From the YummyYucky team, founded by Nancy Nash

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Can Babies Have Broth? Yes, If You Skip the Salt

Broth works from about 6 months, with one condition that matters more than all the others: no added salt. Use it as a cooking liquid and a way to loosen a stiff mash, not as a meal and not as a stand-in for milk. Stock cubes, bouillon and most canned broth are far too salty for a baby.

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When to introduce: From about 6 months, as an unsalted cooking liquid rather than a drink
Common allergen?: Plain unsalted broth carries no common allergens, but read the label, because some stocks contain wheat, soy or fish, and many contain celery
Texture: Thin liquid that runs straight off a spoon, so use it to loosen thicker food rather than serving it alone
Key nutrients: Mostly water, with flavor and small amounts of minerals, so it adds taste rather than calories

Yes, babies can have broth, and it is one of the more useful things in your kitchen once purees and mashes have started. From about 6 months it works beautifully as a cooking liquid: simmer carrots in it, loosen a stiff lentil mash with a spoonful, cook rice in it instead of water. What decides whether broth is a good idea or a bad one is salt. The NHS is blunt about this, telling parents not to add salt to a baby's food or cooking water and not to use stock cubes or gravy, because they are often high in salt¹, and salty food is not good for a baby's kidneys². Homemade and unsalted, broth is a quiet flavor upgrade to everything else on the tray. From a cube, it is something else entirely.

Prep School: how to prepare broth for baby-led weaning (BLW) and purées

🍴 Baby-led weaning

Around 6 monthsUse unsalted homemade broth as a cooking liquid rather than something you spoon on its own, and skip stock cubes. Simmer carrot strips in it until a strip squashes flat between your finger and thumb, and hand one over for your baby to hold and gum. Or stir a spoonful into a puree until it coats the back of the spoon instead of running off it, then preload a spoon for your baby to grab. Broth by itself is too thin to manage on a spoon at this age and too watery to count as a meal.

9 to 12 monthsKeep cooking with it: cook vegetables, rice or lentils soft in unsalted broth and put small soft pieces or clumps on the tray for your baby to pick up. If you want to offer broth in a cup, make it a taste rather than a drink: a few sips of cooled unsalted broth alongside the water that comes with the meal. The NHS suggests introducing an open cup from around 6 months with sips of water⁴, and warm broth is a pleasant thing to practice with, but water and milk are still the drinks. Strain out anything firm first. Serve it warm rather than hot: microwaves heat unevenly, so stir it well and let it stand two minutes before it reaches your baby⁹.

12 months and upA small bowl of unsalted broth-based soup works now, with soft cooked vegetables, small pasta or shredded chicken in it. Hand your toddler a spoon and let them pick out the pieces with their fingers. Anything floating in the bowl still needs to be soft and small enough to squash, because a piece suspended in liquid is easy to swallow before it gets chewed, so keep your toddler sitting upright with an adult right there⁶. Cool it to warm first. Store-bought broth is still worth checking: pick a low sodium version and treat the regular kind as an adult ingredient.

🥄 Purées

Around 6 monthsUse unsalted homemade broth as a cooking liquid rather than something you spoon on its own, and skip stock cubes. Simmer vegetables in it until a piece squashes flat between your finger and thumb, then mash or blend them smooth with a little of the same broth. Or stir a spoonful into a puree until it coats the back of the spoon instead of running off it. Broth by itself is too thin to manage on a spoon at this age and too watery to count as a meal.

9 to 12 monthsKeep cooking with it: cook vegetables, rice or lentils in unsalted broth, and use a spoonful of it instead of water to loosen a lumpier mash. If you want to offer broth in a cup, make it a taste rather than a drink: a few sips of cooled unsalted broth alongside the water that comes with the meal. The NHS suggests introducing an open cup from around 6 months with sips of water⁴, and warm broth is a pleasant thing to practice with, but water and milk are still the drinks. Strain out anything firm first. Serve it warm rather than hot: microwaves heat unevenly, so stir it well and let it stand two minutes before it reaches your baby⁹.

12 months and upA small bowl of unsalted broth-based soup works now, with soft cooked vegetables, small pasta or shredded chicken in it. If your toddler still likes a thicker texture, mash the pieces with a little of the broth so they sit on the spoon. Anything floating in the bowl still needs to be soft and small enough to squash, because a piece suspended in liquid is easy to swallow before it gets chewed, so keep your toddler sitting upright with an adult right there⁶. Cool it to warm first. Store-bought broth is still worth checking: pick a low sodium version and treat the regular kind as an adult ingredient.

