I never thought I would be a Mom who made her own baby food. It just wasn’t something I ever considered when I had Wesley three years ago. Perhaps there was already so much I was overwhelmed by during my first time around as a new mom. Now with Sawyer I find that I’m a bit wiser…a bit more confident in my ability as a parent. So I stress less. And with less stress comes more time for parenting stuff that once seemed so overwhelming–like making my own baby food.
I started with brown rice cereal because it’s the first “solid” food that I’m introducing to Sawyer. Also, the great thing about rice cereal is that it can be mixed with other pureed foods in the future (i.e. apples, carrots, peas, yams, etc).
Note: 1/4 cup uncooked organic rice will yield 16 ounces of baby food
Ingredients: 1/2 cup of brown rice and 4 cups of water.
You will need some form of a food processor or blender that has a milling blade. I have the Baby Bullet and it works great.
Add the uncooked brown rice to the food processor and mill to a fine powder. Add the milled brown rice and 4 cups of water to a pot and cover until it boils. Then, turn the heat to low and cook with the cover for 20 minutes. Check the consistency of the brown rice cereal and add water if you want it to be thinner.
Once the cereal is the consistency most appropriate for your infants age, pour it into storage cups and freeze or refrigerate. You can refrigerate for up to 3 days, or freeze for 30 days. I love these silicone freezer storage trays because they allow me to easily pop out an entire cube of cereal to heat up and serve (or thaw).
Overall, it was much simpler than I expected. And the best part is that this recipe makes such a large batch. It’s also SOOOO much less expensive to make baby food rather than purchase it–even when I’m buying organic ingredients.
And Sawyer seems to love it.
I have yet to get “creative” with my baby food recipes, so I would love any tips or combinations that you’ve tried with your babies.
72 Comments
Krystal
January 9, 2013 at 7:31 amFor some reason I never thought to make the cereal! I was planning on doing veggies and fruits- thanks for sharing!
Kaylee
January 23, 2020 at 6:33 amDo you wash the rice?
Syakirah
June 18, 2020 at 3:51 pmYou need to wash the rice but don’t overdo it❤️
Melanie Platt
January 9, 2013 at 7:45 amI loved making my own baby food… but it did feel overwhelming at first. If you want some ideas for first foods recipes try http://www.weelicious.com. Her website is amazing and has so many great ideas for baby food as well as toddler foods. She is incredibly healthy and finds ways to help her kids learn to love their veggies!
Shauna Q.
January 9, 2013 at 7:54 amMy son is completely fed by a blended diet so I consider myself pretty well versed in blends! Funny thing is, I never made my own baby food. Anywho, blended bananas and blended avacado is where I might start. Or maybe blended sweet potato?
P.S. if you freeze a banana and blend that it makes awesome, low cal, healthy “ice cream.”
katie
January 9, 2013 at 11:15 amcan you make the brown rice in advance and then put it in the blender/food processor?
Shary
January 9, 2013 at 2:21 pmI already had this recipe, but your photos are awesome so I pinned it. 🙂 What a cute, happy baby!
Natalia
January 9, 2013 at 2:22 pmI made all my own baby food with my little guys because we live in France & they have weird stuff in their food. I made big batches and froze them & I was happy with it. I used this website that was sooo helpful: http://www.homemade-baby-food-recipes.com/index.html
Hope that helps!
Nicole Franks
January 9, 2013 at 2:44 pmProud of you! Great job, momma! I give/gave avocado. Great fatty food, and if they don’t like it mix it with bananas! Same texture and the sweetness of the banana hides the avocado! A book I adore is “Super Baby Food” I don’t remember the author, but she is amazing. I am sure you can google it if intersted! Have fun babyfood making!!
Jen
January 9, 2013 at 2:51 pmI really want to try that next time I have a baby. Thanks for sharing!
em
January 9, 2013 at 4:00 pmI’ve made my kids’ baby food off and on and found the least overwhelming way to do it (for me) was to simply blend up whatever we were having as I was cooking or cleaning up. I ended up stocking up plenty of frozen ice cubes for baby without a ton of extra work or a whole day cooking/blending/freezing. Frozen veggies, oatmeal (you do it just like the rice, blend up the dry oats before cooking), fruits that I’d be cutting up for the older kids, chicken, sweet potatoes or squash that I was cooking for dinner, leftover veggies from dinner, whatever. The baby food stage is always really hard for me so I start it as late as possible (like 8 or 9 months old!) and then rejoice a month or two later when they can handle small chunks of whatever we’re eating. It’s so freeing once they can feed themselves!
