My vegetarian sister (and mother of two) convinced me to try tofu with my 8 month old. He seemed to like it. It's easy to pick up in his little fingers and moosh around in his toothless mouth. My problem (and it may only be my problem, not his) is that it is completely devoid of any flavor. My sister would fry it with soy sauce or something but I can't do that for baby. Any suggestions?
Thanks.
My daughter loves raw tofu. I also think it is gross, but she adores it. I tried preparing it once and she hated it.
My daughter loved plain tofu for so long. It was her 1st finger food - she even preferred it to Cheerios. If you want to mix it up a bit there is a great recipe for Tofu Fries in the book - The Petite Appetite. It has some excellent recipes from food introduction to preschool.
you basically slice the tofu into 3 then cut it into fries. make sure you dry the tofu first to remove as much moisture as you can. Put the fries on a bakinsheet lined with parchment paper, sprinkle with salt and pepper then broil until firm and golden - about 15-20 minutes. Don't forget to turn them half way through. Then enjoy - dip if you want to. (Mustard, Ketchup, Soy whatever you like)
Good Luck!
we are a veggie family and prepare this dish weekly.
squeeze excess water from tofu.
cut extra firm tofu into thick sticks and put in loaf pan.
make a marinade of maple syrup and soy sauceand pour over tofu then sprinkle with garlic powder. cover with foil and bake for 30 mins. at 350 degrees. take foil off pan, spray foil with "pam" then plce tofu on foil and put back in oven for another 30 minutes.
this process infuses flavor into the tofu then dries it out so it's not too watery and doesn't fall apart.
Hi K.
I agree with Heidi. Kids palates are pretty simple and if he likes the taste of plain tofu don't mess with it. As he gets older if you want to do something different with it then go ahead but for now if plain is working I say ya-hoo!!!
My kids ate plain tofu for years and never complained. My 5 year old still will eat plain tofu straight from the package, so I wouldn't worry about taste. You can however, mix it with spinach and butternut squash to make a patty you can crisp up in a frying pan with some a little oil. My kids and my friends kids love that. In fact, when we make them for parties, the adults eat them too. You can play with the mix, but I think it's one block of tofu, 1 block of frozen butternut squash and 1 block of frozen spinach. Mix together or use a food processor and then make little patties. We usually make them on about 1/4 inch thick.
Baked tofu is great! My 14 month old LOVES it and has been eating it since about 10 months. You can cut it up in strips and give it to him as finger food. Try searching for recipes online!
My son loves it rolled in crushed up cheerios. The cheerio dust also makes it a little less slippery.
Good question, I'd like to know as well!
If he likes it don't worry about it. You could soak it in fruit juice for a few minutes if he gets bored with it.
Hi- I stir fried tofu with butter,olive oil and a little low sodium soy sauce (you can use Braggs if you prefer) for my son. Ginger is also nice (very little of course). Anything goes with tofu. Good Luck-
I cut a slab, warm it quickly in the microwave, and then spread it with a little bit of ketchup and then cut it into cubes. My daughter loves that much better than plain. I find that you can easily freeze slabs of tofu too in a freezer bag (lie it flat with the pieces not touching). Then you can grab a slab at a time and just thaw in the microwave.
When my son was about that age, I used to cut up some carrots and saute them in some olive oil with the tofu (sometimes with a very little bit of thyme or sage), then puree everything in a blender. He loved it.
I think tofu has a special flavor and if your son likes it, I wouldn't mess with it.
If he gets tired of it, you could serve it with some mushed up vegetables to give it a bit of flavor.
For your 8 month old, you don't need to flavor it, as he's still learning about textures and feeding and all of that cool stuff. :) When he starts eating more adventurous food, you can start experimenting with the Tofu. I gave my daughter plain, extra-firm tofu chunks when she was your son's age, and she LOVED it...she STILL loves it - both plain, or flavored. We like to marinate slices of Firm tofu in Italian dressing, then bake it - my daughter, who is now 7, will eat that as fast as it comes out of the oven, and has since she was about 3 or 4.
Good Luck!!
