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Want the perfect old-fashioned recipe? This Rice Pudding with Cooked Rice lets you use up any rice you have leftover and elevate it into a delicious and addictive breakfast or dessert.

You will be surprised at how easy this recipe is to make as well as the colorful appearance when you use golden raisins with regular raisins.
HERE IS WHAT OUR READERS ARE SAYING:
“This is Fantastic!! First time making this and it turned out perfect!
I made a double recipe (didn’t have heavy cream so I just used whole milk). Even when cooled down, it is still a great consistency (I have another rice pudding recipe that always ends up like a brick, even when I add addtl milk, but this recipe was excellent!)
DEFINITELY RECOMMEND – will make again!” – Jessica
The best part is that this Rice Pudding can be served warm or cold. I know that everyone has their own preference for recipes, and this one can go either way!
We have been making this Rice Pudding with Cooked Rice since I was a little girl. It is so much simpler when you have your already-cooked rice.
But you can also cook some just to use for this recipe, no problem! Not everyone has leftover rice, but it is a great recipe for when you do. We always seem to, or I cook just a little bit more so I can make this.
This is such a classic dessert, and you either love it or hate it; I’ve never met anyone who was in-between. I absolutely am addicted to this, so obviously, you know what side I’m on!
Some of our favorite dessert recipes we have on our site that are rice-based or pudding-based include: Magnolia Banana Pudding, Chocolate Rice Pudding and Caramel Apple Pudding Cups.

Jump to:
- WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
- INGREDIENTS NEEDED (SCROLL TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST FOR THE FULL RECIPE):
- HOW TO MAKE RICE PUDDING WITH COOKED RICE:
- FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS RECIPE:
- CAN I MAKE THIS IN THE MICROWAVE?
- HOW TO THICKEN RICE PUDDING:
- WHAT IS THE BEST RICE TO USE?
- WHAT ARE SOME SUBSTITUTIONS I CAN USE?
- HOW TO STORE:
- DANA’S TIPS AND TRICKS:
- Rice Pudding with Cooked Rice
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
- Using already-cooked rice helps this come together quickly.
- We love using golden and regular raisins for a delicious contrast.
- You can double this recipe to serve more people.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED (SCROLL TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST FOR THE FULL RECIPE):
- Cooked white rice
- Whole milk
- Kosher salt
- Egg
- Heavy cream
- Ground cinnamon
- Ground nutmeg
- Granulated sugar
- Golden raisins
- Raisins
- Unsalted butter
- Vanilla extract

HOW TO MAKE RICE PUDDING WITH COOKED RICE:
- Place the cooked rice along with the milk, and salt in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir occasionally until thickened, about 10 minutes.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the beaten egg, heavy cream, cinnamon, and nutmeg, set aside.
- Pour the sugar into the rice mixture and stir to combine.
- Stream in the heavy cream mixture, stirring constantly until combined.
- Add both varieties of raisins, and stir to combine. Continue to stir occasionally until thickened, about 5-8 minutes.
- When it is thickened, take the pot off the heat and stir in the butter and vanilla.
- Let cool for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally and serve.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS RECIPE:
CAN I MAKE THIS IN THE MICROWAVE?
While I don’t generally enjoy using a microwave to make rice pudding and feel like it is much better on the stovetop, it is possible.
If you want to use the microwave, you’ll simply place the milk, eggs, sugar, and salt into a 2-quart microwaveable bowl.
Stir in your heavy cream, cooked rice, raisins, golden raisins, nutmeg, cinnamon, and vanilla. Cook this on high for 8-10 minutes, stirring every 1-2 minutes.
HOW TO THICKEN RICE PUDDING:
If your Rice Pudding Recipe didn’t thicken as much as you would have liked, it was not cooked long enough.
My favorite way to thicken items is with a cornstarch and water mixture.
Mix about 1 Tbs cornstarch and 1 Tbs of water together and pour it into the pudding and stir over heat, and it should thicken right up.
WHAT IS THE BEST RICE TO USE?
Any rice will work fine with this recipe, medium grain, long grain, risotto, and minute rice.
Since it will be cooked, what you are looking for is the amount of rice, not the variety.
You just want to make sure that the rice you are using is not a flavored rice, so do not use any of those packets that might be flavored and used bags or boxes of plain rice.
WHAT ARE SOME SUBSTITUTIONS I CAN USE?
Other than the types of rice as listed above, you can substitute some other ingredients.
- In place of heavy cream, use a coffee creamer of any kind; this will make it sweet, so cut back on the sugar slightly.
- Pumpkin Spice in place of the cinnamon and nutmeg
- Dried cranberries, chopped dates, or chopped apricots switched out for the raisins

HOW TO STORE:
Rice Pudding with Cooked Rice can be stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container where it will last for up to one week.
This can also be frozen; place your cooled pudding in a freezer container or smaller containers if you want to portion out your servings.
Place in the freezer, and it should keep for up to 3 months. Let defrost in the refrigerator overnight to thaw.
If you want to reheat this (it is great served cold), you can pop it in the microwave or in a saucepan until heated through.
DANA’S TIPS AND TRICKS:
- Any rice is great for this, and we like white rice; just make sure that it is not flavored.
- This can be frozen, see my tips above.
- Double this recipe if you want to have more for later or will be serving a larger crowd.
- If your pudding is too thin, you can thicken it, use my ratios above.
- If you are not a fan of raisins, you can omit them or just use one or the other.
- Add more or less cinnamon and nutmeg to your flavor preference.

