). Cabbage is also recommended as the first baby food for infants with increased body weight. The fiber contained in the vegetable not only prevents constipation, but also provides a feeling of fullness, so the child eats and gets enough of even a small portion. At the same time, too much cabbage can harm children's health, cause intestinal colic and excessive gas formation.

At what months can you give complementary foods with broccoli puree to your baby?

At what age can you give your child broccoli? It depends on the baby’s type of nutrition, natural or artificial.

At what months can you cook broccoli for first feeding:

for “getting acquainted”, the inflorescences are given pureed;
Broccoli puree for babies can be prepared for a baby who drinks breast milk from seven months;
an artificial baby can try the dish from six months;
if the baby has a tendency to digestive disorders, it is recommended to feed him cabbage after reaching 9-10 months;
how to introduce broccoli into baby food - it is better to add the product to the diet after cauliflower and zucchini;
how much to give for the first complementary feeding - the dose should be minimal, no more than a teaspoon, gradually increased to 40-50 g;
New complementary foods are given to the newborn in the first half of the day, then the child’s body’s reaction to the product is observed for some time.

Complementary feeding for a child from 4 months [Supermoms]

For the first feeding, it is better to use a pre-boiled version. Fresh broccoli should not be given to a child under one year old, as it can cause increased gas formation and problems with stool. This is why many mothers are interested in how to properly cook broccoli for complementary feeding and prepare delicious puree.

Boil vegetables in water

The recipe for cooking broccoli in water is no different from preparing regular cauliflower: you need to put the inflorescences in boiling water and cook for about ten minutes.

Make sure that the water only covers the top of the inflorescences; you should not cook in a large volume of liquid. The lid should be closed and the heat should be low.

Next, you need to drain the water and cool the inflorescences. Afterwards, make puree with a blender. To improve the nutritional properties of the dish, add breast milk (or formula) and a drop of olive oil to the mixture.

Important! The recipe for vegetable mixtures includes any refined vegetable oil, but olive oil is more valuable in its vitamin and mineral composition.

Broccoli for complementary feeding of babies - how to prepare it correctly

For baby feeding, you can use both fresh and frozen cabbage. It is boiled in a saucepan or in a double boiler.

How long should you cook frozen and fresh broccoli for a child:

how to properly prepare broccoli puree for a baby - to do this, divide the head of cabbage into separate inflorescences and rinse thoroughly under running water;
then fill with water and leave for half an hour;
pour the vegetable into a saucepan with boiling water, cover with a lid and simmer for 6-8 minutes over low heat;
try with a fork - the finished vegetable should be soft and juicy.

Broccoli for baby food can also be cooked in a double boiler. Pour the prepared inflorescences into it and cook for 13-15 minutes.

You can also use frozen vegetables for cooking - they do not require preliminary defrosting. When cooked, it does not lose nutritional value.

Cooking broccoli

All of the above-described healing properties of cabbage will be well preserved only if you steam or boil it for a very short time, a few minutes. You should not fry cabbage or simmer in oil over low heat until the baby is three years old.

Preparation

Soak the cabbage for 1-2 hours in cool water - this especially applies to broccoli purchased at the market or supermarket. Water will remove pesticides, nitrates and other harmful compounds, and will also get rid of small insects hidden in the inflorescences. If you use vegetables from a trusted “supplier” (ideally, from your own garden) and are sure that no fertilizers or chemicals were used during the growing process, soaking is not necessary. It is not necessary even if your baby does not have food allergies.

Cooking methods

Here are some recipes on how to cook broccoli for a child.

Regular cooking:

use enamel dishes;
place cabbage, no more than 100 grams, in boiling water (the liquid should slightly cover the inflorescences);
cook for 8-10 minutes, covered, at low simmer until the product is soft.

Steaming:

select the stewing mode in the multicooker or double boiler;
Place the well-washed florets on a steaming rack;
set the time - 10 minutes;
Once cooking is complete, mash the cabbage in a blender.

