While you can certainly get by without one, baby food makers make life a little easier—and for new parents, anything that makes life a little easier is worth its weight in gold. Many makers multitask, so you can also steam veggies for your toddler or make a smoothie for your own breakfast. Investing in a baby food maker means you know exactly what your baby is eating, you can save money over time, and you can get meals on the table (er, highchair, and possibly the floor) quickly and easily. Here are the very best baby food makers.

7"D x 9"W x 9.5"H | 4 pounds | plastic

Why we chose it: This awesome appliance steams, blends, defrosts, and reheats fruits, veggies, fish, and meat, making it the ideal one-and-done baby food champion.

That means you can put in raw meat and come out with perfectly cooked and pureed food for your baby without getting any pots, pans or blenders dirty. Plus, it’s intuitive to use. “It's easy to use, virtually mold-proof, and cooks and reheats in under 15 minutes,” says Christen Costa, CEO of Gadget Review. “It also has built-in blending capabilities which make it a perfect all-in-one baby food maker.” Its compact design is great for small spaces, and it’s truly easy to clean. Bonus: its ergonomic one-handed design means you can hold your baby in one hand and prep organic baby food with the other, like the super parent you are.

4.8 x 2.8 x 14.4 inches | 2.6 pounds | Metal

Why we chose it: “A baby food maker can be a good choice for preparing baby food, but it has limited use,” says Colleen Colodany, CEO of kidswiki.co.uk, a website that reviews kids’ products.

“Instead of buying a baby food maker, an immersion blender would do the job just as well. It has diverse use in the kitchen and does multiple things.” She recommends the Bamix Immersion Blender for its small size, ease of use, and durability. Plus when the baby has moved onto eating like a toddler (hi mac and cheese!), you’ll have a well-made kitchen tool on hand.

This blender will become a favorite in your kitchen, for making baby food and beyond. It’s built by hand in Switzerland, and Bamix has been making excellent appliances since 1954. Found in the kitchens of professional chefs, it has three interchangeable blades and offers both power and precision, making quick work of puréeing baby food. You can purée soups, turn frozen fruit into sorbet, and whip milk into cream after your baby has enjoyed their pear purée, and when you’re all finished, it’s easy to clean thoroughly with water.

18.5 x 14 x 22.5 cm | 250 watts | 1.5 kg | stainless steel

Why we chose it: Whether you’re turning basil and garlic into silky pesto or steamed sweet potatoes into baby food, Breville's Mini Wizz will easily and efficiently do the trick.

With its compact frame, it’s friendly to kitchens where space is in short supply. It’s also refreshingly easy to use, with ergonomic design and simple controls. The lid has two small holes in the indents on top so that you can easily add liquid ingredients as you prepare food for your family. This little food processor is well designed, easy to clean, and a great size when you only need to feed a very little human.

14.75 x 7.25 x 10.25 inches | 2.29 pounds

Why we chose it: Low tech can be a positive thing. The OXO Good Grips Food Mill is a smart choice if you’re ok with a manual option for processing food into smooth purées.

It includes three grinding discs for fine, medium, and coarse textures, and the stainless steel inner bowl won’t stain even when you’re dealing with messy foods like beets or carrots. It’s easy to exchange discs and disassemble, and its legs fold for easy storage.

0.5"D x 2"W x 2"H | 4.11 pounds

Why we chose it: This steamer, grinder, and blender is incredibly multi-functional—the Grownsy Baby Food Maker monitors and maintains food temperature as well.

It’s also incredibly easy to use for sleep deprived parents: you can control the speed of its four precision blades with a handy LCD touch screen panel. It can also heat milk, keep things warm, and even self-sterilize. It’s great for smoothies as the special blade design makes it easy to turn fresh and frozen fruits into a silky-smooth consistency. Pour a satisfying smoothie for your baby, and make one for yourself while you’re at it.

Why we chose it: This all-in-one baby food maker has plenty of useful features.

Its one-button option for steaming and blending lets you add water and food and come out with freshly steamed and puréed fruits and veggies in about 10 minutes. If you only want to steam or blend, you can do that, too. It’s an especially great steamer as its steam tank is fully accessible for easy cleaning, and it’s fast, reliable, and easy to use. It’s also great for non-baby foods: you can use it to steam pasta and vegetables, make hard boiled eggs or even soup.

4.5" L x 7.1" W x 8.1" H | .42 pounds

Why we chose it: For those who aren’t into fancy baby food makers, this product is genius in its simplicity.

Turn tender foods like avocado, bananas, and berries into mushy goodness perfect for babies eating (and smearing everywhere, as babies love to do). Steep sides prevent food from slipping out of the bowl while you’re using it, and teeth help scoop food out when it’s ready for serving so you won’t waste food. The already compact masher collapses into two parts for easy portability, and a 360 lid can be snapped shut in multiple positions, making it easy to handle.

Some baby food makers will steam, blend and purée, while others simply grind or blend your food. Decide which functions are important to you, and how much you want to invest, as the makers with more capabilities tend to have a higher price tag. 

Your kitchen is probably already taken over by baby bottles, just as your home is taken over by baby stuff. Decide how much counter space you’d like to devote to making baby food, keeping in mind that it will be for a specific period of time.

“A baby food maker is definitely worth the investment if you want to be 100% certain of all of the ingredients in your little one's meals,” says Costa. Making your own food also means you can introduce your little ones to your family’s favorite dishes, instead of being limited to the store-bought foods on offer. Another bonus: prepping your own baby food lets you figure out the perfect portion for your baby in advance, and even freeze any leftovers.

Top-of-the-line baby food makers often include a steamer and a blender or food processor in a single appliance. In contrast, a regular food processor can make purée, but you’ll need to cook or steam the food separately. You can absolutely use a food processor to prepare baby food.

Just like for adults, there’s no single healthiest food for babies. A healthy strategy is to intoduce your baby to a variety of flavors and foods. Many experts recommend starting with single foods or ingredients, like puréed squash, applesauce, mashed bananas, avocado, puréed peaches, puréed meats, and iron-enriched baby cereal like oatmeal. Your baby might start with puréed or semi-liquid foods, then graduate to strained food, and then start experimenting with finger foods. You can gradually introduce new ingredients and foods to your baby as they become more and more comfortable eating. Always consult your pediatrician before beginning solids.

Plastic is a durable, highly safe option if your product is free from BPA and phthalates.

Depending on your budget and needs, the best baby food maker will take a lot of stress out of feeding your little one. Whether you want a 4-in-1 ninja that does it all or simply an immersion blender that can double as a tool to whip up creamy soups for the whole family, we have you covered.

As a food writer and the mother of a toddler and a baby, I’ve spent a lot of time feeding babies and thinking about the best way to make this sometimes thankless task quick and easy.

I surveyed fellow parents, friends, and family to see what baby food makers they swore by, then reached out to reputable sources to get their wisdom. I also read reviews from across the web and scoured Amazon reviews, too. Since babies only need specific food for a short window of time, value was an extremely important factor in putting together this list. Since parenting a baby is an exhausting endeavor, I nixed anything too complicated. The best baby food makers bring some ease into the day; there’s no room for anything that adds frustration in a parent’s life, period.

Every product is independently selected and vetted by editors. Things you buy through our links may earn us a commission.