Sarah
January 9, 2013 at 4:29 pmFunny you mention making your own baby food. I just did a post on the baby food that I make for my son. I have this great cookbook from William Sonoma you should really try out. For me personally I don’t like having to use a website all the time, I like tangible books to browse through. The recipes in the WS cookbook are awesome and some of them the whole family can enjoy. I have to sometimes remind my husband that the food is for the baby. Well so much baby any more, but my son likes it so much I’m having a hard time getting him to want non pureed veggies!
http://foxysdomesticside.blogspot.com/2013/01/veggie-stock.html
Good luck, it’s super easy! And I also use a immersion blender for all of my purees. Works like a charm, less clean up then a food processor or blender and cheap!
Eli's Mom
January 9, 2013 at 4:31 pmHow old is Sawyer? Anyway, my LO is a little over 6 months old. We started with rice cereal at 5.5 months and then to sweet potato, little broccoli (since it has nitrate), split pea. He loved split pea the most *scratches head*. 🙂 We also mixed the sweet potato with the broccoli since he didn’t like the latter that much. I also use this website for some guidance: http://wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com/ I will be happy to swap stories with you. 🙂 Take care!
Rachel
January 9, 2013 at 4:47 pmThanks for the how-to! I want to try this out when we have kids. And Sawyer – how cute! He’s so adorable with that little smile.
Suzy
January 9, 2013 at 6:35 pmI just made a huge batch of food this weekend for my 6 month old.. They were all easy.. Sweet potatoes, pears, apples, broccoli and peas (which he won’t get for a while!) love that you’re doing this and you’re so right, it’s way cheaper! The only thing you might want to look into is that the reason drs reccomend rice cereal is for learning and also bc it’s iron fortified, but besides the iron there is no nutritional value except bad carbs and arsenic (even brown rice). Im sure you know that, but just wanted to throw it out there! 🙂 Once he gets the hang of it you could try avocado and banana for some easy firsts! Good luck and can’t wait to see what sweet boy likes next!
Christine
January 9, 2013 at 9:54 pmI agree with Suzy in that there’s really no nutritional value to rice cereal. Granted, homemade is no doubt better than store-bought, but it’s just empty carbs. My son’s first foods were a mashed banana and then avocado. We did baby led weaning so I never even messed with making my own food. SO STINKING EASY. Babies know when they want to eat, what they want to eat, and believe it or not can feed themselves starting around six months (and not before as their gut typically isn’t ready for solids). The key is to let them go at it at their own pace instead of forcing a spoon into their mouths. If they have full head control and no longer have the tongue-thrust reflex, let them explore! A lot of parents are hesitant to do it for fear of choking, but the big thing is to know and remember the difference between gagging and choking. Gagging can happen, and it’s part of the learning process for baby — how much to bite off, how to chew, can I swallow yet, etc. We only dealt with gagging a handful of times. He just spit it out and tried again, taking a smaller bite. There’s plenty of info out there. The book is called Baby Led Weaning, but I like referring to the process as baby led solids as you’re not taking them off breastmilk (or formula), just adding to it as baby dictates.
Kara
June 23, 2013 at 4:57 pmIt’s not about the nutritional value as much as it is teaching your baby how to use their mouth and tongue to eat solid foods. At least this is how my Pediatrician explained it. He also said it is best to begin with veggies, not fruit so they don’t get used to the sugary sweet foods.
anna
January 9, 2013 at 10:28 pmLove your posts. I’m a mama of 7 from ages 23-10, all homeschooled, some home-birthed, lactated for 14 years, LOL, so I’m definitely one of the ones who always made my own baby food. It is so ‘el cheapo’ that if it wasn’t more nutritious, it’s so stinking easy, I would still do it. So my babies’ first food was always sweet potato. Just put one in the oven, skin and all, roast for an hour, squeeze the good potato meat out the skin and mash with a fork. Easy as pie. Bananas on the brown side are always great, and you can add those to anything. I made the brown rice like you and I did the same with oatmeal and quinoa. Brown rice, not white, has plenty nutritional value. Before organic was even an issue, for my first 3 babies, frozen squash is already mushed. They LOVE the carrots and applesauce and pearsauce I would make. Just steam or lightly boil the fruits or veggies and put them in your bullet thing. I now babysit my 9 month old niece, so I’m back to making baby food again….today she had oatmeal and peaches. She was in heaven!
