6 Month Old Baby Food Charts (With Recipes)

According to WHO and UNICEF, you should:

• Exclusively breastfeed your baby for the first 6 months (0 to 6 months).

• At 6 months, introduce your baby to healthy, nutritious, and safe solid foods that complement breast milk. This should be done along with continued breastfeeding for up to 2 years or beyond.

While in the first 6 months, feeding your baby breast milk or formula milk is essential to meet the nutritional requirements and build immunity, after 6 months, you need to introduce your baby to solid foods that complement breastfeeding or formula-feeding. At 6 months, your baby develops digestive enzymes necessary to digest simple foods and requires more than breast milk/formula milk to meet his/her growing energy and nutritional needs.

With the below information, we intend to help you better manage this new phase in your baby’s life. The 6-month-old baby food charts with time, baby food recipes, and tips for introducing solid foods into your baby’s diet are meant as guidelines that can be customized according to you and your baby’s preferences and requirements.

Nutritional needs of your 6-month-old baby

A balanced, nutritious diet is essential for your baby’s all-around growth and development. You should try and include the following nutrients in your baby’s food:

Foods that you can add to your 6-month-old baby’s diet

At 6 months, your baby is ready to start eating solid food along with breast milk/formula milk. But since your baby will be consuming solid food for the first time, it helps to pick ingredients that are:

• Healthy and nutritious

• Safe and non-allergic

• Easily digestible

Some healthy and safe food items that you can include in your 6-month-old baby’s diet:

Apart from these, you can also give your child fortified infant cereals as they contain the necessary nutrients required by your baby.

5 healthy baby food recipes for your 6-month-old

Baby food recipes for 6-month-olds can be categorized into the following:

• Fruit purée

• Vegetable purée

• Lentil soup

• Cereal porridge

• Vegetable soup

Here are 5 healthy baby food recipes from each category that you can easily make at home for your 6-month-old:

1. Apple purée recipe

This is a type of fruit purée. In fruit-based baby food recipes, fruits should be steamed, mashed, or puréed before being served.

Equipment:

• Sterilized utensils. You can use a sterilizer or boil the utensils in hot water to sterilize them.

Ingredients:

• ½ red apple

• A pinch of cinnamon (optional; avoid if feeding your baby apple for the first time)

• Water/Breast milk/Baby food formula for thinning (optional)

Steps:

1. Pick a fresh red apple. Wash it thoroughly with water.

2. Peel the apple skin. Remove the apple core and seeds.

3. Roughly chop half of the apple.

4. Cook the chopped apple using:

Pressure cooker: 

Take the chopped apple to a bowl. Add a pinch of cinnamon to it (optional). 

Fill a pressure cooker with some water (below the level of the bowl).

Place the bowl inside the pressure cooker and cook the apple chunks for 4 to 5 whistles. 

Let the steam release, then remove the bowl.

Thick-bottomed pan: 

Take the chopped apple to a bowl. Add a pinch of cinnamon to it (optional). 

Fill a thick-bottomed pan with some water (below the level of the bowl). 

Place the bowl in the pan, cover the pan, and cook the apple chunks till soft and mashable.

Steamer

​​​​Steam the chopped apple (with a pinch of cinnamon optionally) in a steamer. This method helps preserve most of the fruit’s nutrients.

5. Mash the cooked apple with a spoon or a masher or blend it with a blender.

6. Add a little water, breast milk, or formula if you want to thin the apple purée.

7. Transfer the purée to a sterile feeding bowl and serve.

2. Carrot purée recipe

This baby food for a 6-month-old is a type of vegetable purée. Vegetables such as carrots, which are soft in consistency and sweet to taste, should be steamed and served as finger foods or purée.

Equipment:

• Sterilized utensils. You can use a sterilizer or boil the utensils in hot water to sterilize them.

Ingredients:

1 medium-sized carrot

Water/Breast milk/Baby food formula for thinning (optional)

Steps:

1. Pick a fresh carrot. Wash it thoroughly with water.

2. Peel the carrot’s skin and chop it into small cubes.

3. Cook the carrot cubes using:

Pressure cooker: 

Take the chopped carrot into a bowl. 

Fill a pressure cooker with some water (below the level of the bowl).

