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.
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.
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.
Comments & Reviews
Helene says
I made it this morning for my girls at the office. My first time making it & having it. So good. I didn’t have half & half but had a can of table cream & it’s the bomb! Ty for sharing.
Dana DeVolk says
So glad you all enjoyed it!
Leesy says
Delightful ❤️ Just made a batch w/left over rice from a few nights ago. I absolutely loved it! Reminds me of the rice pudding my mom would make out if leftover rice.
Dana DeVolk says
So glad you liked it, Leesy! We love it here too 🙂
Tara says
Love it
Judy says
Thanks for sharing your recipe. I’m just wondering if you could use long brown rice, as that’s all I cook for my family?
Dana DeVolk says
Hi Judy, I’m not sure if you can use brown rice as I’ve never tried it before. I want to say it will probably work, but just not sure. If you try it, please let us know how it comes out!
Ian Abrahams says
Amazing. I reduced the sugar and no raisins and it was still amazing.
Sharon says
I used dried cranberries. They plumped up and were quite yummy!
Marie says
Easy and delicious!
Joanne says
Excellent. Eady recipe. I plan on refrigerating some and freezing the rest.
Coleen says
Use our leftover rice and it’s turned out perfect! Quick, easy, delicious!
Sharon says
I made this today using leftover Instant rice . It turned out delicious! I don’t make rice pudding very often because no one in my family likes it but occasionally I will make it for myself and I’ve had issues of slightly undercooked rice. Your recipe is perfect! It is very creamy and flavorful and I ate my first serving hot out of the pan! I will definitely make this rice pudding again!
Dana says
This! Is such a good recipe. I brought home dishes full of rice after dinner at a thai restaurant. It was so creamy and delicious. I didn’t put in the raisins. We have anti-raisin people so it was just creamy vanilla flavour.
Vickie says
I made this with brown rice and it was delicious! This has become my go to rice pudding recipe.
Judy says
Great rice pudding recipe! Quick to make, Creamy and delicious to eat! Think the egg and cream makes a difference from others.
Deena Kolb says
Delicious. I really enjoyed the rice pudding. I used soy milk instead of whole milk and canned coconut milk instead of heavy cream and it turned out wonderful. I think next time I’ll add a fourth a cup of each kind of Raisin since it seemed abundant with raisins. And I like raisins. Thank you for that wonderful recipe.
Evelyn Corbett says
I used brown rice.. perfect! Also tossed in a handful of dried cranberries! Best recipe I have used , thank you you are the hit in my house!!
Melissa says
This was excellent pudding. I just excluded sugar. After it cooled off I put maple syrup on one side and creme brulee monk fruit on the other side. Both sides were good.
For the other ladies I’d try barley instead of brown rice.
GiannaTheChef says
Best. Rice. Pudding. Ever!! I love this recipe, thanks! I’ve made it twice, both times with leftover rice. The second time I used leftover coconut rice and added shredded coconut instead of raisins. It was amazing.