One Pot Sofrito Beef, Beans and Rice - how to adapt for baby!
This Latin American inspired baby friendly ground beef recipe comes together with little effort. It's not only tasty but also nutritious and is made in one pot - it's sure to become a family favourite!
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This blog post is brought to you in partnership with our friends at Canada Beef and their Think Beef program. As always, all opinions are our own.
Jump to:
- Why this recipe works
- Food Synergy
- Key ingredients
- Allergen information & substitutions
- What else is there to love about this baby friendly beef, beans, & rice dish?
- How to make sofrito beef, beans and rice
- How to adapt the sofrito for your baby's age and stage
- Recipe FAQ
- FREE Recipe Booklet!
- Other baby friendly beef recipes
- Sofrito Beef, Beans, and Rice
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"Love all the flavors and spices in this one pot meal. I follow the recipe exactly as it, turns out every time" - Sumeet
Why this recipe works
🕒 Cooks in less than 30 minutes
💪🏾 Two iron sources: beef and beans!
💚 Full of delicious flavors
🥘 One pot meal, so less clean up time
👶 Baby friendly from 6 months+
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Food Synergy
We are big fans here at Happy Healthy Eaters in the movement to include your baby at the table with you while you eat your meals. You might remember this from when we introduced you to the best way to enjoy a veggie loaded pasta with your baby or when we taught you how to adapt your own recipes to be safe for your baby! While it provides an obvious benefit of the built-in opportunity for babies to put their observational learning skills to use and see how you, as the parents, have honed your eating motor skills, there are some "hidden benefits" as well.
It has to do with food synergy!
In general, family meals provide a well-rounded balance of nutrition. Think of Canada's Food Guide, which promotes a balanced plate of protein, grains, and produce. Not only do you get a variety of nutrients in one go, they actually work together to help your body use them more effectively!
In particular, this baby led weaning ground beef recipe capitalizes on two powerful food combos.
MFP is the real MVP
Take the meat, fish, and poultry factor, for instance. A really cool synergistic effect occurs when plant-based food sources of iron are eaten at the same time as either meat, fish, or poultry (MFP).
When MFP are eaten along with non-heme iron (the type found in plant-based foods), the total amount of non-heme iron absorbed increases up to 150%.
In one study, researchers fed 7-8 month old infants either a meal with veggies + non-heme iron or the same meal with the addition of lean beef.
Here are the results:
- 9.9% of the non-heme iron was absorbed from the veggie meal
- 15% of the non-heme iron was absorbed from the veggie+beef meal
This doesn't include the iron that was also absorbed from the iron that is found in the beef!
We capitalized on this phenomenon by including both ground beef and pinto beans (a source of non-heme iron) in this recipe!
Vitamin C, another partner in iron absorption
Another cool food combo is when a food containing Vitamin C is paired with a food containing non-heme iron.
In the acidic environment of the stomach, the Vitamin C changes the chemical structure of the non-heme iron to a form that's easier for the body to absorb.
This action occurs in a dose-dependent fashion. In other words, the more Vitamin C consumed, the more iron is absorbed!
Bell peppers are a fantastic source of Vitamin C, which is why we intentionally chose to include them in this recipe - to help with the absorption of iron from the beans!
Key ingredients
Ground beef: the primary protein and star of the show is beef! Ground beef is a fantastic food for babies because if it's iron content. Since babies need fat for growth, feel free to use any level of "leanness" for ground beef.
Pinto beans: in this recipe, we're using canned pinto beans that have been rinsed well but you could swap for another legume such as black beans or kidney beans. Beans also offer your baby a source of iron.
Bell pepper and onion: you'll dice these vegetables into small pieces to add in a layer of vegetables and flavour. Bell peppers are a great source of Vitamin C, which provides the synergy for your baby's body to absorb more iron!
Rice: for this recipe we love using basmati rice, it's fluffy and perfect for the one pot meal. But you're welcome to use whichever rice is your jam!
Spices: this recipe calls for chili powder, coriander, cumin, oregano, sweet paprika and onion powder,
Tomato sauce: everything gets cooked in a tomato sauce that brings all of the ingredients together beautifully.
Garnishes: cilantro, lime juice, and cheese are optional garnishes to dress up your bowl.
Allergen information & substitutions
Since this baby friendly ground beef recipe is free from the top food allergens in Canada and the top dietary allergens in the United States, it makes a great first food for your baby!
For the most recent step-by-step recommendations for introducing food allergens to infants, visit our video lesson in Start Solids Confidently, your go-to resource for feeding babies.
What else is there to love about this baby friendly beef, beans, & rice dish?
