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A few simple steps are all that stand between you and delicious turnips baby food. This recipe for creamy and nutritious pureed turnip is a satisfying way to expand your baby’s taste for veggies.

While turnips may not be the first vegetable that comes to mind when planning your baby’s meals, between their health benefits and ease, they definitely deserve consideration! Turnips are root vegetables similar to rutabagas and have even been compared to radishes.

Not only are the bulbs packed with nutrients, but you can also remove and cook the leafy turnip greens from your fresh veggies for an added boost of even more vitamins!

We get it…the thought of bitter tasting turnips might be enough to make you think twice before adding them to your baby’s diet, but we’ve got solutions. When they’re chosen carefully and cooked correctly, turnips can be delicious. In this post, we’ll show you exactly how to prepare turnips in a way that will make your baby want to eat them.

What you will need

Pureed turnip is as easy to make as it is delicious. Here’s what you’ll need:

• Saucepan: Any saucepan will work for this recipe as long as it’s large enough to hold the amount of turnip you’ll be boiling with enough water to cover the turnips.
• Kitchen knife: This will be used to peel the (often tough and waxy) skin away from the turnips, then to dice the veggies into small cubes.
• Blender or food processor: If you’ll be making a lot of baby food recipes, 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 turnips right after blending and store them in your fridge for short term meals.

For ingredients, you’ll need:

• Turnips: Turnips are the star of this recipe, of course! If you’re put off by the bitter turnip taste that you might be used to, you might consider shopping for baby turnips instead. These younger, small turnips smell and taste sweeter than their larger counterparts. This might turn out being better for baby as you navigate this new taste.
• Milk: Milk is our blending liquid of choice for this recipe because it gives us the opportunity to achieve a really creamy texture while packing extra vitamins into the puree. Feel free to use anything from breastmilk to whole milk, or your own preferred liquid. You can even use the same water that you boiled the turnips in, and get some of those nutrients that cooked out right back into your puree.

Benefits of turnips

Turnips are low in calories and high in vitamins and nutrients to help your little one thrive. They’re especially rich in:

• Dietary Fiber: a proper amount of fiber helps to promote a healthy digestive system and fights against digestive issues, like constipation
• Vitamin C: building a strong immune system is important, and Vitamin C encourages the production of white blood cells, boosting the body’s protection against infection
• Calcium: in addition to building strong bones, calcium also helps your heart, muscles, and nerves

How to make basic turnip puree

1. Peel turnips

Using a sharp knife or vegetable peeler, remove all of the skin from your fresh turnips. Turnip skin is edible, but the skin may make the blending process more difficult and it adds a sharp aftertaste that many consider to be unpleasant.

2. Cut turnips into 1-inch cubes

Chop the peeled turnips into 1-inch cubes. This will make the cooking process easier, allowing the veggies to boil evenly once you add them to heat.

3. Boil raw turnips until fork tender

In a large saucepan over medium heat, boil turnips until tender (7-12 minutes). Cooking time may vary based on the amount of turnips you use, but the turnips will be ready to remove from heat when they can be easily pierced with a fork.

4. Blend turnips with milk until smooth

Transfer cooked turnips from the stovetop to the blender or food processor. Add milk and blend until smooth. If the puree still appears to be chunky after 2-3 minutes of blending, your puree may need additional milk. Try adding in one tablespoon of milk at a time until the desired consistency is reached.

5. Transfer for serving and storage

You can now move the pureed turnip to bowls for feeding and storage. Make sure the turnips have cooled to a safe to touch temperature before feeding them to your baby.

How to store pureed turnips

Cooked turnips can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days in the fridge and 1 to 2 months in the freezer. Freezer-safe storage containers make it easy to cook in bulk and save food that’s being stored long term.

Can babies eat turnips?

Absolutely! Turnips are a popular homemade baby food recipe. Though raw turnips won’t be able to be enjoyed by your little one, well cooked, mashed turnips are an easy to eat, an excellent source of nutrients. If you’re following a baby led weaning approach, you might serve cooked, finely chopped turnip slices as finger food.

The risk of turnip allergy is low, but just like with any other new food, you should avoid introducing anything else at the same time as turnips, and monitoring to make sure there isn’t any allergic reaction.

When can I introduce turnips to my baby?

You will want to consult your baby’s pediatrician to make sure your baby is developmentally ready for solid foods. Make sure to check in with them before introducing solids and experimenting with turnips.

We recommend introducing turnip baby food recipes at around 15-18 months. Check out our food introduction guide for more information about which foods are appropriate for which ages, from sweet potatoes to carrots, and much more!

More delicious homemade baby food recipes

Whether you’re starting to introduce solid foods, or just looking to add variety to your baby’s diet, we have plenty of recipes that babies love, just like this one:

• Broccoli Baby Food
• Pear Puree
• Sweet Potato Puree

Tips for making the best turnip puree

Use a slotted spoon when transferring the turnips from the saucepan to the blender. You really want to be able to control how much moisture is in the blender so that you don’t end up with puree that is too chunky or too runny. A slotted spoon will help keep excess water out of the blender.

If you’re using larger turnips, your vegetables may carry a more bitter taste. One way to lessen the bitterness is to cut up a white potato and place half of it in the saucepan with the turnips as they cook. The potato will absorb some of the bitter flavor from the turnips and leave you with more baby-friendly, milder tasting veggies.

When you introduce turnips, you might find more success by mixing them with another puree, especially if that other puree is already well loved by your baby. For example, sweet potato puree pairs wonderfully with turnip. Sometimes that familiar taste can be just what you need to help you get over the hurdles of trying a new food. Just don’t introduce two new foods at once because it makes it much tougher to monitor for any adverse reactions to the food.