Classic Rice Pudding

by Sabrina Snyder

Last Update:

34 Comments

5 from 14 votes
12 servings
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
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Classic Rice Pudding has a creamy and sweet texture topped with a sprinkle of cinnamon. It’s a great anytime snack. Try it today!

For people who like Pudding recipes, you’ll love this and my Bread Pudding.

Rice Pudding in a glass cup

Sabrina’s Rice Pudding Recipe

Rice pudding is thick and delicious, and it can be almost anything depending on how you want to dress it up. It has been enjoyed around the world for centuries, and for good reason. It’s rich and tasty, keeps you full, and goes with just about any dinner. Plus it has such a wonderful nostalgic flavor the positive memory association back to family members who have made the pudding. It can make you physically and mentally happier to enjoy recipes with food memories. I can tell you cooking this recipe makes the house smell like the holidays.

Dinner, then Dessert

Classic Rice Pudding

Classic Rice Pudding has a creamy and sweet texture topped with a sprinkle of cinnamon. It's a great anytime snack. Try it today!
Yield 12 servings
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Author Sabrina Snyder
dessert in Cup
PrintRate

Ingredients
 

  • 1 1/2 cups water
  • 3/4 cups medium grain white rice
  • 1 1/2 cups whole milk , divided
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Instructions

  • Rinse the rice.
  • Add water to large Dutch oven on high heat and bring to a boil, then add in the rice, stir, and cover.
  • Reduce to a simmer and cook undisturbed for 18-20 minutes.
  • Once the rice is cooked mix in 1 cup of the milk along with the sugar and the salt.
  • Cook over medium-low heat until the liquid has reduced and the mixture has thickened, about 18-20 minutes.
  • Whisk together the last ½ cup of milk with your egg, then in a slow stream add it to your rice while mixing the rice well.
  • Cook the rice an additional 3 minutes to bring the egg up to a safe temperature then remove from the heat.
  • Add in the butter and vanilla off the heat, mixing well and top with cinnamon as garnish before serving (if desired).

Nutrition

Calories: 107kcal | Carbohydrates: 16g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 24mg | Sodium: 68mg | Potassium: 66mg | Fiber: 0.1g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 130IU | Calcium: 45mg | Iron: 0.2mg

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Variations

  • Nutmeg: during the last stage of cooking, when you’re stirring in the butter and vanilla, add a dash of nutmeg. It gives the pudding a stronger, richer flavor.
  • Ground Cinnamon: if you’re making rice pudding for the holidays, or you just love cinnamon, add a dash into the rice mixture during the last stage and stir it in well.
  • Heavy Cream: if you want to make the recipe really creamy, you can use heavy cream instead of milk. Just be aware that a little goes a long way.

Topping Ideas

  • Brown Sugar: dust the top of your pudding with some brown sugar to add some more sweetness and make it look nice.
  • Raisins: you can mix in raisins to break up the creamy texture of the pudding. The raisins are sweet and rich, and make the pudding even more delicious.
  • Ice Cream: if you’re going the dessert route, you can make my rice pudding recipe into ice cream! Follow the directions on this page and then add it to Vanilla Ice Cream before you freeze it.

What Kind of Rice is Best?

There’s a long list of the different rice varieties that you can use for this recipe, and here are some of the best ones that I’ve found.

  • White rice: this is my rice of choice because it is easy to cook.
  • Arborio rice: an Italian short grain rice that is high in protein and vitamins.
  • Basmati: basmati rice is an aromatic, long grain rice that is common in a variety of Indian dishes.
  • Jasmine: another long grain aromatic rice, jasmine rice has a mild, floral smell and is delicious in rice pudding.
  • Japanese short grain: Japanese short grain rice has long, thin grains that are slightly translucent. Apart from being pretty, Japanese short-grain rice is delicious and is used in many Asian dishes.
  • Brown rice: making pudding with brown rice makes the dish healthier and gives it a richer, nuttier flavor. When I would make this recipe for the kids as a treat I would use brown rice and all the richness and sweetness would mask it, but it also gave them a taste for the chewiness and nuttiness of brown rice.

How to Store

  • Serve: don’t leave your pudding out for longer than two hours at room temperature.
  • Store: This dessert is good in the fridge for up to 1 week before it starts to get weird.
  • Freeze: if you seal it in an airtight container, you can freeze pudding for up to 3 months

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Rice Pudding in a pot and in a serving dish

Photos used in previous versions of this post.

Pot of Rice Pudding
dessert in Cup with Cinnamon

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years who is the creator and developer of all the recipes on Dinner, then Dessert.

She is also the author of the cookbook Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients, published by Harper Collins.

She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef.

As a personal chef Sabrina would cook for families one day a week and cook their entire week of dinners. All grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning was done along with instructions on reheating. As a private chef she cooked for private parties and cooked in family homes in the evenings for families on a nightly basis after working as a personal chef during the day.

Sabrina has been certified as a ServSafe Manager since 2007 and was a longstanding member of the USPCA Personal Chef Association including being on the board of the Washington DC Chapter of Chefs in the US Personal Chef Association when they won Chapter of the year.

As a member of the community of food website creators Sabrina Snyder has spoken at many conferences regarding her experiences as a food writer including the Indulge Food Conference, Everything Food Conference, Haven Food Conference and IACP Annual Food Professionals Conference.

Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.

See more posts by Sabrina

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

  3. Hi Sabrina!

    This is the best rice pudding recipe in the universe. I made it a while ago and I NEED to make it again!

    I have a lovely elderly neighbour who loves rice pudding and I know she’ll love this one as much as I do. I’m planning on making and sharing. 🙂

    Thank-you so much!

    Susan, from Canada

    Reply

    1. You’re welcome Susan. What a great big heart you have for others! Thanks for the five star review.

      Reply

  5. I’ve been reading and looking at rice pudding recipes for years. Finally decided to try yours and WOW
    I used evaporated canned milk mixed with 2% and added a bit more than
    suggested. About 1 1/2cup mixed into cooked rice then 1/2 cup with the egg.
    It all worked out so amazingly.
    Thank you
    Thank you
    Thank you
    For this recipe!!!!!!!!
    Sincerely Beth

    Reply

  7. Just made this and it is creamy and delicious! Not sure if my portions are too big but I only yielded 6 Next time I will double it.

    Reply

    1. I don’t blame you for making bigger portions, haha! Doubling sounds like a smart decision to me.

      Reply

  8. my grandaughter can only have lactaid milk and it does not not come in whole. can I use any milk and still have it turn out and can you put raisins in it can you please send answer to email I am a sinior and not computer smart thank you

    Reply

  9. Hi your recipe for rice pudding has same amount of rice and water. That doesn’t seem right? Is it a mistake. I need to make a lot and don’t want to make mistake.

    Thankyou, Teresa 🙂

    Reply

    1. Sorry for the delay. Your question got caught in my spam filter. I’ve retested the recipe and have edited the recipe card. Thank you for catching it.

      Reply