Tuna Pasta For Babies
This delicious tuna pasta for babies is a great way to offer your little one fish, which is essential for healthy brain and eye development.
It also makes an easy ‘pantry meal’ when you don’t have much to work with!
Fish is full of essential nutrients for babies such as omega-3 fatty acids, protein and iodine. These nutrients all play a crucial role in healthy growth and development in babies.
Along with the goodness of fish, this tuna pasta for babies provides other nutritious ingredients such as milk, peas and corn and makes a filling, balanced and nutritious meal.
It also offers a gentle transition from purees to chunky textures.
Fish and Allergies
Fish is one of the 9 common allergy-causing foods, so it should be introduced to your baby between the ages of 6 and 12 months.
This recipe also includes two other common allergy-causing foods, milk and wheat.
These allergens should be introduced separately first so that any reactions are easier to identify.
For more information on introducing allergens to your baby, check out my Ultimate Guide To Introducing Allergens.
Is Canned Tuna Safe For Babies?
Aside from allergies, another thing to keep in mind when feeding babies fish is mercury exposure, which can be harmful to developing nervous systems.
All fish contain some mercury, but the amount varies a lot between different species of fish.
Fresh tuna contains moderate levels of mercury, but canned tuna typically has lower mercury levels because the types of tuna used for canning are smaller species, which are naturally lower in mercury.
On top of that, different types of tuna have different mercury levels. Skipjack tuna has been found to be the lowest in mercury.
Food Standards Australia and New Zealand state that canned tuna is safe for everyone to consume 2-3 times per week, including babies and young children.
Tuna Pasta For Babies - Recipe
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cooking Time: 10 minutes
Serves: 2-4 (makes about 3 1/2 cups)
Suitable for freezing
Suitable from 6 months (once wheat, fish and cow’s milk have been introduced separately)
Ingredients
1/2 cup risoni (rice shaped pasta), or other small pasta
50g unsalted butter
1/3 cup flour
1 3/4 cups milk
185g tin tuna in oil or water, drained (preferably skipjack tuna)
1 cup tinned or fresh sweet corn
1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed
Method
1. Fill a medium saucepan with boiling water and place over high heat. Once boiling, add risoni and boil for 8 minutes or until soft
2. Meanwhile, melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir through flour and cook, stirring, for 1 minute
3. Add 1/3 of the milk and whisk until smooth. Add remaining milk and whisk until thickened (this will take around 2-3 minutes)
4. Stir through tuna, corn, and peas
5. Drain risoni and stir through. Blend if required
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