Baked Tofu & Broccoli Strips with Orange
Allergen lists cover the priority allergens in the recipe as written. Always check your own ingredient labels, and introduce each new allergen on its own first.
Ingredients
- 250 g (9 oz) firm calcium-set tofu, pressed for 20 minutes
- 150 g broccoli (about 6 florets), cut so each floret keeps a 5–6 cm length of stalk attached as a handle
- 2 tbsp fine oat flour, for dusting
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- ½ tsp sweet smoked paprika (mild, no chilli)
- 2 tbsp fresh orange juice, squeezed over after baking
Method
- 1. Heat the oven to 190°C (375°F) and line a tray with baking paper.
- 2. Press the tofu between clean tea towels under a plate for 20 minutes to drive out water — this is hands-off time and is included in the prep total — then cut into strips (see age guide below).
- 3. Dust the strips lightly in the oat flour and paprika, brush with half the olive oil and bake for 20 minutes, turning once. Do not let them crisp hard — they must still squash between your thumb and forefinger, so trim off any firm edges before serving.
- 4. Meanwhile steam the broccoli for 10–12 minutes until the head and the whole length of the stalk are completely tender and collapse under gentle pressure.
- 5. Toss the broccoli in the remaining olive oil, arrange with the tofu and spoon the fresh orange juice over everything just before serving.
- 6. Cool to lukewarm and squash-test one piece of tofu and one floret between thumb and forefinger before the tray goes down.
How to serve by age
6–8 months
Cut the tofu into finger-length batons 8 cm long and about two adult fingers wide (3 cm), and serve the broccoli as whole florets with the 5–6 cm stalk left on as a handle — never a small stalkless floret head, which gives a baby nothing safe to hold. Both shapes are designed for the palmar whole-hand grasp, where the food is gripped in a fist and eaten from the top; the head must be soft enough to squash between your thumb and forefinger.
9–12 months
Cube the tofu into 1 cm pea-sized pieces and chop the cooked broccoli, stalk and all, into small 1 cm bite-sized nuggets so your baby can lift each one with the emerging pincer grasp between thumb and forefinger.
Paediatric note
Choose tofu set with calcium sulphate (listed on the label) — it delivers both iron and a meaningful dose of calcium, which matters for infants not drinking cow's milk. The orange juice is squeezed on at the end rather than cooked in because vitamin C is heat-sensitive, and it is what lifts the absorption of the tofu's non-heme iron. Oats are naturally gluten-free but are usually milled alongside wheat, so use a certified gluten-free oat flour if coeliac disease runs in the family.
Source guidance: https://www.who.int/health-topics/complementary-feeding
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