- You're a parent, we know you're busy and time is of the essence. If you need one more reason to love this recipe, here it is: it's a one pot meal. We're not sure about you, but that means a lot to us…since we have plenty of messes to clean up around the house thanks to the children we adore!
- This dish is also incredibly flavourful-we know that when babies are exposed to a variety of textures and tastes, they grow up to be more adventurous eaters! Speaking of flavor, we did the same thing when we developed our sumac beef recipe--just imagine slow cooked tender pull apart beef--that's it!
- Okay sorry, not sorry, there's another reason. This recipe contains all the components that make up a balanced baby meal-if you've taken our Start Solids Confidently e-course, you know the drill: fat, iron and vitamin C is the perfect trio and you get all of this in Sofrito Beef, Beans and Rice.
How to make sofrito beef, beans and rice
The full recipe is below, but here are a few key steps to visualize the process.
1.Cook ground beef, sweet pepper, onion and garlic until beef is browned. Drain, if necessary.
2. Stir in spices and salt (if cooking for baby omit salt at this stage); cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Stir in pinto beans, tomato sauce, rice and water.
3. Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer for about 15 to 18 minutes or until the rice is tender and the liquid is absorbed.
4. Modify texture for your child as needed. Serve in bowls, garnish with cilantro, lime juice and cheese as desired.
How to adapt the sofrito for your baby's age and stage
Puréed Texture: Place ground beef mixture into a blender or food processor. Blend until you reach a consistency that suits your baby's ability, adding water, breastmilk or formula if necessary.
Handheld: Place a couple of tablespoons of the mixture in your hand. Squish it to form a log shape. You can then pass this to your baby to hold and explore!
Chunky Mash: Place beef mixture into a bowl. Mash with the back of a spoon or fork until you reach a consistency that suits your baby's ability, adding water, breastmilk or formula if necessary.
Toddler Finger Foods: Place beef mixture in a bowl. Allow your child to choose their toppings.
Recipe FAQ
This recipe does not contain any top priority allergens. However, if you choose to sprinkle cheese on your baby's bowl, that would be considered dairy (cow's milk).
No big deal - kidney beans, black beans, and even cooked green lentils would work beautifully in this recipe.
While we haven't tested the recipe, it may work with brown rice provided you add more water. We have found that brown rice requires more hydration and since this recipe contains fibre from the beans, we stuck to white basmati rice!
Store leftovers in airtight containers in the fridge for up to days. It's a great make-ahead, meal-prep friendly recipe.
FREE Recipe Booklet!
Want more baby friendly beef recipes? You're going to love this Baby at The Table resource from our friends at Canada Beef and their Think Beef program!
If you tried this sofrito beef, beans and rice recipe or any other recipe on our blog, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let us know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting!
Sofrito Beef, Beans, and Rice
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef
- ½ cup finely diced bell pepper
- ½ cup finely diced onion
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- ½ teaspoon each chili powder ground coriander, ground cumin, oregano, sweet paprika, onion powder
- 1 can 540 ml/19 oz pinto beans, drained and rinsed (or 1½ cups cooked pinto beans)
- 1 can 14 oz/398 mL tomato sauce
- ¾ cup basmati rice
- *salt to taste optional
To Serve
- Chopped fresh cilantro
- Fresh lime juice
- Shredded cheese optional
Instructions
- Cook ground beef, sweet pepper, onion and garlic over medium heat in a large skillet, stirring often and using the back of a spoon to break up meat into small chunks, for 5 to 7 minutes or until beef is browned. Drain, if necessary.
- Stir in chili powder, ground coriander, ground cumin, oregano, sweet paprika, onion powder and *salt (if cooking for baby omit salt at this stage); cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Stir in pinto beans, tomato sauce, rice and 1 cup (250 mL) water; bring to a boil.
- Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer for about 15 to 18 minutes or until the rice is tender and the liquid is absorbed. Let stand for 5 minutes.
- To serve for Baby/Toddler, see modified textures (above). For the rest of the family, stir in salt to taste. Garnish with cilantro, lime juice and cheese (toddler/adult) as desired.
Video
Nutrition
We hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we've enjoyed making it on repeat! Here are some other baby-friendly recipes that capitalize on the MFP factor!
Inside our e-book, Whole Food Recipes for Your Baby:
- Apple, quinoa, and beef mini meatloaves
- Basil beef kabobs
- Salmon and sweet potato cakes
I'm all about less cleaning, so you had me at one pot! We've tried this recipe and love it - to anyone reading, it's great the next day as leftovers too!
Love that this recipe works for the whole family, and is easy to modify for baby!
One pot recipes are always such a win!
Love all the flavors and spices in this one pot meal. I follow the recipe exactly as it, turns out every time. Wonder how it would work in the instant pot