This creamy rice pudding is easy to make on the stovetop and perfect for any season. Serve it warm on a chilly afternoon or cold from the fridge on a hot summer day. It’s a cozy, quick-fix dessert that never goes out of style.
If you’ve never had rice pudding, now’s the time to change that. This creamy dessert is pure comfort. It’s warm and cozy with brown sugar, vanilla, and a hint of cinnamon that makes it perfect for wintry days. But it’s just as good chilled, straight from the fridge when it’s hot out. Smooth, sweet, and just the right amount of indulgent, it’s one of those simple, old-school recipes that totally holds up. My twins love it!
Why This Rice Pudding Recipe’s a Keeper
- It’s wonderfully simple. No fancy ingredients, no complicated steps. Just classic, comforting ingredients you probably already have in your kitchen.
- Cozy, familiar flavor. Brown sugar and cinnamon give this pudding a warm, nostalgic sweetness that’s hard to beat.
- The texture is everything. As the rice simmers, it softens and puffs up into the dreamiest blend of creamy and tender. Each spoonful is rich, smooth, and so satisfying.
What You’ll Need
Here’s a quick look at what you’ll need to make this rice pudding recipe. Be sure to scroll down to the recipe card below for a printable list.
- Egg: Not all rice pudding recipes call for an egg, but I 100% recommend it. It adds a richness that is so worth it. Plus, it helps to thicken the pudding without having to cook it a ton. Ultimately, that gives the pudding a creamier texture.
- White or Light Brown Sugar: Both are delicious, but the brown sugar adds some really nice flavor, so I prefer using that.
- Vanilla Extract
- Ground Cinnamon: You could also sprinkle a small amount of freshly ground nutmeg on top of your finished pudding.
- Whole Milk: You could also use low-fat milk, but whole milk results in a creamier pudding.
- Heavy Whipping Cream: I always use a combination of whole milk and heavy cream. You could use all whole milk, but this pudding is meant to be creamy, and the cream really adds that lovely richness.
- Short Grain White Rice: Don’t substitute for a different variety of rice as the cooking time will be different.
- Salt: Just a touch to enhance the sweetness of the pudding and add dimension to the flavor.
Tips for Perfect Rice Pudding
- Use short-grain rice: You want to use a short-grain rice, like Arborio rice. It’s more starchy than long-grain rice, so it helps to thicken the pudding nicely and gives it a better texture.
- Slowly add the rice mixture to egg mixture: When adding half a cup of the rice into the bowl with your egg mixture, do it slowly and whisk constantly to prevent the eggs from scrambling.
- Don’t let it boil: Once you’re finished combining your mixtures, don’t let the pudding come to a boil. If you do, it’ll curdle. You just want to keep it over low heat until it starts to thicken. Remember that it will continue to thicken as it cools.
- Add raisins: Rice pudding and raisins go together like bread and butter. To make this dish even more classic and flavorful, add some in!
How to Store & Reheat
- Store in the fridge: Keep leftover rice pudding in an airtight container. Once cooled completely, store it in the fridge. Rice pudding stays fresh for 3 days in the fridge or 3 months in the freezer. If you store it in the freezer, thaw it in the fridge overnight before eating or reheating.
- To reheat: Some people like cold rice pudding, but you can easily warm up your leftovers on the stove if desired. Do so over low heat and stir continuously. Add a little bit of milk at a time to thin out the pudding until it’s reached your desired consistency.
Watch How To Make Rice Pudding
More Pudding Recipes
Rice Pudding Recipe
- Prep Time: 0 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Stove
- Cuisine: Spanish
Description
Looking for a quick treat to cozy up with on chilly afternoons? This classic rice pudding recipe is creamy, comforting & full of warm flavors!
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup (52g) white or light brown sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 cups (480ml) whole milk
- 1/2 cup (120ml) heavy whipping cream
- 1/3 cup (65g) short grain white rice (I used arborio)
- Pinch of salt
Instructions
- Whisk together the egg, sugar, vanilla and cinnamon in a small bowl. Set aside.
- Add the milk, cream, rice and salt to a medium-sized saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat.
- Once boiling, reduce the heat to low and simmer until the rice is tender, about 20-25 minutes. Stir frequently to keep the rice from sticking to the bottom of the pan.