Tip: a regular saucepan in which you place a colander or sieve can serve as a double boiler. You can place a metal stand inside the pan and a plate of broccoli on it.

At the end of cooking, rub the inflorescences through a sieve or grind with a blender. Pour in a little boiled water if you want to achieve a thinner consistency. You can add a little breast milk or formula to the puree, season with a few drops of unrefined vegetable oil (linseed, olive). By the way, vegetable oil is not suitable for overweight children and, on the contrary, is very useful for underweight children.

Children's nutritionists do not recommend salting broccoli for infants: it is not healthy, and besides, the baby does not yet have salt receptors. You can only salt food after a year, little by little, so that it seems under-salted to you.

Preparations for the winter

Many parents are concerned about the opportunity to prepare vegetables for future use so that the child is not deprived of nutrients even in the autumn-winter period, when proven fresh products are not available. Indeed, freezing vegetables will preserve vitamins and provide your baby with a balanced diet. Parents are sure that using “our own, native” is better than buying the same vegetables, but imported.

Fact: If storage and transportation conditions are not met, vegetables in bags can thaw several times and be re-frozen. The presence of ice lumps and crunchy “snow” in the package is easy to detect by touch.

Pediatric gastroenterologists confirm that foods frozen in a regular home freezer (not necessarily in an industrial setting) are well suited for baby food.

This is the easiest way to prepare broccoli. The main thing is that it is fresh, not damaged or spoiled.

Use small containers.
Divide the cabbage into inflorescences and rinse well, then lay out on a napkin to dry.
Before placing it in a container, the cabbage should be already dry (so that excess ice does not form on it).

Frozen broccoli should be placed in boiling water and cooked until soft.

Freezing broccoli for the winter

Fresh inflorescences can be frozen for future use and used in winter to prepare delicious and healthy dishes.

How to properly freeze broccoli for complementary feeding:

For freezing, it is best to choose small, dense and elastic inflorescences of a rich green hue, without black dots or spots.
Frozen cabbage usually cooks right away, so prepping it ahead of time is important. You need to rinse it thoroughly and soak it in cool water for half an hour - this will help get rid of not only debris, but also possible pests.
After this, the vegetable must be transferred to a separate bowl and filled with water and juice squeezed from half a lemon. This additive is necessary to maintain an appetizing and attractive color.
After 5 minutes, the liquid needs to be drained, and the cabbage should be blanched - immersed in boiling water for 1 minute, then immediately transferred to cold water with ice.
Next, the resulting mass should be placed in the freezer for an hour, then packaged in special plastic bags and left in the freezer.

The shelf life of the resulting frozen product is 8-9 months. For convenience, you can write the date of freezing on each package of vegetables.

Cooking broccoli

Preparation

Cooking methods

Here are some recipes on how to cook broccoli for a child.

use enamel dishes;
place cabbage, no more than 100 grams, in boiling water (the liquid should slightly cover the inflorescences);
cook for 8-10 minutes, covered, at low simmer until the product is soft.

select the stewing mode in the multicooker or double boiler;
Place the well-washed florets on a steaming rack;
set the time - 10 minutes;
Once cooking is complete, mash the cabbage in a blender.

Tip: a regular saucepan in which you place a colander or sieve can serve as a double boiler. You can place a metal stand inside the pan and a plate of broccoli on it.

Preparations for the winter

Pediatric gastroenterologists confirm that foods frozen in a regular home freezer (not necessarily in an industrial setting) are well suited for baby food.

This is the easiest way to prepare broccoli. The main thing is that it is fresh, not damaged or spoiled.

Use small containers.
Divide the cabbage into inflorescences and rinse well, then lay out on a napkin to dry.
Before placing it in a container, the cabbage should be already dry (so that excess ice does not form on it).

Frozen broccoli should be placed in boiling water and cooked until soft.

