Easy Rice Pudding

Course Breakfast, Dessert, Snack

Cuisine American, Southern

Keyword easy-rice-pudding, rice-pudding-recipe

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 10

Stand time 3

Total Time 18

Servings servings

Calories 291kcal

Ingredients

2 cups water
3 Tbsp granulated sugar
1 Tbsp salted butter
2 cups instant rice
1 cup packed French vanilla or classic vanilla ice cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon plus additional for dusting tops

Instructions

In a 4 quart saucepan, bring 2 cups of water, sugar and butter to a rolling boil. Add rice, mix well then remove from heat. Let stand covered for 5 minutes or until all water is absorbed.
Add ice cream, vanilla extract and cinnamon. Mix well until fully combined and ice cream has melted. Let stand for 3-5 minutes to allow the rice to soak in some of the ice cream.
Serve immediately or place into an airtight container and chill.
Serve dusted with additional ground cinnamon, if desired.
Please Note: Depending on the brand of quick cooking rice used, the cooking time and water amount may vary slightly. Reference the instructions and amount of water recommended on the package for making 2 cups of rice.

Notes

No Eggs - This recipe doesn't use eggs so there's no need to temper the liquid mixture making it quick and easy to prepare.
Vanilla - For an extra punch of vanilla flavor, add 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla bean paste.
Make Rice Pudding with Cooked Rice - You can use the same amount of cooked white rice for this recipe.
Vanilla Ice Cream - I used French vanilla ice cream for this recipe for the more intense vanilla flavor. Plus, it's what I typically have on hand tucked away in my freezer. Rest assured, classic vanilla or homestyle vanilla ice cream will work just as well.
Lighter Options - You can use light ice cream, your favorite sugar substitute of choice and light butter in this rice pudding recipe with very good results.
Heavy Cream - Once the rice pudding chills in the refrigerator it may solidify a bit and become thicker. You can add a small amount of heavy cream or whole milk to thin it, if desired.
Fruit - If you like raisins in your rice pudding, add them! One half cup of raisins or dried cranberries (craisins), dried cherries or dried blueberries will work beautifully in this recipe. You could also sprinkle them on top.
How to Soften Raisins - If you'd like the raisins to soften slightly, toss them into a bowl and cover with boiling water and let them soak, for a few minutes. Drain then add to the rice mixture in the pot along with the ice cream after the rice has finished steaming at the end of cooking.
Serving Options - This creamy rice pudding dessert can be served warm or chilled, the choice is yours to make.

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