Heart
A lean, iron-rich muscle meat. Minced, or slow-cooked until tender and shredded fine.
Checked against official guidance on October 18, 2026 · How we review
Quick answer
Babies can eat heart from around 6 months, once they show signs of being ready for solids. Prepare it as shown below.
How to serve heart by age
6 months+
Minced, soft patties or tender shreds
Use minced heart (ask the butcher to mince it, or mix it half and half with ground beef) and cook it to 160°F (71°C) in soft finger-shaped patties or a soft sauce. Or slow-cook a trimmed beef or lamb heart in liquid until very tender, then shred it finely and stir it into mashed potato or vegetables.
- Size
- Soft patties about the size of an adult finger, roughly 6–8 cm long and 2 cm wide (2½–3 × ¾ in), or minced or finely shredded and mixed into mash.
- Check before serving
- Squash a patty or a few shreds between your thumb and finger. They should squash easily. If they're springy or you have to press hard, mince or shred finer.
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.
9 months+
Small soft pieces or shreds
Offer small shreds of slow-cooked heart or pieces of a soft patty for pincer-grasp practice, or mix cooked minced heart into a pasta sauce or rice.
- Size
- Pieces no bigger than about 1 cm (just under ½ inch).
- Check before serving
- Each piece should squash flat between your thumb and finger. Leave out chewy or stringy bits.
12 months+
Minced or shredded in family meals
Use minced heart in bolognese, chili, meatballs or cottage pie, or shred slow-cooked heart into a stew. Take your toddler's portion out before adding salt, stock cubes or gravy. Chicken hearts are small and firm: chop cooked ones finely, never serve them whole.
- Size
- Bite-sized pieces about 1 cm (just under ½ inch), or minced or shredded.
- Check before serving
- It should still pull apart easily with a fork. Cut off any tough or rubbery bits.
18 months+
Pieces or mixed into dishes
Offer heart the way your family eats it, in stews, curries and minced-meat dishes cooked until tender. Thin grilled slices or skewers of heart are usually too chewy: chop them very small or choose slow-cooked or minced heart.
- Size
- Bite-sized pieces about 1 cm (just under ½ inch).
- Check before serving
- Still check that each piece pulls apart easily with a fork.
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 heart
- 1
There's no need to rinse raw heart: the NHS says washing raw meat splashes bacteria onto surfaces. Keep it away from ready-to-eat food, and wash your hands, board and knife after handling it.
- 2
Trim off the fat and cut away the tough tubes, valves and white sinew from the top and inside of the heart.
- 3
Either mince it and cook it all the way through, or simmer or braise it in water or unsalted liquid, covered, for 2 to 3 hours until a fork slides in easily. USDA FSIS says to cook organ meats, including heart, to 160°F (71°C), and all poultry, including chicken hearts, to 165°F (74°C), checked with a food thermometer. Don't add salt or stock cubes.
- 4
Let it cool, then shred it finely or shape the minced heart into soft patties, and do the squash test before serving.
How much to offer
Start with a strip-shaped patty or two, or a spoonful of minced or shredded heart mixed into mash. Your baby decides how much to eat: stop when they turn away or close their mouth. Lots of sucking and chewing with little swallowed is normal at first.
Common mistakes
Serving it pink
Heart is sometimes grilled pink for adults. USDA FSIS says to cook organ meats, including heart, to 160°F (71°C), or 165°F (74°C) for chicken hearts, and the NHS lists offal among the meats to cook all the way through, until no pink is left. Check with a food thermometer.
Serving slices or chunks
Heart is a hard-working muscle and can be very chewy, and the CDC lists tough or large chunks of meat as a choking hazard. Mince it, or slow-cook it until it shreds, and serve it in soft patties or fine shreds.
Giving whole chicken hearts
Chicken hearts are small, firm and chewy. Chop cooked chicken hearts finely and mix them into soft food, at every age.
Adding salt, stock cubes or gravy
Babies shouldn't have added salt, and the NHS says not to use stock cubes or gravy for them because they're often high in salt. Cook your baby's portion plain, or take it out before seasoning.
