I always thought of sardine as a budget alternative to using fresh or frozen fish then. Little did i know that it is full of nutrients which are especially good for kids. It touted as one of the healthiest fishes to eat because it contains a lot of vitamins and good fat like vitamin A, D and omega-3. Also, it is very rich in calcium and that is what actually made me read about it because the Health Nurse recommended it for my 9-month old who was not so keen on taking her milk. According to her, the canned sardine contains a lot of calcium because of the bones in it, which have been made soft and edible. For those of us that do not see enough sunshine to expose our kids to, fish especially oil rich ones like sardine are a good source of vitamin D that will also help them to absorb the calcium necessary for their growing bones.
Since canned sardine reminded me of budget cooking, i decided to also use tinned tomato only to make this jollof rice. To make it look more like blended tomato puree, i mixed the tinned puree with water, added some seasoning too before frying the stew. If you are low on budget or want to make jollof rice “sharp sharp” without compromising on nutrition for your child, then try this.
Sardine Jollof Rice Recipe
Ingredients:
- 2 cups rice (parboiled)
- 1 small 70g tin tomato puree
- 1 or 2 cans of tinned sardine
- 1 cooking spoon of vegetable oil + oil from tinned sardine
- 1 medium onion (chopped)
- seasoning cube
- 2 tsp curry powder
- 2 tsp thyme
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Water for cooking
Serve sardine jollof rice in the lunchbox with
Watch the video
Method:
- Mix tomato puree with water, curry and thyme.
- Pour both the vegetable and sardine oil in a pot and heat up. Add the chopped onions to fry till translucent and then add the tomato puree.
- Fry for about 3-5 minutes maximum and add the quantity of water to cook your rice. Add some of the sardine, stock cube, pepper and salt.
- Allow the stock to boil and add the parboiled rice. Stir and adjust your seasoning before adding the rest of the sardine, then cover to cook. You may top up the water to cook the rice more to your desired texture.
- Give a final mix to combine the sardine well with the rice.
I hope you will try this and don’t forget to give a feedback, post and tag me on Instagram and Facebook too.
oluchi says
Nice one
liz says
Sounds nice
Chronicles of a Bionic Woman says
Came across your site after it was mentioned by 9jafoodie on Insta. Definitely going to try this my 2.5yr old who isn’t a bug fan of rice unless it’s party jollof rice and loves Sardines! ?
Thanks
Chioma says
Ooh, thank you so much. I hope you find more interesting recipes here that your child will also love.
Eseosa says
I’m trying this tonight and freezing it for his lunch bag tomorrow. Hope he’ll like it *fingers crossed*
Chioma says
Fingers crossed with you Esosa. winks
Jewel de Sion says
My 2 year old won’t take anything other than yogurt, pap, cereal (oats) & noddles. She takes to her heels at the sight of any other food.
Any ideas???
Thanks.
Chioma says
Jewel, keep trying and introducing other foods. Read my posts here on picky eating and more.
Jumoche says
I will definitely try this for my baby girl, hoping she won’t reject it.
Oluwatoyin Michael Victoria says
Thank you sister Chi, these really help
Chioma says
You are welcome Toyin
Victoria says
I tried it t0day for the first time and it turned out great! Definitely going to be a regular recipe for me. Thank u
Chioma says
Thank you Victoria
Kamsy says
Lovely one tanks
Chioma says
You are welcome Kamsy