Graphic for Post - how to make baby rice cereal - homemade - freezer friendly - 4+ months. Images of a bowl filled with baby rice cereal and a freezer tray filled with the rice cereal ready to freeze.

Using only i ingredient, this Homemade Baby Rice Cereal is a simple and easy recipe to brand for your baby! Plus, it is completely freezer-friendly, and so it's a great addition to your freezer stash of baby purees. It'south nifty for babies 4-vi+ months and up as a Stage 1 baby food.

Graphic for post - how to make baby rice cereal - stage one - homemade - 6+ months. Image is a white bowl with wooden baby spoon resting in the bowl with creamy rice cereal.

Medically reviewed by Jamie Johnson, Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN), and Lauren Braaten, Pediatric Occupational Therapist (OT).

Homemade Babe Rice Cereal

Homemade brown rice baby cereal is packed with manganese, magnesium, and selenium. It is a good source of fiber, protein, and a ton of other essential vitamins and minerals for a growing baby. 💪

It's a nutritious commencement nutrient for your baby, and you lot tin can easily mix it with other fruit or veggie purees for a more wholesome and succulent repast! 😋

Plus, this homemade baby cereal is one of the easiest purees you can make for your baby! All you need is ane ingredient and less than an hour of your fourth dimension 🕐.

For this recipe, nosotros volition melt the brown rice, alloy it upwards, and and then pop information technology into the freezer for easy-to-take hold of cubes of baby rice cereal. I have found that this cooking method makes the creamiest and smoothest baby cereal yous can ever imagine. Besides, at that place is nothing like having a freezer stash of healthy baby purees at your fingertips!

Is it yourfirst fourth dimension making bootleg babe food? So I propose you starting time this journey past reading my in-depthGuide on How to Make Bootleg Baby Food. The detailed guide goes over all the important information such as the best cooking tools to have on hand, rubber storage, how to know when infant is gear up for solids, how to introduce purees, the best showtime foods for baby, and more! You can besides cheque out my all-time-selling cookbook for even more information and recipes!

Rice Cereal Video

Scout this video to see how easy making your own homemade rice cereal tin can be!

Reasons to Love this Rice Baby Cereal

  • piece of cake to brand
  • 1-ingredient puree
  • uncomplicated and wholesome ingredients
  • freezer-friendly — smashing to stash in the freezer
  • complimentary from allergens similar gluten, dairy, soy, corn
  • ful50 of essential nutrients for a growing babe — fiber, manganese, protein, selenium, and magnesium
  • works bang-up stirred into other combination purees
  • for babies 4-half-dozen months and up — stage ane puree
  • mild taste
  • creamy and smooth
Small white bowl filled with pureed homemade rice cereal for baby.

Ingredients

Make certain to read the recipe carte beneath for the full ingredient list and instructions!

  • Rice: I recommend using organic short grain brownish rice in this recipe. Brown rice has health benefits and loads of nutrients in it, equally opposed to white rice, which has all of the key nutrients stripped from it. I strongly recommend using organic brown rice as the cost deviation ounce-per-ounce is very small. The organic variety has not been soaked in pesticides and has significantly less arsenic in it. Yous tin can use either short or long-grain organic chocolate-brown rice for this recipe.
  • Water: This volition be added to cook the rice. You tin also apply sodium-free os goop or sodium-free veggie broth for more nutrients and season or a mixture of broth and water.
  • Liquid for Blending: While blending the rice, you'll need to add more liquid to thin out the rice into a puree. You can utilize h2o, os goop, veggie broth, fresh chest milk, or formula.

Time-SAVING TIP:  If you lot are in a rush, you lot tin can use quick-cooked chocolate-brown rice (I like the organic brownish basmati rice from Trader-Joes) that only takes 20 minutes to melt!

Soaking the Rice

Soaking brown rice (or any grain) helps remove some of the naturally occurring phytic acids, which are some of the difficult-to-digest components of the grain. Getting rid of these acids speeds up the cooking fourth dimension and makes the rice easier to assimilate.

If yous are introducing grains equally your baby's start food, soaking the grains would be helpful as your baby would have an easier time digesting the puree.

But if thinking ii-8 hours ahead of fourth dimension is holding you back from making your own cereal, then experience complimentary to skip this footstep.

How to Soak Rice: Place 1 cup of rice in a medium basin and add 2-three cups of hot water (enough to cover the rice) and leave at room temperature for at least 2 hours. You lot tin can also leave it overnight. Drain the rice and rinse well. Follow the recipe below on cooking and pureeing instructions, but annotation that the rice will melt faster, so check the rice afterwards 20 minutes.

  • silver saucepan filled with water and rice.