Where US and UK guidance differ on heart
United States(AAP and CDC)Your setting
USDA FSIS says to cook organ and variety meats, such as heart, kidney, liver and tongue, to 160°F (71°C), and all poultry, including chicken hearts, to 165°F (74°C), checked with a food thermometer. Slow-cooking heart until it shreds takes it well past this.
United Kingdom(NHS)Your setting
The NHS doesn't give temperatures. It lists offal among the meats to cook all the way through, until the juices run clear and no pink is left. Its note that whole cuts of beef or lamb can be eaten pink doesn't apply to heart.
We cover US and UK guidance in detail. Elsewhere, check your national health service's advice too.
Questions parents ask
Can heart be a choking hazard for babies?
The CDC lists tough or large chunks of meat as a choking hazard for young children, and heart can be firm and chewy. Mince it, or slow-cook it until it shreds easily, and serve soft patties, fine shreds or small pieces. Chop chicken hearts finely; never give them whole. Stay with your child during meals.
Can babies be allergic to heart?
Heart is not one of the common food allergens.
Is heart healthy for babies?
A lean source of protein, iron, zinc and vitamin B12. FoodData Central lists about 6.4 mg of iron per 100 g of cooked beef heart and 9 mg for chicken hearts, so about 15 g of beef heart gives about 1 mg of iron. Babies aged 7 to 12 months need 11 mg of iron a day from all their food, and meat iron includes heme iron, which the body absorbs more easily than iron from plant foods (NIH).
Can babies eat heart?
Yes, from around 6 months, cooked to 160°F (71°C) for beef or lamb heart, or 165°F (74°C) for chicken hearts, with no pink left. Mince it into soft patties or a sauce, or slow-cook it until it shreds easily.
Is heart high in vitamin A, like liver?
No. FoodData Central lists almost no vitamin A in cooked beef heart (about 8 mcg per 100 g in chicken hearts), against about 3,980 mcg in cooked chicken liver. The once-a-week advice on our liver page is about liver's vitamin A and doesn't apply to heart.
Can babies eat heart every day?
We found no US or UK advice that limits heart. It's a muscle meat, like beef, so it can be one of the iron-rich foods you rotate, along with other meat, beans, lentils and iron-fortified cereal.
Can babies eat chicken hearts?
Yes, cooked to 165°F (74°C), the temperature for poultry, and chopped finely into soft food. They're small, firm and chewy, so never give them whole.
If your baby refuses heart
- Many babies need 10 or more tries before they accept a new food. Keep offering it alongside foods they already like.
- Try another form: minced into a soft patty, stirred into pasta sauce, or shredded into mash.
- Mix minced heart half and half with ground beef in a dish 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 heart
- Keep raw heart in a sealed container on the bottom shelf of the fridge, and cook or freeze it within 1 to 2 days.
- Cooked heart keeps for 3 to 4 days in a covered container in the fridge. Rice dishes are the exception: cool them within 1 hour, keep them in the fridge for no more than 1 day, and reheat them only once.
- Cooked heart, patties and stews can be frozen for 2 to 3 months, and heart blended into a baby purée for 1 to 2 months (FDA). Thaw in the fridge and use within 24 hours of thawing. Reheat only once, to 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:
- 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.
Add a note (likes, dislikes, any reaction)
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Helpful guides
Sources
- USDA FSIS: Beef from farm to table
- USDA FSIS: Safe minimum internal temperature chart
- NHS: Meat in your diet
- CDC: Choking hazards
- NHS: Foods to avoid giving babies and young children
- USDA FoodData Central: Beef, variety meats and by-products, heart, cooked, simmered
- USDA FoodData Central: Chicken, heart, all classes, cooked, simmered
- USDA FoodData Central: Chicken, liver, all classes, cooked, simmered
- NIH Office of Dietary Supplements: Iron
- FDA: Once baby arrives (Food safety for moms-to-be)
- NHS Best Start in Life: Storing and reheating food
More first foods
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