How long does it take to cook zucchini? How and how much to cook zucchini for babies

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Zucchini is one of the first to be introduced into complementary foods, and it can be prepared not only in the form of puree, but also in the form of juice. The latter is good because it increases appetite, has mild diuretic properties and is simply very useful. And this product itself is rich in copper, potassium, vitamin C and carotene, has antianemic, antiallergic diuretic, choleretic and restorative properties, and can enhance intestinal motility. Experts also recommend introducing zucchini in the form of puree into the first complementary foods, since it is easily digestible due to the content of a large amount of pectin substances. It is also capable of purifying the blood and normalizing water-salt metabolism.

You probably know that for the first time introducing a baby to adult food, you need to start with a single-ingredient and easily digestible product. And nutritionists almost unanimously call the hero of this article the main contender for this responsible role.

Zucchini is a hypoallergenic complementary food!

By introducing zucchini into complementary foods, you provide hypoallergenic and gentle nutrition for your child (of course, for this you need to cook it correctly).

We have already listed the main advantages of this product. But since we are talking about the very first adult food in a baby’s life, let’s talk in more detail about why experts recommend zucchini as complementary food for a baby.

Its unique property is the ratio of sodium to potassium (1 to 100). The last element regulates the body's water balance, normalizes heart rate, has a positive effect on muscle and nerve cells, strengthens the immune system and improves oxygen supply to the brain, and also supports the body in treating allergies.

For the first 4-6 months, the source of microelements and vitamins for the baby is mother’s milk (for breastfeeding, natural feeding) or an adapted formula (for artificial feeding). But a growing person needs more and more nutrients. And here the first complementary food comes to the rescue - zucchini, which absolutely anyone can cook.

As you know, this vegetable is a type of pumpkin. It has a famous Italian relative - zucchini, which is dark green with stripes or specks and has a spicy taste. Another “brother” is squash, it has the shape of a flower.

And the most familiar to our eyes is the white-fruited one. It began to be cultivated in India and Central America about 5 thousand years ago, and even then they noticed that this fruit helps prevent many diseases, and if you cook it correctly, you will get a dietary puree or other dish.

Since the vegetable contains enough water, a wide composition of mineral salts and little plant fiber, it puts a negligible load on the intestines, does not irritate the stomach, and is easily digested. Moreover, it removes excess water from the body, and with it toxins.

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How to cook?

The first adult dish that you have to cook for your baby should taste like mother’s milk or formula, that is, be sweetish with a pleasant aroma. Although you should not expect that the baby will immediately gobble everything up and demand another portion of zucchini puree - complementary feeding is a delicate matter.

By the way, this fruit should be given not only during the period when the baby is introduced to adult food, but also later. After all, you can prepare many completely different dishes from it. This is cream soup, saute, famous caviar, salads, mousses, ... Children really love zucchini pancakes, but all this, of course, will come much later, when your child grows up.

You can make many dishes and drinks from zucchini.

When it’s time to introduce juices, offer your baby a freshly squeezed drink - zucchini as a complementary food for your baby will also demonstrate its best qualities here. You need to drink it at least half an hour before meals and a maximum of 10 minutes after the spinning process itself.

When your baby can handle multi-ingredient drinks, you can prepare a zucchini-apple (beetroot, carrot) cocktail.

And for older children, it is good to give a mixture of zucchini and orange or celery juice.

Before preparing zucchini for complementary feeding, be sure to rinse it in running cool water.

If the child is less than a year old, peel off the skin and wash the vegetable again.

If you are going to give the fruit raw (so that the baby can chew it), rinse it with boiling water.

How long to cook?

How long do you need to cook baby squash to make puree? 6-10 minutes.

For a child, it is better not to boil zucchini, but to steam it

Although it is best not to boil it, but to steam it. It’s both tastier and, most importantly, healthier.

It must be remembered that the hero of this article gets along well with almost all products except milk. Therefore, if they are present in the child’s menu, their intake should be divided into a time interval of 6 hours.

But you can combine it with meat (proteins), olive oil (fats), dough (starch), herbs and other “residents of the garden” without fear.

By the way, this can be used to advantage if your child has favorite dishes. Let's say a toddler likes an apple. We bake zucchini cubes with apple chips and watch with what appetite the little ones gobble up the vegetable we need!

