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Avocado baby food is one of the healthiest ways to nourish your baby’s developing body. This easy, freezer-friendly avocado puree is packed with health benefits to support your little one’s growth, and it tastes great!

Avocados are a wonderful first food for babies, and you can prepare them in a handful of equally enjoyable ways. From blending them into an avocado puree to cutting avocado into easy to grab slices for a baby led weaning approach, these nutrient dense fruits are excellent for babies of all ages and eating styles.

This homemade baby food recipe is so easy, it’ll quickly become your go-to for an appetizing meal that your baby will love. All it takes is ripe avocado and a little bit of milk to make a creamy puree full of so many nutrients and healthy fats, you may want to sneak a bite yourself! You also don’t have to cook avocados, so this recipe is very fast.

We’ll show you everything from how to pick out the perfect avocados, prepare the best avocado puree and easily store the leftovers for later.

What you will need

Avocado puree couldn’t be easier to make. Here’s what you’ll need:

• Sharp knife/ Sturdy Spoon: You’ll want a good knife to peel away the bumpy skin from the avocado, remove the pit, and slice up the fruit inside. While some other fruits and vegetables have even more nutrients in the skin than the fruit itself, avocado skin is not edible and can pose a choking hazard for your baby. Whether you peel your avocado, or just cut it open and scoop out the fruit, make sure none of that rough skin gets in your puree.
• Blender or food processor: A good blender is the best way to puree avocado. If you make a lot of baby food recipes at home, you’ll want to invest in a good blending appliance. Baby purees are easy and nutritious first foods, and a powerful blender can make all the difference when it comes to quickly making your own baby food.
• Baby food jars: Reusable glass jars are a great idea for serving baby food. You can portion out your avocado right after blending and store them in your fridge for short term meals.

For ingredients, you’ll need:

• Avocados: You can’t make our easy avocado puree without avocados! For this recipe you’ll want to use ripe avocado that’s ready to eat today. We used 2 Hass avocados (the most common variety), but you can adjust the amount based on how much puree you are making.
• Milk: Milk is our blending liquid of choice for this recipe because it gives our puree a nice and creamy texture while cramming extra nutrients, like calcium and Vitamin D, into the puree. Feel free to use anything from breast milk to whole milk, or your own preferred liquid. You can even use formula milk or water to help thin out your avocado and help it blend nicely.

Benefits of avocado

The health benefits of avocados are seemingly endless. They’re true super foods here to boost your baby’s growth and development. Avocados are especially nutritious in these areas that can support both you and your baby’s health:

• Vitamin B6: beneficial for brain development and keeping the nervous system healthy
• Monounsaturated fat: avocados are known for having the healthy fats. Monounsaturated fatty acids are the “good fat” that support heart health and help the body absorb other vitamins
• Potassium: this mineral regulates the heartbeat and ensures proper function of muscles and nerves
• Vitamin C: vitamin C helps build a strong immune system and protects against infection

How to make avocado puree for babies

1. Slice open avocados and remove pits

Cut the avocados in half, lengthwise until your knife hits the pit, then rotate the avocado to evenly cut all around it. For added safety, you may want to place the avocados on a cutting board rather than holding them in your hand while you cut. Twist the halves apart to separate them. Then use the middle of the knife blade to pierce the pit and twist to remove it.

2. Scoop avocado into blender and add milk

Run a sturdy spoon around the rim of the avocado peel to loosen the flesh from the rind. Scoop the soft fruit directly into your blender or food processor and add 1/4 cup of milk, or your liquid of your choice.

3. Blend until puree is smooth

Blend the avocado and milk until the puree is smooth (about 2 minutes). If you still have a thick puree after that time, try adding more liquid. Add one tablespoon of milk at a time, then blend until the desired consistency is reached.

4. Transfer for serving and storage

Once you get a smooth, creamy texture you can transfer the avocado puree to bowls for serving and short term refrigerator storage, or freezer-safe containers for longer term storage. Since it didn’t have to cook, your avocado puree should still be at room temperature and can be served to your baby immediately.

How to store avocado puree

You can save so much time by preparing your homemade baby food in bulk and storing it for later. Pureed avocado can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. Before putting the leftover food away, mix it with just a few drops of fresh lemon juice or lime juice to maintain freshness and keep the avocado puree from turning brown.

You can also keep avocado puree in the freezer for up to two months. The best method for freezing avocado puree is to mix it with a spritz of lemon or lime juice (to prevent browning) then spoon the puree into an ice cube tray, wrap it in plastic wrap, and freeze it. Once frozen, transfer the avocado cubes to an airtight freezer bag, like a Ziploc bag, for longer term storage.

