Creamy, dreamy, and bursting with sweetness and a hint of cinnamon! This luscious vegan rice pudding is easy to make and delicious hot or cold. You'd never guess it was dairy-free!
I waited tables at a few different restaurants when I was in college. I was a vegetarian by then, and most of the places I worked at had very little available for me to eat.
One restaurant in particular though, literally had nothing vegetarian on the dinner menu. Not even a salad! All their salads had shrimp or chicken or something else I couldn't eat.
What's a girl to do? I guess in hindsight I could have made a salad myself without the chicken or shrimp. But I chose the more sensible thing: I ate dessert.
Seriously, I ate dessert for dinner many nights back then. Of course, I didn't eat death by chocolate. I went for, what seemed to me, to be the healthiest dessert, which was rice pudding.
Honestly, that rice pudding was far from healthy. It was loaded with sugar and heavy cream and who knows what else. But it was gooooooood. I had previously thought that rice pudding sounded kind or boring, but this stuff was anything but.
I decided it was time to create a vegan rice pudding that was as rich and creamy and delicious as my old dinner favorite.
Vegan Rice Pudding Ingredients
So, how do you make dairy-free rice pudding that's just as rich and creamy as the non-vegan stuff? Use the right ingredients!
Coconut milk. This is what we'll use in place of the heavy cream that was in my old favorite. You want the full-fat variety, from a can.
Non-dairy milk. We don't want to use all coconut milk, or our pudding would be too heavy. So we're also including some soy or nut milk to balance things out. Go for an unsweetened and unflavored variety.
Maple syrup. For sweetness and a touch of maple flavor.
Rice. I like to use a medium grain white rice for this recipe.
Raisins. For little bursts of sweetness! Feel free to leave them out if you're not a fan of raisins in your rice pudding.
Spices. Cinnamon and nutmeg for that deliciously cozy flavor.
Vanilla. This goes so nicely with the spices.
Orange zest. For a burst of bright flavor.
Salt. Often overlooked, but so necessary. This will bring out the flavor in your pudding.
Vegan butter. This is totally optional, but it'll give your pudding that perfect silky texture.
How to Make Vegan Rice Pudding
Rice pudding is one of the easiest things in the world to make! Place all of your ingredients except for the salt and butter into a large pot. Heat it up slowly and bring it to a simmer.
Let everything cook at a low simmer. Stir the pot often and make sure to scrape the bottom with your spoon when you do, otherwise you'll end up with burned bits of rice stuck to it.
Cook the pudding until it gets thick — as thick as you like your rice pudding! It should be done somewhere around the 20 minute mark.
Let it cook a bit and either serve it warm, or chill.
Vegan Rice Pudding FAQ & Tips
- Can you taste the coconut from the coconut milk? I could not, but if you're sensitive to the flavor of coconut you may be able to.
- Can I substitute another variety of milk for the coconut milk? Yup! Feel free to simply use an extra cup of whatever other non-dairy milk you're using.
- Is this recipe gluten-free? It sure is!
- Can I use a different type of rice? You can, but it may alter the texture of your pudding. You also may need to change the cook time and possibly use some extra milk. Varieties such as brown rice generally take longer to cook, and since the liquid will continue to reduce over time, you'll need to use a bit more of it.
- This rice pudding will keep for about 3 to 4 days in a sealed container in the fridge.
- Feel free to play around with the flavors. Add your favorite spices, swap out the orange zest for lemon, or try including different types of dried fruits and nuts.
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📖 Recipe
Creamy Vegan Rice Pudding
Ingredients
- 3 cups unsweetened and unflavored non-dairy milk (such as soy or almond)
- 1 cup full-fat coconut milk (from a can)
- 1 cup uncooked medium grain white rice
- ½ cup raisins
- ¼ cup maple syrup, plus more to taste
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 2 tablespoons vegan butter
- ½ teaspoon salt, or to taste
Instructions
- Place the non-dairy milk, coconut milk, rice, raisins, maple syrup, vanilla, orange zest, cinnamon, and nutmeg into a large pot.
- Stir the ingredients together and place the pot over medium heat.
- Bring the liquid to a boil.
- Lower the heat and allow the mixture to cook at a low simmer, stirring occasionally and scraping the bottom of the pot with a spoon to remove any rice that sticks.
- Allow the mixture to cook for about 20 minutes, or until it reaches your desired thickness.
- Remove the pot from the heat.
