Arroz con Leche is one of my favorite Colombian desserts. This Rice Pudding version is sweet, and creamy.
The rice pudding will thicken more as it cools, so be careful not to overcook.
INGREDIENTS
(6 TO 8 SERVINGS )
1 cup long-grain white rice, washed
4 cinnamon sticks
2 cups water
4 cups milk
Pinch salt
2 tablespoon butter
1 ½ tablespoons vanilla extract
1 ½ cups sugar
1 (12 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
DIRECTIONS
1. In a small pot, add water and cinnamon sticks, bring to a boil and cook for 10 minutes. Set aside and discard cinnamon sticks.
2. Place the rice and the cinnamon water in a large saucepan, over medium heat and cook for 5 minutes.
3. Add salt, butter, vanilla extract, 2 cups of milk, and sugar. Stir well to mix and cook uncovered for approximately 15 minutes.
4. Reduce heat to medium low. Add the remaining milk and condensed milk. Stir with a wooden spoon. Cook for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until the rice pudding thickens to desire consistency.
5. Stir well and remove from heat, and let it cool at room temperature. The consistency should be very creamy. Refrigerate for a least 1 hour or overnight.
{ 60 comments… read them below or add one }
This is the best rice pudding I ever had…thanks.
I made this tonight, but it didn’t turn out right
I am thinking bc the rice was still crunchy that I may have cooked it too high. I even used the timer for each step—see I couldn’t figure out how one cup of rice that cooked for over an hour and a half still ended up crunchy lol. I want to try again, but try maybe cooking the rice a little longer. When it was down to the last 20 min of cooking it was already getting pretty thick…I use a gas range so I have to gauge what the temp really is (high/med/low..etc). The flavor was awesome! It was hard to have to pitch it out let me know if you have any suggestions
Hi Felisha,
I am sorry….I make this recipe at least once a month and the time is perfect…..I don’t use a gas range, but next time cook the rice over medium-low from step 2.
Thank you and good luck next time.
Erica.
I LOVE rice pudding…… no i adore it!!!!
it tasts soooo good during the winter… i love to just get my bowl of hot rice pudding and curl up on my couch and eat it while i read a good book.
This rice pudding here looks very yummy! Do you usually have it plainly or have you tried adding other ingredients to enrich it?
Hello, I’m very happy I found this website. I’m American. My husband is COL. We live in Bogota; recently moved. I’ve tasted several arroz con leches here. This recipe has great flavor, but is very sweet for my taste. I have made rice pudding before and never use more than a cup of sugar. Anyway, thank you. Tomorrow, I’m going to try the sopa de lentejas.
Hi Kimberly,
Thank you for the comment!
Great recipe erica, my family is from Barranquilla my mom makes it with regular milk, evaporated milk,condensed milk , and coconut milk. and the same ingredients as you.thanks fellow colombian!!! love this website
Loucho,
Thank you for your comment
Hi, I am making this tomorrow afternoon for my Spanish class…we will see how it turns out, hopefully yummy!! I love the culture and the food so this is going to be a ton of fun for me!
We are bringing this to a colombian party. It looks and tastes delicious.
I love my culture.
estoy haciendo esta receta para navidad!
pero esta vez esta perfecto! mi mama me recomendo remojar el arroz toda la noche y perfecto!!!
ya habia intentado esta receta y el arroz me quedo duro
i recommend soaking the rice overnight in water… it helped me!
Primera vez que lo preparo y quedo delicioso. Gracias por tan excelentes recetas
Patricia- Gracias por el comentario.
this is amazing.
I love how there are sooo many ways to make rice pudding, one country, one home to the next!
I made this one week ago, It was perfect…..the flavor is fantastic…..it was a hit at my party.
Thank you all!
I’m colombian but my husband is not. I love to get these recipes in english so I know exactly what to buy here in USA. sometimes thigs get lost in translation!!
This one looks great. I ususally put Rum..just to add a little XXX to it hahah
I love it!
need ur help!!! just finished making the arroz con leche. followed every direction to the “T”. the rice is still kinda hard. what should i do? i dont want to throw it out cuz that will be a waste of money. the sauce has already thickened…is there any tips i can do to soften it up a bit?
Christina- add more milk, stir really good and simmer. Add more milk until the rice is cooked!
ur awesome! thanks so much. i will do this tonight! by the way, i made the hogao tonight with our steak…the hubby went nuts! he loved it! thanks so much…
I made this rice pudding yesterday and I loved it, The flavor is amazing!
I found that putting a lid on the saucepan (step 2, rice and cinnamon water) helped to ensure the rice softened enough within 5 minutes. Yes, amazing flavor! Favorite variations include substituting cardamom pods for 1 or 2 of the cinnamon sticks (my Colombian boyfriend loves this), or substituting a can of coconut milk for the condensed milk which makes it less sweet but just as rich!
Gracias, Erica!
Misha- thank you so much for the feedback and the your comment!!
I made this rice pudding and it was fantastic.Delicious flavor.
Thank you for your recipe. It was fantastic….I soaked the rice for 30 minute, before I cooked it. Great flavor!
hey erica,
so i made the arroz con leche yesterday and my husband really likes it however he says it is really sweet and i had to add more milk to his serving and heat it to make it not so sweet. and i remember my suegra making it the same way but not putting in any sugar just adding the sweetened condensed milk. could i follow your recipe and just leave the sugar out so it is not too sweet for him???
other than that it was so easy to make and looks exactly how my suegra made it. thanks
danielle
Danielle- You can omit the sugar!!! I like it sweet, like my grandmother’s recipe.
thanks erica
that’s what i will do the next time i make it. it is a little too sweet for my husband. thanks so much for the speedy reply.
