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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.
Do you notice that the rice once frozen seems to be too firm when it thaws?
I found a recipe that you can do in batches.
1/2 cup uncooked rice (I like organic brown rice)
4 cups of water
put uncooked rice in food processor and mill to fine powder. Add milled rice to water in pot, cover and bring to boil, then turn heat down to low and cook/simmer 20 minutes. Check consistency and add water is you need it thinner for your babies needs.
Put in storage containers, refrigerate or freeze.
For individual servings I use ice cube trays and freeze then after frozen pop them out and put in freezer bags labeled and dated, Then you can take out what you want and set in small containers to thaw or microwave, if you choose. This is also a good thing to do when you have to take your little on to day care. Use smaller take and toss containers and put a cube of rice cereal and a cube of what ever mix in you want, this leave no guess work for the daycare provider and less stress for you.
I tried this recipe today and had a question (well, 2 really): Can you boil a kettle or does it have to be on the stovetop? Also, my rice cereal, as fine as I thought it was, was creamy but chunky.. Do I need to blend it more? Thank you!!
Refrigerate for up to 5 days, freeze for up to 3 months!
So since the blended rice has to be refrigerated, how long does it keep for? I am wanted to making a bunch all at once and just store it then in jars. (Quinoa, oatmeal, and rice)
How would you make this recipe if daycare doesn’t have an oven/stove to warm water? They only have a microwave…..
I get it from Trader Joe’s in the rice section!
I can’t find short grain brown rice, maybe I’m overlooking it. Is it normally in the regular aisle for rice or would the kind you get be with the organics?
Trader Joes!
Where do you buy your organic brown rice?
White rice has been bleached and then fortified, brown rice is natural, both are about the same in nutritional value. As for white rice being easier to digest. Brown and white rice are the same to digest it is just a matter of preference.
Brown rice is known to be very healthy. Can brown rice be replaced with any other cereal like well grounded normal white rice since they are more easy to digest.
You can reheat it. It will get thicker after sitting in the fridge, but just add some more water or other liquid to thin it out! It will keep for about 4-5 days in the fridge!
Make that “Quick” question. Mommy didn’t get much sleep. Wee one eats my brain cells!
Quite question — could this stuff be made ahead of time and then reheated in the microwave?? Mine wee one gets fussy waiting for it to cool. It end up sticking it in the freezer to quicken the cooling period! And she just gets irritated — she’s fine once she gets her rice cereal for the day — but the waiting is tough on her — and confusing.
I cook mine with formula. I mix the formula in a bottle ahead of time and stick the bottle in the fridge just like I would normally. Then pour it in the pot and I’m good to go.
1/4 cup water = 1 Tablespoon rice powder = 1 scoop formula. (same as a 2 oz bottle)
1/2 cup water = 2 Tablespoon rice powder = 2 scoops formula (same as a 4 oz bottle)
1 cup water = 4 Tablespoon rice powder = 4 scoops forumla (same as 8 oz bottle)