Soft & Pureed Foods

There are many reasons why you may need to be on a soft or pureed diet. This could be for a short time, or may be more long term, based on your needs.  

A soft or pureed foods diet may help if you have:

• Trouble swallowing.
• Dental trouble.
• Recently had oral surgery.
• Mouth, throat, or esophageal cancer.
• An infection in your mouth, throat, or esophagus.
• During chemotherapy or cancer treatment.
• After bariatric surgery.
• A head or neck injury.

Pureed Foods Tips

Follow these recipes, or use them as inspiration to make your own. Be creative! You can puree almost any food. Take some time to make your food look nice, and try a variety of herbs and seasonings. Experiment and enjoy!

Steps for Making Blenderized or Pureed Foods

1. Remove skins, seeds, pits, bones, tough membranes, and other inedible parts of foods.
2. Cut food into small pieces.
3. Cook food until soft. Already cooked food, such as canned fruits, vegetables or meats, and fish, do NOT need to be cooked more.
4. Add small amounts of liquid to food to thin it until it’s drinkable. You can:
   1. Use warm milk to thin pureed macaroni and cheese, eggs, or potatoes.
   2. Melt ice cream, sherbet, or gelatin and mix it with milk or fruit juice.
   3. Use milk to thin pudding or strained yogurt.
   4. Use fruit juice to thin pureed fruit.

 Look for naturally pureed foods! Some examples are:

• Yogurt.
• Mashed potatoes.
• Applesauce.
• Tomato soup.
• Refried beans.
• Pudding.
• Hot cereal (cream of wheat, cream of rice, grits).
• Ice cream.
• Jello.
• Hummus.

Pureed Foods Base Recipes

Blenderized Meats

Try this recipe with any kind of meat, add vegetables and seasonings to make it more flavorful!

• ½ cup cooked meat or 1 jar baby strained meat
• 6 tablespoons hot broth
• Salt and pepper to taste

Place meat and broth in blender. Cover. Process on low speed until smooth. Add salt or seasonings to taste.

Nutritional Information (using chicken): 120 calories, 5 g total fat, 0 g total carbohydrate, 17 g protein per serving.

Basic White Sauce

• 1 cup whole, 2%, or fortified milk
• 2 tablespoons of any kind of oil or butter
• 2 to 3 tablespoons of flour

Mix the flour and oil or butter in a saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring until the mixture is smooth and bubbly. Remove from heat. Stir in the milk and boil for 1 minute, stirring non-stop . After a few minutes, it will begin to thicken. The more flour you add, the thicker the sauce will be.

Basic Brown Sauce

Follow the Basic White Sauce recipe but use ⅔ cup of low-sodium beef or chicken broth instead of milk.

Soups

Almost all canned or homemade soups can be pureed. Those that work best are potato soup, split pea, lentil, and bean and vegetable soups such as minestrone. Soups with chunks need to be strained before serving. You could also add protein powder, dry milk powder, milk, or cream when blending for more protein and creaminess.

Other Recipes

Red Lentil Dal

• 1 cup red lentils
• 1 small onion finely chopped
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp garam marsala
• ½ tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 cup vegetable broth

Sauté onion until see through, add cumin until browned. Add stock, lentils, and remaining spices. Cook for 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally until the mixture is thick. Puree with blender or in food processor until smooth.

Spaghetti and Meatballs

• ½ cup cooked spaghetti noodles
• 2 meatballs
• ½ cup spaghetti sauce
• ¾ cup hot water
• Parmesan cheese/nutritional yeast or other seasonings to taste.

Combine all ingredients in blender. Blend well.

Nutritional Information: 340 calories, 13 g total fat, 36 g total carbohydrate, 19 g protein per serving. 

Chocolate Avocado Pudding

• 2 large avocados, peeled, pitted and cubed
• ½ cup cocoa powder
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• ½ cup coconut milk
• 2 tsps vanilla extract
• 1 pinch ground cinnamon

Blend all ingredients together until smooth. Refrigerate pudding until chilled, approximately 30 minutes.

For more recipes visit Beyond the Blender and Cook for Your Life.