When can babies eat burrito?

From around 6 months, once your baby is ready for solids, served in a safe shape and texture for their age.

Burrito

A soft flour tortilla around mashed beans, soft rice and a mild filling, cut into strips for little hands.

Checked against official guidance on October 18, 2026 · How we review

Quick answer

Babies can eat burrito from around 6 months, once they show signs of being ready for solids. Prepare it as shown below.

From 6 monthsMedium choking risk as servedAllergens: Wheat, Milk

How to serve burrito by age

6 months+

Thin burrito strips, or a burrito bowl mash

Spread a warm, soft flour tortilla thinly with well-mashed beans and a little soft rice mashed into them, roll it tightly and cut it into narrow strips. Or skip the tortilla and mash beans, rice and finely minced, well-cooked meat together as a burrito bowl on a spoon. Take your baby's portion out before salt, seasoning mix or salsa goes in. Offer the tortilla once your baby has had wheat on its own.

Size: Narrow strips about the size of an adult finger, roughly 6–8 cm long and 2 cm wide (2½–3 × ¾ in), or the filling mashed on a pre-loaded spoon.
Check before serving: Bend a strip: it should be soft, with no crisp edges. Squash some filling between your thumb and finger: it should smear flat, with no whole beans or loose, dry rice.

US and UK advice differ here. The AAP suggests mashed food or soft pieces no larger than ½ inch; the NHS suggests soft finger-sized pieces your baby can hold in their fist. Both agree the food must squash easily.

Always have your child sit upright in a high chair or at the table, and stay with them the whole time they eat. Keep to the size and texture for their stage. Every baby develops on their own timeline.

How to prepare burrito

1
Wash your hands before and after handling raw meat, and keep it and its juices away from foods that won't be cooked. Rinse vegetables under running water.
2
Cook the filling without salt, stock cubes or seasoning mix: ground beef or pork to 160°F (71°C) and chicken or turkey to 165°F (74°C), checked with a food thermometer. If you use canned or refried beans, choose low-sodium or no-salt-added and mash them well.
3
Cook rice in plenty of unsalted water until very soft, then drain it. Cool any rice you won't use straight away within 1 hour and put it in the fridge.
4
Take your baby's portion out, then season the rest for the adults. Warm a soft tortilla until bendy, let everything cool, then roll and cut it for your baby's stage. Before 12 months, check the tortilla label for honey.
5
Offer the tortilla only once your baby has had wheat on its own, and cheese once they've had dairy. First time? Pick a day your baby is well, at home, when you can watch them for a couple of hours afterward.

How much to offer

Start with one or two narrow strips or a couple of spoonfuls of burrito bowl. Your baby decides how much to eat: stop when they turn away or close their mouth. Tortillas, cheese and canned beans all add salt, so keep burritos one meal among many, with soft vegetables alongside.

Common mistakes

Sharing a frozen or restaurant burrito

A frozen beef and bean burrito has about 587 mg of sodium per 100 g (about 1.5 g of salt), while babies under 1 should have less than 1 g of salt a day (NHS). The NHS lists ready meals and takeaways among salty foods babies shouldn't have. Make your baby's burrito at home without salt.

Using a seasoning packet in the whole pan

Dry taco seasoning mix, often used for burrito fillings, has about 7,200 mg of sodium per 100 g (about 18 g of salt). Babies under 1 should have less than 1 g of salt a day (NHS). Take your baby's filling out first, then season the rest.

Leaving beans and corn whole

The CDC lists whole beans and whole corn kernels as choking hazards for young children. Mash beans or press each one flat, and mash corn until no whole kernels are left.

Keeping rice burritos for days

Cooked rice needs extra care. Cool burritos with rice within 1 hour, keep them in the fridge for no more than 1 day, and reheat them only once. Fillings without rice keep for 3 to 4 days.

Where US and UK guidance differ on burrito

United States(AAP and CDC)Your setting

The AAP says fresh baby food should be cooked with no added salt or seasoning, and no AAP page gives an age for spices. If you'd rather follow that closely, keep your baby's filling plain until 12 months, or ask your pediatrician. USDA FSIS gives 3 to 4 days in the fridge for cooked leftovers; for burritos with rice, we follow the stricter UK rice rule below.

United Kingdom(NHS)Your setting

The NHS Mexican chicken recipe for babies aged 7 to 9 months uses paprika, ground cumin, garlic and a pinch of mild chilli powder, and suggests putting the mix in tortillas for older members of the family. The NHS says to cool rice within 1 hour, eat it within 24 hours and never reheat it more than once. We suggest keeping any more chili for the adults.

