Rice Pudding

Homemade rice pudding is the most comforting dessert recipe. Uncooked short-grain rice is cooked in a sweet mixture of milk and cream with vanilla soaked raisins. This stove top recipe is easy to make.

Why this recipe is so great:

Our family loves homemade rice pudding. It’s just a rich, creamy, comforting, decadent dessert that’s really easy to make.

• Vanilla soaked raisins: Most people just add dried raisins to their rice pudding. I started soaking my raisins when I made classic bread pudding. Not only do the soft hydrating raisins add a more pleasant texture, but they completely absorb the vanilla flavor.
• Uncooked rice: So many rice pudding recipes call for cooked rice. I much prefer to start with uncooked rice so that it absorbs the creamy milk mixture as opposed to water.
• Easy to make: The trickiest part is tempering the egg, but as long as you follow the directions, you won’t have any issues.

Ingredients needed for this recipe:

• Milk and cream: This recipe uses a mixture of 5 parts whole milk to 1 part heavy whipping cream. I find this combination gives the best creamy consistency.
• Sugar: Equal parts of golden brown sugar and granulated sugar give the most perfectly sweet results.
• Uncooked short grain rice: You can use other kinds of rice, but the short grain will give you a nice chewy texture without getting mushy.
• Raisins and vanilla extract: Soak the raisins so that they get nice and soft.
• Pumpkin pie spice and salt: You can use cinnamon instead of the pumpkin pie spice, if preferred.

How to make Classic Rice Pudding

Prior to starting the recipe, you’ll want to soak the raisins in the vanilla for at least an hour.

1. In a bowl, combine the eggs and sugars.
2. Whisk well to combine until light and fluffy.
3. In a sauce pan, you’re going to heat the milk with the cream along with the rice and salt. This mixture is heated until it starts to boil and then the heat is reduced to maintain a gentle simmer. This gets cooked until the rice gets tender. The hot milk gets slowly added to the egg mixture to warm and temper the egg.
4. The tempered egg and sugar mixture gets added back to the pan with the hot milk and rice.
5. The pudding is cooked until thickened.
6. The vanilla soaked raisins get stirred in at the end.

Cooking tips for perfect results:

• Raisins: The longer they soak in the vanilla, the better they will taste. If you don’t like raisins, you can leave them out, but even folks who don’t like raisins find that they are wonderful when rehydrated in vanilla.
• Cooking temperature: This is the kind of recipe you want to be gentle with. Always use a heat that is high enough to maintain a simmer but nothing more. You don’t want to cook too hot or too fast.
• Thickness: Keep in mind that the pudding will thicken even more after it cools.

Other pudding recipes:

Love to make homemade pudding? Well, you are sure to love these favorites.

• Homemade {Dairy Free} Coconut Pudding
• Homemade Vanilla Pudding
• Classic Banana Pudding
• Chocolate Pudding

If you’ve made this or any other recipe on my site, let me know in the comment section how it turned out. I love hearing from my readers!

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Rice Pudding

Prep5 minutes mins

Cook30 minutes mins

Soak time for raisins1 hour hr

Total1 hour hr 35 minutes mins

Servings 6 servings

Author Krissy Allori

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Homemade rice pudding is the most comforting dessert recipe. Rice is cooked in a sweet mixture of milk and cream with vanilla soaked raisins. This stove top recipe is easy to make.

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Equipment

• saucepan
• Mixing Bowls

Ingredients 

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Soak raisins ahead of time:

• ▢ 1/4 cup raisins
• ▢ 2 tablespoons vanilla extract

Rice Pudding:

• ▢ 2 1/2 cups whole milk
• ▢ 1/2 cup heavy cream
• ▢ 1/2 cup uncooked white rice short grain works best
• ▢ 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• ▢ 2 eggs
• ▢ 1/4 cup brown sugar
• ▢ 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• ▢ 1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice or use cinnamon
• ▢ soaked raisins with vanilla

Instructions 

• At least one hour prior to making rice pudding, soak the raisins in the vanilla. A longer soak of over 24 hours is optimal.
• In a medium-sized, heavy-bottomed saucepan, bring the milk, heavy cream, uncooked rice, and salt to a boil over high heat. As soon as it starts to simmer around the edge of the pan, reduce heat to the lowest temperature where you can maintain a simmer, partially covered, until the rice is tender, about 20-25 minutes. Stir frequently to prevent the rice from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Taste the rice to ensure it is done. You want it tender but still firm.
• In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs and sugar. Add a ladel of the hot milk mixture to the egg mixture, whisking while pouring it in a very slow steady stream. Your goal is to bring the temperature of the egg up without curdling the egg.
  
• Continue to add more of the hot milk mixture to the egg mixture, whisking continually, until the egg mixture is warm.
• Add tempered egg mixture back into the saucepan of rice and milk and stir over low heat for 5 to 10 minutes, until thickened. This rice pudding can go from thin to too thick rather quickly, so don't leave it unattended. Also keep in mind that it will thicken even more as it cools. A temperature of 160°F will ensure the eggs are cooked all the way through.
  
• When done, remove from heat and stir in the pumpkin pie spice and soaked raisins.
  
• Serve warm or cold.

Notes

• Raisins: The longer they soak in the vanilla, the better they will taste. If you don’t like raisins, you can leave them out, but even folks who don’t like raisins find that they are wonderful when rehydrated in vanilla.
• Cooking temperature: This is the kind of recipe you want to be gentle with. Always use a heat that is high enough to maintain a simmer but nothing more. You don’t want to cook too hot or too fast.
• Thickness: Keep in mind that the pudding will thicken even more after it cools.

Nutrition

Calories: 307kcal, Carbohydrates: 41g, Protein: 7g, Fat: 12g, Saturated Fat: 7g, Cholesterol: 92mg, Sodium: 175mg, Potassium: 255mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 23g, Vitamin A: 535IU, Vitamin C: 1mg, Calcium: 150mg, Iron: 1mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Did you make this? Leave me a comment below