Much like flan, arroz con leche (rice pudding) is a dessert found throughout the Spanish-influenced world. Often, however, it is made with condensed and evaporated milk and this can lend to it being quite sickly sweet.
Infused with cinnamon and citrus zest, it is quite possible to make a luscious and creamy arroz con leche without using any canned milks – only whole milk is needed! This is an achingly simple recipe and it makes for the perfect sweet treat to end a meal.
How to Make Arroz con Leche without Evaporated Milk
This is so easy to make and it all comes together in one pot. And the first step is to par-cook the rice!
Start with some medium-grain rice – I like using risotto rice like arborio or carnaroli, but in Spain, it would commonly be made with Bomba rice. All of these are good options.
I wouldn’t recommend using long-grain rice like jasmine or basmati as the starch content is different and it won’t lend to the same creamy texture.
With that in mind, add your to a medium saucepan and cover with some cool water. Also, add in some strips of lemon zest that you’ve removed with a vegetable peeler and a couple of cinnamon sticks. Cover the pot and set over high heat. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
After that, the water should be mostly absorbed into the rice. Remove the lid and pour in some sugar, a bit of salt and some whole milk. Stir everything to combine and bring to a simmer.
Allow the rice pudding to simmer, stirring every so often, until the milk is mostly absorbed into the rice – this will take about 20 minutes.
Once you’ve reached this stage, remove the rice from the heat and fish out the cinnamon sticks and lemon zest strips. Then, go ahead and stir in some vanilla bean paste – or use extract if that’s what you have!
At this point, I like to divide the rice into 4 individual serving dishes, but you can go ahead and decant it into one large serving dish as well.
Once you’ve done this, allow it to cool to room temperature before moving to the fridge to cool completely.
Once chilled – after about 2-3 hours – you can go ahead and serve the arroz con leche! I like to top it with a dusting of ground cinnamon before digging in.
Arroz Con Leche Without Condensed Milk
Ingredients
- 200 g (1 cup) medium-grain rice like arborio, carnaroli or bomba
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 2 strips lemon zest removed with a vegeable peeler
- 500 g (2 cups) whole milk
- 100 g (½ cup) caster sugar or granulated sugar
- 3 g (½ tsp) salt (see note)
- 2 tsp vanilla paste or extract
- 1-2 tbsp ground cinnamon for finishing
Instructions
- Add the rice to a medium saucepan and top with 300ml (1¼) cups of cool water, the cinnamon sticks and the lemon zest strips. Cover, bring to a boil over high heat, reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Remove the lid and stir in the milk, sugar and salt. Bring to a simmer, uncovered. Stirring occasionally, cook until the rice is very tender and the liquid is mostly absorbed – about 20 minutes.
- Take off the heat and remove the cinnamon sticks and lemon zest. Stir in the vanilla. Divide the rice evenly into 4 serving dishes. Allow to cool to room temperature before covering and moving to the refrigerator. Allow to chill completely – about 2-3 hours.
- Before serving, remove the puddings from the fridge and dust with ground cinnamon.
Notes
Nutrition
Disclaimer: Nutritional information is automatically generated and provided as guidance only. Accuracy is not guaranteed.
Making arroz con leche without sweetened condensed milk or evaporated milk is super simple and definitely possible! So long as you give it enough time to chill, this is an incredibly easy dessert that everyone is sure to love!
