Baby food recipes for adults


Clever Ways How To Use Up Leftover Baby Food

Baby food can be so convenient when your baby will gobble it down. But what can you do with that leftover baby food they don't like or have outgrown? Well, don't throw it away! We've got some clever ideas to share.

Most people have a love/hate relationship with baby food. It's so dang easy when your baby loves the food and can't get enough of it! But by some miracle, it also seems to multiply in the pantry. What on earth do you do with that leftover baby food?

*Note: When you click the links in this post, we may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

Well, if you've been asking yourself this question, then consider it your lucky day! We're going to share some out-of-the-box ideas for storing and using up all that goodness. Have we piqued your interest? Keep on reading to find out more!


HOW TO STORE LEFTOVER BABY FOOD

What should you do if you have dozens of baby food jars cluttering up your pantry but you're not quite ready to use them? Well, you've got options! You could keep them in the jar for a while and call it a day (that stuff basically lasts forever), but we've got a few other ideas we think you'll love. These are perfect for those half-eaten jars, too!

  • Ice Trays – Did you know you can freeze baby food? Oh, yes, you can! Our favorite way is to scoop those purees into ice trays, then pop the cubes in a plastic bag. This way, you can use the cubes for cooking or drop them in a smoothie.
  • Cookie Sheet Blobs – Looking for another way to freeze that food? If you have a cookie sheet, you're golden. Just scoop blobs onto that baking sheet (think cookie dough), then freeze and place in plastic bags.
  • Cupcake Liners- One more freezer trick! Spoon that food into cupcake liners for freezing. Muffin trays work, too!
  • Plastic Pouches – If you're packing for a trip or just looking to save space, you can transfer baby food to plastic food pouches for safe-keeping. Serving the food to your toddlers or babies that way prevents messes, too! If you ever ended up with a spoonful of peas all over the wall, then you know what we're talking about.

If you open and refrigerate leftover baby food, be sure to use it within 48 hours. Ready to use the food you froze? Thaw it overnight in the refrigerator and use it within two days. Now that you're up to speed on baby food storage let's chat through some ways to use it!


THE BEST WAYS TO USE UP LEFTOVER BABY FOOD

These ideas are going to rock your world! We bet you'll be excited you have some leftover baby food hanging around by the time we're done. And mama, you can just sit back and smile as you watch your family gobble up that food with hidden fruit and veggies in it! 😉 Your secret's safe with us!


HIDE THOSE FRUITS AND VEGGIES IN THEIR BREAKFAST

We call these breakfast, but you may call them lunch, dinner, or snack. We won't judge! Just throw some leftover baby food in them and call it a day.

  • Pancakes – Have leftover baby oatmeal? Make pancakes with it! Bonus points if you add some fruit baby food to it, too!
  • Waffles – Add any fruit baby food you have to your homemade waffles to make them extra tasty! Whip that batter up, let the waffle maker do all of the work, and call breakfast good.
  • Muffins – Did you know you can add leftover fruit or veggie baby food to muffins? They turn out so moist and delicious! Perfect for toddlers or any member of the family, really. You can also sub out part of your flour with baby oatmeal!
  • Topping for Toast – Fruit baby food makes for the best toast topping! It's delicious for the whole family, including baby.
  • Oatmeal – You can mix fruit or sweet veggies, such as sweet potatoes or carrots, to plain oatmeal to give it some extra flavor.
  • Yogurt – If you have plain yogurt, add some leftover fruit baby food to give it some extra flavor. You can also do the same to plain, unsweetened applesauce!
  • Cottage Cheese – Love cottage cheese, but out of your favorite fruit to mix with it? Try adding fruit baby food to it! It's still just as delicious and you don't have to worry about running to the store to get any fruit.

Are you a baby food believer yet? If you liked those ideas, then you're going to love what we have in store for you next!


USE LEFTOVER BABY FOOD IN DINNER

Ramp up your dinner game by sneaking veggie and meat purees into your meals! Your family will be none-the-wiser. Try one of these:

  • Mac and Cheese – You can add sweet potato or carrot baby food to the next batch of macaroni and cheese you make! Yummm.
  • Casseroles – Throw any leftover veggie purees in your next casserole you make! It'll help to hide those not-so-appetizing veggies (we're talking to you, peas!) while also getting the great nutrients from them.
  • Soup – You can make your soup extra creamy and protein-packed by adding those unfortunate meat purees to your next batch of soup! You can also add veggie purees to your soup if you need to eat them.
  • Fruit Salad – You can also add any leftover fruit baby food to our favorite cool whip fruit salad! It'll just make it that much sweeter and delicious. We'll just call this a healthy side since it has dairy and fruit in it, mkay?