Want a classic but super easy recipe that can be devoured any time of day? Then you need this Rice Pudding with Cooked Rice!
If you like this recipe you might also like:
If you’ve tried this RICE PUDDING WITH COOKED RICE let me know in the comments how it turned out! You can follow me over on PINTEREST, INSTAGRAM OR FACEBOOK to find some more of our mouthwatering recipes!
Rice Pudding with Cooked Rice
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cup cooked white rice
- 1 cup whole milk
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 egg beaten
- ½ cup heavy cream
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- pinch ground nutmeg
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup golden raisins
- ⅓ cup raisins
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Place the cooked rice along with the milk, and salt in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir occasionally until thickened, about 10 minutes.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the beaten egg, heavy cream, cinnamon, and nutmeg, set aside.
- Pour the sugar into the rice mixture and stir to combine.
- Stream in the heavy cream mixture, stirring constantly until combined.
- Add both varieties of raisins, and stir to combine. Continue to stir occasionally until thickened, about 5-8 minutes.
- When it is thickened, take the pot off the heat and stir in the butter and vanilla.
- Let cool for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally and serve.
Notes
- Any rice is great for this, we like white rice, just make sure that it is not flavored.
- This can be frozen, see my tips above.
- Double this recipe if you want to have more for later or will be serving a larger crowd.
- If you pudding is too thin you can thicken it, use my ratios above.
- If you are not a fan of raisins you can omit them or just use one or the other.
- Add more or less cinnamon and nutmeg to your flavor preference.
Nutrition
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Fantastic recipe! The ingredients are perfectly balanced, and I wouldn’t change a thing. You’re completely right about the thickness…if it’s cooked long enough, it’s creamy and the perfect thickness. Thank you for sharing this excellent recipe!
Delicious- made with leftover white rice from Chinese takeout – used pie spice because I had it (cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, ginger etc). Perfect texture and sweetness level.
Great rice pudding and a great use of leftover rice!!! I didn’t have heavy cream, so substituted cream cheese. Didn’t have raisins so added a little coconut. Also subbed cardamom for nutmeg! Served cold with fresh strawberries. So yummy!! Thank you for a great recipe!
Rice pudding is my favorite snack. I eat a lot of it and I make a lot of it and this has become my primary go-to recipe! It is a perfect blend of flavors and texture for me.
This is Fantastic!! First time making this and it turned out perfect!
I made a double recipe (didn’t have heavy cream so I just used whole milk). Even when cooled down, it is still a great consistency (I have another rice pudding recipe that always ends up like a brick, even when I add addtl milk, but this recipe was excellent!)
DEFINITELY RECOMMEND – will make again!
First time making rice pudding. Your ingredients and instructions were straight forward and easy to follow. It tastes heavenly warm and will chill for my husband. Many thanks for a great recipe!
excellent! great way to use extra rice. the entire family loves it!! my husband loves it with raisins but I love it with blackberries!!
For an interesting twist, mix biryani masala into the rice, then follow your directions here, reserving the other spices. Personally, I use 1/2 the amount of sugar or less, and sometimes I substitute half and half (or a combo of that and whole milk) for the milk and heavy cream. This is still delicious and a bit more healthy. Before serving, add the cinnamon and, instead of nutmeg and vanilla, just use ground cardamom instead. Mix in these two spices. Consider serving with a little whipped cream. It’s great warm or refrigerated. Yum! I know this sounds like a different recipe, but one of my points is that with your basic ratio of milk products, rice, and eggs, there is a lot of creative flexibility to make rice pudding interesting every time!
Really good recipe! We like cinnamon so I doubled it; used basmati lrice; only used half the sugar. This is a keeper!
Best creamed rice, so easy and delicious, I don’t use any fruit though, brilliant to use left over rice. Would highly recommend.
It was much too sweet. Almost inedible. Otherwise it would have been great.
Just made this, and it was wonderful! I only had 1% milk, and used Mexican Crema instead of heavy cream. I doubled the cinnamon and nutmeg because my husband likes his rice pudding a little spicy! I will use this recipe (with my modifications) every time!
My husband said ” Oh GIRL (we are 80 years old), MARRY ME all over again, PLEASE !!!! He absolutely loves Rice Pudding and will give me anything I want now.
This was delicous! Thank you for the recipe. I doubled mine because I love rice pudding. I went a little heavy on the rice (like 3 1/3 cups) I didn’t have whole milk only low fat so I did a little extra cream and a little less milk and doubled the cinnamon 🙂
Exactly as advertised and I even tripled the recipe. I had a lot of steamed rice to use up from Chinese takeout and this did the trick!