Baby Food Recipes with Chicken and Broccoli

Many people normally say that their baby doesn’t like to eat chicken and broccoli. But then, there are those who have tried to get new ways to make it happen since this meal is not only packed with vitamin C and proteins but also folic acid and beta-carotene. It’s actually among the best foods for babies to pick up.

In this article, we talk about chicken and broccoli for babies and we give you 4 tasty and easy recipes for homemade baby food.

The recipes in this article:

Recipe 1 – Chicken, Broccoli, Zucchini, and Sweet potato
Recipe 2 – Chicken, Broccoli, and Carrots
Recipe 3 – Chicken, Broccoli, and Rice
Recipe 4 – Chicken, Broccoli, and Cheesy Pasta

You might also be interested in our recipes with sweet potato, carrots

Many people in the world love holding little trees and they consider munching off their tops right down to the stalk. After that, they hide or sneak in the food of their kids but then, this is not what they are supposed to do, parents should let their babies know how doing this becomes good for their babies. Consider eating some yourself just to show them the much you love them or also you can consider dipping in other spread or hummus.

When can my baby eat chicken and broccoli?

You can introduce a broccoli and chicken meal to your baby at age 8-10 months.

Broccoli is normally among the recommended choices for a baby as their first vegetable as it is known to not only cause gas but also it is somehow hard for babies to digest. But then, considering a mixture of this vegetable with chicken can be nutritious for a baby. This meal is recommended to be introduced to babies when they attain an age of 8-10 months.

In case a baby has had issues with digestion before, it is recommended to introduce broccoli later than soon to the baby diet. But then, as a general thing, it’s best you consult a baby pediatrician before you can consider introducing solid foods as there are cases that your infant might not go well with other general conclusions we make.

Preparation of chicken and broccoli for baby food

Chicken – When preparing baby food recipes, make sure the chicken is cooked until it is very soft and easy to blend. In a saucepan, cover the chicken with water. Bring to a boil and simmer very gently for about 10 minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat. Cover and let stand for 10 minutes.

You will see white foam forming on top of the boiling water. This is just protein, so nothing to worry about.

Broccoli – The best way to keep as many vitamins and minerals in your broccoli is to steam it. Fill a pot with a few inches of water and bring the water to a simmer over medium-high heat. Insert a steamer basket with broccoli florets on top (don’t let it touch the water) and cover. Steam for 4 to 5 minutes, until tender.

Recipe 1: Chicken, broccoli, zucchini and sweet potato (age 8-10 months+)

Read the print file. 

A sweet and soft puree with a beautiful light green color.

Ingredients:

• 2.2 oz of chicken (65 grams)
• 4-5 medium-sized broccoli florets
• 1/2 zucchini
• 1 small sweet potato

Instructions:

Step 1 – Make sure the chicken is skinless, boneless and muscles etcetera are removed.

Step 2 – Chop the chicken in small pieces.

Step 3 – Cook the chicken in a saucepan with water, for about 8-10 minutes. Until the chicken is soft and white and there isn’t a pink spot left.

Step 4 – Peel the sweet potato and cut it in pieces. Cook the sweet potato for about 10 minutes in a saucepan with boiling water.

Step 5 – Cut the end off the zucchini, peel it and chop it into pieces. Add them to the pan with sweet potato for about 5 minutes.

Step 6 – Pour off the water and shortly let the sweet potato and zucchini cool down.

Step 7 – Add all the ingredients to a blender and add a little bit of water or formula.

Step 8 – Blend the ingredients into a smooth puree.

Recipe 2: Chicken, broccoli, and carrots (age 8-10 months+)

Read the print file.

This tasty recipe is easy to make at home.

Ingredients:

• 2.2 oz chicken (65 grams)
• 4-5 medium-sized broccoli florets
• 1 carrot

Instructions:

Step 1 – Make sure the chicken is skinless, boneless and the muscles etcetera are removed.

Step 2 – Chop the chicken into small pieces and cook it for about 10 minutes in a saucepan with boiling water. Make sure there is no pink spot left.

Step 3 – Clean the broccoli and cut 4-5 medium-sized florets off the broccoli. Cook it for about 10 minutes or steam it for 6-8 minutes.

Step 4 – Clean the carrot and grate it or cut it into small pieces.

Step 5 – Add all the ingredients to a blender and add a little bit of water or formula.