So simple and so tasty, right? Pat yourself on the back for getting your family to eat those meat purees.


Is your mind blown? Now you have some of the best ideas for using up leftover baby food without it going to waste!

What's your favorite way to sneak veggies into your kids' food? Let us know in the comments!

Wanting more great ideas for leftovers?

  • Learn our best tips to take you from hating your leftovers to loving them!
  • Do you always think that leftovers just heat up weird? Maybe that's because you've been doing it wrong! We've got the best ways to reheat those leftovers like a pro.
  • Tired of eating the same thing two nights in a row? Repurpose your leftovers into something new!

Now, go eat some baby food!

8 Surprisingly Scrumptious Recipes Using Baby Food

What’s a mom to do when your little one graduates from baby food to table food and you still have a pantry full of puree? Sure, you could donate it to a food bank or a parent with a young tot—or you could cook up some delicious dishes using that leftover baby food. Yep, you read that right: There are lots of tasty, adult-friendly recipes that use baby food as a (super-convenient) secret ingredient. Here, we’ve rounded up some scrumptious recipe hacks using infant oatmeal, rice cereal and fruit and veggie purees.

Image: Courtesy Crafty Cooking Mama

Spice Cake

Amanda at Crafty Cooking Mama conjured up this cake recipe as a result of her extreme distaste for wasting food. She was able to pack three different flavors of baby food into this one fluffy, moist cake, and finishes it off with flavors of cinnamon and vanilla. The recipe does call for a lot of butter and sugar, so consider pulling this one out of the oven after bedtime for an adult-only treat.

Image: Courtesy Busy Mom's Helper

Strawberry-Lemonade Donuts

Using Lil’ Bits Strawberry Banana Oatmeal baby cereal, Danielle at Busy Mom’s Helper created these clever strawberry-lemonade donuts, beautiful and bright enough to be the star of the dessert table at a baby shower or tea party. (You probably won’t hear any complaints from your family if you serve them for breakfast, either!)

Image: Courtesy Reel Mama

Butternut Squash Soup

You only need four ingredients to pull off this show-stopper of a soup, and yes, one of them is butternut squash baby food. It’s the perfect savory addition to any dinner party menu—and it’s ready in just minutes. Add a hearty bread and you’re set; the recipe from Reel Mama calls for sage crostini for an upscale twist, but any thick-crusted bread will pair well.

Image: Courtesy Adventures of Mel

Strawberries and Cream Oatmeal Crepes

Crepes and baby food are the perfect partners in this delectable recipe from Adventures of Mel. She artfully uses single-grain baby oatmeal to pull together some of the most drool-worthy crepes we’ve ever seen. Fill them with her delicious filling and top with fruit, and bam—breakfast is served.

Image: Courtesy Moments with Mandi

Glazed Peach Donuts

Mandi at Moments with Mandi has created an ace in the hole with these glazed peach donuts, which use a yogurt-based baby food for the dough and a fruit puree in the glaze. This recipe is simple enough that you can even get your toddler to help out with the baking.

Image: Courtesy Busy Mom's Helper

Fruit and Yogurt Popsicles

Homemade popsicles make for an easy, tasty treat for kids and parents alike—and it just so happens that yogurt-based baby food is the perfect ingredient for whipping up these frozen desserts. Danielle at Busy Moms Helper offers creative recipes for peach lemonade and mixed fruit popsicles using leftover baby food. Simply mix, freeze and enjoy!

Image: Courtesy Must Have Mom

Fruit Leather

Yes, you can puree your own fruit for this homemade fruit leather recipe, but why bother when you can make it with ready-to-go baby food? This recipe from Must Have Mom works best with fruit-only purees or fruit-and-veggie combos, so skip anything that includes oatmeal, rice or yogurt. This fun fruit leather tastes exactly like the store-bought version! Serve them as an afternoon snack or roll them using parchment paper and secure with a pretty bow for a party treat.

Image: Courtesy Busy Mom's Helper

Multigrain Chocolate Donuts

We’ve certainly established that baby food can be used to make delicious donuts, but we just couldn’t leave these delectable chocolate versions off our list. Made with multigrain baby cereal and drizzled with a melt-in-your-mouth chocolate glaze, these donuts are easy to make and quick to disappear! Get the full recipe at Busy Mom’s Helper.

