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These easy 4-ingredient baby led weaning meatballs are not only easy to prepare, but are the perfect, nutritious meatball recipe for baby led weaning and toddler feeding. 

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Baby meatballs have been a staple baby led weaning food for both of my girls.

They also make for such a great toddler meal idea since they are nutritionally dense, served with some breastmilk (from my favorite breastpump)!

But don’t just save them for a meal – they are one of our favorite healthy snacks for meal prep that you can bulk prep pretty quickly. Double the recipe to freeze snacks for later!

We make meatballs (all kinds) often in our house and have made tons of varieties based on what we have. 

Meatballs are one of my favorite meal ideas for 2 year olds, babies and older kids! It’s so easy to load up shredded veggies and even allergen powders in them (if you need to introduce allergens)!

Plus, you can throw them in this meatball soup with kale to use them up and serve them in a new way or freeze them in a stasher bag for an easy meal next week!

Would you guess that baby meatballs are actually quite versatile?

We actually serve them often as a baby led weaning breakfast idea, too! Pair them with this green goddess dressing for the perfect match.

When I make them in bulk, it’s so easy to just serve them to my 9 month old for breakfast or lunch. Same with these carrot and cheese bites.

And best of all, if you have a dairy allergy, these are safe since there is no dairy in them.

Here are some of our other favorite dairy free snacks for baby led weaning.

I want to learn more about baby led weaning!

Well, if you love watching babies eat food, like I do (isn’t it just the cutest thing?), you’ll be surprised at how adorable meatballs for babies are. 

What makes meatballs for babies extra great for baby led weaning is that they are easy to hold (meatballs are the ultimate finger food for babies) and stick together for the baby to bite into. 

Whether you prefer to use turkey or ground chicken for baby (like these ground chicken meatballs), it’s a great vehicle for serving protein, iron, and Vitamin C to baby.

Meatballs are top of the list for my favorite dinner recipes for babies.

They are also very nutrient-dense and easy to take out for a snack, with our favorite snack spinner.

We also love using a bison meatball recipe to introduce another high iron and protein source to babies (though I’d leave out the bbq sauce for babes!).

This baby meatballs recipe is high in B vitamins, protein, zinc and iron.

Iron is a crucial nutrient for babies, especially breastfed babies as iron stores begin to decrease in baby’s stores after 6 months).

Another nutrition fact about this baby meatball recipe is that the sweetpotatoes, which are high in Vitamin C, can help with iron absorption.

We love sweet potato recipes for kids for this reason. I always rely on several sweet potato recipes for baby led weaning. 

We’ll usually start around 5-6 months with these breastmilk popsicles and then ease into baby led weaning with these meatballs.

That means you don’t have to worry about having a separate food to increase the iron – it’s all together for you in this handheld meatball for baby. 

I almost always make a double or triple batch to freeze for when future Sarah feels overwhelmed and needs some frozen meals for toddlers!

Ingredients For Baby Led Weaning Meatballs

To make these weaning meatballs, all you need are 4 basic ingredients!

I love beef or turkey meatballs for baby led weaning, but feel free to use ground chicken if you please.

While babies can pick these up on their own, you could also mash smaller pieces with applesauce, yogurt or mashed avocado on some ezpz spoons!

Or, combine everything into a snack spinner and take it for a little picnic with your little bub.

These meatballs make for a great meal idea for a 1 year old, but of course, great for toddlers and adults too! If you struggle with family meal ideas for toddlers, this is it.

• ground turkey, beef or chicken – I recommend using a high quality sourced meat when serving to babies. We get ours from Butcher Box.
• mashed sweetpotato, cooked
• flour (chickpea flour, oat flour, almond flour, whole wheat) – I get these from Thrive Market!
• eggs
• Sometimes, we’ll add in shredded zucchini as well – zucchini for baby led weaning is great!

These are the basic outline of my sweetpotato and ground turkey burgers. 

Can A 6 Month Old Baby Eat Eggs?

I know many of you may be skeptical about introducing eggs to babies since they are an allergenic food. However, these baby meatballs are the perfect way to introduce eggs.

The latest research shows that introducing allergen foods earlier rather than later may reduce the risk of allergies later on.

I talk more about eggs specifically in this post about baby led weaning foods for 6 months.

