Chicken, Tortilla, Black beans and Cheese
From 6 months · 4 foods
Ingredients
How to prepare each food
Chicken
Cook chicken fully, then purée smooth or finely shred and moisten with breast milk, formula, broth, or a vegetable purée so it isn't dry. Pairing it with a vitamin-C food can help the body use its iron. As an iron-rich first food, it's a good early option.
Smooth purée, or fine moist shreds.
Tortilla
A soft corn tortilla, warmed until pliable, is easy to handle at this stage. Tear off finger-length strips so a piece sticks out of the fist for self-feeding, or soften pieces in a little soup or sauce until they mash easily. Keep it plain, with no added salt. A flour tortilla contains wheat, so treat that version as a wheat food and offer it on its own first.
Finger-length strips, or pieces softened in soup or sauce.
Soft, pliable tortillas are low risk when warmed and torn or cut small. The risk is in the crisp forms: tortilla chips, hard taco shells, and tostadas are hard and brittle, and break into sharp pieces, so keep those off the menu for now. A whole or folded tortilla can also bunch up in the mouth, so offer small pieces and stay close while your little one eats.
Black beans
Cook black beans until very soft, then mash or flatten each one well, or blend into a smooth spread (a no-salt hummus-style mash). Never offer a whole, intact bean at this stage. Skip added salt.
Mash or flatten every bean, or a smooth spread.
A whole, round bean is a choking shape. Mash or flatten each one until the airway-blocking shape is gone, and keep flattening round beans through the toddler years.
Cheese
Use pasteurized, full-fat cheese and offer it finely grated or as a thin smear rather than in pieces. Sprinkle a little grated cheese over soft vegetables or stir it into mash or a soft pasta so it melts in. Choose a mild, lower-salt cheese where you can.
Finely grated or a thin smear stirred through food; never cubes.
A chunk or firm cube of cheese can block a small airway. Serve cheese finely grated, as a thin smear, or in thin soft strips, and avoid large firm pieces.
Putting it together
Prepare each ingredient using the age guidance above, then serve them together.
Cook with Lumi
In the nappi app, Lumi joins you in the kitchen. Chat about any recipe: adapt it to what you have at home, swap an ingredient, or ask questions while you cook.
Chat with Lumi in the appSources10
- AAP - Starting Solid Foods (around 6 months)
- NHS - What to feed your baby from around 6 months
- USDA FoodData Central - Chicken (nutrient data)
- USDA FoodData Central - Tortilla (nutrient data)
- AAP - Choking prevention guidance for infants and toddlers
- CDC - Foods that are choking hazards for infants and toddlers
- USDA FoodData Central - Black beans (nutrient data)
- AAP - Why infant formula instead of cow's milk before 12 months
- AAP - Introducing common food allergens to your baby
- USDA FoodData Central - Cheese (nutrient data)
General informational content, not medical advice. Always consult your pediatrician about introducing new foods, especially if your baby has any medical conditions or family history of allergies.
See this meal for your baby's age
Get prep for your baby's exact age, track what you've introduced, and plan the week. Free to try.