Tips and tricks from Dietitians for how to feed your baby a cozy bowl of soup!
What do you think of when you hear the term ‘picky eater’?
Did a picture of a kid turning their nose up at the broccoli on their plate come to mind?
That’s the classic stereotype, and boy did I (Jessica) fit into that stereotype as a kid! Let’s just say I didn’t make friends with many vegetables.
But, as an adult who wanted to eat healthier, I decided to try to find a way to genuinely enjoy consuming vegetables.
That’s when I discovered how delicious a veggie-filled soup can be!
It’s amazing how the bitterness of veggies can seemingly melt away after it simmers in a pot with herbs, spices, and other seasonings.
I knew that when I had kids, I wasn’t going to try and get them to eat boring blanched broccoli. I would try to use the power of the soup!
So naturally, as soon as my babies were old enough to start solids, I started them on soups!
Below you’ll find our collective tips and tricks for exactly how to serve soup to your little eater. Enjoy slurping with your baby!
Why do we love soups for baby?
Soup is one of those foods that often gets overlooked for babies, but it’s actually a fantastic option for so many reasons! For one, it’s a special way to introduce your little one to family foods and cultural traditions. Nita’s baby’s very first food was daal, a traditional Indian lentil soup that holds a special place in her heart.
Soups are also a veggie powerhouse! Most recipes are packed with nutrient-rich vegetables, giving babies a delicious and easy way to enjoy a variety of flavours and textures.
Plus, soup can help babies build key feeding skills. When offered in an open cup, it encourages them to practice sipping—a skill that sets the foundation for independent drinking and even spoon feeding.
For older babies and toddlers, scooping soup with a spoon helps fine-tune their motor skills while introducing a fun (and sometimes messy!) eating experience.
Suggested recipe: Baby’s First Daal
When can I start giving my baby soup?
Once your baby turns six months old, you can start to offer them soup! Read on for choosing a soup, and how to offer it safely.
Choosing a soup for your baby
Now that you’re all set and excited to offer your baby soup…which one will you choose?
Let’s make that easy on you with a few helpful tips:
- Avoid canned soups when possible because they tend be very high in salt–something we don’t want babies to consume too much of while their kidneys are still developing
- Keeping this in mind, if you’re preparing a large batch for the entire family, hold off on adding salt to the soup. First, remove a portion for your baby in a separate pot or container, then salt the family meal as you wish!
- When you’re scouring personal soup recipes for your baby, look at the ingredient list carefully. Are there any allergens? If so, just be mindful of that!
- Whenever possible, make iron a priority! Iron is a really important nutrient that babies need for optimal growth and development, so much so, we’ve dedicated an entire lesson to the topic in our e-course, Start Solids Confidently. This is to ensure parents end up confidently knowing which foods contain iron and how to safely offer them.
- If you want to offer your baby some broth to drink, consider it part of their water allotment for the day. So that babies tummies don’t fill up on water (which doesn’t have any calories), and still have an appetite for breastmilk or formula, it’s important to keep the water they drink to 2-4oz (60 ml to 120 ml) per day while they’re between six and twelve months of age.
Suggested reading: Is Salt Bad for Babies?
How to serve your baby soup - step by step
How you serve soup to your baby will depend on the type of soup and the age of your baby! Let’s break it down.
First – regardless of the type of soup, you’ll want to allow it to cool down to a safe temperature. Babies are more sensitive to temperature so you’ll want to ensure it’s just warm, not hot. Think Goldilocks!
Puréed Soups
Puréed soups are basically “baby food” that we continue to eat as adults, amiright? Since as humans, we continue to eat puréed food our whole lives, we sometimes chuckle when we see posts that promote getting your baby off purées. There’s no need to get them off purées – it’s all about adding in more textures! Okay – side rant over.
- Some soups are designed to be a smooth purée (think of the classic tomato soup or broccoli cheddar!), but you can also turn a chunky soup into a purée by using a blender. When my kids were babies, I liked using an immersion blender because I could scoop a small amount into a mug and blend it for my baby. But a stand blender will work well, too. You just may need to blend a slightly larger amount.
- If the soup is too thin, you can add some iron fortified infant cereal. Not only will it thicken it up – your baby will get a boost of much needed iron too!
- You can either spoon feed your baby or allow them to self-feed. An older baby (10 months +) likely has the motor skills developed to dip the spoon in a vertical motion but a younger baby will need you to pre-load it and hand the spoon to them.
- Alternatively, you can spoon some in a refillable squeeze pouch such as the Squeasy Snacker (Canadian link/USA link)
- Another idea is to allow your baby to practice drinking from an open cup! We love the EZPZ tiny cup for babies (Canadian link/USA link). Use the code HHE10 for an exclusive 10% discount.
Tip: freeze some soup in an ice cube tray to reheat for your baby another day.
Mixed Consistency
These are the soups that have a broth with pieces of food floating around. Although, that description doesn’t sound very appetizing, does it?! Anyhow- you get the picture! Think chunks of meat, potatoes, veggies, or pieces of pasta.
As a baby is learning to eat, it’s best to avoid serving mixed textures.
- To serve chunky soups to your baby, you can pull out pieces like green beans, potatoes, pasta, chicken, etc. and place them on a separate plate or a clean high chair tray.
- For a beginner eater, you’ll want to give larger pieces. As your baby gets older and develops their pincer grasp, you can offer smaller pieces.
- Alternatively, you can also put some in a blender and make it smooth!
You may be interested in: How to encourage the pincer grasp
Our Favourite Baby Soup Recipes!
Here are some of the soups that we either loved serving to our babies or that we think would work well! You may need to use a bit of critical thinking to adapt them to be baby-friendly. But, don’t worry – we’ve got you covered with our six step protocol to take ANY recipe and make it safe and nutritious for your baby to enjoy with you!
This soup is lovingly called ‘peanut butter soup’ by Jessica’s kids. For more of an iron + fibre boost, you can blend in a can of chickpeas or lentils.
This was the first food Nita fed both of her boys. It’s made by cooking together two different types of lentils along with traditional Indian spices.
While Jessica’s kids generally need a lot of repetition before they learn to like new foods, this soup is a favourite. It must be the Mennonite blood flowing through their veins! Choose chicken thighs to double the iron content for your baby.
This traditional Mexican lentil soup has a short ingredient list + you can make it in the instant pot! To add flavour to suit your palate, you can add a squeeze of fresh lime juice, some chili powder, or a splash of hot sauce.
As comforting as the canned stuff you grew up on but (IMHO) tastier and with a nutrition boost from the beans!
This is such a comforting soup, and we know because as we write this we’re in the middle of a cold winter spell. Nita recently made a batch of this soup, and it was delicious! We recommend using chicken thighs or drumsticks since they contain more iron than chicken breast.
There you have it!
Everything you need to know about offering your baby soup!
Like we’ve highlighted, soup is more than just a meal—it’s a way to share family traditions, pack in plenty of veggies, offer your baby nutrients they need, and support your baby’s developmental milestones. We hope you feel inspired to grab your favourite recipe, and make memories sharing it with your baby.
