Chicken and rice

Name: Chicken and rice
Total time: 50 min
Yield: 2 adults and 1 baby
Ingredients: 3 boneless, skinless chicken thighs; 200 g (1 cup) white rice; 2 medium carrots; 1 small onion; 100 g (⅔ cup) frozen peas; 750 ml (3 cups) water

Tender chicken thighs simmered with carrot and peas in water, with no salt or stock, served with soft rice. Shred and mash it for first tastes, chop it as your baby grows.

From: 6 months
Time: 50 min
Makes: 2 adults and 1 baby

No top allergens

Ingredients

3boneless, skinless chicken thighsabout 300 g (10½ oz)
200 g (1 cup)white ricewhite basmati is a good choice
2 mediumcarrots
1 smallonion
100 g (⅔ cup)frozen peas
750 ml (3 cups)waterfor simmering the chicken; use water, not ready-made stock, which is usually salty

Steps

1Wash your hands. Scrub the carrots under running water, peel them and cut them lengthwise into sticks about 6–8 cm long and 2 cm wide (2½–3 × ¾ in), never round coins. Rinse and peel the onion and chop it finely.
2Don't rinse the raw chicken: washing spreads bacteria around the kitchen, and only cooking kills them. Wash your hands, board and knife after handling it.
3Put the whole chicken thighs, carrots, onion and water in a pan. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer gently for 25 to 30 minutes, until the carrots are very soft and the chicken is very tender and reaches 165°F (74°C) in the thickest part. Check with a food thermometer: color isn't a reliable sign. Add the peas for the last 5 minutes. Don't add salt.
4Meanwhile, boil the rice in plenty of unsalted water, like pasta, until very soft, a little past how adults like it, then drain it.
5Lift out the chicken, let it cool a little, then pull it into strips along the grain or shred it finely, removing any fat or gristle. Keep the cooking liquid: it's an unsalted broth for moistening the rice.
6Take your baby's portion out now, before any salt or seasoning goes in. Stir a few spoonfuls of the cooking liquid through their rice. Spread it on a plate to cool, squash a carrot stick between your thumb and finger to check it's soft, and make sure everything is only just warm before serving.
7Cool any leftovers quickly, ideally within 1 hour: spread them in a shallow container, then refrigerate them.

How to serve it by age

6 months+

Mash the rice and peas with a little cooking liquid into a soft, thick mash with no firm grains or whole peas left, stir in finely shredded chicken, and serve it on a pre-loaded spoon. Or offer soft carrot sticks and finger-length strips of chicken that fall apart when you squash them, to hold, with the rice and peas mashed on the side.

9 months+

Chop the chicken and carrot into pieces no bigger than about 1 cm (just under ½ inch), press each pea flat, and stir everything through the rice with a little cooking liquid so it's moist and easier to pick up.

12 months+

Serve the family dish from the unsalted pot, with the chicken shredded or cut, like the carrot, into bite-sized pieces about 1 cm (just under ½ inch), and the peas still squashed.

Where US and UK guidance differ on this recipe

United States(AAP and CDC)Your setting

Cook chicken to 165°F (74°C), checked with a food thermometer: the USDA says color isn't a sign of safety. USDA FSIS gives 3 to 4 days in the fridge for cooked leftovers in general, but for rice we follow the stricter UK rule for everyone. FDA research found that cooking rice in plenty of water and draining it, as here, lowers arsenic, and the AAP says white basmati rice tends to have less arsenic than brown rice.

United Kingdom(NHS)Your setting

The NHS doesn't give a temperature: it says to cook chicken all the way through, until the juices run clear and there's no pink or red meat left. The Food Standards Agency says to cool rice quickly, ideally within 1 hour, keep it in the fridge for no more than 1 day, and never reheat it more than once.

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

Leftovers and the rest of the family

Storing it

Rice needs extra care, and once it's mixed in, its rules apply to the whole dish. Cool leftovers quickly, ideally within 1 hour, keep them covered in the fridge for no more than 1 day, and reheat them only once. Or freeze them within 1 hour of cooking and use them within 3 months; thaw them in the fridge, eat them within 24 hours of thawing and reheat them only once. Reheat only once, until steaming hot, 165°F (74°C), stirring in a splash of water so there are no cold spots, then let it cool before serving. Throw away anything left in your baby's bowl. Don't leave it at room temperature for more than 2 hours, or 1 hour if it's hotter than 90°F (32°C).