Creamy, cozy, and super comforting, this recipe for old-fashioned Rice Pudding is made in a jiffy using the Instant Pot. With fewer than 10 ingredients and just 5 minutes of prep time, you can have this deliciously rich and naturally gluten-free dessert.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 5 minutes
  • Cook time: 25 minutes
  • Total time: 30 minutes
  • Yield: 4
  • Category: Desserts
  • Cuisine: American, World

Ingredients

  • ¼ cup arborio rice (- 65 grams. basmati rice or jasmine rice can be added instead)
  • 3 cups whole milk
  • ¼ cup unrefined cane sugar (or raw sugar - 75 grams. white sugar can be used instead)
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 8 to 10 almonds (- slivered or chopped)
  • 1 tablespoon golden raisins
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (or ½ teaspoon vanilla essence)
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon ((cinnamon powder))
  • ⅛ teaspoon grated nutmeg (or ground nutmeg (nutmeg powder))

Method

  1. Take the arborio rice in the inner steel pot. If you want you can rinse the rice once or twice in a small colander or strainer (which is what I do). You can also use basmati and jasmine rice. If using basmati or jasmine rice reduce the milk quantity to 2.5 cups.
  2. Add unrefined cane sugar, a pinch of salt and whole milk. You can use white sugar instead.
  3. Stir and mix with a spoon.
  4. Cover and secure the instant pot with its lid and position the steam release handle to sealing.
  5. Press the porridge setting button which has an auto timing of 20 minutes.
  6. After 20 minutes when you hear the beep sound, give a natural pressure release (NPR) of 10 minutes.
  7. After 10 minutes lift the steam release handle and when the float valve falls down, open the lid.
  8. The rice would have formed a few lumps in some places. So break most of these lumps with a spoon.
  9. Add vanilla extract, ground cinnamon and ground nutmeg.
  10. Add your choice of nuts. I added some and golden raisins.
  11. Press the sauté button and set time to 4 to 5 minutes on normal mode.
  12. Once the beep sound is heard and you see the pudding simmering, stir often so that the pudding does not burn or scorch from the bottom.
  13. Break any lumps if any while stirring. You can cancel the sauté mode before the set time of 4 to 5 minutes if the pudding thickens.
  14. Keep in mind the consistency you want as on cooling the pudding thickens more. Stir and simmer till the rice pudding reaches the desired consistency.
  15. Serve the Instant Pot Rice Pudding hot or warm or cold. You can add a dollop of cream if you like. Do garnish with some sliced almonds or raisins before serving.
  16. Refrigerate any leftover pudding in an air-tight container. This rice pudding keeps well for 4 to 5 days in the fridge.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.