Butternut Squash Baby Food Survival Guide

Put the dull paring knife down, honey. Just lay it gently on the cutting board and step away from the counter before you end up in the rural Texas ER explaining to a very tired nurse how a vegetable completely defeated you. I know exactly where you're right now. You've got a grumpy six-month-old strapped to your chest, your middle kid has somehow gotten into the fireplace and is running around looking like a little soot-covered ash baby, and you're staring down a three-pound butternut squash that feels like it’s made of literal concrete.

I'm writing this from six months in the future to tell you that it gets easier, but also that you're currently going about this completely the wrong way. Making butternut squash baby food at home is actually a great idea—it saves us so much money compared to buying those tiny, overpriced glass jars at H-E-B—but if you try to peel that giant orange peanut raw, you're going to cry.

I'm just gonna be real with you, the transition to solid foods is a wild ride of weird poops and permanently stained onesies. But we're going to get through this squash situation together.

The great orange rock dilemma

Let's talk about what happens when you try to attack a raw butternut squash with a vegetable peeler. First of all, the skin is about as thick as a cowboy boot, so you're sweating and cursing under your breath while the baby whines in the background. But that's not even the worst part.

The worst part is the sap. Oh my word, the sap. If you cut into a raw butternut squash, it secretes this clear, sticky liquid that gets all over your hands. Within five minutes, your skin starts feeling incredibly tight, and then it starts peeling off in weird orange flakes. The first time this happened, I almost called Poison Control because I thought I was having some kind of severe allergic reaction, but it turns out it's just a thing called contact dermatitis caused by the squash proteins drying like superglue on your skin.

My grandma used to say that if a chore is too hard, you just haven't found the right man to do it yet, bless her heart. So I tried making my husband peel the next one, and he ended up with the exact same weird, itchy zombie hands while complaining about it for three consecutive days.

So here's the secret that's going to save your sanity and your skin. If you want to keep all your fingers attached and avoid the dreaded squash hands, you just need to stab that giant gourd a few times with a fork and throw the whole entire thing into the microwave for about three minutes to soften up the skin before you even attempt to take a knife to it.

Why we're even doing this to ourselves

You might be wondering why we're going to all this trouble instead of just mashing up a banana and calling it a day. Well, my pediatrician was going on and on at our six-month visit about how this bright orange stuff is basically a superfood, packed with beta-carotene and Vitamin C and a bunch of other things that supposedly help their little immune systems figure out how to work.

According to the doctor, if you pair something high in Vitamin C like this squash with some kind of iron-rich food, it somehow magically helps the baby's body absorb the iron better. I don't totally understand the exact science behind it, but I figure it can't hurt to serve some orange mush next to a little bit of pureed beef or beans.

Plus, let's talk about the unspoken reality of starting a baby on solid foods. They get backed up. Really backed up. When we started my oldest on rice cereal, he didn't poop for four days and we were all miserable. Squash has a ton of fiber and water in it, so it kind of acts like nature's little plumber to keep things moving through their system, if you catch my drift.

Just don't even bother boiling the stuff unless you want all those hard-earned vitamins to wash down the drain with the cooking water.

Distracting the tiny dictator while you cook

Prepping a week's worth of food takes time, and babies have exactly zero patience for meal prep. The other day, I was trying to chop up some roasted cubes for the baby to practice picking up, and he was absolutely losing his mind in the high chair because his gums were bothering him again.

I ended up handing him our Handmade Wood & Silicone Teether Ring just to buy myself five minutes of peace. Y'all, this thing is a lifesaver when you're trying to cook. It's got this smooth wooden ring that he loves to gnaw on, and these colored silicone beads that are totally safe and apparently feel amazing on his swollen gums. I love that I can just wipe the wood down with a damp cloth when he inevitably drops it in a puddle of squash puree. It’s simple, it's not made of bright plastic that sings annoying songs, and it actually keeps him quiet.

I also bought that Panda Silicone Baby Teether a while back because it looked cute on the website. It's fine, I guess, and it's easy to throw in the dishwasher, but to be honest he mostly just uses the panda's ear to scratch his own chin instead of actually chewing on it, so your mileage may vary on that one.

If he gets really fussy and the teethers aren't cutting it, I'll just abandon the kitchen for a minute and lay him down in the living room under his Wooden Animals Play Gym. It's got these simple carved wooden elements—a little elephant and a bird—that he will just stare at and bat with his tiny fists for a solid twenty minutes. It gives me just enough time to mash everything up and get it into the freezer trays before he realizes I'm not holding him.

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Making it taste like actual food

My mom always told me that baby food needs to be completely bland so it doesn't upset their delicate little stomachs. Well, I followed that advice with my oldest, and now the kid is five years old and considers a mildly salted French fry to be "too spicy." He is a cautionary tale of beige eating, and we're not repeating that mistake.

You don't have to serve plain, sad, unseasoned mush. Once you roast that squash in the oven—which is way better than steaming because it makes the natural sugars get all caramelized and delicious—you can really add things to it. I like to sprinkle in a little bit of cinnamon, maybe a tiny dash of nutmeg, or even a tiny bit of unsalted butter to make it rich.

Here's how I usually prep it for the week:

For the six-month stage: I throw the roasted chunks into the blender with a little breastmilk or formula until it's smooth like velvet, then freeze it in silicone ice cube trays.
For the nine-month stage: I just smash it up roughly with a fork so it has some texture, or cut it into really soft little cubes so he can practice using his fingers.
For the toddler stage: I just serve it roasted alongside whatever we're eating for dinner, usually with a lot of butter.

Just remember that butternut squash is basically an orange dye that will permanently ruin anything it touches. Strip that baby down to just a diaper, use a massive silicone bib, and don't let them eat this while wearing that expensive white linen outfit your mother-in-law bought them.

You're doing a good job, Jess. The kitchen is a disaster and there's orange puree on the ceiling, but the baby is fed, the freezer is stocked, and you still have all your fingers. Call that a win.

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Things you're probably wondering right now

Is butternut squash supposed to change the color of their poop?

Oh, absolutely it does, and the first time you see it, you'll probably panic. Because butternut squash is packed with all that beta-carotene, it turns everything bright, neon orange on the way out. It's completely normal, but it'll absolutely ruin a cloth diaper if you don't rinse it out immediately.

Can I leave the skin on if I roast it long enough?

No, please don't do that. The skin of a winter squash is tough and stringy, and even if you roast it until it's practically burnt, it's still going to be a massive choking hazard for a baby. You have to peel it, but remember the microwave trick I told you about so you don't lose your mind trying to get it off.

How long does this stuff seriously last in the freezer?

If you put the puree into silicone trays, let it freeze solid, and then pop the cubes out into a heavy-duty freezer bag, it'll stay good for a few months. I usually try to use it up within about three months, mostly because by then it starts getting those weird little ice crystals on it and tasting kind of like the freezer smells.

My baby made a disgusted face and spit it out. Should I give up?

Lord no, don't give up! Babies make that face at literally everything that isn't milk because they've no idea what's happening in their mouths. My youngest gagged on squash the first three times I offered it, and by the fourth time, he was lunging for the spoon like a tiny orange monster. Just mix it with a little bit of applesauce or breastmilk to thin it out and try again tomorrow.

Can I use the pre-cut squash chunks from the grocery store?

You sure can, and honestly, some weeks that's the only way it's going to happen. They cost a little bit more than buying the whole squash, but if you're exhausted and the thought of wrestling a gourd makes you want to cry, buy the pre-cut bag. Just make sure to roast them until they're incredibly soft before you mash them up.