🍪 A soft rice bowl instead of salty broth →

Is broth safe? Choking & prep

The whole safety story with broth is salt, and it is a bigger deal than the packaging suggests. NHS advice is direct: do not add salt to your baby's food or cooking water, and do not use stock cubes or gravy, which are often high in salt¹, and salty food is not good for a baby's kidneys². The CDC says the same thing from the other side of the Atlantic: avoid feeding foods high in salt to young children⁵. The numbers back that up. USDA data puts canned chicken broth made up with an equal volume of water at about 306 mg of sodium per 100 g⁸, so a small 120 ml cup gets close to a whole day's worth for a baby under 1, who should have less than 1 g of salt a day³, roughly 400 mg of sodium. A low sodium canned broth comes in nearer 30 mg per 100 g, and even home-prepared stock made the usual way sits around 143 mg⁸, which is why you make your baby's batch with no salt at all rather than assuming homemade means safe. Two smaller things. Broth is a hot thin liquid, and microwaves heat unevenly, so stir it well and let it stand a couple of minutes before serving⁹. And anything floating in the bowl needs to be soft and small enough to squash, with your baby sitting upright and an adult right there⁶, because a piece hidden in liquid is harder to manage than the same piece on a plate.

Trying broth today? Log the first taste and whether it was a hit, a hard maybe, or launched across the room, dated and ready for the pediatrician.

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Nutrition

Broth is mostly water. It carries flavor, a little gelatin if it was made with bones, small amounts of minerals, and not much else, which makes it a useful cooking liquid rather than a nourishing food. That distinction matters more than it sounds. A baby who fills up on broth has less room for the calorie-dense and iron-rich foods they genuinely need in the second half of the first year, and broth is no substitute for breast milk or formula, which stay the main source of nutrition through the first year⁷. Where broth earns its place is as a carrier. Cook rice or lentils in unsalted broth and the food tastes of something. Loosen a mash with it instead of water and you keep flavor instead of diluting it. If bone broth is what drew you here, it is a perfectly good unsalted cooking liquid, but the collagen and gut-health claims attached to it are marketing rather than anything pediatric guidance has endorsed. Use it because it tastes good, not because you are expecting it to do something.

Goes well with

Rice · Lentils · Sweet potato · Carrot · Chicken · Pasta

Storage & freezing

Cool broth quickly and refrigerate it covered. It keeps 1 to 2 days in the fridge, or 1 to 2 months in the freezer.¹⁰ Freezing is where broth pays off: pour the unsalted batch into an ice cube tray, freeze it, then bag the cubes and drop one or two straight into a pan when a mash needs loosening. Reheat only what you need, bring it to a proper simmer so it is piping hot all the way through, then let it cool to warm before it reaches your baby. Do not reheat the same batch again and again, and throw out whatever is left in the bowl rather than tipping it back into the pot.

More foods to explore

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Cachapa6 months+

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Caffeine (coffee, tea, energy drinks)Not for babies or children. The AAP says avoiding caffeine is the best choice for all kids.

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Candy caneNot for babies or toddlers. The AAP keeps hard candy away until age 4 or older, depending on the child.

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Candy cornNot for babies or toddlers. The AAP keeps hard and sticky candy away until age 4 or older, depending on the child.

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Caramel appleNot for babies or toddlers. The AAP keeps raw fruit chunks and sticky candy away until age 4 or older, depending on the child.

🟤

CarobAround 6 months

Common questions

Can babies have chicken broth?

Yes, from about 6 months, as long as it is unsalted. Homemade chicken broth made without salt is a good cooking liquid for rice, vegetables and mashes. Skip stock cubes and standard canned broth, which are far too salty for a baby¹.

At what age can a baby have broth?

Around 6 months, once solids have started. At that age use it to cook with and to loosen thicker food rather than serving it as a drink, since it is too thin to spoon easily and too watery to count as a meal.

Is store-bought broth safe for babies?

Only the low sodium versions, and only after you read the label. USDA data puts canned chicken broth made up with water around 306 mg of sodium per 100 g, against roughly 30 mg for a low sodium version⁸. A baby under 1 should have less than 1 g of salt a day³, so the regular kind adds up fast.

Can I give my baby bone broth?

Yes, if it is unsalted, and treat it as a tasty cooking liquid rather than a health food. The collagen and gut-healing claims around bone broth are not something pediatric guidance backs. Made without salt, it is a fine base for rice, lentils or a vegetable mash.

Can broth replace milk or formula?

No. Breast milk or infant formula stays your baby's main drink through the first year⁷, and cow's milk does not take over as a main drink until 12 months⁴. Broth is almost entirely water, so filling up on it crowds out the calories and iron your baby needs from milk and food.

Sources

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Last updated September 2026. Next review December 2026. How we write these: built from current published guidance from the AAP, CDC, FDA/EPA, NIAID, WHO, and other pediatric and public-health authorities, with sources cited on the page. See our editorial and medical policy for how we research, source, and update these, and how we double-check the food advice.

This is general information, not medical advice, and is not individualized for your baby. Always talk to your pediatrician about your baby's diet, introducing allergens, and any reaction. In an emergency, contact emergency services.

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