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Making your own Brown Rice Cereal for your baby is easy, economical, fun and a healthy choice when beginning to transition your baby to solids.
What is Brown Rice Cereal?
Brown rice cereal is a popular breakfast made from pulverized whole grain brown rice. It’s often one of the first solid foods introduced to babies because it’s packed with nutrients and easy to digest. You can buy brown rice baby cereal in the grocery store, but it’s extremely simple and more cost effective to make it at home! All you need is a blender and brown rice — it’s truly the easiest meal you can make for your baby.
Why Make Homemade Brown Rice Cereal for Your Baby
- Nutritious: Packed with iron, magnesium and other vitamins and minerals, homemade brown rice cereal makes a perfect first food for babies. Its nutritional value surpasses white rice cereal, where all the good stuff is stripped out, leaving not much behind.
- Cost Effective: The other awesome part about the homemade version of brown rice baby cereal is that it costs a mere fraction of what you can pay for boxed rice cereal. Why spend all that money on one simple ingredient? Even if you buy the most expensive organic brown rice you can find, per serving you’ll still be paying less than the store bought version.
- Engaging Activity: Whizzing up the brown rice in the blender is a visual stimulant for little ones. I always loved making this recipe when my kids were babies because they were fascinated with watching the blender and it was a great way for them to make early connections about where their food comes from.
- Versatile: You can easily customize brown rice cereal to suit your baby’s taste preferences. Its mild flavor lends itself to be easily transformed when other ingredients are added to it.
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How to Make Brown Rice Cereal
- Place the brown rice in a spice grinder or blender for 45 seconds-1 minute or until finely ground.
- To Store: Store the rice powder in a sealed container in the refrigerator or in a cool dark place.
- To prepare 1 serving for a 4-6 month old baby: bring 1/2 cup of water to a boil and sprinkle in 2 tablespoons of the ground brown rice.
- Whisk continuously for 30 seconds, reduce to a simmer and stir occasionally for 4-5 minutes or until the mixture is thick and creamy to prevent any lumps from forming.
- Serve as is or with one of the additions below.
Brown Rice Cereal Additions
Brown rice cereal is a great base for many flavors. Here are some ideas for ingredients to add to your baby’s brown rice cereal recipe:
- Molasses
- Mashed banana
- Mashed raspberries
- Puréed pears, peaches or apricots
- Mashed avocado
- Apple sauce
- Breast milk or formula
With its numerous health benefits, simple preparation and cost-effectiveness, it’s no surprise that many parents turn to brown rice baby cereal when they’re transitioning to solids. Let me know if you have any questions in the comments and tag me on social media if you make this or any weelicious baby foods!
Homemade Brown Rice Cereal
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup short grain brown rice (I like to use organic brown rice)
Instructions
- Place the brown rice in a spice grinder or blender for 45 seconds-1 minute or until finely ground.
- To Store: Store the rice powder in a sealed container in the refrigerator or in a cool dark place.
- To prepare 1 serving for a 4-6 month old baby: bring 1/2 cup of water to a boil and sprinkle in 2 tablespoons of the ground brown rice.
- Whisk continuously for 30 seconds, reduce to a simmer and stir occasionally for 4-5 minutes or until the mixture is thick and creamy to prevent any lumps from forming.
- Serve as is or with one of the additions below.
With my first child I used Happy Baby rice cereal which is fortified with probiotics and helped ease his gassy stomach (and boost his immune system!!). I wonder if I could buy the supplements and add them in myself when baby #2 is ready for solids (still in utero so I have a while to research the topic!) This is easier than I expected it to be.
I buy an organic molasses that is unsulphured from Whole Foods: http://www.wholesomesweeteners.com/brands/Wholesome_Sweeteners/Fair_Trade_Certified_Organic_Blackstrap_Molasses.html
Just curious what type of molasses do you recommend? I know of blackstrap and fancy. Would either be suitable (I don’t know the difference between them)?
Short grain rice has a creamier texture due to a higher amount of a starch called amylopectin. It’s better suited for applications like rice pudding, for example, than long grain rice. In making cereal, long grain rice might have a different consistency or texture, but nutritionally, really no different. Hope this helps!
I haven’t used long grain, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work! Just pulse it to a fine powder 🙂
I was just wondering why short grain vs. long grain brown rice?
I grind all my own cereals and grains for my son. It’s so easy! So much better tasting than the store bought ones as well. Try organic brown basmati rice for a great rice cereal flavor!
I see from your photo that the result looks very VERY smooth. I never tried this at home because my second child had an alarmingly over-reacting gag reflex. He gagged on textures until months past the date when every other baby was happily eating chunky foods. The pediatrician called him The Happy Puker.
Also, I didn’t know I would be capable of producing such a finely pureed product. I should have tried!
Fortifying is a commercial process. Molasses has tons of iron, so I would add a bit to sweeten it up. My kids loved this cereal with molasses and mashed banana!
Is there any way to fortify this with iron like the commercial baby cereals?
I also did this with oatmeal. I would grind up a cup, cook it and then have some with my baby.
You could keep a portion of it cooked and refrigerated for up to 3 days. Just add a bit more liquid to thin it out a bit.
I used to freeze mine in ice cube trays. Once froze, I’d transfer to a ziplock freezer bag. I think it only lasts a couple of days in the fridge.
How long will the cooked brow, rice cereal keep? Can I make a larger batch afnd keep it in the fridge?
Love that combo. Oh yes, molasses is packed with iron and since it has a sweet flavor it’s a great choice to be mixed with this cereal.
Can babies really eat molasses? My son will be one in the end of March and I would love to give him molasses if it’s true that he can eat it. My mom’s family is from Maine and I was raised eating it. I don’t think I have a single friend that likes it, so I would like to start my son early. By the way, mix molasses with peanut butter, spread it on some homemade biscuits. Nothing quite as good. Mmm…