First foods database
🧀 Goat's cheese for babies: when and how to serve it
Can babies eat goats' cheese? Yes, from about 6 months, if it is a pasteurised, hard or fresh unripened goats' cheese. Ripened goats' cheese with a white rind should only be given cooked until steaming hot.
Good source of: Calcium, Protein, Vitamin A
How to serve goat's cheese by age
6 to 9 months
Spread fresh pasteurised soft goats' cheese thinly on toast or stir into pasta or mashed vegetables. Rinded goats' cheese should be baked until steaming hot first.
9 to 12 months
Crumble into pasta, omelettes or risotto.
12 months and up
Goats' cheese in family dishes, salads or tarts. Keep soft rinded and blue goats' cheese to dishes where it is cooked until steaming hot, and keep portions small as goats' cheese can be salty.
Choking safety
Soft goats' cheese is low risk. Spread thinly to avoid it sticking in the mouth.
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
- Milk is an allergen: goats' milk protein often cross-reacts with cow's milk.
- Ripened rinded goats' cheese must be cooked until steaming hot.
Introducing it as an allergen
It contains milk, one of the 14 major allergens. How to introduce milk
Easy ideas
- Goats' cheese and beetroot on toast
- Goats' cheese stirred into risotto
- Goats' cheese and spinach omelette
Goes well with
Weaning with OBubba
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Questions parents ask
Can babies eat goat's cheese?
Can babies eat goats' cheese? Yes, from about 6 months, if it is a pasteurised, hard or fresh unripened goats' cheese. Ripened goats' cheese with a white rind should only be given cooked until steaming hot.
Can babies with cow's milk allergy eat goats' cheese?
Usually not, as the proteins are similar. Ask your GP or dietitian.
Which goats' cheese is safe for babies?
Pasteurised hard and fresh soft goats' cheeses are fine. Ripened rinded types need cooking until steaming hot.
Sources
- NHS: Foods to avoid giving babies and young children
- NHS Start for Life: Weaning
- BSACI: Early feeding guidance
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).