Chicken Soup for Babies | Benefits & Recipes for Your Baby and Toddler

Winters have started almost everywhere, though it seemed to have skipped Mumbai this time. It’s hot during the day and cold at night / early morning. Winters remind me of hot and hearty soups. Just have a bowl of soup, sit back,relax and watch TV :P. Today’s recipe is such a delight, a chicken soup for babies and kids.

During the growing years of your baby, you need to introduce him to every kind of food that proves beneficial for their health. Soup and chicken are one of them. Whole chicken poses several nutritious advantages such as rich in high protein, and low in fats, soup is known for its amazing taste and nutritious benefits. Moreover, during winters, the hot chicken soup emerges as one of the most effective ways to prevent your baby from catching a cold and flu.

The best way to introduce your baby to non-vegetarian is by feeding them healthy and tasty chicken soup. Chicken can be best introduced to your 8m+ baby with chicken soup. It is light and nutritious. I believe chicken soup with pepper is used as a remedy for cold too. You can add veggies according to your choice in this soup. Anshika is not fond of this soup, maybe because it’s so watery and light. So what I do? I add the stock in her dal khichdi and in her veggie soups.

There are various recipes of chicken soup for babies which they would love to have, these include: 

• Chicken clear soup: To prepare flavorful chicken clear soup for your baby, you would need ingredients such as onions, garlic, chicken legs, and cumin seeds. To prepare it, first heat some homemade butter or ghee in the pressure cooker. Then one by one put all the ingredients in the cooker including cumin seeds, finely chopped onions, and one tablespoon of garlic. Saute it well and then add water and chicken legs to it. Pressure cook till the chicken is cooked well. Then heat for 5 minutes with the lid open. Finally, add coriander leaves and switch off the stove. Let it cool. Sieve and serve the flavourful chicken clear soup.

 

• Indian style chicken puree: Combining the chicken with vegetables will prove to be an amazing chicken soup recipe for your baby. The necessary ingredients will include one boneless thigh piece of chicken, jeera powder, and 1 cup of chopped vegetables. To prepare it, remove the bone from the chicken and wash it well. Chop the chicken and vegetables including carrots, potatoes, and green beans into small pieces and cook them in a pressure cooker for 2-3 whistles. Once it’s ready, grind the chicken and vegetables well to make a smooth puree, then add a pinch of jeera powder into it. 

 

• Vegetable chicken broth: To make chicken broth you will need ingredients including thigh pieces of chicken, chopped onions, and carrots, water, fresh celery, salt, and herbs such as coriander, parsley, or thyme. To prepare it, boil the chicken thighs in the water on medium heat. Then take out the meat from the broth and shred the meat from the bone. After that, put the bones back in the broth and boil it. Once done, strain to remove the bones. Now boil the broth with the herbs and veggies. Once the veggies are cooked, add the cooked meat and salt and mix it well.

 

• Chicken stew with sweet corn: To make chicken stew you will need ingredients such as chicken pieces with bones, oil, sweetcorn, ginger, and garlic. To prepare it, add oil in the pressure cooker, let it heat then add ginger and garlic paste into it. Now add chicken legs into it and boil it with a sufficient amount of water in a pot or pressure cooker for about half an hour. This will discharge all the nutrients into the water. Now remove the bones from the stew and add some sweetcorn to this mixture and boil for about 10 minutes. Let it cool for 5-10 minutes and the nutritious chicken stew is ready for your baby. 

 

• Chicken soup with noodles: This delicious and simple meal requires ingredients such as chicken broth, cooked shredded chicken, oil, water, chopped vegetables including celery, carrots, onion, green onion, and parsley, egg noodles, butter, and cornstarch. To prepare it, heat oil in a pan and add all the vegetables except the green onion. Cook and add chicken broth. Now add the mixture of cornstarch and water. Then add noodles and let them boil. Once cooked, add butter with herbs. Once ready, add the cooked chicken and garnish with chopped green onion. 

 

• Chicken lentil soup: For chicken lentil soup, you will need ingredients such as chicken pieces and lentils(moong daal). To prepare it, cook the moong dal in a pressure cooker. And in a separate pot boil the boneless chicken until it becomes soft and tender, you can also add some salt and ginger to make it more flavorful. Now just add the chicken to the moong daal and blend them uniformly and your chicken lentil soup is ready for your little ones.

 

• Chicken sabudana puree:  Sabudana is considered one of the best and light food for the baby. Also, its neutral taste makes it an excellent base for puree with chicken. To make this you just need boneless chicken, sabudana, and some finely chopped ginger. Firstly, boil sabudana and chicken in separate pots with some water and add garlic pieces to the chicken to elevate its taste. Once the sabudana and chicken pieces become soft and tender, mix and blend them coarsely and let your baby enjoy it.

 

• Flavorful chicken soup: This recipe will require ingredients such as chicken legs, garlic, onion, and cumin seeds. To prepare flavorful chicken soup, heat butter in a pressure cooker, and sauté some cumin seeds in it then add finely chopped onion and garlic in it. After that, add water and chicken legs in it and cook for 10 minutes. Now, open the lid and cook it again for 5 minutes with an open lid. Once the flavorful chicken soup is cooked, add coriander leaves and strain the soup to let it cool. 

