Baby Beef Burgers - 3 Recipes

Flavourful and moist burger recipes designed with your baby's nutritional needs in mind.

This post was written in paid partnership with ThinkBeef.ca. As always, all opinions are our own.

Ah, it's here. If you live in the northern part of the world like us, you are likely excited and getting ready to gear up for barbeque season! In our neck of the woods, we wait nearly eight months for temperatures to rise so we can get grilling! 

Since we're always big fans of family meals and even bigger proponents that parents serve their baby modified versions of what they are eating, you better believe you can have your baby at the BBQ this summer!

In this post, we're talking alllllll about hamburgers and leaving you equipped with unique recipes that you can serve up your baby, and your family at the same time. 

Nutritional benefits of burgers for babies

What's great about burgers is that the recipes typically call for ground beef and there are two major things we love about ground beef:

1. Ground beef lends itself well to baby feeding because it's a safe texture to offer your baby when moulded into the correct shape.
   
2. Ground beef is a rich source of nutrients such as protein, B vitamins and minerals such as iron and zinc! Since your baby is growing exponentially, these nutrients are all critical for their development. Learn more about why iron matters for kids as they grow.

For another baby iron-rich recipe your whole family can enjoy, try our One Pot Sofrito Beef, Beans and Rice recipe.

Baby Led Weaning Burgers: how to serve them safely

You might be wondering.. "is it safe to serve my baby food that has been cooked on a BBQ?" Without getting too technical and scienc-y, the answer is that you CAN absolutely serve your baby foods prepared on the BBQ and this extends to vegetables too such as grilled zucchini or corn. 

Some parents fear that unsafe chemicals are produced during the bbq process and while there is a complex series of reactions that does take place and COULD pose a risk, the risk is small especially if you're only BBQing a few times per week. 

The short story is that when you're bbq'ing and fat from the meat drips onto an open flame, it can result in more flames and smoke. Then, compounds created from the flame and smoke can in essence "stick" to the meat. 

Similar to other cases when it comes to parenting, we want to weigh the risk vs benefit. Your baby is likely not consuming bbq multiples times daily and eating a large enough volume to impose any risk at all. Instead, your baby will get an opportunity to appreciate a new smoky profile and also participate in family meals which we know come with a number of benefits. 

Apart from this, we want you to ensure you are cooking your meat to a safe temperature and using safe food handling practices to avoid cross contamination like in other cooking methods. 

Use a digital instant-read thermometer inserted sideways into the beef burger - it needs to read at least 160°F/71°C

Recipes and Inspiration

In partnership with Canada Beef, we are going to teach you how to modify two recipes you can find in their inventory. And, we've crafted a baby prune burger recipe that is 100% baby friendly!

1. Spiced Prune Beef Burger for Baby

Yes, yes, you read that right. We found a magical way to combine prune purée, prunes, and beef to create a fun little burger for your little eater.

All of the ingredients work together to yield a soft, moist, and slightly sweet burger that will also give your baby some digestive loving. You are welcome to cook these in advance and freeze them for your baby. Trust us, you'll thank your future-self for doing that! All you will need to do is thaw it in the fridge, reheat, and serve it to your baby when you're in a pinch for meals. Take it from two moms; we know that time is of the essence!

Key Ingredients

Ground Beef: you can use any type of ground beef: extra-lean, lean, medium, or regular (in the USA this is 90%, 83%, 77%, or 70%). However, babies need to consume adequate fat for their growth and development so we would encourage you to use regular (70%) if possible.

Hemp Hearts: we included hemp hearts for a hit of fibre and some omega 3 fatty acids. But if you don't have these available, you can skip them.

Prune Purée: feel free to substitute applesauce or any other fruit-based baby food pouch!

How to make this baby prune burger recipe

The full step-by-step is below, but here are a few steps to help you visualize how to make these prune burgers for your baby.

Combine the oats, hemp hearts (optional), prune purée, chopped pitted prunes, garlic , cinnamon, ginger, ground cloves, and dash of cayenne to a bowl and combine.

Gently mix in the ground beef, being careful not to overmix.

Gently from into small patties or kebab shapes for your baby.

The kebab form makes it easier for your baby to grasp and bring to her mouth.

2. Blended Sliders

This recipe incorporates two types of protein: beef and black beans for a really simple and fibre filled burger. We opted to remove the breadcrumbs to keep it moist and keep the sodium content low.

To make these baby friendly, follow the instructions for the blended sliders, omitting the salt and bread crumbs. Form into small logs or smaller burgers.

You can form a few for your baby and then add salt to make the rest for yourself!

3. Kofta Burgers

This is a really neat and flavourful recipe that includes warm spices like cumin and cinnamon. It's also paired beautifully with a fun tzatziki dip that includes white beans! High fives for bonus iron and fibre from the beans!

To make these beef koftas baby friendly, omit the chili powder and salt from the koftas. When making the tzatziki, omit the salt. Again, you can form a few into logs or mini burgers for your baby and then add seasonings to the remaining mixture to make burgers for yourself!