In the first months of life, the baby receives all the vitamins and microelements he needs from mother’s milk, and “artificial” ones from adapted milk formulas. But by the fourth (for babies who are formula-fed) or sixth month, the baby begins to be prepared for the transition to normal nutrition: complementary foods are gradually introduced.

A baby's introduction to adult food should begin with a simple, that is, one-ingredient, hypoallergenic and easily digestible product. Pediatricians believe that zucchini is best suited for first complementary feeding. This vegetable is easy to prepare, it is very healthy, it contains a lot of mineral salts and almost no plant fiber, so it:

• Does not overload the intestines and does not irritate the stomach;
• Due to the content of a significant amount of pectin, it is easy to digest;
• It has a slight diuretic property, that is, it removes excess water from the body, and along with it, toxins.

It is especially useful to prepare zucchini puree for children who are prone to constipation. This vegetable is rich in vitamin C and B vitamins, copper, iron, phosphorus, magnesium and potassium, which is important for children. This mineral is a regulator of the water balance of our body; it normalizes the heart rhythm; nerve and muscle cells are primarily affected by its deficiency. Foods rich in potassium not only strengthen the immune system, but also support the immune system in the fight against allergies, which is important for young children.

How to properly cook zucchini

Ready-made zucchini puree in jars is sold in any store in the baby food department, but many mothers prefer to make it at home. Some people believe that store-bought food cannot always be trusted; others do not want to spend a lot of money on something that they can prepare themselves from cheap ingredients. And there are also mothers who simply enjoy not only caring for their beloved baby, but also cooking his “first real food” with their own hands.

The first adult meals should remind the baby of breast milk or formula, so complementary foods should be sweet and have a pleasant smell. The consistency of the zucchini puree should be no thicker than kefir, so that it is easier for babies to eat.

• Baby food squash is first washed in cold running water and cleaned, then washed again;
• You need to cook the zucchini for as long as it takes to soften it, but no more than 10 minutes. To prepare complementary foods, it is better to use bottled “baby” water. To preserve vitamin C, you need to take very little water, just so that the vegetable pieces are covered with it. If you overdo it, you will still have to drain the excess liquid. It is even more useful to steam the zucchini; in a steamer, the zucchini is cooked according to the instructions for the device (usually 15–20 minutes);
• The puree is made with one component, that is, only from zucchini - without butter, cow's milk and sugar. You can only add breast milk or formula, and if they are not used, the broth in which the vegetable was cooked. It is not recommended to add salt, but if a child refuses to eat unsalted puree several times in a row, once again add a little salt (not “for yourself”!).

Boiled or steamed zucchini is mashed with a fork and rubbed through a sieve so that there are no pieces. Using a blender is not always convenient, because the first time you need a little puree, it is not enough for the blender.

The initial portion of complementary foods for children is from half to one teaspoon, which is given in the morning in order to observe during the day whether the baby has allergies or intestinal disorders. You can only give your baby fresh puree. Do not reheat complementary foods!

Little tricks

If the child was born in the summer or autumn, and they begin to feed him only in winter or spring, the zucchini season can still be used wisely and prepared vegetables for future use. They need to be washed, peeled, cut into cubes, packaged in portioned bags and frozen (quick freezing allows you to preserve all the beneficial substances and vitamins in vegetables and fruits). When you cook mashed potatoes for your child, you simply pour boiling water over one serving. Frozen cubes are cooked in the same way in a steamer.

It is more convenient to take young small vegetables without seeds for baby puree; they should be fresh, not bruised and without scratches. It is not necessary to buy or prepare ordinary zucchini - it can also be zucchini, they do not differ in composition. Before freezing or cooking store-bought vegetables, you need to soak them in salted cold water for two hours to remove pesticides and other harmful chemicals.

When the baby can already be given freshly squeezed juices, the first juice can also be zucchini juice, because it does not cause allergies. To ensure that the beneficial substances are preserved in it, it is given no later than ten minutes after spinning. Over time, it can be mixed with other juices.

