Apple for Babies: How to Serve It Safely by Age

• From around 6 months
• Not a common allergen
• Raw apple: cook or grate

Apple can be a first food from around 6 months, but raw apple is hard and is a choking risk for babies. Cook it until soft, or grate it finely. Hard pieces of raw apple are not suitable for babies.

📲 36 Bibful recipes with apple

How to serve it by age

1. 6–8 months

   ✋ Finger food (BLW)

   Offer soft cooked wedges of peeled apple that squash easily between your fingers.

   🥣 Purée or spoon

   Cook peeled apple until soft and purée or mash it. Stir it into porridge or yoghurt.

3. 9–12 months

   ✋ Finger food (BLW)

   Offer finely grated raw apple, or small soft cooked pieces.

   🥣 Purée or spoon

   Mash cooked apple roughly, or stir finely grated raw apple into porridge or yoghurt.

5. 12+ months

   ✋ Finger food (BLW)

   Soft cooked slices of peeled apple, or grated raw apple. Keep cooking or grating it while your child is still learning to chew.

   🥣 Purée or spoon

   Mix grated apple into oats, yoghurt or baking.

Have apple at home? See what you can cook

Add a second ingredient to see matching Bibful recipes.

✓ 🍎 Apple+ 🌾 Oats+ 🥛 Yogurt+ 🍐 Pear+ 🍠 Sweet Potato+ 🥕 Carrot

36 Bibful recipes with apple

• 
  Pumpkin Seed Butter & Apple3 min · from 6 months
• 
  Apple Butter Grilled Cheese13 min · from 6 months
• 
  Apple, Cinnamon & Walnut Muhallebi13 min · from 6 months

See the recipes in Bibful

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Preparation tips

• Hard raw fruit: cook or grate. Raw apple pieces are a choking risk. Cook apple until soft or grate it finely.
• The squash test. A cooked piece of apple is ready when it squashes easily between your thumb and finger.
• Stay close. Always sit your baby upright and stay with them while they eat.

• Choking vs. gagging
• Foods to avoid before 12 months

Frequently asked questions

Can babies eat raw apple?

Not in pieces: raw apple is hard and is a choking risk. Grate it finely, or cook it until soft.

When can babies eat apple?

From around 6 months, cooked until soft or finely grated.

More first foods

• 🥑 Avocado
• 🍌 Banana
• 🥩 Beef
• 🫐 Blueberries
• 🍞 Bread
• 🥦 Broccoli
• 🎃 Butternut squash
• 🥕 Carrot
• 🍗 Chicken
• 🥚 Egg
• 🫛 Green beans
• 🫘 Lentils
• 🥣 Oats
• 🥜 Peanut
• 🍐 Pear
• 🐟 Salmon
• 🍓 Strawberries
• 🍠 Sweet potato
• 🥛 Yogurt

This page is general information, not medical advice. It follows NHS Start for Life and World Health Organization guidance on introducing solid foods. Always stay with your baby while they eat, and speak to your health visitor or GP if you have concerns about feeding, allergies or choking.