Deciding how to offer meat to our babies can be a difficult one. I’ve been playing with the idea of ground meat (savoury mince on a preloaded spoon, perhaps?), a tender beef stew or a slow-cooked leg of lamb. I ended up deciding to use ground beef to make mini spinach beef burgers as I felt that ground meat would be easier for babies to physically handle and, in the form of a burger, easier for them to hold and self-feed. Meat, particularly red meat, is an important consideration when starting solids as it provides a highly absorbable form of iron and is also an important source of zinc and Vitamin B12.
Mini Spinach Beef Burgers
For this recipe, I used ground beef to make mini spinach beef burgers as I felt that it would be easier for babies to handle.
Ingredients
1 pound ground beef (minced beef) - lean
1 medium carrot
3 ½ cups spinach
1 medium egg - lightly beaten
1 cup breadcrumbs - fresh
½ teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon tomato paste
Instructions
- Steam spinach either in the microwave with a little water or in a steamer for 5 minutes. When spinach is cool enough to handle, squeeze spinach from excess water and blend in a food processor until smooth. Place in a mixing bowl.
- Place carrot in the same food processor and whizz until finely chopped. Place in a bowl with spinach.
- Add mince to spinach and carrots and add egg, breadcrumbs, garlic powder and tomato paste.
- Mix ingredients thoroughly and form into ‘burgers’ using 2-3 tablespoons of mince mixture for each burger.
- Cook burgers on a lightly oiled grill pan (or fry pan) over medium to high heat for 5-6 minutes on each side or until cooked through.
- Cool before offering as finger food for baby (or toddler).
- It makes 6 adult size burgers and 6 baby size burgers (or lots of mini burgers).
Nutrition
Calories: 226kcalCarbohydrates: 15gProtein: 19gFat: 9gSaturated Fat: 4gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0.5gCholesterol: 76mgSodium: 234mgPotassium: 448mgFiber: 2gSugar: 2gVitamin A: 3420IUVitamin C: 6mgCalcium: 68mgIron: 3mg
How did this recipe turn out for you?We’re eager to hear your thoughts!
