We Taste-Tested the Most Popular Baby Food Pouches So You Never Have To

POPSUGAR Photography | Grace Hitchcock
POPSUGAR Photography | Grace Hitchcock

When it came time to start introducing my baby to solids, I was determined to do it right. I bought my own fruits and vegetables (all organic, of course), and I chopped, steamed, mixed, and mashed everything from carrots and plums to navy beans and chicken. I loved the feeling of making my daughter green bean purees that actually looked bright green and not what I'd see in the jarred version at the grocery store. I loved making her strawberry purees that actually tasted like strawberries. I loved the whole process. Until I didn't.

The minute she started to crawl, she began squandering my productivity. By the time she was in bed, the last thing I wanted to do was break out the food processor and start mass-producing ice cube trays of butternut squash. So, I returned to that grocery store aisle — but instead of going for traditional baby food jars, I filled my cart with the squeezable baby food pouches, which seem ideal for overtaxed, on-the-go moms like me.

Still, as soon as I got home, my shopping bag filled with brightly colored plastic pouches of seemingly delectable flavor combinations, I had a moment of panic. Were these pouches — favorites of my fellow editor parents — worthy replacements of my homemade purees? Would my baby like them? Considering that she likes to eat cardboard boxes and nibble on her foam play mat, the better question was . . . would I like them? That's when I decided to do a proper squeezables taste-test to find out.

The Taste-Test Setup
POPSUGAR Photography | Kate Schweitzer

The Taste-Test Setup

Why We Focused on Squeezables: From what I could gather researching ingredient lists and nutritional facts, the offerings in squeezable form aren't that much different from the jarred options, but more and more moms are turning to the BPA-free pouches because it's far easier to just toss one in a purse — without fear of a glass jar breaking.

Plus, they are easy to squeeze right onto a spoon, so you don't need to pour the contents into a separate bowl before serving.

How We Chose the Brands: There are countless brands of squeezable baby foods, but there are only a few that could be purchased at a run-of-the-mill grocery store, and because most overworked moms in need of a little food-prep help don't have time to make a separate trip to a specialty baby food store or have the forethought to order online, I chose three mainstream brands to test — Gerber, Plum Organics, and Ella's Kitchen — all of which are USDA-certified organic.

How We Tested the Flavors: We squeezed the contents right onto a spoon and sampled them, at room temperature, because you don't need to refrigerate, heat, or cool the squeezable foods before consuming. I tasted them, I made a friend taste them, and my baby tasted them, too. (Spoiler alert: she liked them all equally).

As for me? There wasn't much I flat-out loved, but here's what I liked, tolerated, and won't be serving again.

The Single-Ingredient Squeeze
POPSUGAR Photography | Kate Schweitzer

The Single-Ingredient Squeeze

For baby-food purists, squeezable pouch brands each have a limited selection of single fruit or single vegetable options, whether it's just carrots, just butternut squash, or — in this case — just mangoes. I opted for the more exotic fruit because it seemed like more of a flavor challenge than, say, garden peas.

Gerber Organic Mangoes
Before tasting, this one seemed the most promising because it was closest in color to actual mangoes, though still not quite the fruit's characteristic golden yellow. There was a hint of mango, but it mostly tasted like something that would be labeled simply, "fruit product."

Ella's Kitchen Mangoes Mangoes Mangoes
The puree didn't taste bad, but it certainly didn't taste right. It was especially citrusy, almost tangy, which was mildly concerning until I noticed that, in addition to mangoes, it included a trace of organic lemon juice concentrate.

Plum Organics Just Mangos
This one was the clear winner. It actually tasted like mango — an otherwise basic trait that I came to find was not always to be expected with packaged baby food — and, unlike the others, it was truly the only ingredient in the pouch.

THE WINNER IS . . . Plum Organics Just Mangos

The Strawberry Fruit Smoothie
POPSUGAR Photography | Kate Schweitzer

The Strawberry Fruit Smoothie

No brands are alike in the fruit combinations they offer, so I decided to compare three mixed-fruit squeezables, all of which included strawberries as a key ingredient.

