Tahini-Drizzled Roasted Carrot & Sweet Potato Batons
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
- 2 medium carrots, about 160 g, peeled and cut into thick batons
- 1 small sweet potato, about 150 g, peeled and cut into thick batons
- 10 ml (2 tsp) olive oil
- 15 g (1 tbsp) smooth runny tahini, 100% sesame, unsalted and no-sugar-added
- 30–45 ml (2–3 tbsp) warm water, to thin
- 1 tsp lemon juice (optional)
- 1 pinch ground cumin (optional, mild)
Method
- 1. Heat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan / 400°F) and line a baking tray with baking paper.
- 2. Steam or boil the carrot batons FIRST for 8–10 minutes, until a baton is already tender when pressed. This step is not optional: dry roasting alone does not reliably soften a 2 cm-thick carrot all the way through, and carrot that is still crunchy in the middle is one of the classic choking hazards for a baby. The sweet potato does not need par-cooking.
- 3. Pat the par-cooked carrot dry, then toss it and the raw sweet potato batons with the olive oil and spread them in a single layer so they roast rather than steam.
- 4. Roast for 22–25 minutes, turning once, until completely soft the whole way through and just collapsing at the edges.
- 5. Meanwhile, whisk the tahini with the warm water a tablespoon at a time until it loosens into a smooth, pourable drizzle (it will seize and thicken first, then thin out — keep going). Stir in the lemon juice and cumin. Never serve tahini in a thick spoonful or a stiff dollop.
- 6. Let the batons cool to just-warm, then drizzle over a thin coating of the tahini sauce and turn gently to coat.
- 7. Squash-test every single baton between your thumb and forefinger before it goes on the tray. If one does not flatten under light pressure, put it back in the oven or mash it — never serve a firm baton whole.
How to serve by age
6–8 months
Cut the vegetables before cooking so they finish about 8–10 cm long and roughly 2 cm square — a chunky finger-length baton that pokes out of a closed fist suits the palmar (whole-hand) grasp at this stage. A thin tahini coating adds flavour without making the baton slip out of the hand.
9–12 months
Chop the roasted batons into 1 cm pea-sized cubes so your baby can practise the pincer grasp (thumb and forefinger), and put the tahini drizzle in a shallow bowl for dipping — dipping is a great early self-feeding skill.
Paediatric note
Sesame is now recognised as a major allergen in both the UK and the US (added to US labelling law in 2023) and is easy to miss because it hides in hummus, breads and spice blends — introducing it deliberately as thinned tahini and then keeping it in the diet 2–3 times a week matches the early-and-sustained pattern that supports tolerance. Pairing it with beta-carotene-rich orange vegetables also helps, since vitamin A is fat-soluble and absorbed better alongside the fat in tahini and olive oil. Raw hard vegetables stay a choking hazard for years, so never offer raw carrot sticks or coin-shaped carrot slices to a young child — UK guidance says avoid them under 5, US guidance says under 4 — and always cook carrot until it squashes and cut it into spears rather than coins. As always, one new allergen at a time, at home, earlier in the day.
Source guidance: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/baby/weaning-and-feeding/
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