Instant Pot Rice Pudding Recipe (2024)

By Melissa Clark

Instant Pot Rice Pudding Recipe (1)

Total Time
30 minutes, plus chilling
Rating
4(813)
Notes
Read community notes

Rice pudding prepared in an electric pressure cooker is both speedy and simple — the kind of thing you can whip up in minutes in between other kitchen tasks. This version calls for short-grain rice, which turns plump and pleasingly sticky as it cooks in a combination of milk and heavy cream. Adding a vanilla bean lends deeply aromatic notes, but if you don’t have one, just stir 1 tablespoon vanilla extract into the pudding along with the egg yolks. Or skip the vanilla and add a teaspoon of whole cardamom podsto the pot to round out the spicy flavor of the cinnamon. Whipped cream might be overkill on a pudding this rich, but only in the very best way.

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Ingredients

Yield:4 to 6 servings

  • ¾cup arborio or other short-grain rice
  • cups whole milk
  • cup granulated sugar
  • 1(2-inch) cinnamon stick
  • 1(4-inch) strip orange or lemon zest, peeled with a vegetable peeler (optional)
  • ½vanilla bean, halved lengthwise, seeds scraped with the tip of a paring knife, or 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • Large pinch of fine sea salt
  • ½cup heavy cream
  • 2egg yolks
  • ½cup raisins (optional)
  • Ground cinnamon or cardamom, for serving (optional)
  • Whipped cream, for serving (optional)

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)

326 calories; 13 grams fat; 7 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 3 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 47 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 25 grams sugars; 7 grams protein; 86 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Instant Pot Rice Pudding Recipe (2)

Preparation

  1. Step

    1

    In the pressure cooker pot, stir together the rice, milk, sugar, cinnamon stick, orange zest (if using), vanilla bean and seeds, and salt.

  2. Lock the lid into place and cook on high pressure for 10 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes, then manually release the remaining pressure.

  3. Step

    3

    Open the lid and discard the cinnamon stick, orange zest and vanilla bean.

  4. Step

    4

    In a small bowl, whisk together the cream and yolks. Whisk into the rice and continue to stir until slightly thickened, about 2 minutes. (It will still look soupy at this point.) The residual heat of the rice will cook the yolks, and chilling will thicken the pudding. Stir in the raisins, if using.

  5. Step

    5

    Spoon the pudding into serving bowls, then cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours. Serve with a sprinkle of ground cinnamon or cardamom and whipped cream, if you’d like.

Ratings

4

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813

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Private Notes

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Cooking Notes

CFXK

Melissa must be slipping. Rarely does she miss an opportunity to suggest the addition of bourbon to a recipe that takes to it well. How about bourbon soaked raisins here? Or as a sub for some of that vanilla extract?

NOLA_JimM

A variation is to add small-diced candied orange or lemon slices or candied ginger to cook along with the rice. The higher cooking temperature mellows out what might ordinarily be too dominate a flavor. My favorite is to use 2 to 3 Trader Joe's candied orange slices then serve warm with a pinch of ground cardamom and finely chopped pistachios. Can also completely replace milk with TJ's coconut cream or coconut milk. Adjusting the liquid +/- can make for a best served +warm or -cold.

Veronica

The benefit of the Instant Pot is not speed— it is not speedy—it’s being able to walk away from the kitchen and do other things while supper cooks: take a shower, a nap, tackle a big job like catching up on the laundry, or watch a movie with your child. The beauty of the Instant Pot is being able to do two things at once.

Cathy

Trying to ask this without sounding snarky. If you have to chill for two hours to get the desired result, why use the pressure cooker pot? I'm thinking you could arrive at chilled rice pudding more quickly with this method, but that's the only advantage which isn't an advantage if you like your pudding warm - yum!

Prakash Nadkarni

@Cathy: You're right: warm rice pudding works quite well. At warm temperatures, the essential oils in the pudding's spices volatilize, increasing fragrance. That's why spiced breads/cakes, e..g, Swedish cardamom buns, or most liqueurs, taste better when served after very brief microwaving.

Diane Miller

I didn't have a cinnamon stick, but the orange zest smelled so good that I doused the raisins in Cointreau, which bumped the flavor in that direction. It was good warm, and later it was good cold.

Mel

Would this work with a regular pot on the stove, cooking the ingredients in step #1 the amount of time you would normally cook rice? It looks delicious but I don't have an Instant Pot.

Jesper Kornerup

This is often eaten in Scandinavia around Christmas time, either as a main course (warm without whipped cream), or chilled as here. Make a fun party with it, by adding coarsely chopped almonds, and one whole. The person finding the whole almond wins a price. See also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risalamande

Sarah Beth

Has anyone tried this with dairy-free milk?

