Baby Weaning Recipes: Dips And Dippers

Making tasty dips is a great way to get vegetables into babies and toddlers. They can chew safely on buttered toast fingers or soft oven-roasted veggies and explore new flavours, and they're so delicious you could serve them at a drinks party for grown ups too!

You will need:

2 handfuls frozen peas

200g cream cheese

Handful of mint, chopped

Squeeze of lemon juice

What to do:

1. Cook the peas for a few minutes in a pan of boiling water, drain and allow to cool.

2. Place all the ingredients in a blender and blitz until smooth.

You will need:

300g butternut squash, peeled and chopped

1 tsp dried sage

1 tbsp olive oil

4 tbsp creme fraiche

What to do:

1.Pre heat the oven to 200C/180C fan. Scatter the chunks of butternut squash into a baking dish and scatter with the dried sage, then drizzle with olive oil. Roast for approx 30 minutes until golden and soft. Allow to cool.

2. Pop the roasted squash into a blender with the creme fraiche and blend until smooth.

You will need:

Handful of mint leaves

10cm cucumber

150g natural yoghurt

What to do:

You can either combine the ingredients in the blender for a totally smooth finish, or if your child can cope with lumps, grate the cucumber, chop the mint and then stir into the yoghurt.

Making a batch of roasted vegetables, like sweet potatoes drizzled with a little olive oil and rosemary are soft and tasty so ideal for little people, but also great for the whole family.

You will need:

1 sweet potato

1 tbsp olive oil

1 sprig of rosemary, leaves picked or 1 tsp dried rosemary

What to do:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200C/180C fan. Peel the sweet potato and cut into chunky chip sized pieces.

2. Scatter them across a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and honey, then sprinkle over the rosemary. Roast for approx 30 minutes until they're crisping at the edges and soft in the middle. Allow to cool a bit and then serve with dips.

Perfect for toddlers, strips of courgettes coated in breadcrumbs and oven baked are easy to get hold of and begging to be dipped!

You will need:

2 slices bread

1 lemon, zest only

Olive oil, drizzle

1 large courgette

1 egg, beaten

A few spoonfuls of flour

What to do:

1.Pre-heat the oven to 200C/180C fan, and line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper.

2.Pop the bread into a blender with the lemon zest and a drizzle of oilve oil then blitz to make fine breadcrumbs. Spread out on to a plate.

3.Put the beaten egg into a shallow bowl, and the flour on another plate.

4.Cut the courgettes into batons, and then lightly coat in flour, followed by egg, then roll in the breadcrumbs until evenly coated. Use tongs if you don't fancy getting all mucky, or have a bowl of warm water on hand to rinse your hands in every now and again.

5.Lay on the prepared baking sheet and repeat until all fingers are coated.

6. Bake in the oven for 18 minutes until golden, allow to cool sufficiently then serve with dips.

More on Parentdish: Our baby weaning guide

For more information about weaning, including what foods to give your child and when, check out the NHS guide.