Published January 2018

Plus, more from The Bump:

11 Packaged Baby Foods Tots (and Moms!) Will Love

Best Organic Baby Food

13 Best Finger Foods for Baby

Baby food recipes - step by step recipes with photos on maggi.ru

Hide additional parameters

Selection by parameters

Type of dish

MAGGI products ®

    • Main courses
    • nine0014 Bakery products
    • Pastries and desserts nine0015
    • side dishes
    • Hot appetizers nine0015
    • Dessert
    • Breakfasts nine0015
    • Dough products
    • The drinks nine0015
    • Salads
    • Sauce nine0015
    • Soups
    • Cold snacks nine0015

    Method
    cooking

    Time
    cooking

      • Multicooker nine0015
      • Microwave
      • bread maker nine0015
      • Blender
      • Oven nine0015
      • Double boiler
      • fryer nine0015
      • Grill
      • pressure cooker nine0015
      • slow cooker
      • wok nine0015
      • Fondue
      • pots nine0015
      • Cooking
      • Extinguishing nine0015
      • frying
      • Steam cooking nine0015
      • cooking on fire
      • Fermentation nine0015
      • Juicer
      • Up to 15 minutes nine0015
      • 15-30 minutes
      • 30-60 minutes nine0015
      • Over an hour
      • Over 2 hours nine0015

      Baby food

        • Azerbaijani
        • Asian nine0015
        • American
        • English nine0015
        • Arabic
        • Armenian nine0015
        • Belarusian
        • Middle Eastern nine0015
        • Bulgarian
        • Hungarian nine0015
        • Greek
        • Georgian nine0015
        • Jewish
        • European nine0015
        • Indian
        • Spanish nine0015
        • Italian
        • Caucasian nine0015
        • Chinese
        • Korean nine0015
        • Latin American
        • Moroccan nine0015
        • mexican
        • german nine0015
        • Polish
        • Russian nine0015
        • Thai
        • Tatar nine0015
        • Uzbek
        • Ukrainian nine0015
        • french
        • Czech nine0015
        • Swiss
        • Scottish nine0015
        • Jamaican
        • Japanese nine0015
          • Lenten Recipes
          • Vegetarian Recipes nine0015
          • Children food
          • low calorie diet nine0015
          • Diet Maggi
          • Keto diet nine0015

          Desired
          Ingredients

          Exclude
          Ingredients

          Time of day:

          Complexity: nine0003

          • Breakfast
          • Dinner nine0015
          • Dinner
          • Snack nine0015
          • Low
          • Medium nine0015
          • high

          Additionally:

          Recipe type: nine0003

          • Big company
          • Children nine0015
          • Step by step photo recipes
          • Video recipes nine0015
          90,000 baby food - 115 recipes with photos, cooking baby food step by step, ingredients

          Add recapconsure back

          Rate all

          Children's nutrition

          filters

          Domise all

          collections

          Ingredients 9,0003

          Remove ingredient

          Users

          Display

          Display

          115

          Recipes

          Slosia steaks with Fettuchin “Fish”

          Maguro

          Advertising

          Advertising

          Recipe from Julia Vysotskaya

          Eggs on a water bath

          Eggs must be fresh. If your child likes eggs in a bag, you need to keep them in the oven for no more than five minutes, and if, on the contrary, he does not like liquid ones, tighten the pots or molds

          Yulia Vysotskaya

          Yulia Vysotskaya's recipe

          Cottage cheese and fruit dessert with bread

          Dessert can be decorated with apple slices, and for older children and adults - with whipped cream.

          Yulia Vysotskaya

          Recipe from Yulia Vysotskaya

          Semolina porridge with fresh pear

          You can not beat the pear, but cut it smaller and add it to the porridge. This recipe also goes well with apricots and applesauce with cinnamon. nine0003

          Yulia Vysotskaya

          Recipe from Yulia Vysotskaya

          Chicken soup with potato and celery .

          Yulia Vysotskaya

          Recipe from Yulia Vysotskaya

          Curd cakes with carrots

          It was such an unexpected impromptu, my children really liked it! If your cottage cheese is wet, it is better to put not the whole egg, but only the yolk. nine0003

          Yulia Vysotskaya

          Recipe from Yulia Vysotskaya

          Soup for children with zucchini and green peas

          If you increase the number of ingredients and add some "adult" seasonings, it turns out to be a wonderful soup!

