Polenta baby food recipe

Polenta Puree for Baby (with Apple and Strawberry)

This palatable Apple, Strawberry and Polenta puree is a great way to introduce baby to polenta. A delicious snack for babies 6 months+

Recipe⬇

Step-by-step guide⬇

We finally booked a family holiday!

Kai, our 2-year-old toddler, is a COVID baby because he was born a few months before the pandemic. It’s incredibly bizarre how everything unfolded after he was born. We’re so grateful that we weren’t in hospital or overseas when COVID first hit.

It was just unimaginable! A pandemic so deadly that many countries around the world closed their borders. The sudden closure left many Australians trying to return home stranded in different countries. Such scary times!

We thanked our lucky stars that we didn’t travel because we couldn’t. I was heavily pregnant with our first child. However, if things were different, we may have been the ones stranded. My husband, Tomi and I would regularly go overseas twice a year.

We have been on holiday since the pandemic, but it would be a simple road trip. So we’re excited (and nervous) about our first overseas trip with Kai.

On short notice, Tomi’s company forced him to take holiday leave because of the number of weeks he has accrued. That meant I had to plan for a holiday on short notice, so New Zealand here we come!

Kai has never seen a real plane up close, so we do not know how he is going to react. Right now he absolutely hates loud noises, like when I’m using the blender. Fingers crossed for calm and non-dramatic flights! I don’t know how to handle people throwing daggers at us over a screaming child.

A quick 101 about polenta

I once thought polenta and placenta were the same things. Yes, laugh because I know you want to! However, I’m not entirely wrong, as they have some similarities. Both are edible, healthy and nutritious. Sounds very offputting, doesn’t it?, but it’s true, look it up, I dare you to! But a word of caution: what you may see may be graphic.

What is Polenta?

Polenta (also known as cornmeal) is dried corn that’s grounded into coarse flour.

Historically, polenta (porridge) is ‘peasant food’ eaten by the poor in Italy. However, times have changed because we often see polenta on the menu in trendy cafes and restaurants.

Is eating polenta healthy?

Polenta is gluten-free. It’s rich in plant-based fibre and protein, but low in fat and calories.

Polenta contains high amounts of complex carbohydrates. It breaks down slowly and is harder to digest, so it keeps the sugar blood level steady.

Some brands of polenta have salt added to it, so have a look at the ingredients label and stick to the ones that have 100% cornmeal for this Polenta Puree.

What does polenta taste like?

Polenta has a subtle, mild corn flavour. It’s bland tasting and will soak up other flavours from the dish. This means polenta is a suitable substitute for rice, bread and potatoes, etc.

Polenta is great for adding to baby food because it’s mild. Most babies don’t like strong-tasting food, so polenta is perfect to mix into their purees.

More baby recipes for your little one:

Simple Chia Pudding

Lentils, Sweet potato & Carrot

Prune and Pear Puree

Mango, Pear & banana Puree

Ingredients for Polenta Puree for Baby

Polenta (yellow cornmeal) – Supermarkets stock polenta or cornmeal near the flour or health section. Polenta has a coarse texture made from grounded dried corn. Some polenta has salt added to it, so have a look at the ingredients on the packet and get one that is 100% cornmeal.

Apples – I used red Fuji apples because they’re naturally sweet. For a smoother puree, peel the apple prior to cooking. Dice the apples into small cubes so they cook faster.

Strawberries – You could swap with any other berries or fruits, just as long as the fruit of choice is not overly sour.

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How to make Polenta Puree for Baby

Step-by-step guide with photos

Place the apples and strawberries in a medium saucepan, then add the polenta and water. Put the saucepan over medium heat and stir occasionally until the polenta thickens and comes to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes or until the apples have softened. Remove pan from heat and allow to cool for 10 minutes.

Transfer the polenta and fruits to a food processor or blender and blitz for 20 seconds or until it’s smooth. If the mixture is too thick, pour in a tbsp or more of cooled boiled/filtered water and blitz again for a few seconds. Allow the puree to cool down before serving.

Leftovers – Allow the polenta puree to cool completely at room temperature, then transfer into a sealed container and store in fridge for up to 3 days. To freeze, place the puree in baby food containers, cover and freezer for up to 2 months.

I’ve used a third-party application to calculate the calories and nutritional information, so please use this as an approximate guide only.