Stacey
January 10, 2013 at 3:30 amHow easy!! I am pregnant with my second child. My oldest is 4 and I never wanted to mess around with making any of his baby food. And he has always been the pickiest eater. This time around, I totally want to make my own. So I’m so glad you posted this. I am pinning it and this will be my first recipe.
Ps….Sawyer is such a cutie!
Bree
January 10, 2013 at 6:20 amThat’s so easy! Wow…
Oh! You can now officially cross off number 51 on your life list!
Congratulations 🙂
LisaC
January 11, 2013 at 2:06 amI made all the food for my first child (except when we were traveling) and will do the same for my son starting next month. I steamed veggies and then pureed them. I frozen them in ice cube trays, then put them in ziploc bags. It is so much cheaper! I found it best to spend one day per week (usually the day after I went to the store) making everything. Start the oven, and cook all the sweet potatoes and squash, and steam all the veggies or fruit at once. I started her on applesauce and pearsauce, but this time around I will start with green veggies, then other colours, then fruit. The sweet fruit kind of ruined her for green veggies. 🙂
Kelsey
January 11, 2013 at 12:09 pmI would love to know where you got your silicone trays – they look like the perfect size!
Stefanie
January 12, 2013 at 7:14 pmCereal was the only thing I didn’t make this time around! I made all of her fruits and veggies, though. I wish I would have done it with my older two!
Mary
January 14, 2013 at 9:31 pmWith my 1st, I also didn’t make his food. Then when my daughter was born, I decided to make all of her food, except the cereals. I have no idea why I didn’t think about that! My son just started on cereal this month and I have been strictly feeding him oatmeal as his learning cereal. I am going to have to read how to make my own! The website that I absolutely loved for recipes and will use again is this one,
http://wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com/
Have fun exploring all the new recipes out there!
Erin
January 23, 2013 at 6:26 amI’ve been making all my babe’s food for the last few months! I did the rice cereal first, made the same way you did yours. My girl is really into her greens, spinach & kale steamed with some basil is her favorite! Also I sprinkle cinnamon on the squash and on her oatmeal in the morning with either pears or apples. We’ve done peaches, mangos, peas, green beans, carrots…she didn’t love avocado at first but likes it now that she can pick it up and feed herself 🙂 Good luck with the food & have fun with it!
deedee
May 31, 2013 at 11:55 pmChanced upon your blog and love it! 😀
tiffani
October 25, 2013 at 7:01 amI didn’t even know you could make your own rice cereal, even though I have always made my own baby food, however I have been reading about all the “bad batches” of organic infant cereal and thought there has got to be a better way! And there is! Thank you so much for sharing!
clara
November 9, 2013 at 9:01 pmwell iv just read this and am yet to make that for my son,will inform you the results
ardiana
December 22, 2013 at 7:25 amThank you for sharing. I would like to share this with my friend. And credit for your cute picture. Hope u would mind if i share it…^_^
Merideth
January 18, 2014 at 4:13 amThank you! First time mo as well, and I can’t tell you how cool it was to come across this. Never thought of doing it myself, and I got the baby bullet for a baby shower gift!! Thank you!!
Have you got any more recipes?
Raising a Healthy Baby: Real Food & Rice Cereal
January 29, 2014 at 11:41 pm[…] for both flavor and nutrition. I’ve also seen some organic brown rice/quinoa cereals out there. Little Miss Mama has a great recipe for making brown rice cereal. And you know me, homemade is always a better […]
hiddie hulbert
February 7, 2014 at 3:02 pmThank you for the recipe! Finally got my 6 month old girl to sleep all night! I wanted to give her rice cereal but didnt want to get store bought. Working great:) i like putting carrot, apple, kale, spinach, onion, and banana or strawberry in nutri bullet. Its cheaper than buying jars of baby food with added ingredients and preservatives. Make any smoothie u want for ur little one. Another good one is broccoli, kale and avocado. Good job and thanks again!