CFXK

Not snarky at all. While the pressure cooker can be a wonderful tool, it is not uncommon for the "speedy and simple" recipes espoused by Instant Pot evangelists to elide shortcomings, pressurizing times and other things that make the time difference between cooking in the Instant Pot and cooking on the stove in a sauce pan, pot or dutch oven not as great as it may seem. Knowing about these things helps people make good choices about the best tool to use.

PuffinMama

Good and easy - used oat milk, 2 T brown sugar, more cinnamon

Heather

Delicious and so easy! My only change was to reduce the sugar to 1/4 cup, and it was still plenty sweet. The orange zest gives the pudding such a lovely flavor, and I love being able to do other things while the instant pot does its work.

caseymann413

This was delicious with short-grain jasmine rice. I added bourbon-soaked raisins and they were a great addition. Because the pudding called for two egg yolks and I don't like to waste, I made little lemon meringues with the leftover whites (see Mark Bittman's Vanilla Meringues for a two-egg white recipe). The meringues were a simple add-on to the deserts I'll be bringing to my friend's Diwali celebration tomorrow.

Eve and Kate

We did 1/4 cup maple syrup instead of can sugar and skipped the heavy cream. Added additional 1/2 c milk with the egg yolks. Plenty rich! And also 1/4 t cardamom. Delicious :)

Sarah B

It's one strip of zest, as in one large piece that can easily be fished out of the pudding when done.

KEA

Is the residual heat of the rice cooking the egg yolks sufficient to kill salmonella, or is this eat at your own risk, like dishes with runny egg yolks? What is the goal temp? When I did this, the temp was under 165 F. Perhaps because I used cold eggs rather than room temp?

Jessie

Made tonight as a milks fridge clean out (1 cup coconut, 4 cups oat--doubled the recipe) with long grain rice (bought in bulk--oopsie--didn't need 25#). Wow are vanilla beans magical. This was so good. We did use cream as called for (needed to get rid of that, too). Used 1/2 cup sugar rather than what would have been 2/3 cup for double recipe, still very sweet. Total 5/5

Kate Martin

Orange zest should not be optional! Really gives this a greater level of deliciousness. Agree that it is even greater cold the next day. Used cardamom - followed recipe exactly except for sugar - used scant 1/3 which was sweet enough. Can’t figure out how some got curdled milk or undercooked rice.

bob

It was meh... if you like rice soup go for it. definitely not the rice pudding of my childhood

NDN

I did not like this type of rice, not used here, not in this dish. Too much toothiness, or wrong mouth feel…very large baubles for rice pudding. Next time I’ll use regular old rice, I’ll increase the milk accordingly, and I’ll use a little more sugar. But I do sincerely appreciate this as a base recipe. So easy to just—-set it and forget it—and end up with dessert!

Ray

The benefit of the Instant pot is you never again burn the rice on the stovetop. It's automatic.

Hazel

My mother made rice pudding with raisins often but always included whole eggs from the beginning. She poured the mixture into individual ramekins and the eggs formed a delicious custard on the top. I would never add egg yolks without cooking them.

JH

I have no complaints about this recipe. I used the suggested substitution of vanilla extract for vanilla beans, and even accidentally threw the cream in with the milk before starting the instant pot; still turned out extra yummy! Will definitely make again.

For2

Has anyone tried to whip the egg whites and then fold them into the rice pudding? Seems like a good way to use the whole egg.

SFY

I made this while home sick - wanting some easy comfort food. It was super easy and exactly the thing I was looking for. I chopped dates in place of the raisins, used a strip of lemon zest instead of orange and the tablespoon of vanilla instead of the bean. For those who are more interested in warm rice pudding, I can confirm that this was delicious both warm & cold. I'd love to figure out how to do this with brown rice - I'm sure it's possible by increasing the liquid and the cook time.

Megan

Thicker than anticipated but so good!

Lisa vS

I make this a lot because its so delicious and easy. A variation is to use the orange peel for flavoring, and mash a ripe banana with a bit of the cream and a cap full of dark rum. After stirring in the egg yolk/cream mix until pudding is thickened, stir in the mashed banana.

TT

Egg yolk substitute: 1T cornstarch, 2T water

Suzanne

It's best eaten warm--as soon as it's ready

CDP

This was very good and easy. The cinnamon and orange were subtle and just the right touch. I’ll try it with lemon rind (suggested in one of the comments) and ?? a cardamom pod or two next time.Regarding the recipe, could you please provide the weights for the ingredients in addition to, or instead of, the volume? Thank you.