Cooking measurements are in Australian standard spoon and cup measurements. For specific details and conversions, visit our Australian Cooking Measurements page.

I would love your feedback and support if you made this recipe. To do this, please rate this recipe and provide a comment by scrolling down this page or by clicking that green circle on the bottom left. An email address is required (for spam), but it won’t be published. I would also love to see your dish, so don’t forget to tag me on my Instagram account ‘3catsfoodie’

Cheers – Cat T

Polenta Puree for Baby (with Apple and Strawberry)

Catalina T

This palatable Apple, Strawberry and Polenta puree is a great way to introduce baby to polenta. A delicious snack for babies 6 months+

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Prep Time 5 mins

Cook Time 15 mins

cooling time 10 mins

Total Time 30 mins

Course Snack

Cuisine Baby food

Servings 10 x 50ml freezer cubes

Calories 44 kcal

4 small red apples (ripe and sweet, diced into small cubes) (NOTE 1)
6 large strawberries (halved) (NOTE 2)
2 tbsp polenta (yellow corn meal) (NOTE 3)
1⅓ cup water

Place the apples and strawberries in a medium saucepan, then add the polenta and water. Put the saucepan over medium heat and stir occasionally until the polenta thickens and comes to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes or until the apples have softened. Remove pan from heat and allow to cool for 10 minutes.
Transfer the polenta and fruits to a food processor or blender and blitz for 20 seconds or until it's smooth. If the mixture is too thick, pour in a tbsp or more of cooled boiled/filtered water and blitz again for a few seconds. Allow the puree to cool down before serving.

(NOTE 1) Apples – I used red Fuji apples because they’re naturally sweet. For a smoother puree, peel the apple prior to cooking. Dice the apples into small cubes so they cook faster.

(NOTE 2) Strawberries – You could swap with any other berries or fruits, just as long as the fruit of choice is not overly sour.

(NOTE 3) Polenta (yellow cornmeal) – Supermarkets stock polenta or cornmeal near the flour or health section. Polenta has a coarse texture made from grounded dried corn. Some polenta has salt added to it, so have a look at the ingredients on the packet and get one that is 100% cornmeal.

Leftovers – Allow the puree to cool completely at room temperature, then transfer into a sealed container and store in fridge for up to 3 days. To freeze, place the puree in baby food containers, cover and freezer for up to 2 months.

I’ve used a third-party application to calculate the calories and nutritional information, so please use this as an approximate guide only.

Cooking measurements are in Australian standard spoon and cup measurements. For specific details and conversions, visit our Australian Cooking Measurements page.

Serving: 1servingCalories: 44kcalCarbohydrates: 11gProtein: 0.4gFat: 0.2gSaturated Fat: 0.02gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.1gMonounsaturated Fat: 0.02gSodium: 2mgPotassium: 91mgFiber: 2gSugar: 7gVitamin A: 38IUVitamin C: 12mgCalcium: 7mgIron: 0.2mg

Banana-Orange Polenta recipe | Eat Smarter USA

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Baby Food (7+ months)

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Banana-Orange Polenta - A very delicate and gentle first meal for baby

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Health Score:

7,9 / 10

Polenta, i. e. corn semolina, swells a lot during cooking - it is therefore good for porridge that is spooned. The semolina is gluten-free and contains a lot of provitamin A.

If you need a quick fix, just use Instant Polenta.

1 serving contains
(Percentage of daily recommendation)

Calorie	220 kcal	(10 %)
Protein	8 g	(8 %)
Fat	7 g	(6 %)
Carbohydrates	29 g	(19 %)
Sugar added	0 g	(0 %)
Roughage	1.5 g	(5 %)

Our nutritional traffic light explained

more nutritional values

Vitamin A	0.1 mg	(13 %)
Vitamin D	0.3 μg	(2 %)
Vitamin E	0.4 mg	(3 %)
Vitamin B₁	0. 1 mg	(10 %)
Vitamin B₂	0.4 mg	(36 %)
Niacin	2.3 mg	(19 %)
Vitamin B₆	0.2 mg	(14 %)
Folate	20 μg	(7 %)
Pantothenic acid	0.9 mg	(15 %)
Biotin	10.1 μg	(22 %)
Vitamin B₁₂	0.8 μg	(27 %)
Vitamin C	14 mg	(15 %)
Potassium	474 mg	(12 %)
Calcium	252 mg	(25 %)
Magnesium	42 mg	(14 %)
Iron	0.5 mg	(3 %)
Iodine	17 μg	(9 %)
Zinc	0.9 mg	(11 %)
Saturated fatty acids	4.3 g
Uric acid	17 mg
Cholesterol	26 mg

Development of this recipe:

EAT-SMARTER

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serving

Ingredients: ¾ cup; 1 heaping Tbsp Polenta (about 15 grams); ½ Banana (about 50 grams); ½ Orange

How healthy are the main ingredients?