Step 6 – Blend the ingredients into a smooth puree. If the puree is too heavy, add a little more water or formula.

Recipe 3: Chicken, broccoli and brown rice (8-10 months+)

Read the print version.

You can make this recipe with white rice but we prefer to use brown rice, as these contain more fiber: 4 grams per cup vs 1 gram per cup of white rice.

Ingredients:

• 2.2 oz of chicken (65 grams)
• 4-5 medium-sized broccoli florets
• 1.1 oz of brown rice (about 30 grams)

Instructions:

Step 1 – Make sure the chicken is skinless, boneless and the muscles etcetera are removed.

Step 2 – Chop the chicken into small pieces and cook them for about 10 minutes. Make sure there is no pink spot left. Pour off the water and let it cool for a bit.

Step 3 – Cook the brown rice for 8-10 minutes. Pour off the water and let it cool down a bit.

Step 4 – Clean the broccoli and cut off 4-5 medium-sized florets. Cook them for 10 minutes or steam them for 8-10 minutes.

Step 5 – Add all the ingredients to a blender and add a little bit of water or formula. Start with a little and add more if you want to make the puree slightly thinner.

Step 6 – Blend all the ingredients into a smooth puree.

Step 7 – You can now serve the dish warm or pour it into food storage containers to store or freeze them.

Recipe 4: Chicken, broccoli and cheesy pasta (8-10 months+)

View the print version.

This recipe is not only yummy for babies, but we would also like a bite of it!

Ingredients:

• 2.2 oz. of chicken (65 grams)
• 4-5 medium-sized broccoli florets
• 1.1 oz. of macaroni (about 30 grams)
• A Tablespoon of grated cheese

We use macaroni because it is easy to use for baby food recipes.

Instructions:

Step 1 – Make sure the chicken is skinless, boneless and the muscles etcetera are removed.

Step 2 – Chop the chicken into small pieces and cook it for 10 minutes. Make sure there are no pink spots left.

Step 3 – Cook the macaroni for 8-10 minutes until soft. In this case, we don’t want the pasta to be al dente.

Step 4 – Clean the broccoli and cut off 4-5 medium-sized florets. Cook them for about 10 minutes or steam them for 8-10 minutes.

Step 5 – Add all the ingredients to a blender and add a little bit of water or formula.

Step 6 – Blend it into a nice puree. Add some more water or formula if needed.

Step 7 – Serve the dish warm or pour the puree into small food storage containers to store or freeze it.

As early said, you should consider providing your baby these meals in small quantities as too much of it might cause diarrhea to the baby due to too much soluble fiber in the baby food. Seek the help of a baby pediatric before you can introduce the baby to broccoli and chicken.

Feeding guide for chicken and broccoli

We recommend that you consult with your baby’s pediatrician on introducing solid foods as generalities may not apply to your infant.

Are these baby food recipes freezable?

You should store your batch of homemade baby food in a refrigerator using an airtight container for up to 72 hours.

You can freeze these baby food recipes into different portions by employing pouring the mixture into ice cubes or in small food storage containers.

Which kitchen tools to use

In order to prepare these baby food recipes, you will need the following kitchen tools:

• Blender or food processor
• Knife
• Tablespoon
• Cup
• Vegetable peeler
• Cutting board
• Saucepan
• Steamer pan
• Food storage containers or an ice cube form

Nutritional benefits

Baby food chicken and broccoli are rich in protein, vitamin C and also a great source of what we call soluble fiber. This is all that makes the meal wonderful to be added to your baby’s daily diet. The soluble fiber in the meal greatly helps in loosening up baby bowels as it is normally changing its form as it passes through the baby’s digestive tract. All you need to mind is avoiding an overabundance of this meal in a diet can lead to diarrhea.

Storing and selecting broccoli for homemade baby food

According to experts, it has been proved that broccoli is not among the foods that are highly contaminated by pesticides out there, but then, going for organic one can be the right thing you should consider.

Let’s start here when out there shopping for broccoli to be added to your chicken piece, consider a fresh one, the one with florets that are just colored uniformly. The broccoli florets need to be sage, dark green in color, or purple-green. You need to ensure that you look over the broccoli florets as you should not buy the ones that are moldy/greyish looking and also they shouldn’t be bruised or even possess yellow flowers that might be peeking around.

For storage, consider doing it in your vegetable drawer/refrigerator crisper in an open plastic bag. It can be stored freshly for a period of up to for days.