First Foods for Baby: What to Start With
Updated September 2025 · 6 min read
Great first foods are single-ingredient, iron-rich and soft: think puréed or soft-cooked vegetables (sweet potato, carrot, broccoli), soft fruit (banana, avocado, pear), iron-fortified baby cereal, and well-cooked soft proteins like egg or flaked fish. Offer one new food at a time, skip added salt, sugar and honey, and let your baby explore a wide variety of tastes and textures.
- Start simple: single-ingredient, soft, iron-rich foods.
- Offer vegetables and savoury tastes early, not just sweet fruit.
- Introduce one new food at a time so reactions are easy to spot.
- No added salt or sugar, and no honey before 12 months.
What makes a good first food
The best foods to begin with are soft, easy to swallow or squash, and ideally iron-rich, since iron is the nutrient babies most need as milk alone becomes insufficient around six months. Keep it simple: one ingredient at a time so you can spot any reaction.
Vegetables and savoury tastes first
Offering vegetables and savoury flavours early — not just sweet fruit — may help your baby learn to accept a wider range of foods. Good options include soft-cooked or puréed sweet potato, carrot, butternut squash, broccoli, peas and courgette.
Soft fruit
Ripe banana, avocado, pear, peach and cooked apple are gentle, popular first fruits — as a purée, mashed, or in soft finger-food strips.
Iron-rich foods
- Iron-fortified baby cereal, mixed to a soft consistency.
- Well-cooked, soft meat and poultry (puréed or in soft strips), and flaked fish with bones removed.
- Soft-cooked egg, well-cooked lentils and beans.
Textures over time
Whether you purée or offer finger foods, aim to progress textures over the first weeks and months — from smooth to mashed to soft lumps and finger foods — so your baby learns to chew and manage more. Getting comfortable with lumps by around nine months is often encouraged.
What to avoid
- Added salt and sugar — babies’ kidneys can’t handle much salt, and there’s no need for added sugar.
- Honey before 12 months (risk of infant botulism).
- Whole cow’s milk as a main drink before 12 months (though it can be used in cooking, and full-fat dairy foods like yoghurt are fine from six months).
- Choking hazards — whole grapes, whole nuts, popcorn, hard raw fruit and veg, chunks of meat or cheese.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best first foods for a baby?
Soft, single-ingredient, iron-rich foods u2014 puru00e9ed or soft-cooked vegetables (sweet potato, carrot, broccoli), soft fruit (banana, avocado, pear), iron-fortified cereal, and well-cooked egg, fish or meat.
Should I start with vegetables or fruit?
Offering vegetables and savoury tastes early u2014 alongside fruit u2014 may help your baby accept a wider variety of foods, though thereu2019s no strict rule.
What foods should babies avoid?
Avoid added salt and sugar, honey before 12 months, whole cowu2019s milk as a drink before 12 months, and choking hazards like whole grapes, nuts and popcorn.
Sources
Feeding and safety guidance in this article reflects the recommendations of bodies such as the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the UK’s NHS. It is general information, not medical or dietary advice — always follow the guidance of your own paediatrician, health visitor or a registered dietitian, especially if your baby has allergies, reflux or any health condition.