Spinach for Babies: When to Start and How to Serve It by Age

• From around 6 months
• Not a common allergen
• Cook and chop finely

Spinach can be offered from around 6 months, once your baby has started solids. Whole leaves, raw or cooked, can stick to the roof of the mouth and are hard to manage, so cook spinach and chop it finely or blend it. It works best mixed into foods your baby can hold, like omelette fingers or pancakes, or stirred into mash, pasta and lentils.

📲 43 Bibful recipes with spinach

How to serve it by age

1. 6–8 months

   ✋ Finger food (BLW)

   Soft omelette or pancake fingers with finely chopped cooked spinach mixed in.

   🥣 Purée or spoon

   Blend cooked spinach into potato, lentils or sweet potato.

3. 9–12 months

   ✋ Finger food (BLW)

   Pieces of spinach omelette, or small soft spinach pancakes.

   🥣 Purée or spoon

   Stir finely chopped cooked spinach into pasta, rice or scrambled egg.

5. 12+ months

   ✋ Finger food (BLW)

   Spinach muffins, fritters or pancakes, and finely chopped leaves in family meals.

   🥣 Purée or spoon

   Spinach in pasta sauces, dhal, curries and soups.

Have spinach at home? See what you can cook

Add a second ingredient to see matching Bibful recipes.

✓ 🥬 Spinach+ 🥚 Egg+ 🥔 Potato+ 🍝 Pasta+ 🧀 Cheese+ 🫘 Lentils

43 Bibful recipes with spinach

• 
  Pea & Spinach Purée7 min · from 6 months
• 
  Spinach & Cheese Scrambled Eggs8 min · from 6 months
• 
  Butter Bean & Spinach Mash10 min · from 6 months

See the recipes in Bibful

Free to start, with 50+ recipes free · iPhone & Android · no account needed

Preparation tips

• Chop it finely. Whole leaves can stick to the roof of the mouth; chop or blend cooked spinach.
• Frozen is handy. Frozen chopped spinach is ready to stir into meals a little at a time.
• Pair it with vitamin C. Spinach has some iron; serving it with tomato, pepper or fruit helps your baby absorb it.

• Choking vs gagging
• How to introduce a new food

Frequently asked questions

When can babies eat spinach?

From around 6 months, once your baby has started solids, cooked and finely chopped or blended.

Can babies eat raw spinach leaves?

Whole raw leaves are hard to manage and can stick to the roof of the mouth. Cook spinach and chop it finely for babies.

Is spinach a good source of iron?

It contains some iron, but your baby absorbs more from meat, fish, eggs and pulses. Serving spinach with a food rich in vitamin C helps.

More first foods

• 🍎 Apple
• 🥑 Avocado
• 🍌 Banana
• 🥩 Beef
• 🫐 Blueberries
• 🍞 Bread
• 🥦 Broccoli
• 🎃 Butternut squash
• 🥕 Carrot
• 🥦 Cauliflower
• 🌿 Celery
• 🧀 Cheese
• 🍗 Chicken
• 🫘 Chickpeas
• 🥥 Coconut
• 🥒 Courgette
• 🥚 Egg
• 🫛 Green beans
• 🍖 Lamb
• 🫘 Lentils
• 🥭 Mango
• 🥛 Cow’s milk
• 🥣 Oats
• 🍝 Pasta
• 🥜 Peanut
• 🍐 Pear
• 🫛 Peas
• 🥔 Potato
• 🦐 Prawns
• 🫑 Red pepper
• 🍚 Rice
• 🐟 Salmon
• 🍓 Strawberries
• 🍠 Sweet potato
• 🥄 Tahini
• Tofu
• 🍅 Tomato
• 🌰 Walnut
• 🥛 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.