Almond Milk Rice Pudding
Published Jun 26, 2015, Updated Jan 02, 2018
39 CommentsAlmond Milk Rice Pudding flavored with cardamom, saffron & topped with nuts!
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These days I feel like the time should stop and the next week should never come. The thought of family leaving is making me really sad. Ever since we shifted into our new house, everyone has been there and now suddenly I will be all alone after hubby goes to office. I know i’ll get busy because the house needs so much work plus there’s always my blog to keep me busy. But it was so wonderful to have family by my side for the last 1 month and now that they are leaving, I just want the time to stop. Wishful thinking!
Other than this I have some good news to share with you. If you follow me on social media, then you already know this – my recipe for Strawberry Lassi got featured in Low Sugar Living Magazine. I got really excited, I know not a very big deal but it’s the first time I saw my name and recipe in a magazine and it sure made my happy. And so I wanted to share it with my readers! Sharing with you guys a picture from the magazine below.
And now coming to this dessert – Almond Milk Rice Pudding. This is Indian style rice pudding but made with almond milk in stead of regular milk. Kheer, as we call rice pudding in India is one of the most popular homemade sweets back home. I remember as a kid whenever I asked mom to make something sweet, she would always make kheer. I think there are 2 reasons for this – 1) kheer or Indian rice pudding is delicious 2) it’s easy to make with readily available ingredients. And so it was obvious why mom made this for us more often than any other sweet. I bet every Indian has grown up eating homemade kheer and has wonderful memories associated with it.
While I love the traditional version, this time around I thought of giving it a twist and used Almond Breeze Almondmilk Original. I recently started using almond milk, have you guys tried it? It’s awesome in shakes & smoothies and yes it was amazing in this rice pudding too! The Almond Breeze Original is also very nutritious – it’s a great source of calcium and vitamin D & E. I think what I like most about this product is that it doesn’t have that chalky taste which is quite prominent in other non-dairy beverage.
I made this rice pudding in a very Indian way with cardamom, saffron and nuts. And I also topped with some sliced almonds and fresh mango. This Almond Milk Rice Pudding tastes best when chilled. Now again back home, some people like warm kheer while other prefer it cold. But for this particular pudding, I strongly suggest to serve it chilled. Also, make it a day ahead, it tastes so much better since the flavors are all the more intermixed.
Method
*Wash the basmati rice and soak it in enough water for 30 minutes. Drain and set aside.
In a pan heat ghee (clarified butter) on medium heat and add 2 cloves to it.
Once the ghee is hot, add the soaked rice to the pan.
Cook for 2-3 minutes or till the rice starts to turn light pinkish in color . Remove from flame and set aside. [Note: Skip this step if vegan]
In a pan, heat almond milk. Bring it to a boil.
Add rice to it and mix.
Lower the heat to medium and cook the rice with the almond milk, stirring at regular intervals. We want the pudding to be thick and rice thoroughly cooked This process takes around 20-25 minutes.
After around 25 minutes, the pudding will thicken. Add crushed cardamom seeds and mix.
Also add saffron strands, golden raisins and mix.
Switch off the flame, and after 2 minutes add the sugar and mix till well combined.
Pour the almond milk rice pudding into serving glasses/bowls and top with chopped mango and sliced almonds. Chill in the refrigerator for a minimum of 4 hours before serving.
* To make this vegan, skip the 1st step of frying the rice in ghee. Soak the rice and then drain and add is directly to the boiling almond milk.
* The pudding thickens as it cools down, so do not make it super thick in the beginning.
Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Almond Breeze Almondmilk. All opinions expressed are my own.
Almond Milk Rice Pudding
Ingredients
- ¼ cup basmati rice
- 32 oz pack of Almond Breeze Almond Milk Original
- 5-6 tablespoons granulated white sugar or to taste
- 5-6 green cardamom pods seeds taken out & crushed
- 1 tablespoons golden raisins
- ¾ teaspoon ghee clarified butter
- 2 cloves
- few saffron strands
- sliced almonds to garnish
- chopped mango to garnish
Instructions
- Wash basmati rice and soak it in enough water for 30 minutes. Drain and set aside.