How to Make Babe Rice Cereal

  1. Rinse Rice: Place the rice in a fine-mesh colander and rinse with cold water until the h2o runs clear. This will help remove whatever backlog starch from the rice grains and make the rice fluffier and easier to blend. PLEASE DO Non skip this pace, or your puree will be starchy.
  2. Add to Saucepan: Add together the water and the rice to a medium saucepan, cover, and bring to a boil over high rut.
  3. Cook: One time at a boil, pass up the heat, and permit simmer on low for 35-45 minutes or until the water is gone and the rice is tender. Rice cooking times vary, and so gustatory modality examination the rice after 35 minutes to see if information technology is tender.
  4. Sit: Remove from heat and let it sit for 10 minutes.
  5. Alloy: Transfer the cooked rice to a blender or nutrient processor and blend for 1-2 minutes, adding liquid to sparse out the rice puree.
  6. Shop:  I recommend storing a small quantity of the rice puree in the fridge for use that week and and then freezing the rest for future meals.

Tools Needed

  • Blender or Nutrient Processor
  • Storage Containers for Fridge
  • Freezer Tray
  • Stasher Bag
  • highchair
  • suction bowl or baby basin
  • baby spoon
  • open up chapeau cup
  • bib with catch pocket

Other Cooking Methods

I accept found that cooking the rice kickoff and then blending, creates the smoothest rice cereal for your baby. But at that place are a couple of other ways to brand rice cereal for your baby.

Instant Pot

You can melt small or large batches of white or chocolate-brown rice in your instant pot. For white rice, you will put 1 cup of rice and one cup of h2o into the instant pot and cook for 3 minutes with a natural pressure release until the pin drops. For brown rice, y'all will put 1 loving cup of rice and 1 cup of water into the instant pot and cook for 24 minutes with a natural pressure release until the pin drops. Feel costless to double the recipe if needed.

Rice Powder

  1. Grind Rice: Place 1 cup of uncooked rice in a java grinder or blender. Grind for 1-2 minutes or until yous have a very fine rice pulverisation.
  2. Add Hot Water: In a microwave-prophylactic bowl, add in roughly one tablespoon rice powder and 1-ii tablespoons hot or boiling h2o. Stir until smooth adding more than water if needed. Allow sit until warm enough to swallow.

Oft Asked Questions

When can babies consume rice cereal?

Babies can have rice cereal as one of their first foods. When a baby can get-go on solids is determined by their own rate of development, which generally comes between 4-6 months of age. Some of the developmental milestones babies demand to reach in order to kickoff solids include: if your baby has solid command of their caput and neck, if your baby has doubled in weight, and if your baby is reaching for or opening their mouth when y'all eat (run into my guide here). Before yous showtime your baby on purees, you should consult with your pediatrician to make sure your kid is developmentally ready.

Can rice cereal exist the baby's first food?

Rice can 100% exist your baby'south first nutrient if you want it to be. It is recommended to await to innovate the tiptop eight allergen foods to your babe once a few other well-tolerated foods have been introduced, but otherwise, foods can be introduced in whatsoever gild so choose whatever you are nigh excited for your baby to accept.

Is rice a common allergen for baby?

No, rice is not a common allergen, notwithstanding, as with any food, start with a pocket-sized portion and be aware of any signs that might be an allergic reaction after introducing it.

Does rice cause constipation for babies?

Rice may cause constipation in babies since it absorbs h2o and may brand information technology harder to pass stools. Switch to a dissimilar whole grain similar oatmeal if your babe is having a hard time digesting rice.

Baby food Storage tray with homemade rice baby cereal inside.

How to Shop Rice Cereal

This baby rice cereal is quick and effortless to freeze and reheat, making it convenient to have on hand. The frozen cubes are piece of cake to take hold of and reheat right before mealtime.

How to Freeze

  • Later y'all blend the rice into a puree, y'all can pour the rice cereal into freezer-prophylactic trays . Do not overfill.
  • Place the tray into the freezer for 3-4 hours or until completely frozen.
  • Transfer the cubes of frozen rice cereal into a Stasher Handbag or ziplock baggie.
  • This puree volition last four days in the fridge and for up to 4 months in the freezer.

How to Re-Heat

  • Take the number of frozen cubes you lot want to feed your baby for that meal and identify them in a microwave-safe container.
  • Heat in the microwave for 30-second intervals until warm, stirring afterwards every session.
  • You can also have the frozen cubes and place them in a small saucepan on the stove, heating on low and stirring continuously.
  • Note: The puree will exist thick when yous reheat it. You tin sparse it back out by calculation other purees (run into the list below for some of my favorite options), fresh or frozen breast milk, formula, or water. Add together a little at a fourth dimension, stirring in-between.