1. Rinse medium-sized zucchini thoroughly under cold water and remove the skin with a vegetable peeler if it is hard.
2. Cut the fruit into circles 1.5 centimeters wide, if necessary (if the seeds are hard), remove the seeds with pulp from the core.
3. Cut the fruit lengthwise and remove the grains from the core, and then cut into cubes or bars, depending on further use.
4. Fill the pan with cold water to half the volume, add a little salt and boil.
5. Place the prepared zucchini in boiling water and cook for 10 minutes.

How to cook zucchini in a double boiler
1. Pour water into a special steamer container and let it boil. 2. Place the zucchini in a single layer in the steam basket and cover with a lid.
3. Cook the zucchini in a double boiler for 20 minutes.

How to cook zucchini in a slow cooker
1. Place the zucchini in the multicooker container.
2. Set the “Baking” mode and cook the fruits for 10 minutes.

How to cook zucchini for a child in a saucepan
1. Place pieces of zucchini in a saucepan and fill with filtered or special baby water so that they are covered to the height of two fingers.
2. Cook the zucchini for 10-15 minutes until completely softened. At the end of cooking, do not drain the broth.
3. Rub the boiled zucchini pieces through a sieve or chop with a blender. If the puree is too thick, dilute the mixture with broth.

How to cook zucchini for a child in a double boiler
1. Pour water into a special steamer container and let it boil. 2. Place the zucchini in a steamer container, close the lid and steam for 20 minutes.
3. Grind the zucchini with a blender or rub through a sieve.

Cream soup with boiled zucchini

Products

Zucchini (small) - 3-4 pieces
Flour - 2 tablespoons
Milk - 2 glasses
Parsley and dill, salt and seasonings - to taste

Making creamy zucchini soup

Peel and seed the zucchini, cut into small cubes and cook in salted water (a small amount). Strain out the zucchini and remember well.
Pour 4-5 tablespoons of butter into a preheated frying pan, carefully add 2 tablespoons of flour and fry lightly (- minutes). Then pour the fried flour into the broth left from the zucchini, add milk. Then put the zucchini puree into the pan and cook for a minute over low heat. Sprinkle with herbs and serve with croutons (lightly fried pieces of white bread).

Thanks to vegetables, the child receives nutritious carbohydrates, as well as a number of vitamins. The fiber and pectins contained in them help remove harmful elements from the body. When the baby is not gaining weight well, the pediatrician may recommend porridge as the first complementary food, but the option with vegetable puree is suitable for children with digestive problems, especially for those who have constipation.

Why is zucchini considered optimal for first feeding? It is easy to prepare, delicate in taste, and the possibility of allergies from it is minimal, but we will talk about this later. A large amount of nutrients helps make the baby healthier. Sometimes children under one year old develop physiological anemia, and zucchini helps cure it.

Complementary feeding is a very important process in a baby’s life. And the first dishes recommended for feeding small children are vegetable purees, for example from zucchini

It is ideal to start complementary feeding with zucchini, because it has a wonderful effect on the body, thanks to the following beneficial characteristics:

1. The puree is well accepted by the child’s body, helps improve digestion, preventing constipation, and also protects the baby from possible bloating and colic.
2. Hypoallergenic product. Allergic reactions are extremely rare.
3. Zucchini contains a whole range of vitamins and microelements necessary for the full development of the baby. Among others, there are magnesium and phosphorus, iron and potassium, as well as vitamins B and C.

The positive aspects of the vegetable do not end there:

• ease of preparation: even a novice housewife can handle the recipes;
• low price for the product in the summer;
• fresh frozen product can be introduced at any time of the year;
• It cooks very quickly, which means mom saves a lot of time.

Zucchini has beneficial properties that are necessary for a child, and the vegetable is hypoallergenic, which is important when feeding for the first time.

Rules for introducing complementary foods

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Vegetable purees appear in the diet of infants closer to six months, if the child is breastfed, and after 4 months, if the baby eats formula. Let us recall the basic entry rules:

• the puree must be one-component, homogenized, without salt and sugar;
• It is better to give the sample in the morning (at about 11:00) or at lunch (about 14:00);
• first complementary feeding - then breastfeeding or an adapted formula;
• the first dose is small - from 0.5 to 1 teaspoon, after a week the dose will gradually increase to 50 grams; as a result, by the age of 7 months the baby should eat up to 100 g, and closer to the age of 150 g per day;
• if the baby does not want to eat, try feeding the product a week later or offer another vegetable for introduction, after consulting with your pediatrician;
• You should not conduct taste experiments if it is too hot outside or the child is not feeling well - the attempt is unlikely to be successful.