PolentaBananaOrange

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Preparation

Kitchen utensils

1 Measuring cups, 1 Small pot, 1 Tablespoon, 1 Wooden spoon, 1 Plate, 1 Fork, 1 Citrus juicer, 1 Small knife, 1 Whisk, 1 Cutting board

Heat the milk in a small pot. Slowly whisk in polenta. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and cook, stirring constantly, for about 5 minutes.

Peel the banana, cut into pieces, place on a plate and mash with a fork.

Juice half of an orange. Remove the polenta from the heat. Stir 2-3 tablespoons of orange juice and the mashed banana into the polenta. Let cool slightly before serving.

Polenta Cooking and Serving Guide, Basic Polenta Recipe

Among the many Italian treasures that have become public property are culinary treasures. Risotto, pasta, pizza, polenta - the most sonorous "roll call" of Italian cuisine. In this list of celebrities, polenta holds a special place. Transformed from a pauper's porridge to a gourmet meal, it is valued at a shocking amount in other gourmet restaurants, although the ingredients are the same as in the old village recipe. However, at the same time it is the most democratic dish that can be found in any Italian trattoria*.

*a type of restaurant where there is no menu but what is cooked is served to you.

Polenta: a brief culinary dossier

Polenta is a dish made from corn flour, a kind of thick porridge, a side dish or an independent dish, if served with additives in the form of meat, anchovies, etc. It is most common in the northern regions of Italy. Polenta analogues: hominy (Romania), gomi (Georgia), kachamak (Serbia). There is a very thick polenta that can be cut with a knife, and there is a soft and sweet one.

Polenta has been known since at least the 16th century. In fairness, it should be said that long before Columbus brought corn to Italy, such porridge was cooked on the basis of chopped chestnuts, peas, buckwheat, millet, and all this was called polenta. But after the expansion of corn cobs in the northern provinces of Italy, the history of polenta began a new countdown.

Corn polenta is both porridge, bread and pasta, in general, what the peasants of Lombardy, Piedmont and other northern regions began and ended their day with. The arrogant southerners nicknamed them polentoni (polenta eaters), receiving in response from their northern cousins no less caustic - maccheroni (pasta).

Each region has made its own additions to the polenta recipe, mostly out of a desire to make this simple dish even tastier. Even without the temperament of an Italian chef, you can experiment in your own kitchen and learn everything, as they say, by experience.

How to make corn polenta: important details

The quality of your polenta depends on the quality of the flour. This dish should be smooth and creamy, as all starch particles are completely dissolved during cooking. With cheap low-grade flour, this effect cannot be achieved; larger particles do not fully dissolve, leaving eaters with an unpleasant “sandy mouthfeel”.

But that's not all. Connoisseurs advise: to make the polenta soft, use 3 parts water and 1 part cornmeal, plus 40-50 minutes of constant stirring over low heat. All other cooking methods are considered a frivolous departure from firmly established rules.

"Historical" technology involves the use of copper utensils - a boiler in which porridge is boiled, and a frying pan in which the finished porridge is fried, however, the latter is not necessary. Once upon a time, this process was not complete without a special Paiolo polenta cauldron hanging over the hearth and a long wooden spoon known as Tarello.

In a modern kitchen all you need is a good heavy pot with a thick bottom and cornmeal or, if you're lucky, a pack of instant polenta. Although cooking is no longer as painstaking as it used to be, corn polenta still requires attention and occasional stirring.

See also: Corn porridge - recipe with step by step photos.

