Cranberry Vanilla Rice Pudding Recipe - Rachel Cooks® (2024)

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

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.