BLW Brown Rice & Mushroom Risotto
Why I Love this BLW Mushroom Recipe
This brown rice and mushroom risotto is one of my favorite baby-led weaning meals. You can have it for lunch or dinner.
The best part is that it’s a meal that can be made for the whole family. You don’t need to worry about making separate meals for you and your kids.
Due to the salt content, you need to make some adjustments when cooking it for a baby less than 12 months.
Toddlers older than 12 months can eat the same recipe as adults.
Make sure you follow my substitutions and adjustments depending on your child’s age.
You may also like this mushroom omelet recipe for baby-led weaning
About This Brown Rice Mushroom Risotto Ingredients
Brown rice is such a great meal to feed your kids. It’s so much more nutritious than white rice. One cup of brown rice contains a lot of B vitamins, phosphorus, magnesium, and other essential nutrients (source).
Mushrooms are also very nutritious for kids. They contain vitamin D, selenium, and immune system-boosting properties.
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Ingredients for Brown Rice Baby-led Weaning Mushroom Risotto
- 2 cups precooked brown rice
- ½ tbsp stick of butter
- 1 cup parmesan cheese
- 1 lb mushrooms chopped (whichever you prefer)
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 1 Onion chopped
- Canola oil (enough to saute the onion and mushroom)
- Cilantro (for garnish)
- Black pepper to taste
- Garlic to taste
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All-Clad stainless steel sauté pan
Don’t want to read? Watch the cooking video instead.
Cooking Directions
- Put some canola oil in a pan
- Sautee the chopped onion until the onion begins to look translucent
- Add the butter to the pan and let it melt
- Add the chopped mushroom until mixed. Let it sautee in medium-high heat for about 4 minutes.
- Put your precooked brown rice in the pan and stir until everything is mixed together.
- Lower the heat to medium and add in your chicken stock. Keep adding chicken stock until the rice is just covered with liquid.
- Bring to a low boil
- Add salt and pepper to taste
- Add the cheese by spreading it to cover the surface of the rice.
- Let it melt and mix it into the rice.
- Serve and garnish with cilantro
Brown Rice Mushroom Risotto Great for Baby-led weaning
Ingredients
- 4 cups cups precooked brown rice
- ½ tbsp stick of butter
- 1 cup parmesan cheese
- 1 lb mushrooms chopped (whichever you prefer)
- 2-3 cups chicken stock
- 1 onion chopped
- Canola oil enough to saute the onion & mushroom
- Cilantro for garnish
- black pepper to taste
- Garlic to taste
Instructions
- Put some canola oil in a pan Sautee the chopped onion until the onion begins to look translucent
- Add the butter to the pan and let it melt.
- Add the chopped mushroom until mixed. Let it saute in medium-high heat for about 4 minutes.
- Put your precooked brown rice in the pan and stir until everything is mixed together.
- Lower the heat to medium and add in your chicken stock. Keep adding chicken stock until the rice is just covered with liquid.
- Bring to a low boil. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Add the cheese by spreading it to cover the surface of the rice. Let it melt and mix it into the rice.
- Serve and garnish with cilantro
Notes
- Use one cup of brown rice to 2 cups of water.
- Cook on high (uncovered) until all the water has been absorbed and the rice is soft.
- Add a little water if the rice isn’t soft enough to your liking.
Recipe Substitutions for this baby-led weaning mushroom risotto
Instead of using parmesan cheese, you can use any Italian cheese of your choice. You can also use blended cheese like I did with this recipe.
- I use this Kraft 5 Italian cheese blend because that is more commonly sold in my supermarket. For whatever reason, I can never find parmesan cheese when I need it.
- You can also use vegan parmesan cheese like this one on Amazon if you want to keep this recipe vegan for your kids.
- If you want to use white rice, I suggest you get the type of rice specifically used for risotto. You can get Arborio rice from Amazon to make this recipe.
- Don’t have chicken stock? Try this. Heat 1 cup of water and mix in 1 tsp of chicken bouillon. And you have yourself some chicken stock!
My Top Tips
Precook your brown rice
It takes brown rice much longer to cook. To avoid having undercooked rice, I suggest you cook it ahead of time. You can even use leftover rice from a previous meal.
Skip the salt for baby
If you’re cooking for yourself and your baby, you can skip the salt. It’s not advised to give babies too much salt for the first year of life.
How to serve
Check out this article I wrote on how to serve mushrooms to babies.
How to serve rice to babies 6 – 9 months
You can serve rice to 6-9 months old babies by forming it into small rice balls. This will allow their tiny hand to scoop it off the plate easily.
You can also serve rice using preloaded spoons and allow your baby to self-feed.
How to serve rice to babies 9-12 months
You can serve rice to babies between 9 and 12 months with a preloaded spoon. This will give them the independence to self-feed.
How to serve rice to toddlers over 12 months
Toddlers over 12 months are developing the skill to feed independently.
You can encourage that by providing them with a spoon to scoop the rice themselves.
If they get frustrated, praise their efforts and give them a preloaded spoon.
You can also serve rice as patties and rice balls. The choice is yours.
Make it a complete meal
Serve with chicken – chicken is an excellent source of protein. I serve this recipe with chicken on the side for my kids.
Add fruits – fruits are good sources of vitamins and minerals. You can add color to your child’s meal by adding a side of fruits.
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Storage Tips
You can store this brown rice risotto in the fridge for up to 5 days.
I’ve never frozen it so I don’t know if it’ll work well in the freezer. If you’ve had success with freezing it, please let me know in the comments below.
