Vanilla Almond Rice Pudding Recipe

5 from 5 votes

By Katie

January 14, 2019

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This Rice Pudding Recipe is flavored with vanilla bean and almond. It is also gluten-free, sugar-free and low-fat. Healthy and delicious!

Sweet and creamy Rice Pudding Recipe is comfort food that tends to taste exactly 14.2 times better when it’s cold and wet outside. Comfort food I refuse to forget because it’s amazing. And simple to make. And delicious. And naturally gluten-free {bonus!} that I happened to make low fat and sugar-free {double bonus!} so I didn’t have to feel guilty eating the entire thing in one sitting. True story.

Rice Pudding Recipe

Arborio Rice – Short grain rice originating from Italy. Most rice puddings are made with this rice variety.
Skim Milk and Fat-Free Half & Half – I pulled all the stops to make this recipe as low fat as possible.
Truvia – You can also use Splenda or regular sugar if you don’t want that sugar free part of the recipe.
Almond Extract and Vanilla Bean Paste – A ton of flavor comes from these two ingredients plus a pinch of salt to balance it all out.

Feel free to fatten this up with whole milk, brown sugar, more butter, and straight-up cream. But, I’m warning you–you make it once that way and you will be addicted for life. {Not that that’s a bad thing…}

How to Make Rice Pudding

{and all you rice pudding haters out there–>give this a chance. It will change your life.}

In a large pot, melt butter and stir in arborio rice to coat grains. Pour in enough milk to cover the rice by 1/3 inch or so (about a cup). Continuously stir the rice until the milk has been absorbed and mixture turns very thick.

Keep adding and stirring until all the milk has been poured in and the rice has soaked it all up.
Stir in half & half and Truvia until rice is cooked to your liking and the desired consistency is reached. Feel free to add in a few more splashes of milk to make the pudding thinner or cook it longer to have it thicker.

Remove from heat and stir in almond extract and vanilla bean paste. Top with toasted almonds (optional) and serve warm.

Toasted Almonds

As a finishing touch, you can toast some almonds too. Mmmm…

To toast almonds, simply heat them in the pan over medium heat. Toast until almonds turn slightly brown and smell nutty. This should only take a couple of minutes. Remove from heat.

So, dish this up and top it with your almonds. Voila! Rice Pudding that is to die for.

Leftovers

If you happen to have leftovers (not likely because this recipe is THAT good), you can store this rice pudding recipe in the fridge for up to 4 days or even longer in the freezer! Reheat on the stove or in the microwave.

Freezing

To freeze, cool your rice pudding completely. Then seal it in an airtight container and store in the freezer for up to three months! Defrost in the fridge overnight then reheat on the stove or in the microwave until heated through.

More Rice Pudding Recipes to Try!

Easy, healthy, delicious! I hope you all have crummy weather so you can try this out too 🙂 Printable recipe card below!