Vegetable Puree Recipes For The Pureed Food Diet
When following a stage two bariatric diet, pureed vegetables pack the powerful nutrient punch you need to support your bariatric surgery recovery.
Why vegetable puree is perfect for gastric bypass patients
While you are recovering from surgery, your stomach needs to be treated gently while it heals. Most medical professionals recommend that you use a staged approach to re-introducing food to your stomach during recovery. When you get to the Gastric Bypass Pureed Foods Stage, it is important to eat nutritious foods as much as possible. Vegetable purees are a good way to get vitamins and minerals your body needs.
*I use affiliate links in this post. If you buy anything from my links I will earn a small commission*
Using the Instant pot to make root vegetable puree
Pressure cooking makes these pureed food recipes so quick and easy! The Instant Pot is a favourite tool in the kitchen of many gastric bypass and bariatric sleeve patients.
Your Instant Pot is the key to making a variety of pureed vegetables in minutes. Seriously, I love my Instant pot, in fact I own two Instant pots and often use them together so I can cook and meal prep super fast and prepare my meals in advance.
Stage Two Bariatric Diet
During the Stage Two Bariatric Diet, you will need to eat foods that are smooth and contain no pieces of solid food. Try to use a variety of pureed food recipes in order to get a variety of nutrients.
In addition to vegetable puree, you want to incorporate sources of protein into your meals. Good sources of high protein for the gastric bypass pureed foods stage include purees containing scrambled eggs, beans, chicken and fish.
Pureed Vegetable Recipes You Will Love
So here are the ingredients needed to make the following recipes:
- Pureed Cauliflower
- Pureed Leeks
- Pureed Carrots
- Pureed Sweet Potato
Ingredients Needed For Vegetable Puree
- 3-4 small carrots, peeled and chopped
- 1 leek, chopped (only the white and pale green parts)
- 1 sweet potato, peeled and chopped
- 2 cups cauliflower florets
- 4 cups water, divided
- 1 tsp butter, softened, divided
- 8-12 tbsp whole milk, divided
You will also need a food processor or blender to blend your veg once it is cooked! If you don’t own a blender you could use a blend stick.
Yields: One serving per vegetable: You can make a lot in one go and freeze it to save even more time!
How To Make Vegetable Puree
Steam one vegetable at a time. For every vegetable:
Pour one cup of water into inner pot of Instant Pot. Add veggies (one sort at a time).
Close the lid to Instant Pot and set on manual high pressure for 5 minutes.
Once time is up, allow for a 5 minute NPR.
Drain vegetables and add into a food processor.
Once vegetables are in the food processor, add ¼ tsp butter and 2-3 tbsp milk.
Puree vegetables and serve.
Repeat for every vegetable.
Cauliflower Puree
You may not think something with such a mild taste would be very nutritious, but cauliflower provides tons of Vitamin C, as well as folate, potassium and Vitamin B6.
Cauliflower also contains Vitamin K. We don’t talk all that much about Vitamin K, but it is important for blood clotting — which you definitely need when you are recovering from bariatric surgery.
Carrot Puree
Incorporate this root vegetable puree into your stage two bariatric diet to gain the benefits of the many antioxidants carrots provide.
Nearly everyone loves the sweet taste of carrots, which are also a great source of biotin and potassium.
Carrot Puree is fantastic for the gastric bypass or gastric sleeve patient but also a fantastic first food for infants and a great pureed vegetable for the elderly to enjoy.
Leek Puree
We love the silky texture that leeks take on when they are cooked. Pureed leeks will add iron and manganese to your gastric bypass or bariatric sleeve diet.
Leeks also contain Vitamins A, B6 and C. Plus, their mildly sweet flavour is amazing! Leeks are tasty and are fantastic as pureed vegetables and also make fantastic soup.
Sweet Potato Puree
Sweet potatoes will nourish your body with calcium, iron, selenium and plenty of fiber. Just like carrots, sweet potato puree will also provide lots of beta carotene, which converts to Vitamin A in the body.
Vitamin A supports your immune system, and you want to keep your immunity high while your stomach heals.
Sweet potato is one of my favourite vegetables. In fact it was a staple where I grew up in New Zealand and we called this vegetable Kumara. Sweet potato is better for the diet than plain potatoes and has more goodness and nutrition.
All four recipes are super tasty and you can ad extra flavour if you like. I sometimes add chicken stock to make my puree more flavoursome and you might want to do the same. You can also add salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!
Don’t forget to print out the recipe card below and please do pin these fantastic pureed vegetable recipes! Pinning allows me to share more fantastic content. Enjoy!
Tips for Making Pureed Food Recipes for Bariatric Patients
Try combining vegetable purees together for more flavorful meals. It is best to cook the vegetables and puree them separately, then combine the purees.
When you blend your vegetables, aim for the consistency of a thick soup or yoghurt.
To save time, you can prepare your pureed vegetables in batches, and then freeze them in individual portions.
To freeze your pureed carrots, sweet potatoes, cauliflower and leeks, spoon the puree into ice cube trays. When the food puree is frozen, pop out of the ice cube trays and store in a storage bag in your freezer for up to 3 months. Then it is easy to take out only the portion size you need.
Silicone ice cube trays work well for make-ahead pureed foods. The food will not stick to the silicone, and many come with lids to easily stack in your freezer.
How To Make Vegetable Puree
Here is a recipe for cooking vegetable puree for babies or as a pureed food option for gastric bypass patients.
Ingredients
- 3-4 small carrots, peeled and chopped
- 1 leek, chopped (only the white and pale green parts)
- 1 sweet potato, peeled and chopped
- 2 cups cauliflower florets
- 4 cups water, divided
- 1 tsp butter, softened, divided
- 8-12 tbsp whole milk, divided
Instructions
Drain vegetables and add into a food processor.
Once vegetables are in the food processor, add ¼ tsp butter and 2-3 tbsp milk.
Puree vegetables and serve.
Repeat for every vegetable.
Steam one vegetable at a time. For every vegetable:
Pour one cup of water into inner pot of Instant Pot. Add veggies (one sort at a time).
Close the lid to Instant Pot and set on manual high pressure for 5 minutes.
Once time is up, allow for a 5 minute NPR.
Drain vegetables and add into a food processor.
Once vegetables are in the food processor, add ¼ tsp butter and 2-3 tbsp milk.
Puree vegetables and serve.
Repeat for every vegetable.
