Easy 9 Month Old Meals

Make it easier to feed your 9 month old meals with this cheat sheet of nutritious ideas. With foods and meals appropriate for 9-12 month old babies, these ideas are yummy, doable, and nutrient-dense for all meals of the day.

Babies start to be able to eat so many more finger foods at the 9 month mark, which continues towards 12 months and after. And it’s normal for them to start eating more solid foods and continue to explore textures. Which means that it’s a great time to start to have more regular meal times, even if you’re still adding meals to the feeding schedule with bottles of formula or breastmilk, or breastfeeding.

The meal ideas here are easy for a 9-12 month old baby to eat, generally speaking, and can be diced, shredded, or mashed for easy eating.

If you’ve done baby-led weaning foods, it’s usually a good time to start introducing smaller pieces of food since babies usually develop the pincer grasp around this age. Which means they can pick up and self-feed small pieces of foods.

I’ve included baby meal ideas for breakfast, snack, lunch, and dinner so you can use the ones that seem best for your family—and baby’s current stage of eating.

(And save these toddler meal ideas for when you need them next!)

9-12 Month Old Breakfast Ideas

Find easy baby breakfast ideas that are either fast to make in the moment or you can make ahead and stash in the fridge until you need them per your menu. Dice the food up small to ensure that it’s easy to eat.

Overnight Oats with Applesauce

Overnight Oats are a perfect breakfast recipe to make ahead. They pack protein, probiotics, vitamin C, fiber, and healthy fats—and all you need to do to make them is to stir the ingredients together and let it hang out in the fridge while you sleep!

Baby Pancakes

Blend up a fruit or veggie with an egg for the fluffiest, easiest, healthy pancakes for kids. These 2-Ingredient Pancakes use one simple method for all 4 flavors and are a perfect baby pancake or toddler pancake.

Cottage Cheese Pancakes

Made with just three simple ingredients, these nutritious Cottage Cheese Pancakes are a healthy breakfast for kids you make in under 10 minutes. They’re loaded with protein and healthy fats—and are also fluffy and delish.

Spinach Eggs

With a heaping pile of spinach and a super simple method, you can make these bright green Spinach Eggs in less than 10 minutes to share with the kids. They’re packed with protein and a great source of iron. And they are just so yummy!

Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal

Made with just a few wholesome ingredients, this Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal cooks up fast and easily—which is exactly what you want in a breakfast! (P.S. I love it just as much as my kids do.)

ABC Baby Muffins

Made with a nutrient-packed ingredient list, these tender Baby Muffins are a perfect first muffin. They are easier to chew than a regular muffin, have three kinds of produce, are added sugar free, and they boast a solid dose of healthy fats—exactly what the littles need!

9-12 Month Old Snack Ideas

Not all 9 month olds are eating three meals and snacks, but you may have moments when you need an in between meal to tide them over. These are some favorite baby snack ideas that you can serve at home, packed for daycare in a container or baby lunchbox, or on the go. Some favorites that don’t need a recipe include:

• Halved blueberries
• Diced strawberries
• Diced very ripe pears
• Diced very ripe avocado
• Peanut butter on toast, diced small and served with a drink
• Halved raspberries
• Baby Puffs
• Whole milk yogurt

Sauteed Apples

Made with just three ingredients (and no added sugar!), these simple Sauteed Apples pair perfectly with oatmeal, pancakes, and yogurt, as well as savory mains like pork and chicken. We also love to make them ahead for snacking on their own!

Applesauce Pouches

I sometimes buy applesauce pouches at the store, but when apples are in season and I can get them for a low price, making them at home is a favorite option. This method, which involves simply simmering diced apples until soft on the stove into homemade applesauce, is fast and delivers consistently great results.

Sugar-Free Banana Muffins

Mix up a batch of these easy-to-make Sugar-Free Banana Muffins to share with your baby or toddler come breakfast or snack time. You don’t need any special ingredients and they are super moist and flavorful. (P.S. There’s a vegan option too!)

Banana Smoothie with Yogurt

We love serving smoothies regularly as an easy kids drink option, and this simple banana smoothie is a forever favorite. Made with just a few nutritious ingredients, this has pure banana flavor and the creamiest texture.