- Stir in the vegan butter, if using, and salt.
- Taste test and add more maple syrup if desired. Adjust any other seasonings to your liking.
- Let the pudding cool for a bit. Chill for later or serve warm.
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Delicious! Left out the butter and used a full can of coconut cream and two cups of soy milk, plus half cup water. Can't wait to serve this to guests!!
The recipe is a great combination for a pudding. I had it with vegan sausage patties and it tasted like comfort food, very satisfying for breakfast.
I have been looking for a great receipe for vegan rice pudding for a long time. It came out so good. I used macadamia milk. Perfect texture and flavor. Thank so much for sharing this receipe ❤️
Can I use something else besides vegan butter? Maybe coconut oil or would olive oil suffice?
I'd actually skip it if you don't have vegan butter on hand or just don't want to use it. It's in there for flavor and texture enhancement, but it's not strictly necessary. It should still be delicious without it! Enjoy!
Vegan butter most often contains one of these oils anyways. Just so you know. I think it works better as a whipped butter than using a pure oil.
Good day, I hope all is going well.
This recipe sounds delicious, and I will try and make it in the near future. I have one questions. While the rice is cooking, should it be covered or uncovered?
Thank you! You can leave it uncovered. Enjoy!
Too ricey and not enough of a pudding texture (even for rice pudding). Also could stand to be a little sweeter. Not a big hit in my house. Still looking for the ultimate vegan rice pudding recipe.
This is a matter of taste. I decided to make my own because I wanted it less sweet and not too creamy. This one works great for me - although I understand your preference. It is good to point out the differences we discover.
This pudding was true comfort food. I liked the cinnamon and nutmeg as well as the hint of orange. I will definitely make this recipe again.
Thank you for this recipe, Alissa! I am not a vegan or even a vegetarian but I happened to have a quart of low fat organic vanilla, unsweetened coconut milk that was expiring in a couple of days. Since nut milk doesn't freeze well, I was looking for some way to use it and found your recipe. I love rice pudding but I have never made it and have only eaten dairy versions. I have to say it came out great--as good as, if not better than, any dairy pudding and healthier too! I did not use any canned coconut milk but it was still rich tasting and thickened beautifully using just the refrigerated coconut milk. I also added 1/4 cup of sliced almonds. Per Kay's comment below, I will freeze some of it since it made quite a bit of pudding. I will be making this again and will check out your blog and other recipes. Thanks again!
Follow up note: This does not freeze well. It lost all of its creaminess. Next time I will eat it fresh within a few days which shouldn't be hard to do since it's so good!
I made it and it's delicious. I modified it a little. I added double the amount of cinnamon and maple syrup. I added lemon zest after the butter, because I left the rice pudding rest, so i can it it later and it's more pudding like.
Can you freeze this rice pudding or it will affect the texture?
I can answer my own question! Lol. I froze the rice pudding in 1 cup amounts in medium freezer bags and it worked out well when I thawed it and served it. It seems it even tasted better. So freezing works to anyone who wants to know.
From my research on rice pudding it is an international meal, theres many countries in africa that make it. It's also served in south america, america and India and maybe more.
Thanks for this beautiful recipe!
Ooops! Sorry about that! Your last comment got lost in the shuffle. I'm glad it worked out and so glad the pudding was a hit. Thank you for sharing your results!!
Added question -
...Or is everything I did okay and it just thickens up alot (looking drier) as it cools?
Glad you enjoyed it, and mango topping sounds delicious! It was probably the heat that dried it out. You could add a little extra non-dairy milk towards the end of cooking if this ever happens again. The pudding does also thicken up over time, since the rice will continue to soak up liquid even after it's done cooking. You can also stir in some additional non-dairy milk after it's been sitting to help with this. I don't think using long grain rice should be an issue, although I would avoid basmati, just because it tends to be firmer than most varieties.
I made this recipe and it was delicious. I topped with mango and that went well with it.
I have a question though - my pudding came out more dry than yours that is pictured.
When I first put all the ingredients together, I put the heat to medium high (instead of medium as you said) because I thought it wouldn't boil. I changed my mind after some minutes and put it to medium and it did boil. I also used long grain rice. Other than that, I followed your recipe exactly.
Could it be that I put the heat on medium high at first or is it the long grain rice that made it come out more dry? (unlike a pudding texture).
If I can't find medium grain rice, is basmati a good alternative?
Thanks!