Who wants to sit down to a bowl of Old Fashioned Rice Pudding? I love the Creamy texture of the rice pudding, with just the right amount of sweetness and a hint of cinnamon.
Loaded with plump golden raisins, it’s a dessert that brings back memories with every delicious spoonful.
One of my earliest memories is of my grandmother feeding me Rice Pudding in her kitchen. I didn’t want to wait for it to cool down and she loved feeding me.
I’ll admit that I used to buy KozyShack Rice Pudding, but one bite of my homemade version, and there is no going back.
Ok, I admit that everything has a time and a place, but if you can spare about an hour, you will be very happy that you made The Best Rice Pudding you’ll ever make!
If you’re looking for another Classic American Dessert my Bread Pudding is exceptional!
Ingredients to make Classic Rice Pudding
Let’s start by gathering the ingredients we need to make Classic Rice Pudding. In Chef Speak, this is called the “Mise en Place,” which translates to “Everything in its Place.”
Not only does setting up your ingredients ahead of time speed up the cooking process, it also helps ensure you have everything you need to make the dish.
Simple Ingredients
- whole milk
- granulated sugar
- long grain white rice
- vanilla extract
- cinnamon stick
- salt
- golden raisins – optional
You can use regular raisins instead of golden raisins or any of your favorite dried fruit, like craisins. You can also use vanilla bean paste instead of a vanilla extract. Brown sugar can also be used in place of white sugar. It won’t be as sweet, but it will add a lovely flavor.
And for a richer version of this Classic American Dessert, you can add 2 egg yolk or whole eggs to the milk to make a custard, but it really doesn’t need them.
And while long-grain rice is great for this recipe, Arborio rice (risotto rice), which is a medium-grain rice, will also work very nicely for my creamy rice pudding recipe.
Coconut milk can also be used as part of the milk addition to make this delicious dessert. It adds a nice light coconut flavor to the pudding.
How to make Rice Pudding
- Combine 5 ½ cups milk, ½ cup sugar, cinnamon stick, and salt in a medium saucepan.
- Place on a burner over medium to medium-high heat.
- Bring the milk mixture to a low boil.
- Add the uncooked rice to the milk, mix well, and reduce the heat to low.
- Allow the rice mixture to cook at a gentle simmer, reducing heat as needed.
- Continue cooking the rice mixture for 45- 60 minutes, stirring frequently to make sure it isn’t sticking to the bottom of the pan. (depending on the stovetop heat, the time can vary).
- The rice pudding mixture will thicken up to the consistency of Greek yogurt.
- Once thickened, remove from the pan from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract and ⅔ cup raisins.
- Allow the rice pudding to cool and if needed, add the additional milk to thin out the mixture or if you’re feeling decadent, add heavy cream instead of milk.
Sprinkle with cinnamon to serve, and top with freshly made whipped cream. If you want to forgo the whipped cream stir a little heavy cream into each portion before serving.
Your family and friends are going to love this delicious dessert and your going to love my easy recipe for homemade rice pudding.
Recipe FAQ’s
That is a question that many people disagree on. Typically this dish is made using long grain White Rice. While I have found that medium grain Arrborio and other risotto rice work equally as well. Other starchy rices, such as Jasmine rice will also work. You can even make it with brown rice but the grains will be tougher.
That is a matter of personal preference and I honestly like them both ways. Although I will tell you that letting it sit overnight and chill will add more flavor to the pudding. Serving it cold allows you to add topping and whipped cream. But serving warm, you can stir in heavy cream or top it with vanilla ice cream.
If you want to have some fun with your rice pudding, you can add toasted coconut, toasted pecans, sliced bananas, chocolate chips, butterscotch chips or your favorite chips. Berries will also go well with this pudding.
More Dessert Recipes You’ll Love!
Old Fashioned Rice Pudding
Ingredients
- 6 cups whole milk divided
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ heaping cup long grain white rice
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 cinnamon stick
- ⅔ cup golden raisins – optional
- cinnamon powder for garnish
- whipped cream for garnish
Instructions
- Combine 5 ½ cups milk, sugar, cinnamon stick and salt in a large saucepan over medium to medium-high heat.