 

• Old fashioned chicken soup: This old fashioned simple chicken soup will require ingredients including chicken pieces, chicken stock, olive oil, and chopped vegetables such as potatoes, leeks, garlic, carrots, and onion. To prepare it, heat oil in a pan and sauté garlic and onion in it. Then add leeks into it and stir for a while. After cooking the vegetables, add chicken and broth followed by the carrots and potatoes. Cook all of them till it becomes tender. Now add herbs and cook for a few more minutes. Let it cool then add a pinch of salt and black pepper. 

 

• Chicken avocado soup: For chicken avocado, you will need ingredients such as chicken broth, chopped vegetables including garlic, scallions, and tomato, shredded and cooked chicken breast, cilantro, and avocado, oil, lime wedges, cumin, pepper, and salt. To prepare it, take a pan and heat oil in it, then add some scallions and garlic and stir it well. Add all the ingredients and let it boil. Once boiled, add avocado, cooked chicken, scallions, and cilantro in a bowl and pour the broth in it. Serve it to your baby with lime wedges. 

 

• Chicken spinach and potato soup: To make chicken spinach and potato soup, you will require ingredients such as chopped vegetables including onion, spinach, and potato, oil, thinly sliced chicken breast, chicken stock, saffron threads, and lemon rind. To prepare it, heat some oil in a pan, and sauté some onion till they turn golden, then add garlic and let it cook. Now add chicken stock, lemon rind, and saffron thread followed by potatoes after reducing the heat. Cook until the potatoes become tender. Once it’s cooked, add chicken and spinach and cook till the chicken becomes tender.

 

Benefits of chicken soup

Chicken soup for babies is associated with several health benefits for your baby. Chicken is rich in protein and has low-fat content and thus emerges as a healthy meat choice for your baby. The best way to introduce your baby to non-vegetarian food is to prepare chicken soup for them in various recipes. 

The amazing benefits of chicken include: 

• Growth of muscles: Chicken is rich in protein and low in fat content, which makes it a perfect meal to promote muscle growth in your little one. The protein content present in chicken is found to be easily digestible for the human body. Unlike plant protein, animal protein is good for a baby’s stomach, as it can be easily digested. 
• Enhancement of the circulatory system: Chicken is also known for its rich iron content that promotes the production of red blood cells in the human body. It is also rich in potassium, which is responsible for keeping the blood vessels healthy in your body. Chicken soup helps in the overall enhancement of the circulatory system. 
• Helps in making bone healthy: Along with all nutritious contents, chicken also contains calcium and phosphorus in good amounts. These minerals help in promoting the formation of strong bone. 
• Promotes brain development: The overall growth of your child can be possible with the nutritious values of chicken. Vitamin A, C, and B12 (cobalamin) content present in chicken plays an important role in your baby’s brain development. 
• Boosts immunity: Several micronutrients such as magnesium and zinc present in chicken plays a major role in boosting your child’s immunity. Moreover, it also helps in protecting your baby from catching infections and ailments. 

Benefits of chicken soup for babies include: 

• Rich in protein: Feeding chicken soup to your baby would mean that you are providing them with the goodness of a high amount of protein. It is one of the most effective and quick ways to provide protein to your baby which results in a faster cure.
• Improves respiratory system: During winters, your baby is more exposed to illnesses such as cold, flu, and cough. The warm cup of chicken soup is very beneficial to enhance the respiratory system of your baby so that their body can fight off every kind of flu and infections. The pepper present in the soup helps eliminate mucus and effectively manages the respiratory system. It is one of the most suitable foods to give to your baby whenever they feel cold.
• Warms up the body: Chicken soup comes with several health benefits. Warming up the body is one of them. Along with reducing fever in the babies, chicken soup can warm up the entire body of your baby whenever they feel cold. Even if your baby is experiencing cold symptoms, chicken soup will help them stay comfortable and avoid irritation and discomfort due to cold and cough. 

 

Recommendations for consuming chicken soup

Although chicken soup is considered an effective way to build your baby’s health and protect them from cold, it is always advisable to identify if the soup can be considered 100% safe for your baby.

Here are some of the best ways to ensure safety by considering some of the recommendations: 

• In case your baby starts experiencing some allergic symptoms such as itchiness or redness, then immediately stop feeding them chicken soup. They might be allergic to it or your baby’s body might not be tolerant of the soup ingredients. 
• You should always choose fresh vegetables or else your baby might end up experiencing diarrhea after consuming the soup.  
• In case, your baby is still feeling cold and fever even after consuming the chicken soup then better take him to the doctor for better treatment and medication. 
• For babies 6 to 7 months, always strain the soup to remove any chunks. You can also make the soup into a smooth puree and feed the baby.
• If your baby has started with solids in coarse food texture, then add very finely chopped ingredients into the soup while cooking or coarsely grind the soup after cooking.
• For babies above 10 months, you can serve the soup as such provided the chucks are bite-sized and cooked until soft.
• Always remove any pieces of bones from the soup before serving it to the baby.
• Never leave a kid unattended during meal times.

These were the recipes and health benefits of consuming chicken soup for babies. Contact BumpsnBaby for food recipes for your little one and tell us if your baby loves these above recipes.