This Vanilla Bean Rice Pudding is a silky, creamy, slightly sweetened rice custard full of aromatic vanilla bean and slightly spiced with cinnamon.
I know, I know. This is not warm, winter comfort food; It isn’t snuggle in front of the fire food; and it definitely isn’t Holiday food. But it is the BEST Rice Pudding that I have ever had.
And that has to count for something, right?
Oh! And it has cinnamon, so that slides it right into the “Holiday” category. Says me.
#myopinionisallthatmatters
I refused to try rice pudding for years. Years! Because I was convinced that rice was completely unacceptable and unwanted in a dessert.
Nonsense. One bite would have told me that it tasted nothing like the blah white rice on my dinner plate. {I no longer allow blah white rice on my dinner plate, by the way.} It is creamy, cool and just a little sweet. This rice pudding that my husband and I made is AMAZING. Amazing.
Neither of us had tried rice pudding made with a vanilla bean before and we were blown away by the flavor. It is a silky, creamy, slightly sweetened custard full of aromatic vanilla bean and slightly spiced with cinnamon.
We are all about the cinnamon. Yum.
The rice is more a vehicle for the sweet, creamy vanilla bean pudding. A sprinkle of cinnamon and a little crunch from the pistachios just set it over the top, but it was arguably there already.
This is one of those desserts that will forever ruin eating dessert at a restaurant. With each bite you will certainly be thinking that you could have made it better yourself at home! Hate that.
Love that.
And this rice pudding!
The only thing saving our waistlines is the fact that you have to babysit this pudding. It is not a pop in the oven and forget about it kind of dessert; this is a stand over the stove stirring constantly because you are paranoid the milk is going to burn (because it probably will burn) if you walk away.
It’s worth it…or at least that is what my husband says and he made it! He was the designated stirrer. I was called upon to separate the egg yolks and temper the eggs before it was returned back to the stove to be stirred some more. By him
I was photographing these beauties. Quite the tradeoff if you ask me!
Do not pass on this humble dessert because it is cold and “out of season”. You might find that this creamy, cool, light dessert is perfect after a heavy holiday meal! And the flavors of warm vanilla and cinnamon will bring on that holiday cheer just as well as a pumpkin pie.
Vanilla Bean Rice Pudding
Ingredients
- 4 cups whole milk
- ½ cup uncooked Arborio rice
- pinch kosher salt
- 1 vanilla bean (split (or 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract))
- 2 large egg yolks
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- pistachios (for serving)
- cinnamon (for serving)
Instructions
- In a large, heavy bottomed saucepan add the milk, rice, salt and split vanilla bean, stir to combine. (If you are using the extract instead of the bean, don’t add it yet.) Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring constantly.
- Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer gently, stirring occasionally for 15 minutes.
- While the pudding is simmering, combine the egg yolks, sugar and extract (if you are using it) in a medium bowl. Whisk together until the egg yolks are integrated. Set aside.
- Uncover and simmer, stirring frequently until the rice is tender and the pudding has thickened. Do not boil the rice. Stir constantly towards the end to keep the milk from burning. Remove the vanilla bean and scrape out all the seeds into the pudding.
- Slowly add the cooked rice mixture to the egg mixture, whisking constantly to keep the eggs from scrambling. Return the entire mixture to the saucepan and continue cooking over low heat until the mixture is thick and coats the back of a spoon, about 5 minutes.
- Remove the pan from the heat and transfer the rice pudding into a serving dish or storage container. Cut a piece of parchment paper to fit over the top of the pudding. You can also use a piece of plastic wrap. Make sure it covers the entire surface so that a skin doesn’t form. Cover and refrigerate until cold.
- Serve cold with a sprinkle of pistachios and cinnamon.
Wow, this is one decadent dish. Looks very similar to Indian rice kheer minus the eggs. Lovely photographs 🙂
This recipe reminds me of my Dad, who would only eat rice with milk and sugar - he never liked it savory. Can't wait to try this for my husband and me.
So nice to see that you celebrate American classics. You have a lovely blog with breath-taking photos. And I love your little green dishes - they remind me of milk glass.
If I could get away with only eating rice with milk and sugar for the rest of my life, I would! Thank you so much for all your kind words about my site! I really appreciate it. I love those little dishes too 🙂
Would you believe I've never made rice pudding! Must try this recipe. It sounds so delicious and I love those green ramekins!
Thanks, Christin! That is hard to believe. I always felt like you have made EVERYTHING!
