Using only 1 ingredient, this Homemade Baby Rice Cereal is a simple and easy recipe to make for your baby! Plus, it is completely freezer-friendly, so it’s a great addition to your freezer stash of baby purees. It’s great for babies 4 months and up as a Stage 1 baby food.
Medically reviewed by Jamie Johnson, Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN)
Homemade Baby 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 first food for your baby, and you can easily mix it with other fruit or veggie purees for a more wholesome and delicious meal! 😋
Plus, this homemade baby cereal is one of the easiest purees you can make for your baby! All you need is 1 ingredient and less than an hour of your time 🕐.
For this recipe, we will cook the brown rice, blend it up, and then pop it into the freezer for easy-to-grab cubes of baby rice cereal. I have found that this cooking method makes the creamiest and smoothest baby cereal you can ever imagine. Besides, there is nothing like having a freezer stash of healthy baby purees at your fingertips!
Is it your first time making homemade baby food? Then I suggest you start this journey by reading my in-depth Guide on How to Make Homemade Baby Food. The detailed guide goes over all the important information such as the best cooking tools to have on hand, safe storage, how to know when baby is ready for solids, how to introduce purees, the best first foods for baby, and more! You can also check out my best-selling cookbook for even more information and recipes!
TIME-SAVING TIP: If you are in a rush, you can use quick-cook brown rice (I like the organic brown basmati rice from Trader-Joes) that only takes 20 minutes to cook!
Reasons to Love this Homemade Baby Cereal
- easy to make
- 1-ingredient puree
- simple and wholesome ingredients
- freezer-friendly — great to stash in the freezer
- free from allergens like gluten, dairy, soy, corn
- full of essential nutrients for a growing baby — fiber, manganese, protein, selenium, and magnesium
- works great stirred into other combination purees
- for babies 4-6 months and up — stage 1 puree
- mild taste
- creamy and smooth
Ingredients
- Rice: I recommend using organic short grain brown rice in this recipe. Brown rice has health benefits and loads of nutrients in it, as opposed to white rice, which has all of the key nutrients stripped from it. I strongly recommend using organic brown rice as the cost difference ounce-per-ounce is very small. The organic variety has not been soaked in pesticides and has significantly less arsenic in it. You can use either short or long-grain organic brown rice for this recipe.
- Water: This will be added to cook the rice. You can also use sodium-free bone broth or sodium-free veggie broth for more nutrients and flavor 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 use water, bone broth, veggie broth, fresh breast milk, or formula.
Soaking the Rice
Soaking brown rice (or any grain) helps remove some of the naturally occurring phytic acids, which are some of the hard-to-digest components of the grain. Getting rid of these acids speeds up the cooking time and makes the rice easier to digest.
If you are introducing grains as your baby’s first food, soaking the grains would be helpful as your baby would have an easier time digesting the puree.
But if thinking 2-8 hours ahead of time is holding you back from making your own cereal, then feel free to skip this step.
How to Soak Rice: Place 1 cup of rice in a medium bowl and add 2-3 cups of hot water (enough to cover the rice) and leave at room temperature for at least 2 hours. You can also leave it overnight. Drain the rice and rinse well. Follow the recipe below on cooking and pureeing instructions, but note that the rice will cook faster, so check the rice after 20 minutes.
How to Make Baby Rice Cereal
- Rinse Rice: Place the rice in a fine-mesh colander and rinse with cold water until the water runs clear. This will help remove any excess starch from the rice grains and make the rice fluffier and easier to blend. PLEASE DO NOT skip this step, or your puree will be starchy.
- Add to Saucepan: Add the water and the rice to a medium saucepan, cover, and bring to a boil over high heat.
- Cook: Once at a boil, turn down the heat, and let simmer on low for 35-45 minutes or until the water is gone and the rice is tender. Rice cooking times vary, so taste test the rice after 35 minutes to see if it is tender.
- Sit: Remove from heat and let it sit for 10 minutes.
- Blend: Transfer the cooked rice to a blender or food processor and blend for 1-2 minutes, adding liquid to thin out the rice puree.
- Store: I recommend storing a small quantity of the rice puree in the fridge for use that week and then freezing the rest for future meals.
WHEN CAN BABY EAT RICE CEREAL?
Babies can have rice cereal as one of their first foods. When a baby can start 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 need to reach in order to start solids include: if your baby has solid control of their head and neck, if your baby has doubled in weight, and if your baby is reaching for or opening their mouth when you eat (see my guide here). Before you start your baby on purees, you should consult with your pediatrician to make sure your child is developmentally ready.
How to Freeze and Re-heat Baby 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 easy to grab and reheat right before mealtime.
How to Freeze
- After you blend the rice into a puree, you can pour the rice cereal into freezer-safe trays (this is my favorite freezer storage container). 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 Bag or ziplock baggie.
How to Re-Heat
- Take the number of frozen cubes you want to feed your baby for that meal and place them in a microwave-safe container.
- Heat in the microwave for 30-second intervals until warm, stirring after every session.
