First foods database
🧀 Blue cheese for babies: when and how to serve it
Can babies eat blue cheese? Hard, pasteurised blue cheeses such as Stilton can be offered in small amounts from about 6 months. Soft blue cheeses like gorgonzola, Danish blue or Roquefort should only be given cooked until steaming hot, as they carry a listeria risk.
Good source of: Calcium, Protein, Phosphorus
How to serve blue cheese by age
6 to 9 months
Blue cheese is strong and salty, so a tiny amount goes a long way. Melt a little crumbled Stilton into a white sauce, then mix it with mashed cauliflower, broccoli or potato. Offer soft-cooked florets coated in the sauce as finger food.
9 to 12 months
Stir a small amount of melted blue cheese through pasta with peas or squash, or bake it into a vegetable gratin. Make sure any soft blue cheese is cooked until bubbling and steaming hot.
12 months and up
Toddlers can share family dishes like blue cheese and broccoli soup or a little crumbled hard blue cheese in a pear salad. Keep portions small because of the salt.
Choking safety
Blue cheese is low choking risk when melted into sauces. Avoid giving firm cubes to young babies; crumble hard blue cheese finely or melt it, and serve with your baby sitting upright.
Gagging is common and noisy while babies learn to eat. Choking is usually silent. Always stay with your baby while they eat, sitting upright. How to help a choking baby (NHS).
Good to know
- Soft blue cheeses and unpasteurised cheese only when cooked until steaming hot.
- Blue cheese is high in salt and contains cow's milk, a common allergen, so use it as a flavouring in small amounts.
Introducing it as an allergen
It contains milk, one of the 14 major allergens. How to introduce milk
Easy ideas
- Cauliflower and blue cheese mash
- Pasta with squash and a little melted Stilton
- Pear slices with a thin smear of soft cooked blue cheese sauce
Goes well with
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Questions parents ask
Can babies eat blue cheese?
Can babies eat blue cheese? Hard, pasteurised blue cheeses such as Stilton can be offered in small amounts from about 6 months. Soft blue cheeses like gorgonzola, Danish blue or Roquefort should only be given cooked until steaming hot, as they carry a listeria risk.
Is Stilton safe for babies?
Pasteurised Stilton is a hard blue cheese, so small amounts are fine from about 6 months. It is very salty, so use only a little.
Can babies have gorgonzola?
Only when it is cooked until steaming hot, for example melted into a sauce or bake. Do not offer it cold.
Why is blue cheese a listeria concern?
Soft, moist blue cheeses can allow listeria to grow. Cooking until steaming hot kills it.
Sources
- NHS Start for Life: Weaning
- NHS: Foods to avoid giving babies and young children
- NHS: Food allergies in babies and young children
OBubba gives general information based on UK guidance. It is not medical advice and does not diagnose anything. Every baby is different. If your baby has a known allergy, severe eczema or a medical condition, speak to your doctor or health visitor before starting solids. Learn baby first aid, and in an emergency call your local emergency number (999 in the UK).