Basic Chicken Puree

The only ingredients you need!

I won't lie, making pureed meat is not my favorite thing to do. I much prefer making fruit purees or cupcakes. Pureeing meat is yucky and messy, but I realize that protein is a necessity of my baby's diet and helps him develop and grow, so i suck it up and make it. I can't wait until the day that little A is OK with shreds or cubes of meat. It is actually really easy, I am just kind of a baby when it comes to meat ;) This is a basic recipe for chicken but it works for turkey as well. Oh, and just a tip - you can blend this for hours and it will NEVER be as smooth as the jarred baby food...which is fine with me because adds a bit of texture to things like sweet potatoes, and since little A loves the taste, it really helped him get past the "smooth puree only" phase.

I use chicken thighs instead of breasts because they are moister, more flavorful and yep, have more calories and fat. I read that poultry thighs have more iron, but breasts have more protein - which I thought was interesting, and since little A is a little low in iron from time to time, that is another reason I chose thighs.  Occasionally, I throw in a chicken breast if I happen to have an extra one in the freezer.

1 - 1 1/2 lbs. of boneless, skinless chicken or turkey thighs 
2-3 cups of low sodium chicken broth - I use organic, but you can use your favorite or home-made if your the "Martha" type ;)


Place the chicken thighs in a large saucepan and pour in enough broth to cover the chicken and turn the heat to high. Bring the broth to a boil and reduce heat to medium low. Cover and let it simmer for 15-20 minutes or until the meat is no longer pink when you shred it with a fork.Take them off the heat and let them cool for 15 minutes.  

Take the chicken out of the pan, reserving the broth. Chop the chicken and put into the food processor. Using a soup ladle, ladle in enough broth to almost cover the chopped chicken. I use a ladle because I like to get has much of the top of the broth as possible (again with the calories!) but, you could also just pour it in. 

Blend the chicken until it reaches your desired consistency - it takes a little longer than fruit or veggies. Spoon into ice cube trays to freeze.

Tip: I hate, hate, hate tossing leftover broth, not only because the organic broth is more expensive but also because I have a lot of recipes that call for a tablespoon or so of broth - no one wants to open a whole carton/can of broth for such a small amount! I always freeze the rest of the broth in an ice cube tray and store them in a freezer bag to use later and to save a little cash.

To make lower cal use unused broth -not the cooking broth - to puree the chopped chicken or use a combination of thighs and breasts.