Creamy Hummus with Tahini

With just 5 minutes of your time, you can make homemade hummus from basic ingredients (and without tahini, which I know many people don’t always have on hand!) that’s perfect for dunking crackers or spreading on bread. So easy!

Baby Lunch Ideas

If you have a baby in daycare and need to pack a lunch box, or you want lunch ideas to offer at home, these are some easy ones.

Spinach Pesto Pasta with Peas

Spinach Pesto with pasta is one of the best ways that I’ve found to serve greens to my kids. It’s mild, easy to make, and is a super quick family dinner that’s ready in about 20 minutes! Plus, there are veggies and protein in the mix so you don’t even need any sides.

Pastina Soup

Tiny star pasta soup was one of the staples of my Italian-American childhood, and it’s something my kids adore eating now. The shape of the tiny pasta, or pastina, is so fun, and the rest of the ingredients add plenty of cozy flavor.

Egg and Cheese Mini Muffins

These Mini Egg Muffins with Cheese and Veggies are a go-to for quick and easy toddler breakfasts on busy mornings. These savory muffins are packed with nutritious ingredients and are so quick to bake up—and they work so well to make ahead!

Zucchini Tots

We are always looking for new ways to use up zucchini—from Zucchini Slice, Chocolate Zucchini Muffins, and Freezing Zucchini—and these tots are a new favorite.

They are a fun shape that are easy to dip, they rival any tot you find in the freezer aisle for flavor, and you can enhance them with even more flavor by serving them with any dip you like.

Baked Chicken Meatballs

With just four simple and affordable ingredients, you can make tender Baked Chicken Meatballs to share with the kids. Bonus: You can tuck a veggie into the mix if you want to and they are perfect to batch cook and stash into the freezer!

Quinoa Patties

With just a few ingredients, including quinoa, broccoli, cheese, and eggs, and a super fast method that allows you to make a batch in under 10 minutes, these Quinoa Patties are a favorite meal to share with the kids.

9 Month Old Meals for Dinner

Find easy dinner ideas you can make for baby and also enjoy yourself (or save the leftovers for future meals) with some of our favorites. (As baby gets closer to 1 year old, check out my One Year Old Food section for more ideas.)

Turkey Sweet Potato Meatballs

Paired with sweet potato for extra nutrition and flavor, these meatballs are seriously delicious. They are great served straight out of the oven, simmered in Marinara Sauce, or even paired with a Cheese Sauce. You can even add them to Alphabet Soup or Minestrone to make an easy meatball soup.

Extra-Veggie Baby Pasta

Serve up a filling, yummy baby meal with this easy Baby Pasta. It includes a tomato based sauce with extra veggies and beans blended in for an iron-rich meal perfect for lunch or dinner. Plus: The sauce freezes so well so you can have a stash of future meals ready and waiting!

Slow Cooker Black Bean Soup

Use the crock pot to cook up a hearty and nutritious Slow Cooker Black Bean Soup with veggies and lots of kid-friendly flavor. It’s easy, versatile, and a great freezer meal!

Instant Pot Butter Chicken

Shredded chicken thighs made incredibly tender in a rich tomato sauce with hints of Indian spices…oh yes! This Instant Pot Butter Chicken is an easy family dinner that everyone at the table (babies on up) can enjoy.

Yogurt Chicken

We love Baked Chicken Tenders and Chicken Nuggets, and I wanted to try to have another easy option in the rotation that wasn’t breaded. This version, which uses yogurt and pantry spices to make a quick marinade, is incredibly tender and perfect for shredding. That makes it a great chicken recipe for babies, toddlers, and really anyone who’s interested!

Best Tips for Success

• Find my favorite baby food storage containers to hold leftovers and find tips on freezing baby food.
• Cut food into very small pieces to ensure that it’s easy to eat and help as needed. Check in on the common choking hazards and avoid foods that are very hard, very sticky, or round.
• Remember that appetite may vary from meal to meal and day to day and you can zoom out to look at the variety of food you’re offering over a whole week. Follow baby’s cues for hunger and fullness.
• Avoid honey for babies under age 1 as it’s a risk for infant botulism.
• Continue to introduce potential food allergens (which can help train the immune system and lower the overall risk for food allergies).
• Try to include iron-rich foods regularly in your baby’s meals.
• Add herbs and spices to baby meals to add flavor as you like.

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This post was first published January 2023.