Label Tip: Don't forget to characterization your purees earlier you place them in the fridge or freezer with the proper noun of the puree and engagement you lot fabricated it. Have it from me, y'all will completely forget when and what is in your freezer by the finish of the week;).

White bowl filled with homemade baby rice cereal with teal spoon inside.

Rice Comination Purees

While Rice is dandy by itself, it'southward also super easy to mix and match with other nutrient-dense baby food purees. Give these fun flavor combos a try!

Phase 1 Purees

  • Apple Puree
  • Sweet White potato Infant Nutrient Puree
  • Light-green Bean Babe Puree
  • Carrot Puree
  • Roasted Banana Baby Puree

Phase 2 Combination Purees

  • Superpower Dark-green Baby Nutrient Puree
  • Apple, Spinach + Broccoli Babe Food Puree
  • Sweet Murphy, Carrot, Cauliflower Baby Food Puree with Chia Seeds
  • Banana, Cherry + Beet Baby Food Puree
  • Roasted Root Veggies + Thyme Puree
  • Broccoli + Asparagus Babe Food Puree with Tarragon
  • Mango + Kale Baby Food Puree with Ginger

Feeding Tips

  • Place a small amount of puree on the tray during spoon feeding – so that your infant can dip their fingers or hands in the puree. Allowing baby to explore foods in this way helps them learn to self-feed and can help them be more than willing to effort new textures and foods in the hereafter.
  • Accept a spare spoon (or three!) – even very young babies often desire to be involved in feeding themselves as much as possible. Giving baby an extra spoon to hold can be helpful in giving her a sense of command and as well promotes hand-eye coordination.Allow babe to use spoons as a teether during the meal. There are many bully options out at that place but a few we especially dearest include the Olababy 3 Piece Set, the NumNum Pre-Spoon GOOtensils, and the ChooMee FlexiDip Baby Starter Spoons.
  • Purees are great to keep in your baby's regular rotation of foods – but if yous offset feeding with traditional weaning using purees, make sure to progress beyond eating Only purees. In one case infant can safely and comfortably swallow purees (usually by 7 or 8 months) it'southward time to innovate other textures, such as teething biscuits and soft cooked finger foods. Moving onto additional textures in a timely manner may help prevent feeding difficulties at a later on age.

Or watch a shortened version of this video here.

  • 1 loving cup brownish rice (I prefer organic short grain)
  • 2 cups water
  • 1-2 cups liquid for blending (fresh breast milk, formula, water)

  • Rinse Rice – Of import Step: Place the rice in a fine-mesh colander and rinse with water until the water runs articulate.

  • Cook: Transfer the rice to a medium bucket and add two cups of h2o. Bring to a boil over loftier heat, so reduce heat to depression, cover with a lid and simmer for 35-45 minutes or until the rice is tender and the water is evaporated. Each batch of rice cooks a lilliputian differently, then gustatory modality at 35 minutes to see if the rice is tender.

  • Let Rest: Remove the saucepan from the rut and permit rest for 10 minutes, covered. If using fresh breast milk or formula for blending, remove the lid and let the rice cool for xv minutes.

  • Blend: Identify the rice into a blender or nutrient processor and add ane/two cup of liquid of choice. Alloy for 1-2 minutes on medium-loftier speed until completely smooth and creamy, calculation in the additional liquid in i/iv loving cup increments, if needed, until you accept your desired consistency.

  • Eat: Serve to baby or freeze for afterward.

    Baby food Storage tray with homemade rice baby cereal inside.

Historic period: 4-6 months and up

Yield: roughly xx ounces

Notes on Rice:I recommend using organic short grain brownish rice in this recipe. Brown rice has health benefits and a ton of nutrients in it, as opposed to white rice, which has had most of the cardinal nutrients stripped from information technology. I would strongly recommend using organic dark-brown rice as the toll departure ounce-per-ounce is very pocket-sized and the organic variety has not been soaked in pesticides. You can utilise either short or long-grain brown rice for this recipe.

Notes on Water: water will be added to the rice to cook in. Y'all tin also utilize sodium-free bone broth or sodium-free veggie broth for more than nutrients and flavour, or do a mixture of half broth and half water.

Notes on Liquid for Blending: while blending the rice, more than liquid volition need to exist added to thin out the rice into a puree. You lot tin employ water, os broth, veggie broth, fresh breast milk or formula.

Serving: one ounce , Calories: 34 kcal , Carbohydrates: 7.2 m , Poly peptide: 0.7 g , Fat: 0.3 thou , Saturated Fat: 0.1 g , Sodium: ane mg , Potassium: 26 mg , Fiber: 0.3 g , Calcium: 4 mg