Danielle
Hi, I have to make this recipe for class and it needs to be typed in spanish . Do you know where I can get this exact recipe but in spanish ?
Thank you
Just Google translate it (but maybe check it first, they’re sometimes wrong.
I just made the arroz con leche and I’m tasting it now. It is way too sweet. I realized that most condensed milk comes in 14 oz can and the recipe calls for 12oz. If you only have the 14oz can you can omit some of the sugar.
Also, the temperature I thought was too high for low-med on my electric range. I found I needed to stir frequently otherwise the rice sticks at the bottom. So to remedy the sweetness I added some half n half, ran out of milk, and I reduce the temp setting to low. The rice doesn’t stick as much and it’s cooking thoroughly, less crunchy rice. I will make this again for sure.
Love this site, we are both colombian and regretfully we were not thought any of the great dishes we love from colombia. Thank you so much for brining the colombian flavor back into our taste buds
Hello Erica I been looking for a Colombian recipe for awhile now that was very similar to my mom’s and I found yours. I wanted to know if am making a lot of Arroz con leche (bag of 3 LB pack) what’s the amount of the ingredients that I should put in the Rice Pudding for it to be Perfectly Delicious please answer back
This rice pudding was so creamy and delicious everyone..You have to make this recipe…it is the best rice pudding!
i have a quick question y do people use evaporated milk is that just substituting the milk for the evaporated
Thank you so much for the recipe~ Muy Deliciosa!!!!!!!!!!!!! I just returned from Colombia 2 weeks in Bogota and 2 weeks in Manizales; I found your website and am so very happy for you Gracias por todos recetes y la comida buena
I did add raisins and cloves as my sister did in Manizales…..very perfect recipe thank you! ~Susan
Erica,
I just finished up making the arroz con leche. This is a wonderful recipe and it has amazing flavor. I’m a culinary student and enjoy learning about cuisine across different cultures. Thanks so much for this wonderful recipe!
~Charlotte
Erica,
I made this for a party in Spanish class for our foreign exchange student from Columbia. Can’t wait to see if he likes it. It is a little sweet for my taste but delicious!
Thanks!
I also had trouble with the rice being too hard, so I added about another cup of milk and simmered on medium for the last 30 minutes. I also added about a 1/4 cup of raisins during the last 20 minutes. Delicious!
I am trying to make this recipe but for more people. Do you have any suggestions for me because it looks like the rice won’t soak up all the liquid. I would appreciate any help that you could give me.
this looks soooooo guud
Hi Erica!
I’m from Bucaramanga now living in Canada and can’t wait to make my family your arroz con leche! However…I’m very health-conscious and was wondering if I could reduce the sugar down to about 1/4 cup? since some people mentioned it was too sweet.Thanks!
Maria Carolina- You can use less sugar. I like mine sweet.
hi im working on making this delicious desert but my fiance does not like butter on anything do i have to put butter?
Kendrys- You don’t have to add butter, but the butter makes the rice pudding rich and delicious
deliciosa ,, muchchsismas graciasss, yo le pongo un poco menos de azucar y queda perfecta graciassss
Hi, I just finished making this for the first time, and it’s amazing! I wanted to try making it because the one I had at the Colombian restaurant was fantastic and wanted to see if I could make it myself. This recipe is great, easy to follow and easy to make! (Although I didn’t use the sugar at all and just used the sweetened condensed milk.) Also, I didn’t have any long grain rice so I decided to use Japanese sweet rice (mochi rice) and turned out awesome! Thanks for the delicious recipe
It tastes amazing thank you so much!
Hi Erica
Thank you for your recipe, I just finished making the arroz con leche and it is delicious.
How many people will this feed? i need to make this for my spanish class of about 35
Yvonne- 6-8 regular servings
Hi!
I’m not sure if this has been asked already, but do you use whole milk? We drink fat free and I was wondering if I would have the same results with it.
Thanks!
Carolina, I used whole milk, but you can try it with fat-free milk.
The whole milk makes a creamy rice pudding.
Erica,
I made this again, 3 years from when I first tried it.. and this time it turned out great! I did not use the extra sugar.. for us the condensed milk was enough
Used 1% milk and fat free condensed milks…still turned out thick. Tried to cut some calories somewhere! Cooking the rice with the lid def. helped in steps 2 and 3, but on low heat. Very yummy.. my daughter’s favorite 
Probably would be great if rice cooked.:(
This is probably the best arroz con leche recepie I have come across. I did have a few grains of rice that were a little crunchy but still a yummy recepie.
Hi Erica,
I’m British and live in London with my British-born Colombian boyfriend. As he hasn’t been back there since he was a little boy he says he doesn’t really feel much of a connection but you should see the look on his face whenever I cook something using your recipes. Always a big smile followed by a story of his memories. This is his favourite and I will be making it for dessert on Christmas day
You saved my day!
I miss Colombia a lot, but now after founding this lovely page with all kinds of precipices, I’m bit more happy! Just had the wonderful rice desert, my favorite!