Cranberry Vanilla Rice Pudding
Try creamy cranberry vanilla rice pudding, studded with tart cranberries and flavored with fragrant vanilla beans for a unique holiday treat!
Marx Foods was kind enough to send me samples of mushrooms, vanilla beans, rice, and peppers. My challenge was to create a festive dish to bring to a Thanksgiving potluck, using at least one or two of the samples.
I used the vanilla beans and the Italian Vialone Nano Rice, a short grain rice similar to Arborio rice. Rice pudding may not be traditionally a Thanksgiving recipe, but I made it more festive by adding tart, fresh cranberries and fragrant vanilla. The recipe was adapted from Joy the Baker.
Cranberry rice pudding is a creamy, delicious dessert perfect for any occasion, including breakfast! Oh yeah…and Thanksgiving. Something for people who might not love pie. Or for people who DO love pie, but are still hungry.
About this rice pudding
This recipe is very similar to making a risotto except instead of stirring in broth gradually as the rice absorbs it, you’ll be stirring in milk. Make sure you have 25 to 30 minutes to devote to making the pudding so you can constantly stir it. It’s what makes it delicious!
You’ll need a good sized saucepan and a stirring spoon.
What ingredients will I need to make cranberry vanilla rice pudding?
- Short grain rice, such as Arborio
- Fresh cranberries
- Milk
- Butter
- Dark brown sugar
- A dash of cinnamon and salt
- One vanilla bean
You’ll be scraping the seeds out of the vanilla bean. The cranberries cook down, lending a beautiful rose color to the rice pudding.
You’ll need pretty serving dishes for the rice pudding, too! Serve the rice pudding warm (I love it warm!) or refrigerate to serve later. It will keep for up to four days in the fridge.
Make it your own:
- Don’t have vanilla beans? Substitute a teaspoon of pure vanilla extract.
- Cranberries not in season? Stir in another fruit of your choice. As you can guess, the pudding will be a different color, depending on the fruit you choose. Try blueberries, cherries, or dried apricots. Golden raisins would be good, too.
- Don’t add any fruit at all, if you prefer a more classic rice pudding.
More pudding, please!
If you like pudding, try one of these easy homemade pudding dessert recipes:
- Homemade Chocolate Pudding (for fantastic homemade Chocolate Pudding Pie)
- Lemon Pudding (only 3 ingredients!)
- Homemade Vanilla Pudding with Brown Butter
- Chai Spiced Chia Seed Pudding
- Chocolate Chia Pudding
- Sweet Potato Bread Pudding with Marshmallow Topping
- Blueberry Bread Pudding Recipe
- Maple Cinnamon Chia Pudding
- Banana and Chocolate Pudding Dessert Bites
- Easy Pumpkin Pudding
Cranberry Vanilla Rice Pudding
Try creamy rice pudding studded with tart cranberries and flavored with fragrant vanilla beans for a unique holiday treat!
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 cup short grain Italian rice, such as Arborio
- 1 heaping cup fresh cranberries, washed
- 4 cups 2% milk
- 1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- seeds scraped from one vanilla bean
Instructions
- In a small saucepan, over low heat, warm the milk. Don’t boil it -- bring it to almost boiling and then turn off the heat.
- In a large heavy pan, such as a Dutch oven, over low heat, melt butter. Once it is melted, add the rice and cranberries and stir to coat and slightly toast the rice, or about 1-2 minutes.
- Ladle in about 3/4 cup of the warm milk and continue to stir. Once the rice has absorbed the milk, add another ladle of milk. Continue this process–stirring nearly continuously until the rice is tender (taste it!) and your milk is almost gone, about 25 minutes. Make sure to watch out for the cranberries–they like to pop!
- Add the final bit of milk, the sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla bean. Stir until all ingredients are incorporated.
- Serve warm, or cold.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 187Total Fat: 7gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 23mgSodium: 168mgCarbohydrates: 25gFiber: 1gSugar: 16gProtein: 6g
RachelCooks.com sometimes provides nutritional information, but these figures should be considered estimates, as they are not calculated by a registered dietitian. Please consult a medical professional for any specific nutrition, diet, or allergy advice.