- Slowly add about half a cup of the hot rice mixture to the egg mixture, whisking quickly, to temper the egg mixture.
- Add the egg mixture to the saucepan with the remaining rice mixture. Stir everything together and continue heating on low heat for about another 5-10 minutes, or until thickened. Don’t boil. It will thicken quickly. Keep in mind that the mixture will continue to thicken as it cools, so you don’t want it to be too thick before you take it off the heat. A touch soupy still is ok.
- Remove from heat and serve warm.
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 221
- Sugar: 19 g
- Sodium: 425.8 mg
- Fat: 6.8 g
- Carbohydrates: 32.2 g
- Protein: 7.2 g
- Cholesterol: 65.9 mg
I love this recipe! I’m 13, and I love baking, and I needed to make kheer (a rice pudding dish that Hindus eat) so I used this recipe because my grandma had her rice pudding recipe with her, so I could not get hers. I thought it was going to be bad, or not good, but my whole family loved it, so I’m bringing the dish to my school, and I hope I get a good grade! Thank you so fricking much for this delish recipe!! I’ll update if I get an A, (this whole recipe will be explained and all the credits will be given to you as well as the name of the website!)
I’m so glad to hear you loved it! I hope you get that A!
Do you think you could cook it in a crockpot
Hmm, I’ve never tried it. Seems like it would probably work.
I added a good tablespoon of good bourbon with my vanilla, stir it up and I added it to the recipe and the adults absolutely loved it.
Sounds delicious! I’m glad it was a hit!
Just made this, it was perfect and delicious! I read through the comments, seems to me the people having trouble don’t understand how vitally important a SHORT grain rice is for this type of dish. I thought it was great and will be making again
Yes, the rice used is super important. I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
LOVE THIS rice pudding. I followed it to the letter with the exception of the brown sugar. I had to use half white sugar because I ran out of brown. It was perfection!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
I made the rice pudding recipe with only 2% milk. It didn’t thicken as it should. Any suggestions?
You could try cooking it longer. The recipe really is meant to use whole milk. The fat from it helps to thicken the pudding. Also be sure to use a starchy rice, like arborio. The starch helps thicken it too.
Loved this recipe. I added sultan’s while cooking the rice. I added some grated lemon rind to the egg mixture. Loved it. Easy and tasty.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Sooooo good, sooo easy
So glad to hear that! 🙂
Recipe did not work for me. I had to double the amount of milk/cream as the texture was too thick and after 45 mins of stirring/simmering, the rice was still too hard. The texture at the end was too pasty.
I found the recipe really simple and easy to follow. Thank you, as I now have my go-to rice pudding recipe! So yummy and I love the beautiful creamy texture.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
I’m mistakenly purchased organic white basmati rice should I not make this recipe with it?
Unfortunately, no. You really need a short grain rice in order for it to thicken properly.
I liked the recipe. It’s really it!
I didn’t like this recipe. I don’t keep aborio rice on hand so I used standard long grain. Despite cooking this for 30 minutes and thinking the rice was done, it turned out not to be, even after adding the egg and cooking I more. I had to add a 2nd egg to get anything other than soup… I won’t be making it ever again.
You want to use a short grain rice, like Arborio rice, for this to turn out correctly. It’s more starchy than long grain rice, so it helps to thicken the pudding nicely and gives it a better texture. I wrote this in the blog post and specify the type of rice in the ingredients so that you know what to use. I’m sure if you were to make it as the recipe is written, you’d get the correct result. I’m sorry you had trouble with it.
Very watery. I followed the recipe completely. Not creamy at all.
It’s not watery when done correctly. You probably didn’t it cook it long enough. Or you used a lower fat milk, which is much thinner and won’t thicken the same way.
Deelishusss!!My family wants me to bake this every weekend.I use less sugar though as using the recommended amount makes it too sweet.
M
I’m glad you enjoyed it!
I have tried Sssssssoooooooo many rice pudding recipes! And it just is never what I think it should be. UNTIL I MADE YOURS!!!! Girl, I died and went to rice pudding heaven! Yours truly rocks! I will NEVER make another recipe for it again. You did your thing!
Awesome! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
This is my go to rice pudding. I use almond or macadamia milk. You may think it looks thin but it really thickens after refrigerating.
Awesome! I’m so glad you enjoy it!