How to make baby rice cereal at home, porridge for babies

By Swasthi on August 2, 2022, Comments, Jump to Recipe

Baby rice cereal recipe and rice porridge for babies – This homemade baby rice cereal is one of the best first foods for babies. It turns out delicious, creamy and smooth as good as the ready made baby cereals and you may stop buying any more after you try this. This cereal can be used not only for babies but also for toddlers up to 3 years during diarrhea, fever or teething.

brown rice baby cereal swasthis recipes

This baby cereal is suitable as a first food for 6 months old baby. For babies younger than 6 months, i suggest consulting your pediatrician. You can check this food chart for 6 months old baby and this one for above 7 months old.

step by step recipe on homemade baby rice cereal

Rice is a highly recommended first grain for babies since it is easy to digest, non allergic and the smooth texture it yields. The ready made cereals are precooked, dehydrated and then processed. During this process many nutrients are lost – this is one of the reasons why ready made baby cereals are enriched with more nutrients.

homemade baby rice cereal recipe

Using this recipe, you can make brown rice and white rice cereal separately. Initially use white rice for about a week and then start brown rice by mixing both in equal quantities.

After the baby completes 6 months, dal/lentils can also be prepared the same way. The ratio of rice: dal should be 3:1 for the first week. If the baby is doing good without any colic, then the proportion can be increased to 2:1. If using brown rice , the ratio can be 2:1:1 white rice:brown rice: dal. You can also add few drops of ghee if using dal to make the baby cereal. To introduce ghee and the for quantity to try with, you can check this post on best foods for weight gain in babies.

I suggest using aged organic rice and dal. I have tried using basmathi, ponni, sona masuri, thai hom mali rice for my kids. Hom mali yields a very fragrant baby cereal and its taste is much superior than any other varieties.

Benefits of this dry cereal
1. Not much time is taken to prepare a baby’s meal. If this powder is ready, making baby’s food is a breeze. Since the ingredients are already soaked and roasted they get cooked fast. Just stir it in water and cook. Not much planning is needed.
2. The texture of the cereal is more like the ready made baby cereal – smooth, delicious, tasty, not expensive and more healthy than the ready made cereals.
3. Make one base cereal but can add so many flavors to this. Fruit purees, mashed veggies, milk or leafy greens can also be added.

How to make baby rice cereal at home step by step photos

1. Wash brown, white rice and dal separately until the water runs clear. Soak them in lot of water for about 6 hours. Do not cover the pot, leave them in a well ventilated place, like near a window. This process of soaking rice or dal breaks down the hard to digest components in the foods for easy digestion. This also helps to prevent colic. However if you feel you cannot do the entire process, you may just skip the soaking part. Rinse them well and drain the water.

soaking rice in water to make baby rice cereal recipe 1

2. Drain off completely in a colander. Spread them on a clean white cloth, preferable white or undyed cloth. Leave it to air dry or fan dry for 30 to 50 minutes.

drying soaked rice to make baby rice cereal recipe 2

3. Dry roast them on a medium flame for 5 minutes and then on a low flame. After a while, rice begins to pop and splutter. The grains turn out very light so the cereal is gentle on the tummy. Switch off and cool.

roasting dried rice on tawa to make baby rice cereal recipe 3

4. Similarly follow the same process for white rice and dal.

dal/ lentils to include in baby rice cereal recipe 4

5. When cooled powder them finely and store in a air tight jar. If your blender cannot process well, sieve the flour. Powder the coarse grains again.

Rice porridge recipe for babies

To prepare baby food, always use a heavy bottom steel pot. Do not use aluminium or non stick pans. To prepare the cereal, mix 1 tbsp flour with 1/2 cup water and cook on a low flame constantly stirring to prevent burning. Foods cooked on a low flame yield the best texture and taste. 1:6 ratio of flour:water works well to bring it to the right consistency. You may need to add more water since that depends on the kind of rice. When the cereal cools down, add formula milk or breast milk to enhance the nutrition. For babies above 6 months, moong dal can be used. I suggest not to add milk to dal, instead ghee can be added.

cooked dry cereal powder to make baby cereal using brown rice

Based on the baby’s tummy conditions, you can combine them and use. Prefer only white rice cereal with milk when the baby has more colic. During stomach upset or teething, this powder can be used to make a rice porridge or kanji. This powder can be used for light dinner as well after 7 months.

Any fruit puree or mashed veggies like potato or sweet potato can also be added to the rice cereal instead of milk. Since fruits and milk do not go well together, i suggest not to serve both in one meal.

There are so many ways this dry baby rice cereal can be put to use. I will update more ideas on this post shortly.

Here are the notes on baby rice cereal that may be useful:
1. I used aged brown basmathi rice and ponni rice, since i made this for the blog post and not for a baby in real. If making for baby i highly recommend using organic rice and dal.
2. I have used 1:6 proportion of brown rice:water to cook the cereal. It may vary depending on the stove flame, quality of rice, brand of rice and whether it is brown or white rice. You will have to adjust the quantity of water as needed especially if making very less quantity.
3. This dry cereal keeps good if refrigerated for more than an year and if frozen for longer.