When introducing complementary foods with zucchini, it is extremely important to know when to stop. If you notice a child has a wonderful appetite and a desire to eat more, you should not do this. How much should you give in the end? Give strictly the prescribed dose, otherwise you may get digestive problems.

Before you start giving your baby complementary foods, consult your pediatrician, he will tell you the correct feeding schedule for your baby (more details in the article:)

Zucchini is a vegetable to which allergies are extremely rare. It is usually offered to children prone to food allergies or its variations, as well as to children already suffering from allergies. Still, one should not forget about caution and be extremely attentive, especially if this is the child’s first meal.

Food diary - taking care of your child

It’s a good idea to keep a food diary where you will record all your baby’s reactions to a new product:

• bloating;
• redness or rashes on the skin;
• restlessness, moodiness;
• bowel dysfunction or gas formation.

If you notice some of the above signs, you should stop introducing complementary foods and consult your doctor. He will tell you when to start introducing food again. Most likely this will not be earlier than a month. When introducing new purees, it is advisable to choose one-component options, i.e. those in which only one vegetable is present. A mixture of vegetables or fruits will make it difficult to identify the “culprit” of poor health or allergies.

When, having bought a product at the market and subsequently prepared it yourself at home, you notice redness or rashes on the skin, then perhaps you should replace the homemade version with canned purees or use frozen vegetables for cooking. We will talk further about all possible manipulations and methods for preparing zucchini.

Choose only young vegetables for complementary feeding (more details in the article:). But it’s better to buy zucchini from friends or grow it yourself

Contraindications for use

Attention! Zucchini is contraindicated in children with hyperkalemia. With this disease, the kidneys suffer, which cannot cope with the task of removing potassium from the body. Zucchini is also prohibited for children with kidney failure of various origins.

Another possible reaction after eating zucchini is the appearance of flaking on the skin. This reaction is absolutely natural and has nothing to do with allergies. To prevent this, mix the zucchini puree with a small amount of water in which the zucchini was boiled or add a little breast milk. Excessive peeling can be shown to a doctor and you can get qualified advice on this matter.

Product selection and preparation

The most reliable method of preparation is to make your own puree from your own vegetables, grown on your own plot, and then boiled or steamed at home. What if a baby born in the summer has to try his first complementary foods in the winter? You can find a fresh product in stores, but most likely it will be an imported version. It may contain nitrates and other harmful substances.

Zucchini keeps well in the freezer. In the same way, you can save any other vegetables for your baby.

Solutions in this case may be as follows:

• Freeze fresh vegetables for the winter ahead of time. Buy fresh green young vegetables (you can take greenhouse varieties), their length should not exceed 20 cm. Tender pulp will allow you to easily remove the seeds. When choosing, keep in mind that the surface should be smooth, slightly shiny, without spots or other irregularities. It is advisable to buy from a trusted seller.
• Jar puree. Any product on the shelves of children's stores is certified. In this case, the most important thing is to read the composition. Ideal composition: zucchini and water. It is advisable to avoid “pear-shaped zucchini” in a number of ingredients. It is an analogy of pumpkin, which means it is not suitable for the very first complementary feeding due to a possible allergic reaction.

It is not recommended to combine zucchini with milk. At least 6 hours should pass between taking these two products. To combine with zucchini, choose meat protein, vegetable fats (olive oil), other vegetables and herbs.

When purchasing zucchini baby food, read the product ingredients. There should be nothing there except the vegetable itself and water

How about a frozen version?

Young summer fruits cannot be stored for a long time, due to the fact that their peel is very thin and there is a lot of water inside. Large zucchini with thick skin fit well, but are less suitable for feeding children. Their structure is coarser, and their nutritional value is reduced compared to young fruits. That is why freezing young vegetables is an ideal option for the winter. You can do it like this:

1. Wash the vegetables thoroughly and cut the skin as thin as possible.
2. Remove the top and also the stalk. They can be a place where nitrates live.
3. There is no need to remove the middle, so just cut the zucchini into small circles. Their thickness should be about 3 cm. Then place them in a freezer bag in one layer.

