Can Babies Eat Veal?

Veal is the meat of calves. It can be produced from calves of any sex, but the most veal meat comes from young male ones. Beef is meat from older cattle, while veal is considered a delicacy, and as a consequence, it is more expensive than beef.

Veal was used in Mediterranean cuisines since ancient times, and it still represents an important ingredient in many Italian, French and Austrian dishes. Cotoletta and veal Parmigiana are Italian dishes made from veal. The specific Austrian veal dish is the Wiener Schnitzel, while the French version is the fried veal Grenadines. Veal is low in fat, so it must be paid extra attention to the preparation, to ensure that the meat does not become tough.

It is not only the meat of calves that is used in cuisine, but also other body parts: the bones are used to make stock, which is the base for sauces and soups. Calves’ stomach is used to make rennet, which is in its turn used in the production of cheese. Heads, brains, tongues and feet are also used in cooking.

Veal is low in fat, but it is high in protein, vitamin B6 and in cobalamin. It has some iron too.

Is Veal A Better Choice Than Beef?

Most pediatricians recommend introducing meat into your baby’s diet at the age of 8 months old, and not earlier. One of the best choices is veal, because it is low in fat, but rich in protein, and it is a good source of iron. Veal is better than beef, and even better than chicken. Pasture-raised veal has similar flavor as beef, but it is leaner and has more moisture.  

Veal & Veggies Puree

Ingredients: ¼ cup of cubed parsnip, 1/3 cup of cubed potatoes, 30g of cubed veal, 1 tsp butter.

Put the parsnip, potato and veal into a steamer basket. Pour water into it and start cooking. Once they are all cooked, transfer them to a blender, but reserve some cooking liquid. Add the butter and puree, adjusting the consistency with some of the reserved cooking liquid if needed.