Freezing your leftovers in ice cube trays helps you to easily keep track of portion sizes so when meal time comes, you can just pop out as many of the cubes as you need at the moment. One standard ice cube is the equivalent of 1 ounce, or 2 tablespoons.

You do not need to heat up your avocado baby food for the next mealtime. Just thaw it in the refrigerator overnight before serving.

If you’re feeding your baby directly from a serving jar, it is also important to remember to throw away any leftovers from the same jar that came in contact with the serving spoon. Once the food has been exposed to the bacteria from your child’s mouth through saliva, it can continue to grow in the jar while stored. A safer option would be to spoon a portion of the baby food into a separate dish and feed directly from that new dish.

Is it safe for a baby to eat avocado?

Avocado is safe and healthy for babies. They are also a common choice among parents for baby’s first food. Though babies should always be monitored for adverse reactions when new foods are introduced, avocado allergy is not very common. Simply put, avocado baby food recipes are nutritious mealtime choices that both parents and babies love.

Additionally, because of their very soft texture avocados are not considered a common choking hazard, making avocado slices an excellent finger food option if you are practicing baby led weaning.

You can also introduce chunky puree to older babies by simply blending your avocados for less time. Alternatively, you can pulse them in a food processor once at a time until the puree reaches your desired consistency. With a really ripe avocado, you may even be able to mash it with a fork until you get to your preferred texture.

When can I give my baby avocado?

Babies can start eating avocados at any point after you start introducing solids. You will want to consult your pediatrician to make sure your baby is developmentally ready for solid foods. Some signs that it may be time to introduce solids include your baby’s interest in foods that you’re eating, and his or her development of gross motor skills, like the ability to sit up with no support.

We recommend introducing avocado puree at around 6.5 months. At that point you can begin gradually introducing avocado. The flavor of the puree will be mild, which is great for early eaters.

Eventually, you may want to experiment with light seasonings and kicking up the flavor by blending the avocado puree with other purees. Getting your baby used to different flavors is helpful in encouraging his or her willingness to try new recipes.

Check out our food introduction guide for more information about which foods are appropriate for which ages, from sweet potato puree to broccoli baby food, and more!

How to choose the perfect avocado

Avocados are notorious for being difficult to select at the grocery store. Their ripeness seems to be on a schedule of its own, and that’s a schedule that’s usually pretty inconvenient for the consumer. You’re going to want to use perfectly ripe avocado for this puree because at that point it’s already at the ideal, balanced consistency. Not too mushy, and not too firm.

At first glance all of the avocados might look the same, but signs of a ripe avocado include:

• Skin color that is dark green to nearly black
• Rough and bumpy skin texture
• Moderate firmness – if you gently squeeze the avocado it will mildly give to the pressure

If you buy ripe avocados that are ready to eat that same day, but you end up not being able to use them right away you can store them in the refrigerator for 1-2 days to slow the ripening process.

Alternatively, if you’re ready to make this recipe, but your avocados are not ripe enough, you can speed up the ripening process by placing the avocados in a brown paper bag with a ripe apple or banana. The gasses that the ripe fruit release will be trapped in the bag with the avocado and help stimulate a faster ripening.

Can I use frozen avocado?

Absolutely. Frozen avocado cubes are a convenient option for busy parents. They still contain the same nutrition as fresh avocados, but a lot of the extra work is already done for you and your time window to use the avocados is significantly longer. If you’re making baby food recipes with frozen avocado, just place the bag in a bowl of cold water to thaw, or let them thaw in the refrigerator overnight.

How do I keep my avocados from turning brown?

Similar to with sliced apples, once avocados are cut open you don’t have much time before the browning starts. While you can’t stop the browning process completely, you can slow it down by cutting your fruit with a ceramic or plastic knife and spritzing the inside of the avocado with a bit of lemon juice. This helps extend the life of that beautiful green color that we all love.

Avocado puree combinations

Avocado is yummy on its own, but you might want to experiment with using other recipes to round out the great taste. For even more flavor, try making your own avocado baby food recipes by mixing avocado puree with some of our other delicious purees!

• Pear Puree
• Broccoli Baby Food
• Apple Puree

Tips to make the best avocado puree

• To make sure there won’t be any avocado skin in your puree, you can simply peel the avocados before adding them to the blender. Playing it safe is worth the extra effort.
• You want soft avocado puree, so you want to make sure to use soft avocados. Don’t force it and blend up underripe fruit. The taste and texture won’t be nearly as enjoyable for your baby.
• Add the milk gradually. To avoid an overly runny puree, you can start slowly when adding the milk and blending. A ripe avocado will already be fairly moist, and may not require too much additional liquid. Try starting at 1-2 tablespoons at a time, blending, and checking the texture of your puree.