Place the bowl inside the pressure cooker and cook the carrot cubes for 2 whistles. 

Let the steam release, then remove the bowl.

Thick-bottomed pan: 

Take the carrot cubes into a bowl. 

Fill a thick-bottomed pan with some water (below the level of the bowl). 

Place the bowl in the pan, cover the pan, and cook the carrot cubes till soft and mashable.

Steamer

Steam the chopped carrot in a steamer. This helps preserve most of the vegetable’s nutrients.

4. Mash the cooked carrot with a spoon or a masher or blend it with a blender.

5. Add a little water, breast milk, or formula if you want to thin the carrot purée.

6. Transfer the purée to a sterile feeding bowl and serve.

3. Yellow moong dal soup recipe

This is a type of lentil soup. To prepare such 6-month-old baby food recipes, pick the easily digestible lentils and boil them in water. The soup so prepared can be safely given to your 6-month-old baby.

Equipment:

• Sterilized utensils. You can use a sterilizer or boil the utensils in hot water to sterilize them.

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp yellow moong dal

• ½ garlic clove, grated (optional)

• A pinch of turmeric (optional)

• 8 tbsps water (four times the amount of dal)

Note: Avoid adding optional ingredients if you’re feeding yellow lentils to your baby for the first time.

Steps:

1. Soak the moong dal for 15 minutes. Wash it thoroughly in running water.

2. Add water to the soaked dal in a small pot or saucepan. Add the optional ingredients, grated garlic, and turmeric, at this stage. 

3. Cook on high heat with or without a lid. Bring to a boil first, and then lower the heat to low-medium. Cook till the dal is soft and mashable. 

4. Mash the cooked lentil with a spoon or masher.

5. Serve the soup with a spoonful of the mashed dal in a sterile feeding bowl.

4. Rice porridge recipe

This is a type of cereal porridge that can be made with both broken or powdered rice. Such single-grain porridges are rich in carbohydrates and vitamins and make for perfect baby food recipes for your 6-month-old.

Equipment:

• Sterilized utensils. You can use a sterilizer or boil the utensils in hot water to sterilize them.

Ingredients:

• ½ cup of water

• 2 tbsp rice powder/flour

• Breast milk/Baby food formula for thinning (optional)

Steps:

1. Boil the water in a pot.

2. Add the rice powder and stir continuously to avoid the formation of lumps.

3. Keep stirring till the porridge becomes thick and creamy. 

4. Add a little breast milk or formula if you want to thin the rice porridge.

5. Transfer the porridge to a sterile feeding bowl and serve.

5. Spinach soup recipe

This baby food is a type of vegetable soup. Start off with simple single-vegetable soups. After learning how your 6-month-old baby responds to different vegetables, you can boil a mix of these vegetables together to create different vegetable soups. 

Equipment:

• Sterilized utensils. You can use a sterilizer or boil the utensils in hot water to sterilize them.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup chopped spinach leaves

• A handful of boiled potato pieces (optional)

• Water/Breast milk/Baby food formula for thinning (optional)

Steps:

1. Boil and cool the spinach leaves.

2. Purée the cooled leaves in a blender.

3. Mash in some boiled potato pieces (optional).

4. Add a little water, breast milk, or formula if you want to thin the spinach soup.

5. Transfer the soup to a sterile feeding bowl and serve.

Indian baby food charts for your 6-month-old

While you should continue to breastfeed or formula-feed your baby at 6 months, you can introduce solid food into his/her diet at this stage. Follow the 3-day rule. Start with just one fruit, vegetable, or grain, and feed it to your baby for breakfast or lunch for at least 3 days. If your baby doesn’t show any allergic reaction, then you can continue feeding that ingredient. You can also introduce other foods along with it your weekly meal plans. 

To help you better understand and effectively plan your 6-month-old baby’s meals, we have provided below sample baby food charts with time for the entire month. These guides are specially designed for Indian parents but can be customized according to your baby’s comfort and routine.

Disclaimer: Exclusive Breastfeeding is best for babies for the first 6 months. Breast milk provides the ideal balanced nutrition and protection. However there maybe individual instances where introducing first foods maybe required depending on the child's needs and issues related to mother's milk supply. Please consult a pediatrician to make a more informed choice.