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Instant Pot Rice Pudding Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Why is my rice pudding not thick enough? ›

However, you can add, if, if your rice pudding di or vanilla pudding didn't thicken it is not only because of the kind of milk you used, you generally you need to use some kind of a starch, either arrow root or corn starch.

Why is my rice pudding rice still hard? ›

As a result, the rice in the pudding can become firm and hard when it cools down. It's a natural process that occurs with certain types of rice. To prevent this, you can try adding a bit more liquid or cream to the rice pudding before refrigerating it.

Why didn't my rice pudding set? ›

If your rice pudding has ended up too thin, it is likely that it didn't cook it long enough at the end to thicken the custard. If it needs rescuing, pour it into a saucepan, heat, then stir in a bit of cornstarch mixed with cold water, a bit at a time, until the pudding thickens as needed.

How much rice can you cook in Instant Pot? ›

Depending on the size of your instant pot, you can cook the following amounts of rice: 6-Quart Instant Pot: You can cook up to 4 cups of dry rice, which will make about 12 cups of cooked rice. 8-Quart Instant Pot: You can cook up to 6 cups of dry rice, which will make 18 cups of cooked rice.

How do you fix pudding that didn't thicken? ›

Your best bet would be to mix a tablespoon of cornstarch and a teaspoon of sugar with some of the beverage and add it to the warm pudding. Heat it to a bubble and stir until it thickens. You may have to adjust the seasoning, particularly vanilla.

Why is my instant pudding so thin? ›

To avoid runny pudding, make sure the amount of water does not exceed the amount stated in the serving suggestion, even reduce it slightly from what is specified. For example, the water listed on the package is 500 ml, so Elmer Lovers just add 400 ml of water. This is to keep the pudding from containing too much water.

How do you thicken rice pudding after cooking? ›

Rice pudding will thicken as it cools, but if you prefer your pudding thicker, you can whisk in a beaten egg while the pudding is warming and continue cooking until it's thickened. To thicken cooled, cooked rice pudding, fold in whipped cream.

Should you rinse rice for rice pudding? ›

While we've mentioned before that this dessert gets its perfectly creamy texture from the starch that is released when the grains are cooking, we do suggest a rinse for this recipe in order to wash off excess debris and added starch.

How do you fix hard rice in a rice cooker? ›

Hard or Chewy Rice

After cooking for the recommended period of time, if the rice is still hard or chewy, add a little bit of water to create more steam (for every cup of uncooked rice used, add about 2 tablespoons of water).

Why is my instant pudding not setting? ›

If your almond milk-based instant pudding isn't setting properly for your pie, you can try these quick solutions: gently heat and stir the mixture on the stovetop, add a small amount of cornstarch or gelatin, mix in a bit more instant pudding mix, or let it set in the refrigerator for more time.

Does instant pudding need to set? ›

Remove from heat and let sit untouched for at least 5 minutes. We found that if you mixed the pudding within that 5-minute window, it became lumpy, so it's important to let it sit for the full 5 minutes. Serve warm or chilled.

Which type of rice is best for rice pudding? ›

Although this dish is most commonly made using long grain White Rice (some would even use Thai Jasmine Rice, many would argue that, to achieve a balance between consistency and flavor, aromatic Basmati Rice should be used as it contains starch.

How much does 2 cups of instant rice make? ›

Stove
ServingsRiceWater
21 cup1 cup
42 cups2 cups
63 cups3 cups

How can I thicken my rice pudding? ›

Rice pudding will thicken as it cools, but if you prefer your pudding thicker, you can whisk in a beaten egg while the pudding is warming and continue cooking until it's thickened. To thicken cooled, cooked rice pudding, fold in whipped cream.

What causes rice pudding to get watery? ›

Oven temperature is an important key to baking custards. If eggs are overheated by high temperatures over 325ºF, they curdle and get watery. Some people use a (messy and potentially dangerous) water bath to hold the baking dish of pudding.

Why does my rice pudding get watery? ›

Why does pudding get watery in the fridge? - Quora. Depending on the structure of the food the water can leach out from the gel used in creating the pudding - a process known as syneresis - usually when the set has been disturbed by serving part of the dish and it has been subject to fluctuations in temperature.

How to thicken rice? ›

After draining the rice, pour a light stream of cool water over the sieve or colander. Gently unstick the grains of rice with your fingers. Bake the rice in the oven for 5 minutes to remove the excess water. If the rice is still watery or soggy, you can cook off the extra water in the oven.

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