Debbie
March 4, 2014 at 11:54 amThank you so much for this!!
How did you heat it up after your froze/refrigerated it?
Hollie
March 13, 2014 at 3:33 amWhy not just cook up some brown rice and mash it for baby? What did people do before blenders?
Patricia Noel
March 18, 2014 at 5:58 amThank you so much for the recipe. I made some today to feed my twins for the first time. I did not want to feed them the rice cereal from the store so I was really excited that I found your recipe!
Janice
March 18, 2014 at 10:51 pmHi, I would like to know is the Baby Bullet good quality and can it last long?
Or any recommendation for full set of food processor which include storage cup and tray?
Thank you.
Laura Toroney
April 26, 2014 at 8:02 pmHi! Thanks for the recipe. Where did you get that cute spoon? 🙂
Ashley
May 2, 2014 at 2:53 amI made a batch of the rice cereal and added some avocado and banana and it made the cereal very runny.
do you have any suggestions on how I can thicken it?
Thanks!
shelby
August 19, 2014 at 11:17 amIf I mill the rice, do I have to cook it with water or can I use breast milk? Also do I have to cook it as soon as I mill it?
With my first soon I bought boxed rice cereal and never had to cook anything I just added milk and was done.
Ashleigh
April 14, 2015 at 1:16 amI just had my baby and I have said through out my whole pregnancy that I was going to make my own baby food. I never thought about making the cereal until I saw this post. My daughter is having a hard time sleeping so everyone keeps suggesting I put some cereal in her bottles. Would this recipe work for that? The store bought cereal is dry, so I am curious how you would prepare this kind for the bottles. Thank you for any suggestions?
beezeal
July 7, 2015 at 4:16 pmThanks for sharing,i love making my own baby food…this will help a lot.
Amy
September 22, 2015 at 6:36 amHello ladies!!
Great tips about the food, thanks for sharing!! I just wondered if there’s any natural vanilla (or other yummy sweet taste) that I can add to the rice? He loved vanilla so I want to make him vanilla rice cereal, just without the processed sweetner!! Any ideas?
Ps- I do have berries and banana etc, am really looking for more ideas for flavouring! 🙂
Penny
February 8, 2016 at 12:40 amI would like to ask before blend the brown rice need to wash first?if wash the rice means needs to let it dry only blend?
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March 22, 2016 at 6:52 pmFor some reason I never thought to make the cereal!
Julijana
July 25, 2016 at 9:27 amDo you wash the rice before grinding? Thanks
Lauren C. Moye
October 6, 2016 at 11:58 pmShared this recipe in my Absolute Beginner’s Guide to Making Baby Food! I so wish I had found this when my baby was eating baby cereal.
http://www.chaoticlifeoflauren.com/2016/10/06/absolute-beginners-guide-to-making-baby-food/
Smita Benjamin
August 10, 2017 at 3:20 amThanks Ashley for this recipe for baby food rice cereal. This almost requires no preparation and can be prepared within half an hour. Keep posting good work. I am a mother of a baby boy and I am documenting my experience on my blog https://www.kidhealthcenter.com
Keep-up the good work.
Annah
August 10, 2017 at 3:37 pmHi, I’m a bit confused by the rice quantity. Is it one quarter cup, or a half cup? Before or after grinding? Thanks so much.
Annah
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June 1, 2018 at 6:41 amOur pediatrician put my 1mth old on 1 TBLS of rice cereal let 2 oz of formula . I have had a lot of trouble with him having gas and stomach issues which was happening before the rice, it was added to aid in bad reflux. After trying Gerber, Beechnut and now Earths Best brown rice cereal I have found the brown rice works best but I prefer to make my own could I grind this up and just add it into his bottle like I do the store bought ?
Zoe
July 9, 2018 at 11:45 amHi, I have a 3 month old baby and looking forward to introduce him a little bit of solid next months. Is this recipe okay for 4 month old?
Ashley Stock
July 13, 2018 at 9:12 amYes totally! If your doctor says he’s ready for solids than this is an awesome recipe to start with 🙂
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October 15, 2020 at 2:12 am[…] It’s easy to digest and has less allergenic properties than other foods. Just blend the rice cereal, add it to hot water, and you’re good to go – check recipe […]