Homemade Avocado Baby Food Recipe

The nutritional value of avocados, along with their mild flavor and creamy texture, makes them a great first food for babies (and finger food as babies get a little older). You can offer your baby avocado as soon as he is 4 to 6 months old and ready to start solid food. This simple avocado baby food recipe doesn't require any cooking at all. It's fast, easy to make, and your baby will love it. You can prepare avocado baby food fresh, right before feeding time, or freeze ahead.

Avocados offer so many nutritional benefits. Compared to other fruits and vegetables, the avocado might just have the most nutritional value of all. It's loaded with protein, fiber, folic acid, zinc, niacin, thiamin, riboflavin, and other vitamins and nutrients.

Avocados are also high in fat, but it's the good kind of fat. It's heart-healthy, monounsaturated, and contains good (HDL) cholesterol. Best of all, avocados contain tons of omega-3 fatty acids that promote brain development,  making them an excellent choice for a growing baby. So don't let the fat in avocados deter you from feeding them to your little one.

How can you tell if an avocado is ripe? If you want avocados that are ready to eat, look for ones that are dark green and have bumpy skin. Squeeze the avocado. It should feel firm with just a bit of give. A rock-hard avocado isn't ripe; one that feels really soft is too ripe.

Make sure you always have ripe avocados on hand by buying some ripe and some almost ripe. Store them outside of the fridge unless they're already ripe. You can also keep avocados handy by cutting up a ripe fruit and freezing the slices. When you're ready to use, thaw a few and start mashing.