Cranberry Vanilla Rice Pudding
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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
- Easy Pumpkin Pudding
Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me @rachelcooksblog on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest!
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
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
Disclosure: I was sent free products to use and review. However, all opinions expressed in this post are, as always, 100% my own. I was not compensated for this post other than the free products.
The Food Hunter says
I’m skipping turkey and heading right to this!
Bev Weidner says
Look at THAT! Cranberry. Well, I’ll be.
Laura @ GFPantry says
The vanilla beans would be amazing!
Sommer@ASpicyPerspective says
what a cool idea–i love the color!
Karriann Graf says
Yummy rice pudding! Love seeing the black seeds from the vanilla bean in the pudding. Never thought of adding cranberries.
Mal @ The Chic Geek says
This sounds so delicious, I love cranberry
Sanjeeta kk says
Oh….the pudding looks so creamy and delicious! And cranberries in it..wow..what lovely color it gave to the recipe.
Kitchen Belleicious says
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
Nelly Rodriguez says
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!
Blog is the New Black says
Def the vanilla beans!
Miss says
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!
Rachel says
No way! Seriously? Have you cooked it/eaten it before? Let me know what you make!
Erika - The Teenage Taste says
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!
Vanessa Nix Anthony says
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. :)
Baker Street says
I can’t wait to try the Tahitian vanilla extract! The rice pudding looks gorgeous and love your shot of fresh cranberries.
amy marantino says
i want to try the Tahitian Vanilla Extract