How to make baby rice cereal at home (porridge for babies)

baby rice cereal, porridge for babies.
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For best results follow the step-by-step photos above the recipe card

Prep Time6 minutes
Cook Time30 minutes
Total Time36 minutes
Servings1 cup
AuthorSwasthi

Ingredients (US cup = 240ml )

  • 1 cup rice (prefer organic)
  • Water to wash the rice


Instructions

  • Please follow the instructions mentioned above in the post.


Alternative quantities provided in the recipe card are for 1x only, original recipe.

For best results follow my detailed step-by-step photo instructions and tips above the recipe card.

NUTRITION INFO (estimation only)

Nutrition Facts
How to make baby rice cereal at home (porridge for babies)
Amount Per Serving
Calories 675 Calories from Fat 9
% Daily Value*
Fat 1g2%
Sodium 9mg0%
Potassium 212mg6%
Carbohydrates 147g49%
Fiber 2g8%
Protein 13g26%
Calcium 52mg5%
Iron 1.5mg8%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
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About Swasthi

I’m Swasthi Shreekanth, the recipe developer, food photographer & food writer behind Swasthi’s Recipes. My aim is to help you cook great Indian food with my time-tested recipes. After 2 decades of experience in practical Indian cooking I started this blog to help people cook better & more often at home. Whether you are a novice or an experienced cook I am sure Swasthi’s Recipes will assist you to enhance your cooking skills. More about me

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Your recipe is helpful
Thanks for sharing
Can you please help with more recipes especially for toddler?

I followed every steps above, but my 5 months old baby didn’t eat🥺 why is that? Should I add banana puree into it?

I soaked moong dal 6 hours after airdry 2 hours bou rosting time took too much time can you pls tel me the suggestion to prepare next batch

5 stars
Hi Swasthi

You have mentioned the rice can be roasted in an oven also. Could you please suggest how much quantity and duration for roasting. I am a first time mom and would like to give this a try!

Also, as a trial if I want to use poha (as you have suggested below in some comments) what are the changes to the instructions?

Thank you so much

5 stars
Hi thanks for sharing this nutritious recipe! I just wanted to know if I could add boiled water to the rice without cooking it on a stove? For times when a stove is not available. Travelling etc..

Good recipe

Please Swasthi,can i add dried coconut and carrots to my rice powder when milling so as to fortify it a bit? or will it have adverse reaction on kids.

5 stars
Thank you

Is there a way to freeze the cooked cereal? After mixing the powder with water and cooking it, can we freeze it for later use?

5 stars
I have tried a blender, food processor, coffee grinder and mortar and pestle and all I can achieve is coarse grind! How are you all getting a fine powder? Did I roast the rice too much? It is a crunchy consistency.

I used the Thai rice. What is the brand of your Indian mixer grinder? I would like to buy it!

How much quantity for 6 months 1 week baby??

Hi Swasthi,

Thanks for the recipe. I tried this but do I need to add salt or something as it has no taste even I added breast milk. My baby refuses to eat it. Please suggest.

5 stars
Dear Swasthi,

Can we use “Matta” rice for this recipe? ( matta rice is also known as palakkadan rice, it’s the red one used a lot in Kerala)

If so, will we need to make some adjustments?

Kind regards,
Priya.

Awesome! Thank you.
Yes, it’s for my 8 month old son.

5 stars
I made the baby rice cereal, it was delicious. Even though it is a recepie for baby, I made it for myself as I have MC, the rice cereal is easier on my digestive system. Since the rice cereal I make is for an adult, I am wondering, if I can skip the roasting part of it to shorten the process. Is roasting necessary? Thank you.

5 stars
Yes Swasthi this helps I will try it out to see how I like it. Thanks!!!

5 stars
Hi Swasthi
Through the process I learned that roasted rice is easier to make into powder than not roasted. So at the end I decided to roast. I use a coffee grinder machine and it does a very good job making the rice into a very fine powder.
Now I see why not roasted rice is harder on digestion. I made a big batch, used 4 cups of rice so I don’t have to keep making it. Thank you!!!

Hello,
I made this recipe BUT I totally forgot one step: the roasting.
So I soaked and grinned the rice.. now what can I do with it? Should I still roast it or use it for something else and make a new batch for the baby?
Thanks for your time dear Swashti

In the mean time I cooked this rice powder for my husband and I. Cooked in milk with coconut and raw sugar and it was very delicious 🙂 making an other batch for the baby!

5 stars
Absolutely fab. Followed the recipe step by step and my child loved it. Being a first time mother , In Singapore, during pandemic, this was super helpful.

Hello. Can this be stored at room temperature atleast for a month or it has to be stored in the refrigerator only ?

Hi swathi g i am sumit agrawal. I want to thnk u for sharing these great recieps and tips for cooking. I love cooking and ur tips helped me a lot. Please keep writing and i wish u health and prosperity.

4 stars
Hi,
This s very helpful.
Can u pls let me know from where can I get this Thai hom Mali rice in chennai? No one s aware of it here, also I don’t find it in amazon too.

Please what is the dal in English language, don’t understand the word

How long can we store the rice powder