Old-Fashioned Rice Pudding Recipe

Name: Old-Fashioned Rice Pudding Recipe
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 40 min
Ingredients: 4 cups milk; 1 cinnamon stick; ½ cup granulated sugar; Pinch salt; ½ cup uncooked basmati rice; 1 large egg; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

This old-fashioned rice pudding recipe is made with just 7 pantry-staple ingredients. This easy rice pudding recipe is so simple to make, and the pudding is so deliciously creamy!

A bowl of rice pudding with a cinnamon stick on the edge of the bowl.

Old-fashioned rice pudding is a classic dessert recipe! The rice cooks in lightly sweetened milk to make this rich, creamy pudding.

This recipe is made with just 7 simple ingredients. And the pudding is so easy to make! It only takes about 40 minutes to make a batch of this delicious rice pudding.

Ingredient notes

Photo of ingredients for rice pudding with labels.

Milk: Whole milk will give you richer, creamier rice pudding. You can also substitute heavy cream or half-and-half for part of the milk.
Cinnamon stick: The cinnamon stick helps to give the rice pudding a mild cinnamon flavor. You can omit it if you prefer.
Granulated sugar: The rice pudding is mildly sweet. Feel free to adjust the amount of sugar to taste.
Salt: The pinch of salt helps to balance out the flavor of the pudding.
Rice: It’s best to use rice like the basmati rice because it produces creamier pudding.
Egg: The egg helps to thicken and bind the pudding.
Vanilla extract: The vanilla extract gives the pudding a mild vanilla flavor. You can omit or adjust to taste.

How to make rice pudding

Milk sugar and cinnamon stick in a silver saucepan.

Step1: Combine the milk, cinnamon stick, sugar, and salt in a medium saucepan.

Step 2: Bring the mixture to a boil. Keep an eye on it so it doesn’t boil over.

Rice pouring in a saucepan of milk and sugar.

Step 3: Stir in the rice and allow it to simmer over medium-low heat until the rice is tender, about 30 minutes.

Step 4: Remove the cinnamon stick.

A whisk whisking an egg in a small glass disk.

Step 5: In a small bowl, whisk the egg.
Step 6: While constantly whisking, add about ½ a cup of the warm rice mixture to the egg to temper the egg.

Whisking egg and hot rice pudding into a saucepan.

Step 7: Pour the egg mixture into the pot.

Cooked rice pudding in a silver saucepan.

Step 8: Whisk until the rice mixture comes to a boil and thickens, about 1-2 minutes.

Step 9: Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla. At this point, you can stir in additional milk if you’d like a thinner consistency.

Step 10: Let the pudding cool to room temperature. Serve warm or transfer to an air-tight container and place it into the fridge until ready to serve.

Close up photo of the top of a bowl of rice pudding.

Recipe FAQs

What’s the best rice to use to make rice pudding?

Certain types of rice, like basmati or arborio rice, work best for rice pudding because they produce creamier rice pudding.

Can you freeze rice pudding?

Unfortunately, rice pudding doesn’t freeze well because of the dairy in the recipe.

Can I add raisins?

Sure! Add 1/4-1/2 cup of dark or golden raisins along with the egg mixture in step 7.

A bowl of rice pudding next to a dish towel and silver spoon.

Storage

Store the pudding in an airtight container in the refrigerator. The pudding will keep for up to 5 days when properly stored.

More pudding recipes!

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5 from 22 votes