Low effort baby + toddler meal ideas

When it comes to weaning, I like to keep things simple. Meals should be quick and easy to throw together, yet nutritious. Save the longer cook sessions for days when you have the time or an extra pair of hands. 

These meal and snack ideas include a mix of low-prep AND also prep-ahead meal and snack ideas. SO pick and choose what works for you!

Breakfast

• Yoghurt mixed with mashed raspberries and a sprinkle of ground flaxseed / chia seed

• Porridge bite (precooked) with a few squished blueberries (babies with pincer grasp only/ over 9 months)

• Toasted crumpet with smooth peanut butter and half a banana (option to top crumpet with a sprinkle of hemp hearts or small seeds  like linseeds or chia seeds for added nutrition)

• Whole plain yoghurt in a bowl with a whole apricot peeled in half + stone removed. Option to stir some smooth nut butter through the yoghurt

• Toasted bagel with smooth peanut butter and soft ripe peach slices (option to top bagel with a sprinkle of hemp hearts or small seeds  like linseeds or chia seeds for added nutrition)

• One-egg omelette, sliced into fingers, served with a few cherry tomatoes sliced into thin lengths/or quartered

• Smooth peanut butter stirred through yoghurt with whole strawberries sliced in half

• A savoury muffin with a few slices of ripe plum

• Chia pudding – milk + chia seeds left over night, and topped with soft ripe fruit like mango

Main meals

• Mashed avocado with wholemeal toast fingers, served with a few cherry tomatoes sliced into thin lengths/or quartered (babies with pincer grasp only / over 9 months)

• A savoury muffin with a few raspberries or a whole ripe apricot

• Pre-cooked shredded chicken (try your local supermarket rotisserie chicken for low-prep pre-cooked chicken) (pulled into very thin and flat strips along its fibres) served with a rice sachet heated in the microwave and with a few spoons of full-fat Greek yoghurt stirred through the rice (or dairy alternative like coconut yogurt). Offer the yoghurt rice preloaded onto a weaning spoon or smeared on the highchair tray for messy play-eating along with the chicken strips 

• Scrambled egg with wholemeal toast fingers and some squished raspberries 

• Pre-cooked, shredded chicken (try your local supermarket rotisserie chicken for low-prep pre-cooked chicken), served with cucumber sticks, skin removed and cut into baton. Option to add some toasted and buttered pitta fingers 

• Soft, slightly over-cooked pasta tubes (rigatoni/fusilli/penne) drizzled with olive oil, served with pre-cooked salmon fillets (you can buy these in some super markets), with skin removed, and broken into pieces with canned peas mashed with a masher with a spoon of butter / or a spoon of full-fat Greek yoghurt (or dairy alternative like coconut yogurt) stirred through 

• Cream cheese on half a toasted bagel, served with cooked carrot sticks

• Flaked pre-cooked salmon with soft-cooked new potatoes, sliced in half and a piece of steamed broccoli

• A sachet of pre-cooked rice heated in the microwave with a few spoons of yoghurt mixed through, served with pre-cooked salmon fillets, with skin removed, and broken into pieces (ensure no bones) (you can buy these in some super markets), and sliced butternut squash roasted in the air-fryer or oven with a drizzle of olive oil (you can buy bags of pre-chopped squash in some supermarkets)

• Pasta with pesto stirred through and a handful of squished raspberries

Lighter meals/snacks

• Wholemeal toasted pitta with smooth hummus

• Flatbread cut into fingers served with falafel balls (buy these pre-made) (try Plants Chickpea, Spinach & Basil Veggie Bites*+) 

• Little pre-made eggy frittatas or muffins (try Higgidy Slow-Roasted Tomato & Cheddar Mini Muffins*+, Higgidy Cheddar & Spinach Mini Muffins*+)

• A home made savoury muffin (try my Spinach + pea muffins recipe)

• Sweet potato wedges (a whole sweet potato cut into wedges, drizzled with oil and cooked in the oven or an air-fryer)

• A slice of ripe mango and half a toasted bagel with butter

• Sliced soft-ripe pear and a pile of grated cheese (pincer grip babies only over 9 months) OR a very thin (wafer thin) slice of cheddar cheese (cubes or chunks of cheese can be a choking hazard)

• Yoghurt with mashed banana and chia seeds

*Always check individual products and check the texture is suitable for your child, these are general suggestions only and any food can pose a choking hazard for babies and young children, products may also change

+Note these products do contain added salt.