          Yulia Vysotskaya

          Recipe from Yulia Vysotskaya

          Children's Green Pea Soup

          It is better to use shallots in this soup so as not to interrupt the delicate and sweet taste of the peas. Instead of yogurt, low-fat sour cream is suitable. nine0003

          Julia Vysotskaya

          Advertisement

          Advertisement

          Recipe from Julia Vysotskaya

          Couscous for kids

          Couscous. We feed children with semolina, but couscous is most often the same durum wheat. To make it not sticky, but lush, I usually don’t just give it

          Yulia Vysotskaya

          Recipe from Yulia Vysotskaya

          Broccoli soup

          Sweet potato can be used instead of pumpkin. For older children, this soup can be served with sour cream or cream, and make croutons: spread slices of bread with butter, sprinkle with grated cheese and quickly under the grill!

          Yulia Vysotskaya

          Recipe from Yulia Vysotskaya

          My pistou (fennel and apple sauce)

          In general, pistou sauce is a sauce made in Nitsets. It is good for children to offer a slightly modified version of this sauce, which can be seasoned with pasta, or can be added to

          Yulia Vysotskaya

          Recipe from Yulia Vysotskaya

          Green bean puree with basil very beautiful. If the child refuses to eat basil, replace it

          Yulia Vysotskaya

          Recipe from Yulia Vysotskaya

          Trio - puree of cauliflower, red pepper and corn

          Children love the bright colors and sweet taste of these vegetables. Corn is suitable both fresh and frozen, the main thing - be sure to pass it through a sieve after whipping!

          Yulia Vysotskaya

          Recipe from Yulia Vysotskaya

          Baked garlic

          This is not my invention, this garlic is made in Thailand in a detox clinic. Ready, it is cut lengthwise and served instead of butter with grain bread - it is so tasty, unusual, and easy, and healthy. Can

          Yulia Vysotskaya

          Recipe from Yulia Vysotskaya

          Vegetables in cheese sauce

          Russian type of cheese will do. At home, everyone loves cheese very much - both just like that and added to different dishes. It seems to me that cheese sauce will save any, even very fresh vegetables!

          Yulia Vysotskaya

          Recipe from Yulia Vysotskaya

          White bean and veal puree

          White beans are a great thing; if you boil it, beat it into a puree and add a little horseradish, a little garlic and vegetable oil, you get a wonderful sauce for adults, which can be served at

          Julia Vysotskaya

          Advertisement

          Advertisement

          Recipe from Julia Vysotskaya

          It is better to take semi-hard cheese - Dutch, Swiss or Russian.

          Yulia Vysotskaya

          Recipe from Yulia Vysotskaya

          Sweet vegetable puree

          Children usually like vegetables such as young sweet peas or young corn. But after they are whipped in a blender, they must be passed through a sieve, because the pea shell and

          Yulia Vysotskaya

          Recipe from Yulia Vysotskaya

          Carrot and chickpea puree

          . This puree is good not only for children - you can make something like

          Yulia Vysotskaya

          Yulia Vysotskaya

          Recipe from Yulia Vysotskaya

          Lentils with vegetables for children

          Lentils contain a lot of iron necessary for the proper development of the child's brain. It is difficult to digest in babies and therefore should be combined with a large amount of fresh vegetables, as in this

          Yulia Vysotskaya

          Recipe by Julia Vysotskaya

          Breakfast cereal for kids

          Unfortunately, many breakfast cereals made especially for kids contain a lot of sugar. I prefer to give my kids sugar-free cereal or muesli with fresh fruit.

          Yulia Vysotskaya

          Yulia Vysotskaya's recipe

          Swiss fruit muesli

          This tasty and nutritious breakfast will be a good start to the day for the whole family. You can diversify it by adding other fruits to the muesli each time, such as peaches, strawberries, bananas and apricots. nine0003

          Yulia Vysotskaya

          Recipe from Yulia Vysotskaya

          Homemade quince marmalade

          It turns out something between jam and puree. If there are hard pieces left, you can beat in a blender. A drop of such marmalade is good to add instead of sugar to fruit purees for babies. Yulia Vysotskaya0003

          Dried apricots with papaya and pears for children

          Dried apricots go well with various fresh fruits, as well as with yogurt. Children generally love dried fruits, especially dried apple rings, which are easy to hold, because they have in the middle

          Yulia Vysotskaya

          Yulia Vysotskaya

          Recipe from Yulia Vysotskaya

          Vichyssoise for children

          Instead of sour cream, natural yogurt will do. For adults, this soup can be served with Gruyère or Poshekhonsky cheese, blue cheese or goat cheese is also suitable, creating a taste contrast.

