Tilda Kids Range (review)

I often buy Tilda rice, and was curious to read about a new range of rice for kids introduced by Tilda.
Tilda and its new character - Tilli the elephant - offer busy Mums and their hungry little monkeys a range of tasty meals of rice and vegetables.
Tilda Kids rice comes in four varieties: Sweet Vegetable & Wholegrain rice, Mild & Sweet Curry, Cheese & Tomato and Sunshine Vegetable rice.

Eddie loves when I make the egg-fried rice with peas, he scoops it with a hand and eats with gusto.
When I saw a request on BritMums asking for bloggers to review the Tilda Kids range, I applied at once.
First impressions: the pouches look very attractive, with lovely pictures that would appeal to a child. Who wouldn't like a cute blue elephant Tilli and her friends: children dressed as a monkey, a tiger, a crocodile and a parrot?! A big thumb up for the cute design!

We first tried the Sunshine Vegetable Rice. We don't use a microwave, but these pouches can be heated in a pan very easily, just add 2 tbsp of water and stir. So, what do you find inside? Steamed basmati with pieces of the butternut squash, carrots and sweetcorn, all kids' favourites. It has a lovely orangey colour.
All varieties of Tilda Kids rice come with the secret veggies, apart from the obvious chunks of veg there is also an added vegetable puree which counts as your 1-of-5 a day.

After warming it up, I added it to pre-roasted sweet pepper halves and put in the oven for 5 minutes.
There is enough rice for two halves of the sweet pepper.

Eddie enjoyed his dish of the Sunshine rice a lot. This rice is clearly catering to the kids' tastes.
There are also cute poems printed on pouches:

Tilli is an elephant
Tilli is a cook
Tilli's made some recipes
So come take a look!


Cheese & Tomato rice is a mix of the basmati rice with the tomatoes and cheese. The inspiration for the recipe is the famous Margherita pizza. The suggestion for the rice is to serve it with the meatballs.
I cooked the turkey meatballs (mix the minced turkey with a grated small raw potato, 2 slices of bread which were soaked in milk, then squeezed and crumbled, with a bit of salt and oregano). This rice was probably Eddie's favourite. It has a lovely balanced taste of the cheese and tomatoes.

He was quick to tuck in and ate the rice with the turkey meatballs with great appetite.

Mild & Sweet Curry rice is the steamed basmati with the green beans, sweet potato and apricots. It is best served with chicken (Tilda's suggestion).
I wasn't sure if Eddie was going to like it, as he never had a curry before. This is a mild curry-flavoured rice but it still has a very distinct aroma and taste. Eddie tried a forkful and then it took a bit of convincing to have a few more. In the end, he decided he didn't want any more. I was still pleased with the result, as he didn't completely refuse to eat it, he gave it a try (and I was happy to finish it with my salad for lunch). As with all the new foods, you just need to keep offering.

Sweet Vegetable & Wholegrain Rice is the steamed basmati with the sweet potato, sweetcorn, carrots and other veg.

I offered it to Eddie with a chicken frankfurter. He was very enthusiastic.

What is our overall opinion? These pouches are very convenient to use, time-wise it takes a couple of minutes to heat the rice up in the pan.
I prefer to cook meals from scratch, but at times when you come home hungry from a long walk in the park or after the playground, and you want to eat something quickly, these pouches offer a great alternative to home cooked rice.

All four types of rice look appetising, with nice chunks of vegetables, plus the hidden veggies in the sauce. You could serve them on their own, or as an accompaniment to meat or fish.
Eddie enjoyed eating them,with the Cheese & Tomato rice being his top favourite.

The new Tilda Kids range is available in Tesco stores, most Morrisons, Waitrose, Asda and on Ocado, with an RRP of £1.15 for a 125g pack.

And if you have time to be creative, have a look at the following recipes:

Smiley Face Frittatas

For the recipe please visit this page.

Beans Means Boats

For the recipe above please visit this page.