This recipe for the best rice pudding cooks up into a sweet and creamy treat that is one of the best comfort food desserts in the world!

Ever since my sweet daughter could both eat solid foods and talk, whenever she didn’t feel good the first thing she wanted was rice pudding.
Cool, creamy, gentle, sweet rice pudding…whether it was a sore throat or just a bad day, rice pudding was the thing that helped just as much as a nap and some medicine.
To this day, my now-all-grown-up bunny still gets that rice pudding look in her eyes from time to time, and while this recipe takes a while to make, I promise that it is worth the wait!
What is rice pudding?
Rice pudding is a mixture of (yep!) rice cooked in milk until it is tender, then finished with a mixture of sugar and butter and eggs and a little vanilla.
As with many puddings, it needs some alone time in the refrigerator while it is thickening up, and at the end you are left with a sweet, custard like comfort food dessert that is the the best thing ever…even when you are having a perfectly good day.
ingredients needed for this comfort food pudding
- Rice
- Milk
- Sugar
- Butter
- Eggs
- Vanilla
- Nutmeg (optional)
Here’s how you make the world’s best rice pudding
(Scroll down for the handy complete printable recipe with nutrition info!)
Pour two cups of water in a large pot and add the rice. Simmer for 5 minutes.
Add two quarts of milk, 1 cup of sugar and 6 tablespoons of butter, turn the heat down to medium low and simmer for one hour.
While the rice is cooking, put 2 more cups of milk, four eggs, a tablespoon of vanilla and 2 tablespoons of sugar in a large mixing bowl and whisk it all up until it is well combined.
When the rice is cooked, let it cool for one hour, and then pour the egg mixture into the pot with the rice and give it a good stir. Simmer it over medium heat for about 20 minutes until it is slightly thickened.
Pour the pudding into a 9 x 13 casserole and let it set in the fridge for about three hours. Don’t worry if it looks a little soupy when it goes in the pan – I promise it will thicken up! If you are me, check it about 342,520 times while it is cooling.
When you are ready to serve it up, spoon it into dishes, garnish with a little nutmeg and give everyone a spoon!
more tips for making this creamy pudding
I like long grain white rice (like Ben’s Rice) the best, but you can use medium grain if that’s what you have around!
It is the richest and creamiest with whole milk, but you can use 2% and it will still turn out just fine.
Actually, this recipe is a perfect one to make ahead of time – it’s easy to make, but it needs a couple of hours on the stove and a few hours in the fridge to set, so I like to make it the day before I need it.
Pop your question in the Comments section below and I promise to answer pronto!
Doesn’t that look just like a hug in pudding form? Happy sigh.
OTHER PUDDING RECIPES WE LOVE!
The Best Rice Pudding
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This recipe for the best rice pudding cooks up into a sweet and creamy treat that is one of the best comfort food desserts in the world!
- Author: Kate Morgan Jackson
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cooling Time: 3 hours
- Cook Time: 3 hours
- Total Time: 6 hours 5 minutes
- Yield: 10 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
- 1 cup rice
- 2 ½ quarts milk
- 1 cup sugar plus 2 tablespoons
- 6 tablespoons butter
- 4 eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- Ground nutmeg for garnish
Instructions
- Pour two cups of water in a large pot and add the rice. Simmer for 5 minutes.
- Add two quarts of milk, 1 cup of sugar and the butter, turn the heat down to medium low and simmer for one hour.
- While the rice is cooking, put the rest of the milk, the eggs, the vanilla and 2 tablespoons of sugar in a large mixing bowl and whisk it all up until it is well combined.
- When the rice is cooked, let it cool for one hour, and then pour the egg mixture into the pot with the rice and give it a good stir. Simmer it over medium heat for about 20 minutes until it is slightly thickened.
- Pour the pudding into a 9 x 13 casserole and let it set in the fridge for about three hours. Don’t worry if it looks a little soupy when it goes in the pan – it will thicken up!
- When you are ready to serve it up, spoon it into dishes, garnish with a little nutmeg and give everyone a spoon!
Notes
Need to add something to your kitchen equipment to make this recipe? Below are some of the items we used in the Framed Cooks kitchen to help cook this up. These are affiliate links to things we use and love, which helps to pay for all that bacon I keep buying (without any extra cost to you)! Thanks for using them to keep our kitchen cooking…xoxo!
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