Pinto beans

You can offer pinto beans once your baby is ready for solids, usually around 6 months. Always cook them thoroughly.

Pinto means painted in Spanish. The name points to the mottled skin, with spots from beige to black, pink, purple and red. The bean is native to Central America.

The beans are full of carbohydrates, fiber, and protein. They also offer iron and zinc, calcium and potassium, choline, folate, and selenium, and it provides vitamin E, vitamin K, and vitamin B6. These support energy, growth, gut bacteria, bone density, the nervous system, red blood cells, electrolyte balance, immunity and taste.

Iron absorption

Pair the beans with something high in vitamin C and your baby takes up more of the iron.

Lectins and anti-nutrients

Soaking and cooking reduce natural plant compounds, among them lectins, oxalates, and phytates. Within a balanced diet, most people are not harmed by them. So always soak the beans and cook them thoroughly, and never serve them raw or undercooked.

Pinto beans are small and round, and hard if raw or not cooked enough. Both traits raise the choking risk.

Prepare the beans to suit your baby's age: mash at 6 months, gently flatten at 9 months, and serve well-cooked whole beans after 12 months. Stay close while your baby eats and keep them upright.

Pinto beans rarely cause allergy. Some people allergic to other legumes, peanut and soy among them, have reacted to beans. Being allergic to one legume does not mean allergy to all, and most people with peanut or soy allergy eat other legumes without trouble. People with birch or grass pollen allergy or oral allergy syndrome can react to legumes like pinto beans. The mouth itches, tingles or burns briefly, which is not dangerous.

Give a small amount the first few times. If there is no reaction, increase the portion.