39 Comments on “Cranberry Vanilla Rice Pudding”
This looks so delicious. I have wanted to make rice pudding for a while now, but I still haven’t gotten around to it. I’m definitely going to add it to my recipe box!
Thanks! Let me know how you like it if you end up making it! :)
What a great twist on rice pudding! It’s one of my favorites and I love the use of the cranberries. YUMMY!
Dang! This looks so good! I love rice pudding.
That rice pudding is such a pretty color – great use of cranberries.
I’ve never tried rice pudding before, but I go nutso over cranberries this time of year. I definitely want to try your rice pudding…but still eat that slice of pie :) That’s allowed, right?
Lovely twist to a a traditional rice pudding. Love the colors and the photographs look gorgeous!
Totally my kind of rice pudding. Love the colors the cranberries add to it.
Love your spin on a traditional rice pudding dish. Cranberries are so tasty, and they’re a great pop of color too! Lovely photos as well.
Thank you so much! And thanks for the great products. We had so much fun!
So happy you posted this. I whimically bought cranberries the other day and have no idea what to do with them.
Let me know if you end up making it! :)
yum, this looks super comforting for a cold, rainy night
I LOVEEEE the “holiday colors” of the pudding! It just looks so pretty:)
What fun we are having with the Marx foods and Virtual Potluck! You recipe is both beautiful and comforting! Perfect with our Virtual Turkey dinner! Love the photos!
Those pictures are amazing! I bet the food was too!
I love me some rice pudding! Yum yum yum.
Wow, Rachel, this looks so good! Love the use of cranberries.
It was the perfect timing for me to get this recipe in my RSS feed today! I still had two bags of cranberries from last year in my deep freeze that I’ve been looking to use, PLUS I had half a gallon of milk in my fridge that expired yesterday. So, I made a batch of this rice pudding this afternoon. It definitely took some time, but the results were worth it. YUM!
How perfect! Love that! Glad you liked it.
I would LOVE to try the vanilla extract! You just can’t beat top notch vanilla.
This rice pudding sounds delish!
What a pretty color. Can’t wait to try this one.
Rice Pudding is pretty much heaven in a bowl. I LOVE THE STUFF!! I love the take on the festive red … I know this would not last very long at my home.
I would love to try the Sundried Tomato & Veggie Pansotti; They’re so pretty!!
I’m skipping turkey and heading right to this!
Look at THAT! Cranberry. Well, I’ll be.
The vanilla beans would be amazing!
what a cool idea–i love the color!
Yummy rice pudding! Love seeing the black seeds from the vanilla bean in the pudding. Never thought of adding cranberries.
This sounds so delicious, I love cranberry
Oh….the pudding looks so creamy and delicious! And cranberries in it..wow..what lovely color it gave to the recipe.
simply beautiful and comforting for this season. I love rice pudding and it doesn’t get enough credit in my opinion. great giveaway- would love to try the vanilla extract
Oh Rachel, I love you so much and this dish looks very pretty because of the gorgeous color, but I seriously dislike rice pudding. LOL. But I love you!!!! Looks like the rice made it very creamy…. But that is all I can say….AHHH!
Def the vanilla beans!
That is such a pretty dish of rice pudding! I love the cranberry addition.
P.S. I am using my discount to get you that kangaroo you’ve been dying to try!
No way! Seriously? Have you cooked it/eaten it before? Let me know what you make!
Whoa that rice pudding looks fabulous! Love the addition of cranberries and the pink color of the pudding! Haha! :)
I want to try the Tahitian Vanilla Extract!
Wow! Not only does the dish look and sound divine but girl you give good food porn! Those pics are awesome ~ I need some tips and a better camera. :)
I can’t wait to try the Tahitian vanilla extract! The rice pudding looks gorgeous and love your shot of fresh cranberries.
i want to try the Tahitian Vanilla Extract