          Yulia Vysotskaya

          Recipe from Yulia Vysotskaya

          Carrot and celery root soup which has even more beneficial properties: it strengthens the immune system,

          Yulia Vysotskaya

          Recipe from Yulia Vysotskaya

          Orange lentil and apple puree

          At first glance, this is a very unusual combination, but it turns out to be very healthy!

          Yulia Vysotskaya

          Recipe from Yulia Vysotskaya

          Avocado, carrot and cucumber puree

          adults. nine0003

          Yulia Vysotskaya

          Recipe from Yulia Vysotskaya

          Mashed potato and leek with cottage cheese

          Children love this dish, and adults will eat it with great pleasure! Olive oil can be replaced with any other vegetable oil.

          Yulia Vysotskaya

          Recipe from Yulia Vysotskaya

          Tomato, carrot and cauliflower puree

          If a child is given a variety of foods at an early age, then his taste buds develop very well. Therefore, do not be afraid to add new herbs such as parsley, basil. Nado

          Julia Vysotskaya

          Recipe from Yulia Vysotskaya

          Cabbage Surprise

          This is a very tasty, easy-to-prepare dish that is suitable for dinner for the whole family, you just need to increase the amount of ingredients cheese and grill or

          Yulia Vysotskaya

          Recipe from Yulia Vysotskaya

          Children's rice porridge with peach

          Rice porridge, unlike semolina, as a rule, all children like it - if you add peaches to it at all great! You can take goat or soy milk.

          Yulia Vysotskaya

          Recipe from Yulia Vysotskaya

          Dessert "Cheese Delight"

          It is not only tasty, but also nutritious! Instead of Gruyère, you can take any other hard cheese. nine0003

          Yulia Vysotskaya

          Recipe from Yulia Vysotskaya

          Mango and yogurt puree

          Mango is not very popular with us yet, and it is completely in vain: in addition to the high content of vitamins, minerals, it also contains enzymes that improve digestion, soothe the stomach. Except

          Julia Vysotskaya

          Recipe from Yulia Vysotskaya

          Fruit puree with tofu

          Tofu is a very healthy product, although many consider it rather tasteless, but children usually eat it with pleasure. In general, it seems to me that the child's body knows very well what it lacks,

          Yulia Vysotskaya

          Yulia Vysotskaya

          Recipe from Yulia Vysotskaya

          Avocado and banana puree with yogurt

          Wonderful baby puree that can be whipped up and made for a child in a couple of minutes It is better to take yogurt of normal fat content and dense consistency, if you have it liquid, it will be

          Yulia Vysotskaya

          Recipe from Yulia Vysotskaya

          Pumpkin puree with apricots

          Adults will also like this puree - it looks very appetizing if sprinkled with pistachios and garnished with chives. You can serve as a side dish to the chicken or season with this mashed potatoes -

          Julia Vysotskaya

          Recipe from Julia Vysotsky

          puree from tsukini with a basil

          Of course, the taste of the basilic is quite sharp, so start to give his child literally from one leaf, and then, when he gets used to the new taste, you can put two or three leaves. nine0003

          Julia Vysotskaya

          Recipe for Julia Vysotskaya

          Rice porridge with apples and figs

          If porridge is stored in the refrigerator, then it is necessary not to heat it, but to dilute with boiling water and warm up in the pan, because when it cools down, it becomes very thick. Fruits for older children

          Julia Vysotskaya

          Recipe from Yulia Vysotskaya

          Carrot puree with nectarines

          Nectarines and carrots contain a lot of natural sugar, and such puree will be like a kind of fuel for the child for the whole day. Instead of nectarines, you can take peaches, and if you add mango puree to this puree

          Yulia Vysotskaya

          Julia Vysotskaya

          Recipe for Julia Vysotskaya

          Puree of Plump and Bolly

          Julia Vysotskaya

          Vysulskaya

          Puhre

          puree is best made from fresh apricots when they first appear in the summer (ideally plucked straight from the tree!). Those sold in our stores in winter are not for small children

          Julia Vysotskaya

          Yulia Vysotskaya's recipe

          Baked apple, pear and blueberry puree

          Combine this puree with yogurt for a good breakfast for the whole family.

          Julia Vysotskaya

          Recipe for Julia Vysotskaya

          Pension Persian porridge

          Julia Vysotskaya

          Vysotskaya

          0003

          Yulia Vysotskaya

          Recipe from Yulia Vysotskaya

          Millet flour

          Now there are a variety of cereals on sale - millet, barley, rice, from which it is very easy to cook and rice.


          Learn more