Advice for young mothers: freeze vegetables for the first complementary foods for the winter in disposable cups. For the first small samples, choose small cups, then slightly larger ones. Place the chopped vegetables in a container and cover with cling film or foil. It is very convenient to store this format. The compact option is also convenient because frozen vegetables can be cooked in a matter of minutes, even faster than fresh ones.

Vitamin C retains its nutritional properties when frozen, but it is still better to resort to the quick freezing option. First, you should set the freezer to the lowest setting, wait about an hour, and then put the cups of vegetables in the freezer. Remaining time in the freezer is 1 hour. After freezing, you can return to your usual temperature levels.

When planning to cook, do not wait for the zucchini to defrost. If you do the opposite, you will end up with only a mushy consistency, but not zucchini at all. To cook, place the frozen vegetable in water and cook for about 5-7 minutes. Once the zucchini is cooked, grind it using a sieve. You can choose any cooking option that suits you: steamed or in a slow cooker. The quality and usefulness of the product will not be affected.

Do not prepare a lot of zucchini puree, as for the first samples of the vegetable you only need a spoonful of the finished product

Preparation options for first feeding

Before cooking, it is important to properly process the product:

1. Wash the vegetable in cool running water.
2. When preparing puree for a child of the first year of life, you need to remove the skin and rinse again with water.
3. Having purchased the product in a store or market, you need to soak the vegetables for about 2 hours in cold water with salt. To do this, you first need to cut each fruit in half. These manipulations are done in order to get rid of possible nitrates.

How to cook zucchini for your favorite little one? We will give you some simple and delicious recipes. All of them are simple and accessible.

In a saucepan

1. You need to cook with filtered or purchased clean water. Boil some water.
2. Cut the zucchini into cubes and place in boiling water. Boil for about 10 minutes until done.
3. The prepared vegetables should be ground in a blender, or even better, then pass the puree through a sieve, so the consistency will become even nicer and more uniform. Add some vegetable broth.

You should not cook for long, 10 minutes is the maximum. Excessively long cooking will lead to the loss of valuable vitamin C. The measured time period is optimal for preserving all the usefulness of the vegetable.

If the baby does not want to eat zucchini, then there is no need to force him. Or maybe vice versa, then the mother needs to know when to stop and not give more than planned

In a slow cooker

1. Peel the fruit and remove the seeds, then cut into rings.
2. Place the chopped pieces into the slow cooker.
3. To start cooking, you need to press the corresponding button on the panel (“Stewing” or “Steaming”). Set the process time to 10 minutes.
4. The method for chopping zucchini was indicated above or you can use any other option convenient for you.

For a couple

Steaming is possible using a simple pan:

1. Pour water into the pan, about ¼ of the volume, and place a sieve or colander on top.
2. Washed, peeled and seeded, the fruits should be placed in a sieve.
3. Boiling water will provide the steam needed for cooking. Such a simple device ultimately copes with its task no worse than a double boiler.
4. To make the process go faster, it is better to cover the vegetables with a lid.

Do not resort to salt, the baby absolutely does not need it, and the baby will not yet notice its absence in food. It is better to cool the puree at room temperature. The finished puree can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. It is better to heat a new portion separately from the total mass.

Zucchini puree for babies is the beginning of a new “adult” life for your little one. A healthy vegetable not only introduces the baby to the food of mom and dad, but also gives a lot of useful nutrients that are so necessary for active growth and development. With its help, you can show the taste beauty of food, but do not overdo it. Do not put pressure on the baby when feeding. Approaching the age of 1 year, your baby will master many more new dishes. Do not forget to listen to the advice of doctors so that the process of accustoming to new things is pleasant and comfortable for the baby.

An infant who feeds on mother's milk does not feel the need for additional complementary feeding until 6 months. Six months after birth, the baby will need to cook soups and prepare vegetable purees, since the baby’s body will no longer have enough mother’s milk. During this period, according to many pediatricians, the best first complementary food is zucchini, pureed. But how long should this vegetable be cooked and how to prepare it so that all the beneficial substances are preserved in it and the dish is tasty and appetizing? Let's consider today an important problem for young mothers, how to cook zucchini for baby's first feeding.

