Cucumbers in Baby Food Recipes – Learn When your Baby can Have Cucumbers and How to Prepare Cucumbers for Your Baby

Cucumbers are more nutritious than many people believe. Cucumbers however, do not make great baby food.

The Goodness of Cucumbers for Baby Food:

Cucumbers are good sources of Vitamin C and A. They also contain calcium and potassium. Cucumbers are mostly water and as a baby food, they really do not offer a lot of nutrients. Cucumbers are a bit difficult to serve to babies. If you think about it, there really are not a lot of cucumber “recipes” even for adults. While the skin of a cucumber contains fiber, it is not a good idea to serve the skin to babies or toddlers.

Cucumber – 1 small (6″) cucumber

When to introduce Cucumbers to your baby – Age for Introducing Cucumbers: 8-10 months

Offer cucumbers to your baby when she has turned between 8-10 months old. Many parents report that cucumbers have made their babies and children gassy so do keep a watch out for increased gassiness.

How to select and store cucumbers for homemade baby food

According to the EWG, cucumbers are not one of the “dirty dozen” foods that are most highly contaminated with pesticides – purchasing organic is a personal choice.

Cucumbers are in season between May and July however they are available all year long. When selecting a cucumber to offer your baby, ensure that there are no cuts or bruises. You want a more firm cucumber as this firmness indicates freshness.

To store cucumbers, put them in the “veggie crisper” or the far back of your refrigerator. Cucumbers will last longer if they are not cut open so prepare them only when you are ready to eat them within a few days.

The best way to safely prepare Cucumbers for Baby Food

Cucumbers really are not all that great cooked. Serving your baby a traditional puree of cucumbers is probably not a good idea. You may offer your baby squished cucumbers or mix cucumber with other foods.

Cucumber Baby Food Recipes Ideas

Cucumber – Basic “Purée”

Directions:

Step 1: Wash and peel cucumber.

Step 2: Slice and cut out the seeds using a circular motion

Step 3: Chop the cucumber and squish with a fork

Minty Cucumber, Pear & Yogurt

Ingredients:

• 1 small cucumber
• 2 Bosch or Bartlett pears
• 1/2 cup of plain whole milk yogurt
• 3 finely chopped mint leaves

Directions:

Step 1: Wash and peel cucumber.

Step 2: Slice and cut out the seeds using a circular motion

Step 3: Chop the cucumber and squish with a fork

Step 4: Peel, core, dice (and squish if needed) the pears

Step 5: Add pear and cucumber together in a bowl

Step 6: Add 1/2 cup plain yogurt and finely chopped mint leaves to the bowl

Step 7: Mix to a consistency that your baby will tolerate; blend or puree if needed.

Cucumber Yogurt Dip

Love this one from the Food Network, with some tweaks. You could make it a minty cucumber dip too.

Ingredients:

• 2 (8-ounce) containers plain yogurt
• 1 pound cucumber, peeled, seeded, and chopped finely
• 2 teaspoons snipped fresh dill plus dill sprigs for garnish
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• Salt (leave out.)

Directions:

Step 1: In a sieve lined with cheesecloth, let the yogurt drain, set over a bowl, covered and chilled, for 6 hours. Pour the liquid from the bowl and in the bowl stir together the drained yogurt, the cucumbers, squeezed dry between paper towels, the snipped dill, the garlic, the oil, the lemon juice, and salt to taste.

Step 2: Let the dip stand, covered and chilled, for at least 2 hours and up to 8 hours to allow the flavors to develop. Stir the dip, garnish it with the dill sprigs, and serve it with toast points, other soft cooked veggies or even baby meatballs.

Rialta

Recipe reprinted with permission from Feeding the Whole Family (third edition) by Cynthia Lair (Sasquatch Books, 2008)

Buy yogurt that has active cultures and no fillers (non-fat milk solids or pectin, starch, gelatin etc) or sweeteners added..

Ingredients:

• 1 cup plain whole milk yogurt
• ½ cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro or mint
• ½ teaspoon cumin, ground
• Pinch of cayenne
• Salt to taste

Directions:

Step 1: Combine all ingredients together in a small bowl. Chill for 30 minutes before serving.

Step 2: Preparation time: 5 minutes, plus 30 minutes chilling time

Step 3: Makes 1 ½ cups

Foods Good to Mix With Cucumber

• Apples
• Green Beans
• Summer Squash – zucchini or yellow/crooked necked
• Yogurt

Cucumbers have been known to cause many people to have gas!