Plum Organics Strawberry Mish Mash
From the look of the pink packaging and based on the fact strawberries got top billing in this mashup of apples, pears, and acerola fruit (a natural source of Vitamin C, the label says), you'd hope it would taste like strawberries. Instead, it was a shoe-in for run-of-the-mill applesauce.

Gerber Organic Fruit
This one smelled like peaches, which was a relief, considering peaches were included in this mixture that also included strawberries and pears. But the smell was all that was notable about this one.

Ella's Kitchen The Red One
Although none had the bright color I'd hope to see in what's essentially a fruit smoothie for babies, this pouch — which combined bananas, strawberries, apples, and raspberries — tasted just like one. I'd definitely sneak one of these when my baby isn't looking. (Speaking of baby, not that she has much of a discerning palate, but after several spoonfuls of this one, she was especially chatty and bouncy . . . but perhaps it's the 11 grams of sugar from all the fruits.)

THE WINNER IS . . . Ella's Kitchen The Red One

The Green Juice
POPSUGAR Photography | Kate Schweitzer

The Green Juice

Interestingly enough, it was difficult to find squeezable pouches that included a mixture of just vegetables. So, then we opted to just go green, but even that wasn't entirely possible thanks to Gerber's all-veggie option (the only one we could find) including carrots. So, I took what I could get on this one.

Plum Organics Spinach Peas & Pear
If you've ever tried pureeing peas or pears, you know it's near impossible to get a completely smooth texture. So the seedy, rough consistency of this mix felt natural. So did the bland mushy-pea taste.

Ella's Kitchen Pears Peas + Broccoli
This too had an it's-made-by-humans texture, plus, it tasted more like pears than anything else, which is a bonus for those babies who won't eat their veggies.

Gerber Organic Veggies
One whiff of this one — a seemingly innocent combination of carrots, zucchini, and broccoli — made me feel wrong about feeding it to anyone. One quick taste confirmed it.

THE WINNER IS . . . Ella's Kitchen Pears Peas + Broccoli

The Combination Platter
POPSUGAR Photography | Kate Schweitzer

The Combination Platter

For babies with more advanced taste buds, we looked for pouches that included a unique mix of fruits or vegetables along with a type of grain.

Gerber Organic Fruit & Grain
I could taste the pomegranate immediately (though I was disappointed to read it was just pomegranate juice concentrate). My baby pooped the entire time she ate this, which I've learned is actually a good sign.

Ella's Kitchen Pears Apples + Baby Rice
Turns out, there's no blander a combination than pears, applesauce, and brown rice.

Plum Organics Grow Well DHA
If a baby food taste-tester's mind could be blown, this pouch would be the one to do it. With blueberries, bananas, and apples mixed with chia seeds and sunflower seed butter, you could somehow miraculously taste every flavor. It was so yummy, I found myself sharing the pouch with a very demanding (she threw a spoon because I wasn't feeding her fast enough) baby.

THE WINNER IS . . . Plum Organics Grow Well DHA

The Meat-Lovers Option
POPSUGAR Photography | Kate Schweitzer

The Meat-Lovers Option

Until I went searching for squeezables, I didn't even know omnivore options existed, but they do. Gerber doesn't make meat pouches, but it felt wrong not to give them a taste, so I picked the three flavors that sounded the most-appetizing, which was easier said than done.

Plum Organics Chickpea & Tomato With Beef
If you've ever had canned chili, then you know what this concoction tastes like, and that's not a bad thing. Although it was hard to detect the featured spice, cumin, the tomato paste packed a punch.

Ella's Kitchen Chick-Chick Chicken Casserole
Pass.

Plum Organics Sweet Corn & Carrot With Turkey
It smelled vaguely like Thanksgiving dinner, and the sage spice really came through, which helped make the idea of ground turkey puree a lot less upsetting.

THE WINNER IS . . . Plum Organics Sweet Corn & Carrot With Turkey