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Christine Gallary
Christine GallaryFood Editor-at-Large
Christine graduated from Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, France, and she has worked at Cook's Illustrated and CHOW.com. She lives in San Francisco and loves teaching cooking classes. Follow her latest culinary escapades on Instagram.
updated Sep 5, 2023
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How to turn just 5 ingredients into the creamiest, dreamiest rice pudding.
Serves6 to 8Makesabout 4 cupsPrep5 minutesCook20 minutes to 40 minutesJump to Recipe
Jump to Recipe
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A bowl of warm rice pudding is like a comforting hug on a dark, dreary day. It’s fragrant, creamy but not too rich, subtly sweet, and easily adaptable to your taste, whether you feel like a sprinkling of cinnamon or some plump, chewy raisins. And it truly is one of the easiest puddings you can ever make, starting with a short ingredient listof kitchen staples with infinite customization possibilities. Here’s how to make the easiest rice pudding, the kind you’ll want to make over and over again.
What Is Rice Pudding?
Rice pudding is simply rice cooked in sweetened milk. As the rice cooks, it releases starch, which thickens the milk and suspends the tender grains of rice, contributing to its creaminess. You can start with uncooked rice or cooked rice, which is great if you have leftovers you want to use up. This recipe gives you directions for both.
The Core Rice Pudding Ingredients
Here are the five main ingredients that you need for rice pudding:
- Rice: You can use uncooked long-grain or short-grain white rice here, but not uncooked brown rice, which needs more cooking liquid than white. However, if you’re starting with cooked rice, white or brown can be used. Jasmine rice has a beautiful floral flavor, and it’s my rice pudding rice of choice.
- Milk: Any kind of milk will work, although the higher the fat percentage, the creamier the results. Want to go dairy-free or vegan? Use an unsweetened non-dairy milk: cashew milk gets the thumbs up from one of our editors, and I think oat milk would be lovely. You can even use canned coconut milk, but be prepared for a strong coconut flavor (or try the subtler stuff found in boxes). Use 4 cups milk if starting with uncooked rice, 3 cups if starting with cooked rice.
- Sugar: Start with 1/3 cup granulated sugar and add more at the end if you want it sweeter. Feel free to play around with brown sugars or liquid sweeteners, but start with a few tablespoons and add more to taste.
- Salt: Just a small amount of salt brings out all the flavors, so don’t skip it.
- Vanilla: You can add vanilla bean paste or half a vanilla bean right at the beginning so that the rice pudding is nicely infused, or stir in vanilla extract at the very end.
Rice pudding can be customized with add-ins like ground cinnamon or raisins. Feel free to play around with your favorite warm spices or dried fruit.
Tips for Making and Serving Rice Pudding
Cooking rice pudding is as easy as putting all the ingredients into a saucepan and simmering until the rice is very tender and the mixture thickens up.
- Remember to stir it occasionally to make sure the bottom doesn’t scorch.
- Some rice pudding recipes temper in egg yolks for richness, but it’s a fussy step and you run the risk of scrambling the eggs.
- Instead, to make the rice pudding extra-rich, stir in a tablespoon of unsalted butter in at the end — I find it takes it up to the next level, and my daughter heartily agreed as she asked for seconds.
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Serve rice pudding at whatever temperature you’d like: straight from the pot, warm, or even cold. It does thicken up as it cools, so thin it out if needed with more milk to get it back to your desired texture.
Rice Pudding Recipe
How to turn just 5 ingredients into the creamiest, dreamiest rice pudding.
Prep time 5 minutes
Cook time 20 minutes to 40 minutes
Makes about 4 cups
Serves 6 to 8
Nutritional Info
Ingredients
- 1 cup
uncooked short-grain or long-grain white rice, or 3 cups cooked rice
- 3 to 4 cups
dairy or unsweetened non-dairy milk
- 1/3 cup
granulated sugar, plus more as needed
- 1/4 teaspoon
kosher salt
- 1/2
vanilla bean, or 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon
unsalted butter (optional)
Add-in options: 1/2 cup raisins, 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Equipment
Measuring cups and spoons
Large saucepan
Wooden spoon or rubber spatula
Instructions
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Measure out the rice and milk. Place 1 cup uncooked short-grain or long-grain white rice, or 3 cups cooked rice in a large saucepan. Add 4 cups milk for uncooked rice, 3 cups milk for cooked rice.
Add the flavorings. Add 1/3 cup granulated sugar and 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt. If using vanilla bean, scrape the seeds from 1/2 vanilla bean and add the seeds and the pod into the saucepan. If using vanilla bean paste, add 1 1/2 teaspoons. Add any desired add-ins.
Bring to a simmer. Bring the mixture to a vigorous simmer over medium-high heat, stirring frequently and scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula so that the rice does not stick.
Simmer until the rice is tender. Reduce the heat to maintain a bare simmer and cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the rice is very tender and the mixture starts to thicken, 20 to 22 minutes for uncooked rice, 10 to 12 minutes for cooked rice.
Add the butter and vanilla extract. Remove from the heat and stir in 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract if using and 1 tablespoon unsalted butter if desired until melted. Remove the vanilla bean pod if needed. Taste and add more sugar as desired.
Serve the rice pudding. The rice pudding will continue to thicken as it cools. Thin out with more milk if desired, and serve warm or cold.
Recipe Notes
Storage: Leftovers can be refrigerated in an airtight container up to 5 days. Reheat over low heat and add more milk to thin out as needed, as the rice pudding thickens when cold.
Filed in:
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easy
Gluten-Free
How To
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