Creamy vanilla custard with rice, sweet raisins and just a hint of cinnamon, Classic Stovetop Rice Pudding is a traditional dessert favorite!
Traditional rice pudding is one of those strange and wonderful desserts that we ate all the time when we were kids but that you just don’t see that often anymore.
Served warm or cold, something about the creamy texture, burst of vanilla and sweet golden raisins brings back all sorts of memories and this old fashioned rice pudding recipe is one of the best uses for leftover rice!
What You’ll Need to make this Simple Rice Pudding
- Cooked Rice – 1 1/2 cups of precooked rice. We use white rice, brown rice, or leftover takeout rice for this easy recipe. We have also made this with Minute Rice with good success.
- Milk – 2 cups, divided. We typically use whole white milk. 2% milk, half and half or heavy cream may be used instead.
- Pantry Ingredients – White sugar, salt, vanilla extract and ground cinnamon.
- Butter – 1 tablespoon. We use regular salted butter, but unsalted butter may also be used.
- Egg – Any color large egg may be used.
- Golden Raisins – We like golden raisins because they are a little bigger and more tender than regular raisins (which can be used if you prefer). You can also use any dried fruit if you want to change it up a bit.
How to Make Old Fashioned Rice Pudding
Leftover rice just happens a lot in our house. Sort of like pasta, good intentions often result in making too much. Or, when ordering Chinese take out, we always seem to have leftover rice.
Rather than toss it, Classic Stovetop Rice Pudding is by far our favorite use for leftover rice, white, brown, takeout, or even Minute Rice!
Combine cooked rice, 1 1/2 cups milk, sugar and salt in a heavy saucepan.
Heat over medium-low to medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 15-20 minutes until thickened and creamy.
In a small bowl or a glass measuring cup, whisk the remaining 1/2 cup of milk and egg together until well blended.
Slowly temper egg mixture into the hot rice mixture a little bit at a time, stirring constantly.
It is really important that this process is done slowly or the egg could cook and you’ll have rice and scrambled egg instead of creamy rice pudding! Once it has all been added, the consistency will change and the mixture will thicken almost immediately.
Remove from heat and stir in raisins until well mixed.
Immediately stir in butter, vanilla and cinnamon and stir until butter has melted and the cinnamon and vanilla are well distributed throughout the pudding. This is the final and most delicious step.
Spoon into serving dishes and serve immediately (warm) or refrigerate until ready to serve. Enjoy!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s)
Typically, we use leftover takeout rice, cooked white rice or cooked brown rice for the best results.
Yes! You can freeze rice pudding but for best results, you should leave the raisins out and add them after thawing.
To freeze rice pudding, cool completely and freeze in a freezer safe container or freeze flat in a zip top bag. Can be frozen for up to 3 months.
Thaw rice pudding overnight in the refrigerator or use the defrost setting on the microwave.
Reheat rice pudding on the stovetop with a little milk, Add raisins and stir occasionally until heated through.
Yes! Homemade old fashioned rice pudding IS gluten free, but not all commercially packaged rice pudding is.
Other Delicious and Easy Dessert Recipes
Watermelon Lime Sorbet – great for poolside or anytime at all. Fresh and bright!
Caramel Apple Upside Down Cake – fresh apples in a delicious sticky caramel sauce over top of a lightly spiced homemade crumb cake.
Pizookie – soft & melty skillet cookie, well worth the wait!
Decadent Air Fryer Blueberry Muffins – decadent and delicious and so easy in the air fryer.
Homemade Fresh Strawberry Gelato – fresh, creamy, and super light. Perfect for summer!
Classic Stovetop Rice Pudding (with Raisins)
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups cooked rice
- 2 cups milk divided
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup golden raisins
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Combine cooked rice, 1 1/2 cups milk, sugar and salt in a heavy saucepan.
- Heat over medium-low to medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 15-20 minutes until thickened and creamy.
- In a small bowl or a glass measuring cup, whisk the remaining 1/2 cup of milk and egg together until well blended.
- Slowly temper egg mixture into the hot rice mixture a little bit at a time, stirring constantly.
- Remove from heat and stir in raisins until well mixed.
- Immediately stir in butter, vanilla and cinnamon and stir until butter has melted and the cinnamon and vanilla are well distributed throughout the pudding.
- Spoon into serving dishes and serve immediately (warm) or refrigerate until ready to serve. Enjoy!
Nutrition *
* The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator.
Erlene Johnson says
What type of rice,.?
The Bandit says
Hi Erlene – Any time of cooked rice will work. We have used long grain and medium grain white rice, leftover take out Chinese food rice, leftover brown rice and we have even used Minute Rice. We have not tried the packaged ready rice, but we have had success with everything else we have tried!
Lerrie says
Yum! I like how easy it is to make. Will sure have some rice pudding soon!
Susan Lindsley says
I have a recipe for baked rice pudding that we used to make as a child. It has a meringue on top and was so good. I think it was Betty Crocker, maybe. It came in the typical box with the recipe cards by topic. This makes me want to make some this weekend.
Clarice Shay says
Almost 50 years ago I got a “free” cookbook from Uncle Ben’s rice and it had a rice pudding recipe that used raw rice with other ingredients, placed in a baking dish set in another dish with water; the whole thing was baked at a lower-than-normal temperature for several hours. It was the easiest, creaminess rice pudding.
Unfortunately, I lost the recipe during a move and Uncle Ben’s has no record of it.
Would this be the same as your Betty Crocker recipe?
The Bandit says
This is not the same but your recipe sounds fascinating! My auntie made something like that as well. I remember that she baked it pretty much all day. This recipe calls for already cooked rice and the result is what I remember the taste and texture to be as a child. It’s a bit of a shortcut from what you describe but it’s tasty!
Beth says
Wow, I haven’t made rice pudding for such a long time. I’m going to adapt it a bit for how we eat, and try it with coconut milk, ghee and brown rice. Will let you know how it turns out!
Michele Vadnais says
Mmmmm! Love rice pudding! This one looks delicious and uncomplicated…two of my favorite things.
Christin says
I’ll have to try this one….looks delicious! Rice pudding is one of my favourites!