How to Make Meatballs For Babies

Simply mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl. Add an allergen powder if you want to introduce an allergen (which research shows, we should do earlier rather than later to reduce risk of allergies later on).

I stock up on oat flour and almond flour from Thrive Market, since you save money and have them delivered.

Make sure your sweet potatoes are pre-cooked (I just microwave them for 5-6 minutes) and then remove the skin. 

Form into meatball shape and place on baking sheet.

You want the meatballs to hold together well, but be soft enough for babies to gum them if they don’t have any teeth.

This is where the mashed sweet potato works really well when combined with ground turkey. 

For food safety reasons, use a food thermometer to check the interior temperature is 165 degrees. Definitely don’t want to serve undercooked meat products to your baby!

These baby friendly turkey meatballs have the best soft texture and ultimate nutrient offering.

So, baby can pick up on his own, or pre-load an ezpz spoon with a small amount. They make for a great baby led weaning finger food at 7 months, too!

FAQs

• How to Freeze Meatballs for Babies – These are the easiest meatballs to freeze. Just let them cool to room temperature, and place in a stasher bag or a freezer friendly ziplock bag, sealed tightly. When reheating, just put them in the microwave for a few minutes. Don’t overheat them or they will be too tough and hard to chew. 
• Can I Use A Different Flour? Yes, you do not need to use chickpea flour. You can also use whole wheat flour, oat flour, or almond flour. Coconut flour likely won’t work the same way because it’s much denser and more dry. 
• What Should You Serve this Toddler Meatball Recipe With? If you’re serving this to toddlers, you’ll probably need some sides. We like to pair with a green veggie (asparagus, peas, broccoli) or even a side of naan bread. For babies, this cantaloupe puree or acorn squash in the air fryer are both great because they have Vitamin C to help absorb iron! 

More Baby Led Weaning Recipe Ideas

• Baby French Toast Sticks
• Waffles for babies
• Air Fryer Turkey Burgers
• Acorn Squash for Baby
• Baby Led Weaning Carrots
• Air Fryer Sweet Potato Wedges
• Crispy Parsnip Fries
• Baby Salmon Cakes (great way to introduce seafood!)

I want to learn more about baby led weaning!

Servings 24 meatballs

Baby Led Weaning Turkey Meatballs

Sarah Schlichter, MPH, RDN

These easy 4-ingredient baby led weaning meatballs are not only easy to prepare, but are the perfect, nutritious meatball recipe for baby led weaning and toddler feeding. 

4.50 from 150 ratings

Print Pin

Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 25 minutes mins

Total Time 30 minutes mins

Ingredients  

1x2x3x

• 1 lb ground turkey, beef or chicken
• 2/3 cup sweetpotato cooked and mashed
• 2/3 cup flour (chickpea flour, oat flour, whole wheat flour all work)
• 2 eggs

Get Recipe Ingredients

Instructions 

1. Microwave your sweetpotato for 5 minutes and let cool and remove skin.
2. Mix all ingredients together in a bowl.
3. Form into meatball shape and place on a baking sheet with parchment paper.
4. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes, or until meatballs are fully cooked and reach 165 degrees internally.

Notes

To freeze: Let meatballs cool to room temperature. Stick them in a tightly sealed ziplock bag in an even layer and place in the freezer. To reheat, stick in the microwave for 2-4 minutes, checking periodically to make sure they don't burn.

To add more flavor, consider using hummus, guacamole or ketchup as a dipping sauce.

Equipment

Digital Meat Thermometer, Waterproof Instant Read Food Thermometer for Cooking and Grilling, Kitchen Gadgets, Accessories with Backlight & Calibration for Candy, BBQ Grill, Liquids, Beef, Turkey…

Bob’s Red Mill Almond Flour, 32 Ounce (Pack of 1)

Reusable Ziplock Bags – 4Packs Gallon Bags + 4Packs Large Bags Food Storage bags Seal & Leak-Proof, BPA-FREE, Food Grade PEVA Reusable Freezer Bags for Marinate Meats, Fruit, Sandwich, Snack, Travel

Bobs Red Mill Garbanzo Bean Flour, 16 Ounce (Pack of 1)

stasher bag

Nutrition

Serving: 1Calories: 89kcalCarbohydrates: 4gProtein: 8gFat: 5gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 42mgSodium: 28mg

Did you make this recipe?Let us know how it was!