Be extra cautious preserving your own baby food. 

Want to preserve your own baby food?  High-acid fruits are the only food for which there are home processing recommendations for use as baby food. Unfortunately, there are no recipes for canning pureed or mashed vegetables, meat or poultry.  Should you wish to preserve these products, can them before mashing using standard approved processing procedures, or freeze them. They can then be pureed or mashed at feeding time.

Pureed or mashed fruits for baby may be canned individually or combined. The process is very similar to that for regular fruit purees, although there are some differences (for baby food, follow the canning recipe specific to baby food). 

There are some exceptions as to which fruits may be safely canned as baby food; they are the same as listed in the procedure for processing standard fruit purees. Do not use the following fruits when canning baby food:  bananas, dates, elderberries, figs, Asian pears, tomatoes, melons including cantaloupe, papaya, persimmons, ripe mango, or coconut. 

For further information visit the National Center for Home Food Preservation (NCHFP) or contact your local Cooperative Extension office. 

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Brought to you by the UC Master Food Preservers of El Dorado County

Last updated July 2025