Vegan Rice Pudding

🍚 Why We Love This Recipe

• Rich, creamy and totally dairy free! This vegan rice pudding is made with full fat coconut milk in place of heavy cream. It's absolutely delicious and provides a subtle sweet flavor that takes this recipe to the next level. Trust us, you won't miss the dairy!
• Versatile: There are endless topping possibilities for this vegan rice pudding. We love to take it in a slightly tropical direction with macadamia nuts, coconut and tropical fruits like papaya and passion fruit. You can also go more traditional with cinnamon and brown sugar!
• Quick and easy: You only need a few simple ingredients to make this recipe. It comes together in just a few basic steps and most of the cooking time is completely hands off. (The hardest part is remembering to stir so the rice doesn't stick!)

🥥 Ingredients

Here are the key ingredients you'll need to make this vegan rice pudding:

📋 Ingredient Notes

• Rice: Basmati or jasmine rice both work well in this recipe. Each variety of long grain white rice has subtle differences in flavor and texture, but they will all hold up well to the coconut milk.
• Coconut milk: We use both full fat and "lite" coconut milk in this recipe for an end result that's thick and creamy, but not too rich. This recipe requires two cans of coconut milk, so we use one can of each full fat and lite. You can sub the lite coconut milk with another nondairy milk of choice, but we wouldn't recommend subbing the full fat coconut milk, as this is what adds most of the creaminess and flavor.
• Sweetener: We used a mixture of maple syrup and brown sugar, but you could try agave or coconut sugar if preferred.
• Cinnamon: This is essential to the recipe – it adds natural sweetness and warmth that perfectly complements the coconut milk and maple syrup.
• Macadamia nuts, coconut and dried fruit: These are optional toppings, but so delicious as an easy topping here. For the dried fruit, we love golden raisins and mango, but you can use anything you have on hand.

🔪 Step-by-step Instructions

(1) Add the coconut milk, maple syrup, vanilla extract, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg to a large pot over medium heat and whisk until combined. Add in rinsed rice.

(2) Stir in rice, then bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to low. Cook for 40-45 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes or so to prevent the rice from sticking to the bottom of the pot.

In a small bowl, stir together the macadamia nuts, coconut and dried fruit. Serve rice pudding warm or cold with nut/fruit mixture plus any other desired toppings. 

💭 Expert Tips and FAQs

• Rinse the rice: Rinsing the rice thoroughly helps to remove starch from the surface of the rice grains, which will help to prevent the rice from becoming too gummy. This helps us achieve a silky texture instead of a congealed block of rice! You'll know you're done rinsing the rice when the water that passes over the rice starts to run clear.
• Stir often: stirring the rice frequently as it cooks will prevent the rice from sticking to the bottom of the pot and will help it cook more evenly. Some sticking is inevitable, but stirring is essential for making sure it turns out well.
• Toppings: We love serving this vegan rice pudding with a simple mixture of macadamia nuts, shredded coconut and dried fruit. The tropical flavors perfectly complement the coconut flavor of the rice pudding! Other topping ideas include:
  • Nut or seed butter
  • Fresh fruit (strawberries, mango, raspberries, papaya, passion fruit, etc)
  • Maple syrup
  • Homemade fruit compote
  • Caramel sauce
  • Candied nuts
  • Cinnamon and/or brown sugar
• Storage: Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator and consume within 3 to 4 days. Reheat in the microwave or on the stovetop, adding in more milk if needed to loosen it up.
• Enjoy warm or cold: The texture is best when warm, but it's also delicious straight from the fridge.

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