Allergy to broccoli

In most cases, dishes with broccoli are well tolerated by infants and do not cause negative reactions. Allergies are possible in the following cases:

new products are introduced into the children's diet too early - you need to start complementary feeding with “adult” food only taking into account age restrictions;
the greatest likelihood of an allergic reaction is if the cabbage was treated with chemicals during cultivation;
When consuming industrially produced vegetable puree, an allergy may occur if starch, preservatives, dyes, flavors and other synthetic substances are added to the natural composition.

An allergy may have the following symptoms: bloating, stomach cramps, flatulence, and upset stool. One of the manifestations of intolerance is a skin rash, which can appear both on the face and on the skin of the whole body.

but on the other hand

Despite its many benefits, broccoli is still not such a versatile food. At least not in all cases.

If a baby is diagnosed with any disease of the pancreas, then broccoli is not recommended to be included in complementary foods.
All good things should be in moderation: if there is too much cabbage on the menu, the baby may develop colic, dermatitis or increased gas formation.
It is not recommended to use cabbage decoction due to the low toxic compounds it contains.

Nuances of the workpiece

Many mothers strive to preserve fresh vegetables, and this is the right decision. With proper freezing, the value of the product is completely preserved.

Before the process, make sure the cabbage is fresh and of good quality.
For better freezing and ease of further use, broccoli should be divided into inflorescences, washed and dried.
After this, you can place the cabbage in small containers.

Broccoli prepared in this way will not lose any of its beneficial qualities. To make puree from a frozen product, you need to throw it into boiling water and cook until soft.

When is the best time to start complementary feeding?

Doctors advise paying special attention to vegetable purees. Fruit dishes are still too sweet for an infant and should be given in small portions. Vegetable purees are much healthier. They:

are better absorbed by the child’s body;
do not cause any allergic reactions;
improve digestion.

Broccoli is a hypoallergenic vegetable, as are zucchini and cauliflower. Pediatricians recommend starting to give these products as complementary foods to small children, and introducing vegetables such as potatoes, carrots or pumpkin into the menu a little later, when the body has already adapted a little.

If your baby is breastfed, then complementary feeding should begin not from the first month, but when he is already six months old. If the child is fed with adapted formulas, then you can start giving complementary foods earlier, already in the fourth month, although all these dates are very conditional. In any case, it is advisable to coordinate the time of starting complementary feeding with your doctor.

If vegetables are so healthy, why can’t you start feeding your baby them earlier? The fact is that up to six months the baby’s ventricle is not yet able to produce the necessary enzymes that will be responsible for the assimilation of new products.

As a result, complementary feeding will not bring any benefit and may cause unnecessary stress on the immature digestive system.

Conclusion

So, the benefits of broccoli puree soup for an infant are obvious. It provides the growing body with the necessary vitamins and microelements. This complementary food is easy for mother to prepare, although you can purchase a ready-made dish at a specialty store.

Although broccoli is hypoallergenic, in the first days of feeding, always monitor how your baby will react, especially after the first feeding. This is important in case he has an individual intolerance. If you notice the slightest deviation from the norm, consult your doctor immediately.

Test purchase: choosing the perfect broccoli

The main selection criterion is the quality of the product. Of course, the best option is food from the garden, grown without the addition of chemicals and harmful fertilizers. Naturalness is extremely important, but not everyone can afford this luxury. Therefore, we go to the supermarket or market in search of a good product.

Make sure the vegetable is fresh and free of dark spots, rotten areas and mold.
Cabbage inflorescences should be a rich green color.
If possible, smell the plant: make sure there is no mushroom smell.
The cabbage head should be firm and fresh.
Pay attention to the buds: they must be closed.
If you buy packaged cabbage, feel it for ice.

Storing fresh broccoli in the refrigerator also has its own characteristics: it is better to place it in an airtight container and keep it in this condition for no more than a week. It is not recommended to wash the vegetable before storing: leave it until directly cooked. When frozen, cabbage can be stored for up to 6 months.