Arroz con Leche, or Rice Pudding, is one of my favorite foods! It’s easy to make, and you can eat it hot or cold for breakfast or dessert!
Table of contents
Rice Pudding
You all know tacos, burritos, quesadillas, churros, and other wonderful Mexican meals, but let me introduce y’all today to Arroz con Leche! It’s a sweet rice pudding made with rice, milk (condensed or otherwise), and (traditionally) cinnamon. Most people add raisins and extra sugar, too!
To make Arroz con Leche, you essentially boil rice until all the water’s absorbed. Then you add your milk, cinnamon, sugar, etc, until the mixture is thick and creamy. After that, you beat additional milk and an egg together and add that to the mixture to cook for a few minutes.
This is a summary, of course, but it’s really simple, and you can see detailed instructions in the recipe card at the end of the post!
By the way, you can easily make Arroz con Leche with a milk substitute if you’re trying to cut dairy from your diet!
I hope you add this recipe to your rotation because it’s a winner with almost everyone once they try it!! Enjoy!
For Rice Pudding: Ingredients & Equipment
To make this Arroz con Leche, you will need …
Ingredients
- water and long-grain rice – the first step to making Arroz con Leche is cooking the rice, of course! However, you can also use leftover rice for this, too. No special cooking steps are needed!
- milk, sugar, salt, cinnamon – you’ll add these to your cooked rice to produce a creamy, flavorful mixture. Remember that, for the milk, you can use a dairy substitute if necessary!
- beaten egg – you’ll mix this with more milk and add it to your Arroz con Leche to thicken the consistency.
- butter – this further thickens your Mexican rice pudding. It tastes best when it’s sticky and gooey, in my opinion!!
- raisins – I feel like you can’t have a good Arroz con Leche without raisins, either golden or black. But if you’re not a fan of them, feel free to leave them out.
- vanilla extract – is the final addition to your Arroz con Leche, which brings out all the flavors in the dish.
Equipment
- medium saucepan – to cook your ingredients.
- bowl – to heat your milk. You’ll also want to beat your milk and egg together in here!
Receta Arroz con Leche: FAQs
About an hour – 20 minutes to prep the ingredients and 40 minutes to cook them.
About 6, depending on how big portion sizes are! You may want to double the recipe if you’re serving a lot of people.
Grab your usual airtight container and throw it in the fridge for about a week. Alternatively, you can keep it in the freezer for 3ish months. Reheat it after in a pot on the stove and add milk to get the consistency back!
Try things like …
– Other dried fruit, like apricots or cranberries
– Honey or other natural sweeteners
– Coconut
– Caramel or chocolate sauce
– Nutmeg and other similar spices
– Brown sugar
– Any of your favorite nuts, chopped
– Rum, for an adult treat
Not at all. Brown rice is also tasty and healthier for you, too! In my opinion, it’ll alter the texture a bit, but not enough that it completely changes the recipe.
Other recipes you may enjoy
Arroz con Leche (Mexican Rice Pudding)
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups water
- ¾ cup long-grain white rice
- 2 cups whole milk divided
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- pinch salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 large egg beaten
- ⅔ cup raisins
- 1 tablespoon butter
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, bring water to a boil. Stir in rice; reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 18-20 minutes or until all of the water is absorbed and the rice is tender.
- Add 1-1/2 cups of milk, sugar, salt and cinnamon. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until thick and creamy – about 15-20 minutes.
- Microwave the remaining 1/2-cup milk on HIGH for 1-2 minutes. Slowly beat it into the beaten egg, tempering it. Add the egg mixture and raisins to the rice mixture; cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter and vanilla extract.
- Serve warm or refrigerate.
Notes
- You can use leftover rice for this recipe – just skip the step where you cook the rice! 😉
How to store Arroz con Leche
Grab your usual airtight container and throw it in the fridge for about a week. Alternatively, you can keep it in the freezer for 3ish months. Reheat it after in a pot on the stove and add milk to get the consistency back!Nutrition
Please note that the nutritional information listed on this page is an estimation based on the products I used. Ingredients and nutritional information can vary significantly between brands. Always be sure to read labels. Please verify that a recipe fits your needs before using it. Nutrition info may contain errors, so please verify it independently. Likewise, recipes may contain errors, so please use your common sense when following them.
Originally published on March 11, 2014. Updated on August 2, 2022.
This looks so good, Jamie!! 🙂
This sounds really good Jamie!
G'day! Not a big fan of soy milk, but your recipe looks healthy Jamie!
Cheers! Joanne
Thanks for sharing at the Foodie Friends Friday No Rules Party!
http://whatsonthelist.net
Jamie, this rice pudding version sounds delicious! Thanks so much for sharing at Best of the Weekend and pinned! Have a happy Sunday!
Great twist on rice pudding! Thanks again for sharing at Simple Supper Tuesday.
I too dislike milk, I always go for other types of milk like soya, almond, oat and rice milk. We don't have Silk over here. Your pudding looks lovely. Thanks for linking up to Sweet and Savoury Sunday, stop by and link up with us again this weekend, I'd love to see you there 🙂 Have a great weekend! Laura@Baking in Pyjamas