We outline how to make the best rice pudding recipes, with expert tips and tricks for a perfect result, plus some delicious variations on the classic recipe. No milky soup, no burnt lump of rice — we promise!
Creamy, sweet, wonderful — rice pudding always tastes good! Whether as a small dessert, filling sweet dish or small snack: Grandma’s rice pudding is simply delicious! In this guide we’ll tell you the classic basic recipe with lots of tips and tricks, plus some tasty variations to dress up the pudding even further for special occasions — or just for a change.
A bowl full of a good portion of cinnamon sugar, fruit puree or compote: the seductive soul flatterer is ready! Basically, making rice pudding yourself is totally easy. At least if you pay attention to a few points. Otherwise there might be one of the typical problems: the rice burns, remains liquid or becomes much too firm. Of course nobody wants it.
The right consistency of the dessert is the alpha and omega. As with panna cotta. It is characteristic that the rice is creamy, creamy and soft, but the grains still have a bite. A bit like a good risotto. For the basic version of rice pudding you only need 3 ingredients: rice, milk and sweetness (mostly in the form of sugar). Everything else like vanilla, a pinch of salt and whipped cream is optional to refine. The finished rice porridge tastes warm and cold, pure or with fruit, as a casserole or cake filling.
The best type of rice for rice pudding is round grain rice (arborio). Can you make rice pudding with normal rice? It depends on what you mean by “normal”. Basmati and Co are not suitable. If necessary, risotto rice or sushi rice can also be used as a substitute — the kind that is also perfect for making arancini balls. The classic ratio is 4: 1. So there are 250 grams of rice for one liter of milk. That is enough for about 4 servings.
How do you make a perfect rice pudding?
There are also variations such as pudding with custard or egg. The classic comes across as rather puristic. In concrete terms: Bring the milk with sugar, salt and vanilla to the boil in a saucepan, stir in the rice, bring to the boil again briefly and then slowly simmer over low heat (!!!). There is no need to keep stirring. During the soaking time of 25-35 minutes (depending on the type of rice and the manufacturer’s information), in my experience, 2 to 3 times are sufficient. Nothing burns there either. Grandma’s rice pudding is ready when most of the liquid has been absorbed. A good portion of cinnamon sugar on top — and enjoy! After harvesting kilos of plums and mirabelle plums in grandma’s garden, we usually have plum jam with it at the moment 😉.
Grandma’s rice pudding recipe (pictured above)
For a change, you can vary the simplerecipe. Fancy a vegan version? Then take herbal drinks like rice milk or oat milk. For rice pudding without sugar, which is particularly suitable for babies, simply use a small splash of rice syrup or serve the porridge completely unsweetened with fruit jam. The dessert tastes particularly delicious if you fold in some stiff whipped cream. Preparation: 5 min. Baking time: 30 min. Quantity: 4 servings
Ingredients: For the rice pudding
- 1 liter of milk
- 3 tablespoons of sugar
- 1 pinch of salt
- 1 piece of vanilla pod
- 250 grams of rice
To sprinkle
- 3 tablespoons of sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons of cinnamon
Optional
100 milliliters whipped cream to fold in
Preparation
- Bring the milk, sugar and salt to the boil in a saucepan.
- Slit open the vanilla pod, scrape out the pulp. Add the pulp and the scraped pod to the milk.
- Add the rice, bring to the boil again briefly and then simmer on low (!) Heat in an open saucepan for about 25-35 minutes.
- Stir about 2 to 3 times during this time. As soon as the rice is creamy but still slightly firm to the bite, remove it from the heat.
- Remove the vanilla pod. Let the rice soak for another 5-10 minutes.
- Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.
- Also try this version: https://carolinarice.com/cooking/how-to-make-the-perfect-rice-pudding/
Rice pudding with yogurt and cocoa
The yogurt gives the rice pudding with yogurt a wonderfully sour note. You should definitely try the recipe.
Ingredients for 2 servings
- 140g short grain rice
- 200ml milk
- 200g Yogurt (greek)
- 4Tbsp sugar
- 1 pinch ground cinnamon
Preparation
- Cook the rice in the milk according to the instructions above for Grandma’s rice pudding.
- Then mix in yogurt, sugar, cinnamon and cocoa powder.
- Stir it again and again so that nothing burns.
- Then divide the rice pudding with yogurt into two dessert bowls.
African rice pudding with pineapple
African rice pudding with pineapple tastes both warm and cold. The sophisticated recipe brings variety to one of our most popular desserts.
Ingredients for 4 servings
- 50g peanuts, unsalted
- 150g rice
- 400ml condensed milk
- 80g peanut butter
- 4Tbsp sugar
- 1pc Vanilla pod
- 1pc Pineapple, fresh
- 1 pinch salt
- 800ml water
Preparation
- Put the condensed milk, rice and a pinch of salt in a saucepan. Then add 700 ml of water, bring to the boil and simmer gently over a low heat for 40-45 minutes.
- Next, mix the peanut butter with 100 ml of warm water. This works best if the peanut butter isn’t too cold either.
- Then add the peanut butter mixture to the saucepan with the rice, bring to the boil again briefly and remove the rice from the stove.
- Now stir in the sugar and the pulp of a scraped-out vanilla pod into the rice and let it swell for another 20 minutes.
- In the meantime, peel the fresh pineapple and cut it into pieces or let the pineapple pieces drain from the can.
- Finally , serve the African rice pudding with the pineapple pieces and sprinkled with the unsalted peanuts.
Tip: The dessert becomes particularly exotic if it is sprinkled with finely chopped red chilli before serving.
Fruity vanilla rice pudding with apple
This recipe is ideal for a sweet snack. The fruity vanilla rice pudding with apple and caramel almonds tastes creamy and delicious.
Ingredients for 4 servings
- 1pc Vanilla pod
- 1 liter milk
- 50g sugar for the almonds
- 1 pinch salt
- 250g rice
- 2 Apples
- 100g Almond kernels
- 3Tbsp honey
- 1 Tbsp sugar
- 1 pinch cinammon
Preparation
- Halve the vanilla pod lengthways and carefully scrape out the pulp.
- Mix the milk with 1 tbsp sugar, salt, vanilla pulp and pod and bring to the boil.
- Gradually stir in the rice and cover and cook over medium heat for 20 minutes.
- Peel the apples, remove the core, cut the apples into small pieces and add to the rice. Let cook for another 10 minutes.
- Caramelize 50 grams of sugar in a hot saucepan, then add the almonds and turn them in them.
- Put on a piece of baking paper, spread the almonds on top, let cool and then chop into fine pieces.
- Serve the rice with the almonds, a little honey and cinnamon.
Tips
- If you like, you can add 100 grams of stiff whipped cream to the finished rice pudding, so the rice pudding becomes particularly creamy and fluffy.
- The rice pudding tastes wonderful both warm and cold.
- Apple sauce, plum sauce and compote go well with rice pudding.
Solution to typical problems with rice pudding
Dessert really isn’t an art. Nevertheless, in conclusion, a few tips on typical difficulties.
- The rice pudding is too runny? Then leave it a little more on the stove and boil it again briefly while stirring. The same applies if the rice is not cooked after half an hour.
- Conversely, if the pudding is too firm, add liquid in small amounts.
- Is your rice pudding burning? This could be because you cooked the rice on too high a heat, left it on the stove for too long, or used too little milk.