- In a pan heat ghee (clarified butter) on medium heat and add 2 cloves to it.
- Once the ghee is hot, add the soaked rice to the pan.
- Cook for 2-3 minutes or till the rice starts to turn light pinkish in color . Remove from flame and set aside. [Note: Skip this step if vegan]
- In a pan, heat almond milk. Bring it to a boil.
- Add rice to it and mix.
- Lower the heat to medium and cook the rice with the almond milk, stirring at regular intervals.We want the pudding to be thick and rice thoroughly cooked. This process takes around 20-25 minutes.
- After around 25 minutes, the pudding will thicken. Add crushed cardamom seeds and mix.
- Also add saffron strands, raisins and mix.
- Switch off the flame, and after 2 minutes add the sugar and mix till well combined.
- Pour the almond milk rice pudding into serving glasses/bowls and top with chopped mango and sliced almonds.
- Chill in the refrigerator for a minimum of 4 hours before serving.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Almond Milk Rice Pudding
I think your ratios are off – 4 cups of milk to 1/4 cup of rice did not thicken at all. it is just warm milk with some rice grains in it. You need to add tapioca flour or cornstarch and additional rice…
Hi Jill, the ratio is okay. This is how we make kheer in India. we never use any cornstarch or tapioca flour. for 1 liter (4 cups) milk, 1/4 to 1/3 cup rice is plenty. You can increase rice to 1/3 cup if you want thicker kheer but you cook the kheer until it thickens for 30 minutes and then it also thickens a lot as it cools down and sits in the fridge.
can you make this in instant pot?
you can try, haven’t tested
My 6 month old is allergic to cows milk hence I can’t have any; meaning don’t get to eat the Indian sweets I crave for, and today after 6 month I ate Kheer; Heaven!! Thanks Manali. Loved your recipe.
You are welcome! 🙂 so glad you enjoyed it!
Thank you 🙂
Thank you Savita!
Congrats Manali, Wishing you many more achievements, you truly deserve this..well done, very happy for you dear..
I love rice pudding, this looks so flavorful!!
Thanks Deepa!
Thanks Kristi! You will like it! 🙂
Thanks Mariah! 🙂
This sounds so lovely, Manali! I like that you used cardamom (obsessed!), cloves and saffron! Spiced desserts are so underrated x
Thanks Nadia! 🙂 all our (Indian) desserts are incomplete without spices so I couldn’t resist adding some here!
congrats for getting a magazine feature! thats really awesome! and this recipe looks completely delicious, pudding is so yummy! 😉
Thanks Michele!
Many congratulations dear:) loved this delicious dessert..superb!!
Thanks Shubha!
Thanks Kelly! Almond milk was awesome in this rice pudding!
Thank you Angie!
Thanks Thalia!! Saffron is amazing in rice pudding!
Thank you Kelley! 🙂
Thanks Ceara!
Thanks Shweta! Chopped mangoes were just wonderful in this pudding!
Thanks Dannii! Rice pudding reminds me of my childhood too, mom used to make it all the time 🙂
Thanks Harriet, the pudding did turn out delicious!
Thank you Sarah! you are so sweet! Saffron and cardamom add wonderful flavors to this pudding!
Thanks Marcie! I have started using almond milk recently and love it totally! You need to make this rice pudding!
Thanks Cyndi! You must give this rice pudding a try!
Congratulations Manali. That’s a great news. This pudding looks divine. Super super yummy 🙂
Thank you Ritu!
Many congratulations manali.I know how much excited a food blogger will be when they get recognition.Wish many more for you.By the way ,Pudding look really delicious.
Thank you Sathya 🙂
Many congratulations dear !!. Love your version of rice pudding. Pictures are awesome as always:-)
Thank you Rachna, glad you like it!
Wow Manali thats a great news.. congratulations to you..
I can understand your situation gonna face the same in few months time.
And as always the pudding looks so very inviting with such gorgeous clicks..
Thank you Sushma!
Congratulations Manali and this pudding looks so beautiful and delicious!
Thanks Kushi!!