Basic polenta recipe

1.5 cups of water
half cup yellow cornmeal
salt to taste

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Small photos

We boil water. Slowly, we begin to pour in the cornmeal, while stirring with a wooden spoon, then lightly salt. Alternate order: Pour the flour into the already salted water. We give the mixture to boil with water, not forgetting to stir, reduce the heat to a minimum and continue to cook. We feel like a humble Italian peasant woman of the 16th century, because for the next 30 minutes our fate is to stir the polenta. Patiently, slowly, carefully.
The readiness of polenta is easily determined visually: the porridge begins to lag behind the walls and easily separates from the bottom, forming crusts on the walls of the pan. If we correctly calculated the amount of flour and carefully stirred, the consistency will be perfect, homogeneous, creamy.
Is polenta thicker than you'd like? It doesn't matter, add a little boiling water from the kettle and continue to stir until the desired density.
The polenta can then be laid out on a cutting board, cooled and shaped as desired.

That's all the secrets of polenta.

Cal. 1 serving 200 kcal.

NOTE

If copper cookware is not available, and it probably is, use a heavy-walled cast iron cookware.

Cornmeal can be substituted for corn grits if not available. It's worse, but acceptable. Stirring is not canceled in this case either, but readiness comes earlier - as a rule, after 20-25 minutes. If you are using a package of polenta, cook according to the instructions.

Cooking and serving options

The key to polenta's popularity is its versatility. Cornmeal polenta can transform like Cinderella: it looks like a rustic simpleton - just maize porridge! - it appears in the form of elegantly tailored quenelles from the chef of Grande cuisine.

In Italy, soft, warm polenta is often a substitute for bread at meals, or served instead of pasta, with cheese and truffle oil.

Polenta can also be served as a contorno (garnish) with original meat dishes, such as Osso Buco, shank stewed in wine, as well as lamb or rabbit meat. In Venice, corn polenta is a must-have accompaniment to all fish dishes.

Thanks to the homogeneous structure of the finished polenta, it can be easily divided into pieces in the form of briquettes. They are heated in the oven or microwave, and a piece of feta is placed on top or spread with cream cheese, completing the structure with pickled sweet peppers for piquancy. Want something more original? Place thin slices of lard on top of the polenta.

Another option for the oven: Grate Parmigiano Reggiano Parmesan and sandwich it in a few impromptu "cakes" of cooled polenta, folding them into a cake, then quickly bake - why not a snack Napoleon?

Polenta is great on the grill; the pieces of polenta toasted in this way are laid out on a slice of fresh bruschetta, like the traditional stuffing of mushrooms and tomatoes.

Leftover polenta can be handled even more simply. Without additional hassle, fry in a pan in butter, sprinkling at the end with any hard cheese.
Sweet polenta is eaten for breakfast by dipping small pieces in coffee with milk or cappuccino.

Sweet polenta with milk and banana - step by step recipe with photo

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Sweet Polenta Milk with Banana is a five-minute breakfast option that will delight both young and old family members. Fine polenta is prepared very quickly and is an indispensable source of nutrients. Try to cook, and your loved ones will definitely thank you.

Author: Anna,
Reader and author of Food.ru

Nutritional value per 100 g Calories calculated for raw foods.

Will be ready in

5 minutes

Time in the kitchen

5 minutes

Difficulty

We estimate the complexity of recipes so that you can calculate your time and effort.

Levels 1-2: very simple and simple dishes.

Level 3: preparation is clear, but experience is needed, it may not work the first time.

Levels 4 and 5 require special technique, skill and time.

Spicy

Assess how spicy the dish will turn out, to which pepper or spices are added according to the recipe.

1 - food was peppered quite a bit.

2 - pepper is felt, but the dish does not have a sharp aftertaste.

3 - A slight "sharp" aftertaste appears.

4 - pepper is strongly felt, but the dish can still be eaten without drinking.

Number 5 is very spicy food, not everyone will eat it!

Cuisine

Russian

Common allergen

Here we draw your attention to whether the dish contains common and dangerous allergens. Before cooking, make sure that you do not have an individual intolerance to other products from the list of ingredients.

Cow's milk protein

Make sure that you do not have an individual intolerance to other ingredients.

Items for the recipe

Serves

Ingredients

to the tin0167

Corn grits	l. = 88 g
Milk	2 cup = 400 g
sugar
	to taste
0.5 pcs. = 75g

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Step by Step Photo Recipe

prepare

Prepare all ingredients. Measure the required amount of cereal in advance.

Step 1

Bring the milk to a boil, add the sugar and add the cereal in a thin stream. Cook the porridge over low heat for 5 minutes, add a piece of butter and mix well.

At this stage, it is important to knead the porridge well to avoid lumps.