Instant Pot Rice Pudding

Name: Instant Pot Rice Pudding
Ingredients: 1 cup medium grain rice; 2 cups water; 1 1/4 cups milk (I use whole milk, but any milk can be used, including non-dairy options), plus more milk or water for serving, optional; 1 Tablespoon butter; 1 Tablespoon sugar (honey, maple syrup or other sweetener options can be used as well); pinch of salt; 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon; 1/4 cup raisins (other options: dry cranberries or blueberries, golden raisins, dry cherries, chopped dry apricots or mangos, freeze dried strawberries, etc.); 1/2 – 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Creamy Instant Pot Rice Pudding is an easy breakfast or dessert. It’s slightly sweet, flavored with vanilla and cinnamon and has plump and juicy raisins.

Making a recipe for Instant Pot Rice pudding was on my list for a long time. My mom made lots of breakfast porridges when we were kids and my boys have loved them since they were babies too. I have made this recipe on the stove many times, so if you don’t have an Instant Pot, check out my stovetop version of Vanilla and Raisin Rice Pudding.

It’s a simple and appreciated blessing in the mornings when you can just mix up the ingredients and that’s all the hands-on work involved. The rice is really silky and creamy and it does have a pleasant pudding texture. There’s lots of delicious flavor options – I made it with raisins, vanilla and cinnamon, but there are so many other wonderful options that I’ll be sure to share below.

Video of How To Make Instant Pot Rice Pudding

New to the Instant Pot?

Check out this helpful blog post and video for beginners, where I break down all the details, explaining how it works and its many features. You’ll also find helpful tips, troubleshooting advice and easy recipes to try.

I have the 6 quart Instant Pot(*affiliate link). It’s amazing and one of my favorite kitchen appliances. I’ve had it for almost 6 years:).

Ingredients

medium grain rice (see below for more information about the different types of rice options for this recipe)
water
milk
- I use whole milk but any milk can be used, including dairy free options. Almond milk, oat milk, coconut milk – no matter what your preference, you can use it in this recipe.
butter
sugar
- You can use anything you want to sweeten the rice pudding: granulated or brown sugar, sucanat, agave syrup, monk fruit sweetener, honey, maple syrup, etc.
salt
ground cinnamon and vanilla extract for flavor
raisins
- There are so many other delicious ingredient add in options. Try dry cranberries or blueberries, golden raisins, dry cherries, chopped dry apricots or mangos, freeze dried strawberries, etc.

What is the best rice to use?

The best rice for rice pudding is a medium grain white rice. It has more starch than long grain white rice and cooks up really creamy and has that silky pudding-like consistency.

Medium Grain Rice

In most grocery stores, you should be able to find medium grain white rice. The rice I like the most for this recipe is the one that is simply labeled Medium Grain Rice.

Another medium grain rice is Arborio. It is harder to find in regular grocery stores. This is the rice that is used in risottos, where you want to have a thick and creamy consistency too. Either of these medium grain rices will work in this recipe, they will have slightly different texture differences.

Long Grain White Rice

Long grain white rice has the least amount of starch and the grains are long and thin. This is the most common type of rice and most recipes use this rice. It’s great for rice pilaf, where the rice cooks up tender, fluffy and the grains don’t stick together. (Here’s my favorite way to cook long grain white rice.)

I don’t recommend using long grain white rice for Rice Pudding, because it will have a more soupy consistency, since it doesn’t have as much starch, but it will work in a pinch.

Short Grain Rice

This rice has the smallest grains, there is a lot of starch in this one as well and it clumps together when cooked. It is perfect for sushi. I don’t recommend using this for rice pudding either, because it is really gummy and too thick when cooked.

Brown Rice

I haven’t tried making rice pudding with any type of brown rice. If that is something you want to do, you’ll have to experiment with the recipe yourself. Keep in mind that brown rice cooks longer and white rice, so you’ll need to adjust the time.

Long grain white rice, Medium grain white rice and Arborio rice.

How To Make Instant Pot Rice Pudding

Add the rice, water, milk, butter, sugar, salt, cinnamon and raisins to the Instant Pot.
Close the lid (make sure the sealing ring is inside the lid).
Set the Instant Pot to the default setting, Pressure Cook on the newer models and Manual on the older models, High Pressure, for 6 minutes. Turn the valve to “Sealing”
Let stand for 5 minutes, then release the pressure manually, turning the valve to “Venting”.
Add the vanilla to the rice pudding, mix to combine. Add more milk or water before serving, if you want to loosen it up.

Helpful Tips

How to serve the rice pudding:

Right after the rice pudding cooks, I add more milk to cool it off faster AND to make it creamier.
You can also add more butter. Serve as is, or try these other fun options:
Topping options:
– chopped nuts, bananas, fresh fruit or berries, coconut shavings, cocoa powder, chopped up dry fruit.
We always serve rice pudding warm, but you can also serve it cold. In that case, use more milk or water before chilling it, or it will be too thick.

How to adjust the consistency of the rice pudding:

Everyone has a different preference of what they like for something like this. The proportions I specify are very adjustable. Start with the amount of rice and liquid that I have in the recipe and don’t add any less liquid, otherwise you may get the “Burn” notice on your Instant Pot.
The rice pudding WILL get thicker quite soon after you mix it up and even more so the longer it stands. I always add more milk before serving it.

What’s the best way to store the rice pudding?

Store in the refrigerator, in an airtight container, for up to 5 days.

Can you freeze rice pudding?

Yes. Freeze in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Add more milk or water when reheating because it will thicken up more when frozen. Rice absorbs a lot of moisture when it is chilled or frozen.