Puréed Diet Tips and Benefits

How to Maintain Proper Nutrition and Satisfaction Without Eating Solid Food

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A puréed diet is an eating plan where all the foods have a soft, pudding-like consistency. It is a texture-modified diet that is often recommended for people who can't eat solid foods.

If you have a health condition that prevents you from chewing or digesting normally, such as dysphagia or other digestive issues, you might not be able to eat solid food. The goal of a puréed diet is to prevent malnutrition by making a variety of foods safe for you to eat.

While a liquid diet can also be used for people who have trouble chewing or digesting food, a puréed diet provides more nutrition than a liquid diet. Since you're getting more nutrients, it's safer to stay on a puréed diet for longer than you could stay on a liquid diet.

This article will go over how a puréed diet works. It will cover the key points to know if your provider wants you to follow a puréed diet, including tips for shopping and cooking.

Pureed pumpkin soup in a bowl with a spoon and a napkin
 Angela Coppola / Getty Images

Benefits

When you eat food, digestion starts in your mouth as you're chewing. The food gets broken down more as it moves through your digestive system.

If you're not able to chew or parts of your digestive tract don't work well, eating solid food can be a challenge. It could even be dangerous if you were to choke on a piece of food you weren't able to chew well.

Many foods can be prepared in a way that does some of that breaking down for you. One example is puréeing. If you've ever looked inside a jar of baby food, you already have a sense of what puréed food looks like.

The main benefit of a puréed diet is that furéed foods are completely smooth. Since they don't have to be chewed, puréed foods are easier (and safer) to swallow and digest than solid food.

Who Needs a Puréed Diet?

You may need to follow a puréed diet if you have trouble chewing or swallowing. This can happed for a variety of reasons.

Dysphagia

Dysphagia is the medical term for swallowing problems. Symptoms of dysphagia may include gagging or choking when swallowing, a sensation that food is stuck in the throat or chest, and weight loss. It can be caused by conditions that affect the function of the mouth, throat, or esophagus. They include:

Gastroparesis

Gastroparesis, also known as delayed gastric emptying, is a disorder in which the stomach takes too long to empty food. Diabetes is the most common cause of this condition. However, other risk factors for gastroparesis include:

  • Gastrectomy (surgical removal of the stomach)
  • Systemic sclerosis
  • Medications that block nerve signals

Chewing Difficulties

Persons who underdo oral or dental surgery or who have poor teeth may have trouble chewing food. Chewing problems can also be caused by infections in the mouth.

Other Issues

If you're recovering from an illness or surgery, you might need to start out on a liquid diet. A puréed diet can be a bridge between a liquid diet and getting back to your usual diet. It can help prevent weight loss and give your body the nutrition it needs to heal.

Some additional reasons a person may need to use a puréed diet include:

How a Puréed Diet Works

A puréed diet involves eating foods you don't need to chew.

To be safe for a puréed diet, the food just has to be soft—it does not necessarily need to be puréed. This includes foods like pudding or yogurt, That said, most foods you normally eat can be easily puréed to a soft, smooth, consistency. You just need to cook them properly and have a good blender or food processor.

To prepare foods for a puréed diet, start by cooking meats, vegetables, and grains until they're very soft (such as simmering or braising).

Once they're soft, the next step is to make the foods smooth.

  1. Place the hardest foods (e.g., meat, chicken) in a blender or food processor.
  2. Add liquid (e.g., milk, juice, meat, or vegetable stock).
  3. Purée until smooth.
  4. Add soft-cooked vegetables and grains.
  5. Purée again.

When you're done, all foods should be completely smooth. The consistency should be like pudding, very smooth mashed potatoes, or hummus. There should be no solid chunks of food or lumps.

You can also purée and eat each food separately.

Puréed Diet vs. Mechanical Soft Diet

A puréed food diet does not require you to chew your food. A mechanical soft food diet requires less chewing than a regular diet.

Most people only stay on a puréed diet until they can get back to eating solid food. However, the diet can also be a long-term solution if you cannot tolerate or manage eating solid foods at all.

Meals do not have to be eaten on a timed schedule when you're following a puréed diet. You can stick to your typical meal times if that works for you.

What to Eat


Any food that can be blended smooth is fair game on a puréed diet. However, to make sure you are getting enough nutrients, a puréed diet should follow the 2020-2025 USDA Dietary Guidelines as closely as possible.

The diet should be based on nutrient-dense whole foods and include a variety of food groups, with plenty of fruits and vegetables.

Liquid meal replacement drinks or supplements, like Ensure or Boost, can also help you stay nourished when you're on the go or don't feel like cooking.

Fruits

You should include at least 1.5 to 2 cups of fruit in your diet each day—half of which should come from whole fruit.

All fruits get soft when they're cooked. However, it's easier to blend them to a smooth consistency if you peel fruits with skins (like apples) first. Also, before you eat fruits with seeds (like berries) or any fruits with tough membranes (like oranges or grapefruit), make sure you press them through a sieve to remove the solid parts.

Smooth applesauce or puréed fruit packets are convenient for when you want a quick snack that you don't have to cook or blend. You can also drink juices or nectar with no pulp.

Vegetables

It's recommended that you eat at least 2.5 to 3 cups of vegetables each day. Vegetables may be fresh, frozen, canned, or dried.

Any vegetables with tough skins need to be peeled before you cook them. Always press vegetables with seeds or "strings" through a sieve to remove the tough parts.

You can also buy vegetable baby food in jars or squeezable packets. They are convenient to have on hand; just look for products specifically made for babies. The ones for toddlers tend to be thicker and chunkier, as they contain more solids.