I have always loved rice pudding! My grandma used to make the best rice pudding, and I'd eat myself until I was sick! That's how much I love it. So, I know that i would totally be digging this! I'm so glad you tried and loved it!!
Haha! It is definitely one of those desserts that you don't want to stop eating!
This looks so creamy and delicious! I'm curious to try it, since I've never made rice pudding . My grandma makes a good one wit h cinnamon, but I don't think she uses egg yolks. I'm going to try your version! Pictures are beautiful!
Thank you, Mira! I was really happy how they turned out! I think it's the pistachios 🙂 I don't think the eggs are traditional. You should absolutely try it!
Oh yum! I love rice pudding! I was a skeptic too like you until I tried a really good recipe. I will have to try this!
You should, Kathleen! It's delicious!
I really love rice pudding .. it reminds me a lot of childhood as my mom used to make it pretty often. My daughters love it too. It may seem weird using rice in a dessert.. but once you get used to .. it is delicious..
It does seem weird! You and your daughters will love this recipe! Maybe they can be in charge of stirring 😉
Rice pudding is one of my favorites! Yours looks great. 🙂 Cinnamon is totally a holiday thing!!
Is it!? I hope you try this recipe! Mmmm cinnamon!
This post totally made me miss Atlanta! Your comment about making something at home that's better than what you order in a restaurant totally resonated with me. We say that almost every.single.time we go out to eat up here! I mean, we certainly enjoyed all of the awesomely delicious restaurants in the A...but I had no idea how spoiled we were until we moved away from the big city. Now I am going to go stir some milk to make rice pudding. 🙂
Haha! Come back! Other than that apple fritter I just posted on IG, we say that every single time too. I can imagine it only gets exponentially worse the farther away from the city you move. Get stirring! You'll be happy you did!
Never made my own pudding. This one sounds so good. I love pudding! 🙂
You should! It is so rewarding!
This rice pudding looks scrumptious! It's such a comforting and delicious dessert.
Haha I think the cinnamon automatically makes this acceptable holiday food so I totally support your opinion 🙂 This rice pudding looks so creamy and dreamy amazing! I love rice pudding and have never made it at home and that totally needs to change. The vanilla bean definitely sounds like it would make this extra special - yum!
Well as long as we both agree...who cares what everyone else thinks?! You should definitely try to make it at home...you'll never want to eat it out again!
This looks so creamy and dreamy! I love rice pudding but never make it for some reason. Those flecks of vanilla bean make me want to just dive in! Pinned.
Thanks for the pin, Marcie!!! You should definitely make it at home! So much better 🙂
Lindsey, your pudding looks absolutely delicious! Love the pistachios on top. We would enjoy this the whole year around, when we were living in Germany we ate it mostly warm in the winter and cold in the summer 🙂
Thanks! It is definitely awesome all year round. Next time we'll have to try it warmed. I am just so used to always getting it cold at restaurants.
Hey Lindsey, this pudding looks aweosme.. love the flavours.. I usually make rice pudding with cardamom.. Can't wait to try this recipe.. 🙂
I'll have to try it with cardamom! That sounds delightful!
I have to admit that I'm not a huge fan of rice pudding, I think because of the texture. But from the looks of this vanilla bean kind, it's luring me in! I love that you spiced it up a bit with some cinnamon. I think you've convinced me to give this dish another try!
I thought I would hate it. I thought the texture would gross me out, but it didn't and I totally love it! Maybe it's the extra flavor from the vanilla bean and cinnamon or maybe its just because it's cool and creamy and such a welcome change of pace!
OHMGEE - I am mesmerized by how creamy this pudding is! I don't think I've ever made rice pudding with Arborio rice - and definitely know I haven't made or had rice and vanilla in once decadent, lusciously creamy pudding like this!
oh, you must Shashi!!! The vanilla bean is ridiculous. What rice do you use for rice pudding?
So far, I've only used basmati...I cannot wait to make a dairy free version of this!
looks great Ashley! I have never tried rice pudding but this reminds me of a very popular Indian dessert "kheer" which is made using rice and milk but there's no egg in it. It's flavored with cardamom and rose! I was in fact thinking of making it tomorrow for Diwali 🙂
I hope you do! I am SHOCKED that you've never had rice pudding. I believe that the egg is not traditional. I found a lot of recipes without the egg yolks. Cardamom and rose would be heavenly!
now that you say, I think I have had a sticky rice pudding once and didn't really like it much!
Nooooo!!! Sadness. This one just tastes like a vanilla bean custard with a little texture. 🙂
I love custard so I think I will love this! 🙂