It's not always easy to find recipes that accommodate a baby's intolerances or allergies. There's always some ingredient that poses a problem when preparing meals or snacks for your little one. It's also possible that your baby simply doesn't like a particular food. Discover how to substitute one ingredient for another in recipes!
Photo: © Lune et l'autre
Foods to offer as substitutes for allergens present in a recipe
Even if you introduce allergens to your baby as early as possible, your little one might still be allergic to certain foods. How can you adapt the recipe to accommodate your baby's allergy? Simply by replacing the allergenic ingredient with another!
Let's imagine that the baby is allergic to eggs, an essential ingredient in many recipes for muffins, pancakes, cakes, etc., during BLW Baby Milk Week). It would be a shame not to let them discover these recipes when it's easy to replace the egg with applesauce or a mashed banana.
Onward to alternatives to allergens:
- Gluten : buckwheat flour, chickpea flour, rice flour, coconut flour, chestnut flour, etc.
- Crustaceans : fish, molluscs or transform the recipe into a vegetarian meal.
- The eggs : one mashed banana, 50 grams of applesauce, 30 grams of yogurt, 50 grams of tofu, 3 tbsp of aquafaba, 1 tbsp of flax seeds mixed with 1 tbsp of water.
- Peanuts : roasted sunflower seeds, shredded coconut (for crunch). Sunflower or soy butter and chestnut flour (for flavor).
- Fish : Eggs, molluscs, crustaceans or transform the recipe into a vegetarian meal.
- Milk : infant formula without cow's milk protein, breast milk or plant-based milk enriched with calcium.
- Nuts : sunflower or pumpkin seeds.
- Celery : fennel, cabbage, carrot, cucumber, green pepper, broccoli, chard.
- Sesame : poppy, flax or sunflower seeds.
- Molluscs : crustaceans, fish, or transforming the recipe into a vegetarian meal.
Remember to introduce only one allergen at a time for several consecutive days and to closely monitor your baby's reaction. You can find all the information about allergens in our dedicated article.
This table lists alternatives for the easiest allergens to replace in a recipe. For others, we advise you to consult a doctor.
How to replace foods from the 5 food groups?
During the weaning process, your little one will develop their palate by discovering new flavors every day. Foods from the five food groups will awaken your baby's taste buds at each meal. Day by day, you'll see your little one enjoy their meals as you offer them increasingly balanced plates composed of proteins, starches, fats, products, fruits, and vegetables.
Substituting a fruit in a recipe
Fruits are the easiest foods to substitute in a recipe. They are classified into 6 different categories:
- Stone fruits
- Fruits with seeds
- Red fruits and berries
- Exotic fruits
- Citrus fruits
- Nuts
Within each fruit family, fruits can be substituted for one another in baby food recipes. For example, in the stone fruit family, apricots can be replaced by plums, while in the citrus family, grapefruit can easily replace oranges or clementines.
In recipes, it is not uncommon for applesauce to be replaced by a mashed banana during preparation and vice versa.
Don't forget to always offer your baby recipes prepared with seasonal fruits for more flavor!
Substituting a vegetable in a recipe
Generally speaking, vegetables belonging to the same family can be substituted for one another in a baby food recipe. The different vegetable families are:
- Leafy vegetables: spinach, cabbage, etc.
- Stem vegetables: celery, asparagus, etc.
- Flower vegetables: broccoli, cauliflower, etc.
- Root vegetables: carrots, parsnips, beets, etc.
- Bulb vegetables: fennel, onion, garlic, etc.
- Fruit vegetables: tomato, cucumber, courgette, pepper, etc.
However, vegetables with a similar texture can be substituted in recipes. Here's a short list to help you replace vegetables without any hassle!
- Jerusalem artichokes, sweet potatoes, squash (and the entire pumpkin family): similar texture after cooking, only the taste varies
- Carrots, parsnips, squash, and pumpkin: for cooked dishes, since they have the same texture after cooking
- Carrots and butternut squash: for raw meals
- Leeks, shallots, and onions of all colors
- Asparagus and green beans: they don't taste the same, but it works!
- Fennel and celery: same texture after cooking: half-soft, half-crunchy
- Cauliflower and broccoli
- White cabbage and red cabbage: for a raw or cooked salad, it works very well
- Peppers: the same vegetable with varying degrees of sweetness
- Spinach and Swiss chard: for cooked dishes
- Mushrooms
Replacing a starchy food in a recipe
There is nothing easier than replacing one starchy food with another in a meal.
Indeed, legumes can be perfectly substituted for each other in any recipe. Lentils, chickpeas, white or red beans, etc. The choice is yours.
The same applies to grains. You can replace the pasta in a recipe with rice, quinoa, bulgur, etc. Treat your baby to a starchy food they love!
Different flours can be easily substituted, so feel free to vary them in your recipes. However, one point to keep in mind is the type of flour (T80, T65, T110, etc.). The higher the number, the more fiber the flour contains. When choosing your flour, you may need to add a little water to the mixture to prevent your pastries from becoming too dry.
Substituting a protein in a recipe
Fish and meat
Some meats and fish can have a rather distinctive flavor that not everyone likes. Fortunately, it's easy to replace animal protein in a baby's diet.
Animal proteins are classified according to their "color." These include:
- White meats: chicken, turkey, pork, etc.
- Red meats: beef, duck, mutton, etc.
- Oily fish: salmon, mackerel, etc.
- White fish: cod, monkfish, etc.
Within the different classes, foods can easily be substituted for one another.
It is also possible to remove animal protein from baby's plate in order to offer a vegetarian meal or to replace it with legumes or certain vegetables such as cauliflower.
Remember, before the age of 4, animal proteins should always be well-cooked for babies!
The egg
Eggs are a little different. There are several egg substitutes that can be used in recipes to ensure adequate nutrition. It's important to choose the egg substitute based on the recipe you're preparing.
An egg is also:
- 1 mashed banana: for preparing snacks
- 50g of applesauce: for cake, muffin or pancake recipes
- 30g of yogurt: to replace beaten eggs in a recipe
- 3 tbsp aquafaba (chickpea juice): for recipes requiring whipped egg whites.
- 50g of tofu: for recipes requiring a raising or binding agent
- 1 tbsp of flax seeds mixed with 1 tbsp of water: for recipes requiring a raising agent. This alternative is only suitable for recipes containing a maximum of 1 or 2 eggs.
Egg white can also be replaced by:
- 2 tbsp aquafaba
Psst, legume juice doesn't add any flavor to the dish!
Replacing a fat in a recipe
From the start of BLW , fats such as oils and butter will be part of your baby's meals. To vary the flavors, you can easily switch between different oils, choosing olive, sunflower, coconut, sesame, etc. In some cases, butter and oil can be used interchangeably.
Replacing a dairy product in a recipe
Milk, yogurt, butter, cream, and cheese are all dairy products . How can you replace them in recipes?
Milk , or plant-based milks.
It will be possible to use plant-based milk yogurts without added sugars and enriched with calcium instead of standard plain yogurts.
Depending on the recipe, you can replace butter with vegetable oils or nut purees.
Fresh cream can easily be replaced by plant-based creams made from rice, oats, and coconut, or even by fromage blanc, ricotta, or yogurt. All of these foods have the same qualities as fresh cream.
There are two main types of cheese that can be offered to babies during breast milk feeding BLW : pasteurized cheeses and hard cheeses. Within these two categories, cheeses can easily be substituted. For example, ricotta can replace mozzarella or cream cheese in recipes. But that's not all! In all recipes, the cheese can simply be omitted.
Baby doesn't like cheese at all? It can be replaced with yogurt, milk or even fresh cream.
