Chicken is a nutritious versatile meat and and it is so easy to prepare chicken for babies. You can make chicken puree or make a chicken soup for babies where you use the meat for baby-led weaning and the broth as a nutritious drink.
We also take you through the process of roasting chicken having to serve to baby and the entire family.
*This post has been reviewed by Dora Babic-Cikos, PhD Nutritional Science
When can babies eat chicken?
Babies can start eating chicken as soon as they are ready to start eat solid foods. Chicken can be served as chicken puree or baby-led weaning.
Also, babies can eat darker meat or white meat.
It is a great finger food for older babies and also a great source of protein for picky eaters.
Is chicken healthy for babies?
Chicken is a very nutritious food - it is a great source of protein with all the amino acids, contains vitamins B6, B12, B3, iron, zinc, selenium and choline.
These nutrients are important for the child's overall development.
The questions is what kind of chicken is best to buy?
- avoid buying chickens that in their packaging ingredients enhanced with a sodium solution
- buying free range, organic and antibiotic free chicken can be more expensive but it may be worth it for your overall health
- free range chickens just means that they are granted access to outdoors and do have a more diverse diet than just grains (such as bugs and flies)
- organic chicken means that all the feed that the chicken eats must be organic (no synthetic fertilizers or pesticides) and it must also be free-range
- vegetarian fed means they were fed a vegetarian diet usually made up from GMO corn and soy. This is quite a misleading label as chickens are not naturally vegetarian and therefore this label doesn't really tell us much health wise
- buy the best chicken you can, and even better if you have a farm nearby that you know the chickens are pasture raised and how they were treated
How to cook chicken for baby?
If you are doing puree or baby-led weaning the best way would be to poach the chicken so you get some very soft meat.
You could make this easy recipe of chicken soup (just don't add salt) and then you have chicken soup for the whole family and chicken for baby-led weaning or puree.
For 6 month old baby-led weaning you can give baby a drumstick to hold and gnaw on.
For 9 month old + you can give baby shredded chicken as finger food.
Option 1 - Poaching whole chicken
- Make clear chicken soup and use the chicken to serve for baby-led weaning and you have chicken soup for baby and the rest of the family.
- Serve the broth in an open cup.
Option 2 - Roasting whole chicken
- Preheat the oven to 400 F / 200 C.
- Remove and giblets from inside the chicken, place the chicken on a baking tray and coat with some olive oil. Place onions, carrots and some potatoes also on the baking tray if you would like.
- Place in the oven. Depending on the size of the chicken it may take take 1-2 hours of roasting. The chicken is done when the meat is white and when you pierce through it with a knife the juices run clear.
- Once finished let it rest for 10 minutes on a cutting board and then carve the drumsticks, breast and thighs. Set aside the portions you need for baby and toddler, and season the rest with salt for yourself, older children and the entire family.
Option 3 - Poaching chicken breast
- Place chicken breasts in a large pot with water and make sure the chicken breasts are submerged. You can add an onion, some lemon and bay leaf for flavor.
- Bring to boil
- Once the water is boiling reduce to low heat, cover the pit and simmer for 20 minutes.
- Remove the chicken from water and cut age appropriately.
This can also be done with chicken thighs - see here how to make boiled chicken thighs for baby.
How to puree chicken for baby?
You can use any of the methods described above to cook chicken for chicken puree.
- Cook the chicken using one of the methods described above.
- Once the chicken is cooked place approx. 3 oz (100g) of chicken in food processor with 2 tablespoon olive oil and a tablespoon of water and puree until you get a smooth consistency. You can add sweet potatoes, carrot puree, pumpkin puree and maybe a little bit of spinach puree or pea puree.
- Serve to baby on a preloaded spoon so they still get to practice their fine motor skills.
Storage
- fridge - chicken puree or chicken for baby-led weaning in an airtight container up to 3 days
How to feed chicken to a baby?
Never give baby cubed chicken as it is a choking hazard. A good idea is to always coat the shredded chicken and chicken pieces in some extra virgin olive oil - due to healthy fats and easier for baby to chew.
6 month old chicken baby food
- baby-led weaning
- offer baby a roasted or poached chicken drumstick to hold and suck on. They most likely will bite tiny pieces of it
- as chicken meatballs
- shredded into tiny tiny pieces (smaller than babies pinky fingernail) and mixed in with quinoa, sweet potatos mash, avocado and olive oil
- puree
- single ingredient puree
- mix the chicken puree with sweet potato puree, carrot puree, pumpkin puree and maybe a little bit of spinach puree or pea puree or try our recipe for chicken carrot puree or chicken butternut squash puree.
9 month old baby or when ready for pincer grasp
- shredded chicken
- chicken cut into pieces as big as baby's pinky fingernail
- chicken meatballs
Chicken for toddlers
- bite sized pieces
FAQ
Store-bought frozen chicken nuggets usually have preservatives and are high in sodium. They can be given in moderation once baby is above 12 months but we always advise to minimize buying and serving processed foods for baby.
You can either roast chicken, make chicken soup for babies, poach some chicken breast or make chicken meatballs. All of these are great options for serving chicken for babies.
Shredded chicken from soup goes great with a cooled broth in an open cup. Any type of chicken is delicious with sweet potato, zucchini for baby-led weaning, broccoli for baby-led weaning.
Baby-led Weaning
- 3-ingredient Oat Banana Pancakes for Baby
- Easy Thin Dairy-Free Crepes
- Healthy Gluten-Free Breakfast Apple Oat Cake (Flourless)
- Broccoli Cheese Patties (Suitable For Kids)
If you've tried this recipe or any other recipe on the blog, then please rate it and leave us a comment below!
Chicken for babies (BLW and puree)
Ingredients
- 1 chicken
Instructions
- For images and information on how to serve chicken for babies see the in-depth post above.
Poaching whole chicken
- Make clear chicken soup and use the chicken to serve for baby-led weaning and you have chicken soup for baby and the rest of the family.
- Serve the broth in an open cup.
Roasting whole chicken
- Preheat the oven to 400 F / 200 C.
- Remove and giblets from inside the chicken, place the chicken on a baking tray and coat with some olive oil. Place onions, carrots and some potatoes also on the baking tray if you would like.
- Place in the oven. Depending on the size of the chicken it may take take 1-2 hours of roasting. The chicken is done when the meat is white and when you pierce through it with a knife the juices run clear.
- Once finished let it rest for 10 minutes on a cutting board and then carve the drumsticks, breast and thighs. Set aside the portions you need for baby and toddler, and season the rest with salt for yourself, older children and the entire family.
Poaching Chicken Breast
- Place chicken breasts in a large pot with water and make sure the chicken breasts are submerged. You can add an onion, some lemon and bay leaf for flavor.
- Bring to boil
- Once the water is boiling reduce to low heat, cover the pit and simmer for 20 minutes.
- Remove the chicken from water and cut age appropriately.
How to puree chicken for baby?
- Cook the chicken using one of the methods described above.
- Once the chicken is cooked place approx. 3 oz (100g) of chicken in food processor with 2 tablespoon olive oil and a tablespoon of water and puree until you get a smooth consistency. You can add sweet potatoes, carrot puree, pumpkin puree and maybe a little bit of spinach puree or pea puree.
- Serve to baby on a preloaded spoon so they still get to practice their fine motor skills.
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