When can babies eat chili?

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

Chili

A mild pot of beef, beans and tomato. Mash your baby's share, and keep the heat for the adults.

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

Quick answer

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

From 6 monthsMedium choking risk as servedNot a common allergen

How to serve chili by age

6 months+

Thick mashed chili on a spoon

Make chili con carne with ground beef cooked all the way through, beans, tomatoes and soft-cooked onion and pepper, with no salt and only a little mild chili powder (the NHS bean chilli for babies uses ¼ teaspoon or a pinch). Take your baby's portion out, then blend or mash it until no whole beans or kernels are left, with the meat finely minced and moist. Load a spoon your baby can hold, or stir it into soft mashed potato.

Size: A thick, lumpy mash on a pre-loaded spoon, or stirred into mashed potato.
Check before serving: Squash a little between your thumb and finger. It should smear flat, with no whole beans, whole corn kernels or firm lumps of meat.

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 chili

1
Wash your hands before and after handling raw ground beef, and keep it and its juices away from foods that won't be cooked. Rinse vegetables under running water.
2
Use canned beans labeled low-sodium or no salt added, rinsed. If you use dried red kidney beans, soak them for at least 5 hours, pour the water away and boil them in fresh water for at least 30 minutes before they go into the chili.
3
Brown the ground beef and cook it to 160°F (71°C), checked with a food thermometer. Add soft-cooked onion and pepper, no-salt-added tomatoes, the beans and water, then simmer until everything is very soft. Don't add salt or stock cubes, and keep the chili powder to a little mild powder.
4
Take your baby's portion out now. Then add salt, more chili or hot sauce to the rest for the adults.
5
Mash or blend your baby's portion to the right texture and let it cool before serving. 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 a teaspoon or two. Your baby decides how much to eat: stop when they turn away or close their mouth. Lots of smearing and spilling is normal at first.

Common mistakes

Making your baby's portion spicy

The NHS bean chilli recipe for babies uses only ¼ teaspoon (or a pinch) of mild chilli powder for four baby portions. Our suggestion is to keep any more chili, and hot sauce, for the adults: add it after your baby's portion is out, or serve it at the table.

Adding salt, stock cubes or seasoning blends

Babies shouldn't have added salt, and the NHS says not to use stock cubes or gravy in their food. Dry chicken bouillon has about 23,900 mg of sodium per 100 g (about 60 g of salt), and FoodData Central's chili powder blend has about 2,870 mg (about 7.2 g of salt), so check spice blend labels too. Canned chili con carne has about 449 mg of sodium per 100 g (about 1.1 g of salt).

Cooking dried kidney beans in a slow cooker

Raw or undercooked red kidney beans contain a natural toxin, and the FDA says as few as four or five raw beans can cause symptoms. Slow cookers don't get hot enough to destroy it, and the FDA says not to use them to cook these beans or dishes that contain them. Use canned beans, or soak and boil dried beans hard for 30 minutes first.

Leaving beans and corn whole

The CDC lists whole beans and cooked or raw 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.

Where US and UK guidance differ on chili

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 portion free of chili powder and other spices until 12 months, or ask your pediatrician.

United Kingdom(NHS)Your setting

The NHS mixed bean hot potato recipe for babies aged 7 to 9 months is a bean chilli made with ¼ teaspoon (or a pinch) of mild chilli powder, dried mixed herbs and canned beans with no added salt or sugar, blended or mashed with potato. The NHS says not to add salt or stock cubes. We suggest keeping any more chili for the adults' portions.

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

Questions parents ask

Can chili be a choking hazard for babies?

Chili is a medium choking risk. The beans and corn are the main hazards: the CDC lists whole beans, whole corn kernels and tough or large chunks of meat as choking hazards for young children, along with corn chips. Use ground meat cooked soft, mash or flatten every bean, mash the corn, and skip tortilla chips. Stay with your child during meals.

Can babies be allergic to chili?

Plain chili con carne (beef, beans, tomato and onion) contains none of the top 9 allergens. Beans are legumes, and the NHS lists beans, lentils and peas among foods that can trigger an allergic reaction, so offer beans on their own first if they're new. Toppings and sides add more: cheese, sour cream and yogurt contain milk, and cornbread or flour tortillas often contain wheat, milk and egg. Some chili recipes add celery, which the NHS also lists. Introduce each one on its own first.

Is chili healthy for babies?

FoodData Central's chili with meat and beans has about 9.8 g of protein, 3 g of fiber and 1.9 mg of iron per 100 g. Its recipe includes salt, giving about 340 mg of sodium per 100 g (about 0.9 g of salt); chili made for babies has no salt added. Babies need 11 mg of iron a day from 7 to 12 months, and the body absorbs the iron in beans better with vitamin C, such as from the tomatoes and peppers.

Can babies eat chili?

Yes, a mild homemade chili from around 6 months. Leave out salt and stock cubes, keep the chili powder mild and small, mash or blend your baby's portion so no whole beans are left, and let it cool.

How spicy can chili be for a baby?

No official source gives an age for chili heat. The NHS bean chilli recipe for babies uses ¼ teaspoon (or a pinch) of mild chilli powder for four baby portions. Our suggestion is to keep your baby's portion that mild and keep the heat for the adults. US and UK advice on spices differs a little: see the note below.

Can I make chili in a slow cooker?

Yes, with canned beans or dried beans that you've already soaked and boiled hard for at least 30 minutes. The FDA says slow cookers don't get hot enough to destroy the natural toxin in raw kidney beans. Cook the ground beef to 160°F (71°C).

Is canned chili OK for toddlers?

Now and then. Canned chili con carne has about 1.1 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. Mash the beans and serve a small portion with soft vegetables.

If your baby refuses chili

Many babies need 10 or more tries before they accept a new food. Keep offering it alongside foods they already like.
Try another form: smoother or lumpier, stirred into mashed potato, or spooned over soft rice.
Eat some yourself at the same meal. Babies copy what they see.
Funny faces don't mean they dislike it. They're getting used to a new taste and texture.

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

Buying and storing chili

Cooked chili keeps for 3 to 4 days in a covered container in the fridge. Chili mixed with rice is the exception: cool it within 1 hour, keep it in the fridge for no more than 1 day, and reheat it only once.
Chili can be frozen for 2 to 3 months, like other stews (USDA FSIS). Freeze rice separately, within 1 hour of cooking. Thaw frozen chili or rice in the fridge and eat it within 24 hours of thawing.
Reheat only once, to a rolling boil or 165°F (74°C), until steaming hot, then let it cool 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 child starts vomiting hard within 1 to 3 hours of eating chili made with kidney beans that may not have been cooked enough. This can be kidney bean poisoning: call your doctor. Get urgent advice the same day if they can't keep fluids down, stop feeding or have fewer wet diapers. If they vomit again and again and become floppy, very sleepy or hard to wake, or show signs of dehydration that get worse, 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.
Your baby already has a food allergy or eczema, or there is a family history of food allergy, eczema, asthma or hay fever. Ask before introducing beans and other legumes.
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.

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