What beneficial properties does zucchini have?

It is not for nothing that zucchini is chosen as the first complementary food for babies. This vegetable is preferred for its beneficial properties:

• does not cause allergic reactions;
• You can cook the vegetable for those children who have problems with stool - puree and other dishes made from it help normalize the functioning of the digestive tract;
• Cooking zucchini is quite easy, it has a pleasant sweetish taste;
• it contains many vitamins (mainly C and B) and minerals (iron, potassium, magnesium, phosphorus);
• it helps strengthen the baby's immunity;
• if you freeze zucchini correctly, your child will be able to enjoy it in the winter, while the vitamin composition of such dishes will remain virtually unchanged;
• the vegetable is so well absorbed by the body that it can be introduced into children’s diets from 3-4 months after birth;
• it does not provoke bloating in the baby and does not cause colic.

If we consider specifically the vitamin composition of this wonderful vegetable, then zucchini contains:

• monosaccharides and disaccharides;
• unsaturated fatty acids;
• alimentary fiber;
• vitamins C, H, A and PP;
• iron, potassium, zinc, magnesium, calcium and many other useful trace elements;
• B vitamins;
• proteins fats carbohydrates;
• organic acids.

Thanks to this composition, zucchini dishes are very useful for a child, especially in the form of first complementary foods. Therefore, it is imperative to introduce it into the daily children’s diet.

How long should you cook zucchini to feed your baby?

Of course, you can buy your child ready-made purees in the store. But not every baby will want to eat such a dish, and mothers do not know what raw materials baby food manufacturers use to prepare zucchini complementary foods. Therefore, the best option is to cook the puree yourself. But how long should you cook the first course of zucchini for a baby so that the beneficial elements are retained in full in the dish?

Zucchini can be cooked baked, boiled in water or in a slow cooker. Recommended cooking/baking time: 10-15 minutes when the vegetable softens. Then the zucchini needs to be mashed so that it turns into a homogeneous mass. If the puree is too thick, it can be diluted with zucchini broth, baby formula or breast milk.

Since the squash feed will not take long to cook, it is not difficult to prepare it fresh every time. In general, young mothers should adopt the rule that children should eat only freshly cooked food. After all, it’s better to buy a few fresh vegetables, cook a piece, and freeze the rest for later.

How to prepare complementary foods correctly?

We already know how long to cook zucchini, but we’ll figure it out further how to cook it so that the child likes it. So, we have already talked about the benefits of zucchini. Another advantage of this vegetable is that after cooking it does not need to be salted or added sugar - zucchini complementary food has its own natural sweetish taste.

The first zucchini dish for babies should be made as a one-component dish. If the baby refuses such food, it is allowed to add mother's milk to the dish. To maximize the benefits of the vegetable, it is better to steam it. How long will this process take? Usually - about 10-15 minutes: if the zucchini can be easily mashed, then it is ready.

So, when preparing zucchini complementary foods, you should adhere to the following rules:

1. Wash the vegetable thoroughly, remove the peel and remove the seeds if they are large.
2. Wash the saucepan first and pour boiling water over it.
3. The vegetable is placed in boiling water so that it covers it completely.
4. Do not overcook the zucchini to retain the nutrients.
5. Grind the cooked vegetable into a smooth puree.

Many mothers do not know how long to cook zucchini, so they cook it for about 20 minutes, believing that this will be better for the baby. However, in this case, the baby will not receive the entire set of nutrients contained in the vegetable. Sometimes 10 minutes is enough for the zucchini pieces to become soft. You can crush them with a blender, or you can crush them with a fork or in a mortar. You can add a drop of olive oil to the finished puree - this will make the taste of complementary foods even healthier and richer.

How to introduce zucchini complementary foods?

Starting from the age of six months, the child should eat zucchini. It is introduced into the daily baby diet in the same way as other products: first, half a teaspoon is given, after which the baby’s body’s reaction is observed for two days. If allergies, bloating, and problems with stool are not observed, the daily portion of zucchini puree can be increased.

It is important to remember that zucchini should not be cooked for a long time - there will be little benefit from such a product. And no matter how much puree you cook, you shouldn’t give it to your child on the second day - it’s better to prepare a new portion of complementary foods.