HeySolids
Choking risk
Whole cashews are a high choking risk - the small, round, firm shape the CDC warns can block an airway, so no whole or chopped nuts before age 5.
Serve it only as thinned cashew butter or finely ground cashew. See how to serve for age-by-age prep.
Allergens
Cashew is a tree nut, one of the nine most common food allergens, and among the more frequent nut allergies.
There's no reason to delay it. Older advice suggested holding nuts back until age two or three, but that's changed - waiting doesn't reduce the risk of allergy, so tree nuts can go in with other solids from around 6 months. [3]
Offer cashew on its own the first time, earlier in the day and when you can watch baby. Start with a small taste, around a quarter teaspoon of thinned cashew butter, and watch for a reaction. Build up gradually if all's well, and once tolerated, keep it in the diet a few times a week.[3]
If your baby has severe eczema or an egg allergy, talk to your pediatrician before introducing nuts.
Offer it on its own, start with a small amount, and watch for a reaction. Once your baby is comfortable with it, keep it in their regular diet.
How to serve
6+ months old
Thinned smooth cashew butter or ground cashew
About 1/4 teaspoon to start
Thin a small amount of smooth cashew butter with warm water, breast milk, or formula into a loose paste, then offer it on your finger or a pre-loaded spoon, or stir it into oatmeal or yogurt. Finely ground cashew blends in too.
The first time: pick a time earlier in the day when you can watch baby for about two hours. Offer a tiny taste - the tip of a spoon or your finger, around 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon - then wait about 10 minutes. If there's no reaction, give the rest of the small amount as normal. Build up gradually over the next servings, and once tolerated, keep cashew in the diet a few times a week. Watch for a reaction. Don't rub nut butter on baby's skin to test for allergy - it doesn't work and may raise the risk.
How to cook
No cooking needed. Mix about 1 teaspoon of smooth cashew butter with 2 to 3 teaspoons of warm liquid until loose, never a thick blob. Use only smooth cashew butter or finely ground cashew, never whole or chopped nuts.
12+ months old
Thinly spread cashew butter on soft strips
A thin layer on a finger-length strip
Spread smooth cashew butter thinly on a soft strip of toast, stir it into oatmeal or yogurt, or fold finely ground cashew into pancakes or muffins. Keep it smooth and thinly spread, never a thick blob.
How to cook
No cooking needed. Spread cashew butter thin rather than in a glob, or stir ground cashew into food or batter. Whole and chopped nuts stay a choking hazard for children under 4.
Tips
- Thin it more than you think. Cashew butter is the thickest and stickiest of the common nut butters, so the usual splash of liquid often isn't enough. Keep adding warm water or milk until it genuinely runs off the spoon rather than clinging in a lump - that's the texture you're after.
- Check the jar is just cashews. Many cashew butters add oil, sugar, or salt, and the flavoured ones more so. Look for one with a single ingredient, and stir it well, since natural nut butters separate and the stiff paste at the bottom is exactly what you don't want.
- Cashews soften in water. If you're grinding your own, soaking raw cashews for a few hours first makes them blend to a much smoother butter or cream - useful if you don't have a powerful processor, and it's how dairy-free cashew creams are made.
Sources
- Choking Hazards (Infant & Toddler Nutrition) - CDC
- When to Introduce Egg, Peanut Butter & Other Common Food Allergens - AAP HealthyChildren
- Tree Nut Allergy - FARE
- IgE Cross-Reactivity of Cashew Nut Allergens - Int Arch Allergy Immunol 2019 (PMC6381869)
- When, What, and How to Introduce Solid Foods - CDC
- Nuts, cashew nuts, raw (FDC 170571) - USDA FoodData Central