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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 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!

Plus, you can throw them in this meatball soup with kale to use them up and serve them in a new way.

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 to my 9 month old for breakfast or lunch.

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.

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 are 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.

And if you’re into these, check out all the other ways you can use sweet potato baby finger foods, like in baby pancakes.

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 so many 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 and toddler food, too!

• 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.

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 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!)

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