- You can also take the frozen cubes and place them in a small saucepan on the stove, heating on low and stirring continuously.
- NOTE: The puree will be thick when you reheat it. You can thin it back out by adding other purees (see the list below for some of my favorite options), fresh or frozen breast milk, formula, or water. Add a little at a time, stirring in-between.
Purees to Pair with this rice Baby Cereal
For Stage 1 Purees
For Stage 2 Combination Purees
- Superpower Green Baby Food Puree
- Apple, Spinach + Broccoli Baby Food Puree
- Sweet Potato, Carrot, Cauliflower Baby Food Puree with Chia Seeds
- Banana, Cherry + Beet Baby Food Puree
- Roasted Root Veggies + Thyme Puree
- Broccoli + Asparagus Baby Food Puree with Tarragon
- Mango + Kale Baby Food Puree with Ginger
Tools Needed
DID YOU MAKE THIS BABY RICE CEREAL RECIPE? I’D LOVE TO KNOW HOW IT TURNED OUT! LEAVE A COMMENT AND A ⭐️ RATING BELOW 👇
Homemade Baby Rice Cereal
Ingredients
- 1 cup brown rice (I prefer organic short grain)
- 2 cups water
- 1-2 cups liquid for blending (water, fresh breast milk or formula)
Instructions
- Rinse Rice – IMPORTANT STEP: Place the rice in a fine-mesh colander and rinse with water until the water runs clear.
- Cook: Transfer the rice to a medium saucepan and add 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to low, 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 little differently, so taste at 35 minutes to see if the rice is tender.
- Let Rest: Remove the saucepan from the heat and let rest for 10 minutes, covered. If using fresh breast milk or formula for blending, I would remove the lid and let the rice cool for 15 minutes.
- Blend: Place the rice into a blender or food processor and add 1/2 cup of liquid of choice. Blend for 1-2 minutes on medium-high speed until completely smooth and creamy, adding in the additional liquid in 1/4 cup increments, if needed, until you have your desired consistency.
- Eat: Serve to baby or freeze for later.
These are absolutely delicious! I just love that my kids are eating somethings that is tasty and even have health benefits!
I have a question. I made this and it was wonderful fresh…but the ones I froze it feels like rubber after it’s been defrosted. Is that normal? Will the texture return to normal when liquid is added and it’s heated?
The frozen and thawed rice cereal will be thick (see video) but I have found once you add a little liquid or another puree and gently heated it tastes just as it does when first made. Keep me updated once you try it.
Just to check- formula needs to go into a sterile bottle. So should I mix with water first to freeze and then blend with formula when I’m using and use a sterile dish?
That sounds like a great plan!
If I make this with previously frozen breastmilk for the liquid, can I still freeze it in serving size portions? Just wondering because I read where you don’t refreeze breastmilk, but I didn’t know if that applied since this breastmilk has been cooked.
I would recommend cooking the rice with water, then pureeing the rice with either fresh breastmilk or water. Once you freeze and thaw the rice cereal, you will probably need to thin it down a little since it gets thicker once it cools and this is a great time to add in frozen (and thawed) breastmilk. Thanks for bringing this to my attentions – I just edited the recipe card to be more clear.
If I decide to soak the rice, how long do I soak it? Do I soak before or after I rinse it?
This is a great question and I just updated the post and recipe card with full instructions on how to soak the rice.
I used thawed breast milk to make the whole batch. Is it still safe to feed her this if it’s been refrozen?
Can I use a rice cooker to steam the rice?
Yes, you can use a rice cooker to cook the rice. I think that is an awesome idea! Just make sure you rinse the rice really well before cooking or it will be too starchy.
Is it safe to use tap water? Or should it be filtered water/ boiled water? When blending the rice? If I add formula, Im not sure if I can freeze it once prepared. Therefore, I was considering using water to prepare the puree.
I always use tap water, but the water in our city is good and you will be boiling it while it cooks. But you can always use filtered or distilled water if you prefer. You can freeze formula and reheat it. But you can also make the rice cereal with water and then use formula to thin out the puree when you reheat it.
Hi!
I just made this, however mine still has very tiny grain texture. Did I not cook the rice long enough or could it have been the rice I used ?
I used an organic long grain brown rice.
Thank You !
Not sure if you tasted the rice before blending but it should be the consistency of what you would eat. It’s hard to say without tasting it, but I think it just needed more time in a blender with maybe a little more liquid. My rice cereal takes a full 2 minutes in the blender to get that creamy texture you see in the photo. Hope that helps.
I added two cups of liquid but it still had little small pebble like grains. I’m going to try this again and cook it longer and blend longer. Thank You for the reply 🙂
Hi again,
I’m thinking it’s my blender. What blender do you have ?
Thank You
Taylor
Can I use any normal kitchen blender (the one I use for prep of adult meals)?
Yes, any blender will work great!
Can I make rice and instead of blending and freezing, can I keep rice In fridge and blend rice daily.
I haven’t thought of this, but it sounds like a great plan! I would just not serve baby rice that is older than 5 days old.