- Bring the milk mixture to a boil.
- Add the uncooked rice to the milk, mix well, and reduce the heat to low.
- Allow the rice mixture to cook at a gentle simmer, reducing heat as needed.
- Continue cooking the rice mixture for 45- 60 minutes, stirring frequently to make sure it isn’t sticking to the bottom of the pan. (depending on the stovetop heat, the time can vary).
- The rice pudding mixture will thicken up to consistency of Greek yogurt.
- Once thickened, remove from the pan from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract and raisins.
- Allow the rice pudding to cool and if needed, add the additional milk to thin out the mixture or if you’re feeling decadent, add heavy cream instead of milk.
- Sprinkle with cinnamon to serve, and top with freshly made whipped cream. If you want to forgo the whipped cream stir a little heavy cream into each portion before serving.
Hillary
I love this recipe. Second time I made it (just now) I cut the vanilla to a little over half a tablespoon and tempered an egg in. These changes tweak it more to MY liking. A full tablespoon is just too much vanilla for me. The recipe without these personal tweaks is still great.
Bonnie
Will try this recipe out for Rice pudding. My grandmother always made it for the holidays, but with evaporated milk & I think some condensed & cream, along with strawberries added at the end. It was great, but no one has her original recipe. This sounds wonderful!
Nancy
The easiest and most delicious rice pudding ever!!!! The cinnamon stick added just the right flavor I didn’t think I needed to add vanilla. My all time favorite.
Chef Dennis Littley
I’m happy to hear you enjoyed the rice pudding Nancy, its one of my wife’s favorites.
Judy
I strongly dislike when people review a recipe when they changed everything in the recipe! However, I am doing this now. I made a rice pudding recipe that came out awful. I decided to give it another try. I came upon Chef Dennis’ recipe. I have tried many of this with great success (tiramisu – the best ever). I did everything wrong! Put the rice in with the milk…did not have a cinnamon stick…forgot to add the sugar. I added the sugar when I tasted it. With all these errors, it still tasted great. I pride myself on following directions. I have contacted Chef Dennis many times and he responds quickly. His pumpkin roll is is yummy.
Tammy
Rice pudding believe it or not was one of my favorite treats as a child. Its sweet and creamy what’s not to love!? This looks perfect…just as I remember. Cannot wait to make this 🙂
Veronika
This rice pudding brought me right back to childhood! So delicious and it was really simple and easy to make too.
Lauren Michael Harris
My grandpa used to eat rice pudding and I never really understood why, but I decided to give it a try and now I am obsessed! This rice pudding is delicious!
LaKita
This rice pudding took me back to my grandmother’s version! So sweet, creamy, and delicious. I love that you used golden raisins too!!
Veronika
I made this rice pudding yesterday and it came out amazing! Was so easy to prep and I loved the creamy texture.
Sean
Now talk about a recipe that brings back childhood memories. My grandma used to make rice pudding and I never got the recipe. This is just like hers!
Kathryn
This rice pudding is one of our favorites to get at restaurants and I didn’t know it was so easy to make at home! Your recipe is perfect and I can’t wait to make it again this weekned!
Amy Liu Dong
This is so easy and really delicious!
I made this and everyone loves it!
Enri Lemoine
One of the best rice puddings I have ever tried! When I tasted it, I felt like I was in my grandma’s kitchen. Thank you, Chef.
Marta
This old-fashioned rice pudding took me back to my South Carolina family reunions! So creamy, with great flavors from the cinnamon and sultanas. I’ll be turning to this recipe every time I need some comfort food.
Cheryl
Thank you for the wonderful veal parmesan recipe. I added a layer of prosciutto, with angel hair pasta and served a salad.
Made it for the family! No leftovers!! It was excellent and enjoyed by all. I have added a few more of your recipes and looking forward to making them! Your directions were clear and easy to follow. Thank you again!