We cover US and UK guidance in detail. Elsewhere, check your national health service's advice too.

Questions parents ask

Can burrito be a choking hazard for babies?

Burritos are a medium choking risk. A big, tightly packed burrito is a large bite, loose dry rice can scatter in the mouth, and the CDC lists whole beans, whole corn kernels and tough or large chunks of meat as choking hazards for young children. Roll burritos thin, mash the beans into soft rice so it holds together, mince or shred the meat, and cut burritos into narrow strips or small pieces. Stay with your child during meals.

Can babies be allergic to burrito?

Burritos usually contain wheat (with gluten) in the flour tortilla, and often milk in cheese, sour cream or yogurt. Fillings can add other allergens, such as egg in breakfast burritos, and fish or shrimp (shellfish). Introduce each allergen on its own first, one at a time and in small amounts, so you can spot any reaction (NHS). Check labels on tortillas, refried beans and frozen burritos.

Is burrito healthy for babies?

A beef, bean and cheese burrito has about 11 g of protein, 2.4 mg of iron and 486 mg of sodium (about 1.2 g of salt) per 100 g, in a recipe that includes added salt. Beans and meat bring protein and iron; making the filling at home lets you leave the salt out.

Can babies eat burritos?

Yes, a homemade one from around 6 months. Roll a soft tortilla thinly around mashed beans and soft rice, leave out the salt and seasoning mix, and cut it into narrow strips. Offer it once your baby has had wheat on its own.

Can babies have the rice in a burrito?

Yes, cooked until very soft and mashed into the beans so the grains hold together. Cooked rice needs extra care: cool it within 1 hour, eat it within 1 day and reheat it only once. Rotate rice with other grains through the week.

Are frozen burritos OK for toddlers?

Now and then. They're salty, about 1.5 g of salt per 100 g, and the NHS says children aged 1 to 3 should have no more than 2 g of salt a day. Heat it until steaming hot all the way through, let it cool, and cut it up.

If your baby refuses burrito

Many babies need 10 or more tries before they accept a new food. Keep offering it alongside foods they already like.
Try a burrito bowl instead: the same fillings side by side, with no tortilla.
Try a different filling, such as soft scrambled egg or mashed sweet potato your baby already likes.
Eat some yourself at the same meal. Babies copy what they see.

Never force or pressure your baby to eat. Some days they'll eat more, some days less, and that's normal.

Buying and storing burrito

Burritos with rice follow the rice rules: cool them within 1 hour, keep them in the fridge for no more than 1 day, and reheat them only once. Fillings without rice keep for 3 to 4 days in a covered container in the fridge.
Burritos and fillings can be frozen for 2 to 3 months (USDA FSIS: cooked meat). Freeze anything with rice within 1 hour of cooking, thaw it in the fridge, and eat it within 24 hours of thawing.
Reheat only once, to 165°F (74°C), until steaming hot all the way through, then let it cool and check the middle before serving.
Throw away any food left out at room temperature for more than 2 hours (1 hour if it's hotter than 90°F / 32°C).

When to talk to your doctor

Contact your pediatrician, GP or health visitor if:

Your baby has had any reaction to wheat or milk, even a mild one. Stop offering burritos until you've talked to your pediatrician.
Your baby vomits a few hours after eating a burrito with rice or cheese. This can be FPIES, a delayed type of food allergy that rice and milk can trigger. If they vomited once or twice and seem alert and like themselves, call your pediatrician or GP. If they vomit again and again, or are pale, floppy, very sleepy or hard to wake, call your emergency number.
Your child has diarrhea, vomiting or tummy cramps after eating ground meat that may have been undercooked. Call your pediatrician for bloody poop, a fever higher than 102°F (39°C), diarrhea or vomiting lasting more than 2 days, or signs of dehydration such as very dark pee, a dry mouth or crying without tears. Call your emergency number for blood in the pee, very little or no pee, losing the pink color in the cheeks or inside the lower eyelids, unexplained bruising or a rash of tiny red spots, or being very tired, cranky or less alert: these can be signs of hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a serious complication that can damage the kidneys.
You notice mild signs of an allergic reaction after eating, such as a few hives or a little vomiting. See signs of a reaction.
You're worried about how much your baby eats, their growth, or they refuse most solid food for weeks.

Call 911999your local emergency number (such as 112 in Europe or 000 in Australia) now if your baby has trouble breathing, wheezing, can't cough or cry, has lips, mouth, tongue or throat that suddenly swell, or becomes pale, bluish, floppy or unresponsive. Also call if hives come with repeated vomiting.

Offered burrito?

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