Vegetable juices with no pulp are another option.

Grains

When eating grains, be sure to get at least 6 to 8 ounce equivalents (oz-equiv) per day. At least half the grains you eat should be whole grains. Grain products include wheat, rice, oats, cornmeal, barley, or other cereal grains.

You can purée well-cooked rice or pasta, crackers, breads, and more into a pudding consistency using your liquid of choice. Cooked cereals (like Cream of Wheat or Cream of Rice) and blended oatmeal are other easy options.

Dairy

Make sure you get at least 3 cups of dairy every day. This includes milk, yogurt, cheese, lactose-free milk, fortified soy milk, and yogurt. If you need additional calories, choose full-fat dairy products like whole milk or yogurt. You'll find a variety of dairy products that are already the right consistency for a puréed diet.

Not only are they a good source of calories and fat, but milk also contains protein. For example, a 6-ounce serving of Greek yogurt provides about 20 grams of protein.

Meats

It's recommended that you get 6 to 7.5 oz-equiv of protein per day. Chicken, fish, and soft, ground meats are the easiest to purée. You can add gravy, stock, or cream sauce to make them smoother. Before you start cooking, press meats or fish through a sieve to remove any solid pieces.

Legumes

All legumes are high in fiber and protein, making them a healthy substitute for meat. They also purée easily. For example, silken tofu is already very soft. It makes a good base for creamy desserts or soups. Smooth bean dips or hummus are other options.

Peanut butter and other types of nut butter are smooth enough to include on a puréed diet, but they tend to be thick. If you have trouble swallowing, you'll need to be careful with nut butter.

Fats

Eating healthy fats (unsaturated fats) is also important for a balanced diet. Foods that contain healthy fats include avocado, nuts, fatty fish, and certain oils.

It's recommended that you limit your intake of less healthy fats (saturated fats) to no more than 10% of your total daily calories. Foods high in saturated fats include butter, high-fat meats, tropical oils (palm or coconut), and whole-fat dairy.

Soups

Soups are a flavorful and versatile meal option. Puréed soups are a great way to enjoy your vegetables and other food items, like protein.

Soups may consist of broth, puréed or strained vegetables, and cooked grains and meats. That said, you can even purée chicken noodle or chicken and rice soup.

Desserts

Desserts may include ice cream, frozen yogurt, fruit ice, pudding, fruit whip, and custard. However, they shouldn't include solid foods like coconut, nuts, or dried fruits unless they're puréed.

To maintain a healthy diet, limit added sugars to less than 10% of total calories per day.

Extras

Most herbs and spices are fine to add to puréed meals. However, if your mouth or throat is sensitive (e.g., because you have sores), these additions could be irritating. In that case, be careful about using cayenne pepper and other hot spices or condiments.

You'll also need to avoid extras that are fibrous or seedy unless you can strain the fibers and seeds out. There are other ways to round out the flavor and consistency of a purée—for example, by adding mayonnaise, sauce, or gravy.

Meal Replacement Options

Meal replacement products are nutrient-filled food supplements designed to replace a regular meal. Ensure, Carnation Instant Breakfast, and Boost are a few examples of liquid meal replacements you can get at most grocery stores and pharmacies.

For an easy, homemade, and nutritious meal replacement, try smoothies. You have a lot of choices when crafting a smoothie. Start by mixing milk, water, or juice with fruit and/or leafy greens. To make it a complete meal, add a scoop of protein powder and a spoonful of peanut butter or avocado.

Tips to Maintain a Puréed Diet


If you are looking to maintain a puréed diet, it's important to keep it practical, flexible, and sustainable.

Here are some tips that may make it easier to stick to a puréed diet:

  • Prep meals in advance: The best tip for making a puréed diet easier and more flexible is to do as much cooking and prep work as you can ahead of time.
  • Invest in a good blender for home: You may want to invest in a full-size blender, as it can be hard to blend meats or larger portions of foods in a smaller one.
  • Try using food molds: Texture differences can change your perception of how the food tastes—especially with meat. Using food molds that look like the shape of the food before it is puréed may help make the food more tolerable.
  • Eat puréed foods as soups instead of solid meals: You might prefer to eat your puréed foods in the form of soups. The easiest way to turn a purée into a soup is to add some stock or another liquid when you're blending.
  • Season your food: Adding extra herbs and seasonings can make a big difference in the taste of your meals. Even if the consistency or appearance is not what you're used to, familiar flavors can help a puréed meal taste more like what you'd expect.
  • Stock up on meal replacement shakes: There are bound to be times when you don't feel like cooking or you have to be away from home. In these situations, having meal replacement products on hand will help you stay nourished.
  • Consider purchasing a personal blender: These portable devices are about the size of a sports drink bottle and let you blend food on the go.
  • Plan ahead: If you're dining out, check in advance to see if you can request specially prepared options. Otherwise, plan to bring your own meals.

Summary

A puréed diet includes soft, smooth foods. If you have trouble chewing, swallowing, or digesting, it may not be safe for you to eat solid food as you typically would. A puréed diet can be a safer way to get the nutrition you need. It's important to talk to a nutritionist and your regular healthcare provider about your personal goals and needs.

Most foods can be part of a puréed diet as long as they're prepared the right way. That said, some people still find it hard to stick with a diet of only puréed foods. Even if it's nutritionally sufficient, puréed foods can look odd and be unappetizing.

Learning different ways to prepare puréed meals can help make it easier to stick with the diet. It also helps to have the right tools, like a good blender.

12 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
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By Shereen Lehman, MS
Shereen Lehman, MS, is a healthcare journalist and fact checker.