Today I’ll be sharing three quick and easy recipes for a lunch or dinner set that you can give babies in the 中期 stage (or from 7-8 months old). These recipes can also be easily adjusted for when your baby becomes older or for your toddler. This set was one of my daughter’s favorite meals before she decided that carrots were her enemy (she truly takes after her father).
The recipes below are English translations of Japanese recipes that are available for free in the 手作り離乳食 app. I’ve also modified the recipes slightly to suit my daughter’s tastes.
Contents
Edamame and Sweet Potato Dumplings (Oyaki)
This recipe is recommended for babies 7 months (中期) and up. If you want to make it for an older baby, simply increase the portion size.
Yield: 1 serving
Prep Time: ~10-15 minutes
Cook Time: ~5 minutes
Total time: ~20 minutes
Ingredients
- 30 g of sweet potato
- 20 g of edamame
We use strained frozen edamame (うらごし枝豆) from Co-op Deli. - 5 g of cornstarch or 片栗粉
- A small bit of water
Directions
- Steam the sweet potato until it’s soft (about 5 minutes), peel off the skin, and then mash it.
- If you’re using strained frozen edamame from Co-op Deli, heat it up in the microwave. Otherwise, if you’re using fresh edamame, peel the skin off of each bean and then chop it up very finely, mash it, or puree it in a blender.
- Mix the two ingredients above together alongside the cornstarch. If it’s looking quite dry and isn’t sticking together, add some water.
- Roll about a tablespoon of the mixture into a ball and then press it lightly between your palms to flatten it into a small dumpling. Repeat with the rest of the mixture.
- Heat up a lightly oiled frying pan and add the dumplings. Cook on medium-low heat until the bottom looks slightly golden brown, so about a minute or so. Flip and repeat.
- Enjoy! These dumplings can also be frozen and then reheated in the microwave.
Chicken, Carrot, and Onion Udon For Babies
This recipe is recommended for babies 7 months (中期) and up. If you want to make it for an older baby, simply increase the portion size.
Yield: 1 serving
Prep Time: ~5 minutes
Cook Time: ~6-10 minutes
Total time: ~15 minutes
Ingredients
- 10 g of carrot
- 10 g of onion
- 10 g of chicken breast (ささみ)
Just because I was a bit paranoid back when my daughter was starting out with solids, I cooked a whole piece of chicken breast in a frying pan, cut it up into pieces, and then used 10 grams for this recipe and froze the rest for another meal. - 10 g of udon
We use a brand of frozen udon called ち〜ちゃいうどん from Co-op Deli. You can also use dry ベビーうどん by Wakodo or fresh/frozen regular udon but try to use udon that’s on the thinner side. - 50 ml of dashi
We use 和風だし by Wakodo, which is safe for babies 5 months and up. You can also use regular dashi stock powder if you want a stronger taste (add 1/4 of a teaspoon of powder to boiling water), or make the dashi from scratch yourself. You can use any kind of clear broth if you don’t have dashi on hand. - A pinch of cornstarch or 片栗粉
Directions
- Finely chop the carrot and onion.
- Finely chop the chicken into pieces that are about 2-3 mm in size.
- If you’re using fresh udon, cut the udon into 1 cm pieces so that your baby can easily eat it. If you’re using dry or frozen udon, cut the udon after cooking (Step 6) using a baby food cutter or scissors like these.
- Boil the dashi (or broth) in a small pot and add the above ingredients.
- Simmer for about 6-10 minutes (depending on how large your veggies and chicken pieces are, it may take longer to cook so keep an eye on it).
- Turn off the heat and add the cornstarch or 片栗粉. Stir until dissolved. If the dish still looks a bit watery, add a bit more cornstarch to thicken the sauce.
- Enjoy!
Kinako Yogurt
This recipe is recommended for babies 7 months (中期) and up. If you want to make it for an older baby, simply increase the portion size.
Yield: 1 serving
Total time: ~5 minutes
Ingredients
- 2-3 tablespoons of plain yogurt
- A pinch or so of roasted soybean flour (kinako)
Directions
- Put the yogurt into a small dish.
- Sprinkle it with kinako.
- Enjoy! You can increase/decrease the amount of kinako depending on how your child feels about it. Feel free to also add finely chopped bits of fruit to this dish. My daughter likes to have it with about half a chopped banana in the morning.
Did you make any of the dishes above for your little one? If so, let me know how it went in the comments!
