This healthy instant pot brown rice pudding recipe has all the flavors of the creamy rice pudding recipe you grew up loving, but it’s dairy-free, gluten-free, refined-sugar-free, and 21 Day Fix approved, of course! This post contains affiliate links for products I am obsessed with.
Confession: I spent weeks testing this recipe, and yet I came close to not posting it.
Really, really close.
I have a perfectionist side that sometimes gets the better of me..and in this case, I wasn’t going to post this rice pudding unless it actually was perfect.
And not only did I have the challenge of using brown rice, my Instant Pot, and a very low sugar content to keep this rice pudding FIX approved and healthy, I also grew up eating the most amazing rice pudding ever that my Aunt Margie used to make every year at Christmas and other family holidays and gatherings.
And my grandma Helen also made a slightly different, yet also incredibly delicious rice pudding, too…so if I was going to put my name on a rice pudding, I had to live up to some pretty high standards.
And so for the past few weeks, we’ve basically been eating rice pudding day in and day out. It’s a tough job, I have, isn’t it?
Anyway, I finally realized that I had to triple the liquid I used to cook the rice in order to get the creamy texture that I was looking for…and the rest was fairly simple.
To sweeten this recipe, I used maple syrup, but I also love it with raw sugar or coconut sugar.
If you are a regular around here you know I love using coconut cream in place of heavy cream or heavy dairy in recipes, both to keep it FIX approved and also because my son can’t have dairy. And so I used a little in this and I will once again promise this doesn’t taste like coconut. At all. Not even a little bit.
And I do use an egg in this Brown Rice Pudding, but if you are vegan or can’t tolerate eggs, you can definitely leave it out. I love the way it adds to the creaminess, but I mainly added it for the sake of tradition.
Here’s a quick video to show you how easy this recipe is!
And now for some Questions about this Healthy Instant Pot Brown Rice Pudding:
Can Rice Pudding Be Made in the Instant Pot?
Yes! When I make rice, I usually do a 1:1 ratio of rice to water. For this recipe, I tripled the amount of liquid, and also cooked the rice for a longer amount of time. You can cook this using the porridge button or on manual.
Is this Rice Pudding recipe healthy?
This rice pudding recipe is super healthy! First of all, it’s made with brown rice instead of white rice. Next, the amount of sugar is drastically reduced, and finally the heavy cream is replaced with coconut cream. And the best part is this recipe isn’t even a treat swap on the fix! If you are looking for a more traditional rice pudding, this one get great reviews.
Is Brown Rice Pudding good?
It really is…and like I said, I grew up eating some really delicious rice pudding!
Can I make this healthy rice pudding without eggs?
Yes! Whether you are vegan or have an egg allergy or just don’t have eggs at the moment, you can absolutely leave the egg out of this recipe and it will still be super delicious!
I see you use coconut milk in this Instant Pot Rice Pudding, does the pudding taste like coconut?
No! I promise you it doesn’t take like coconut at all! I am a HUGE fan of coconut cream in both sweet and savory dishes as a dairy free and cleaner sub for heavy cream.
Looking for more 21 Day Fix Holiday Dessert recipes that aren’t treat swaps? Check out these delicious recipes:
21 Day Fix Easy Chocolate Macaroons (Allergy Friendly)
21 Day Fix Instant Pot Apple Crisp
Healthy Lemon Bars | My Crazy Good Life
Pumpkin Pudding | The Foodie and The Fix
Healthy Instant Pot Brown Rice Pudding
Ingredients
- 1 cup brown rice
- Salt
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1 1/2 cups unsweetened vanilla almond milk
- 1/4 cup canned coconut milk use the thick, creamy part of the milk
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon plus more for topping
- 1 tablespoon butter, vegan butter, or ghee
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 egg beaten well
- 4 tablespoons maple syrup, coconut sugar, raw sugar, or any combination of these can add more to taste. I love it most with raw sugar.
- Optional topping ideas - Dried fruit, berries, nuts, nut butter
Instructions
- Place 1 cup of brown rice in your Instant pot, along with water and almond milk, vanilla extract, and a sprinkle of Himalayan or sea salt. Lock lid and set to manual or porridge for 25 minutes. After cook time, do a natural release.
- Once it’s safe to unlock your IP, remove lid and stir rice. Set pot to saute and stir in canned coconut milk, sweetener, butter, and cinnamon.
- Slowly whisk in the beaten egg, stirring continuously until all of the egg is added and pudding further thickens. Remove inner pot from heat immediately and allow pudding to cool a bit before serving.
- Serve warm or cold with a sprinkle of cinnamon and your favorite toppings. So yummy for breakfast with a drizzle of peanut butter (just sayin).
Video
Notes
Nutrition
KG says
This has become a staple healthy treat for my husband. He frequently requests I make it for him. The only change I make is to use more coconut milk to not waste it. i add all the liquid from the canned coconut milk and then top off with almond milk to get to the 1 1/2 cups total needed in the pressure stage. Then I use the hardened coconut cream from the can for the 1/4 cup in the final step! I also add a bit more vanilla as I am using homemade almond milk (unflavored).
I always make sure I purchase rice grown in either California, India or Pakistan as it has the smallest amounts of arsenic (present in the soil). I also rinse my rice before using.
Nancylynn says
These are great tips, thank you! Also, coconut milk freezes soo well if you want to try it differently next time!
Cortney says
I wonder if you could do a brown rice/quinoa combination,with this….to get a Red B in on GP plus bulk it up a little bit for breakfast. Might have to experiment a little bit.
Nancylynn says
I loooove this idea! But I would cook them separately and then combine since the cook times are so different! Please let us know how it goes if you try it!
Marie says
Can you use oat milk instead of almond milk?
Nancylynn says
That should work fine!
Potion One says
This is a wonderful recipe! I made it WW friendly by omitting the coconut milk.. Instead I used 1:ice cube to cool it down a little before whisking in the egg. I tempered the egg with the rice mixture to ensure a smooth texture. I also added a tiny sprinkle of nutmeg. To sweeten I used Swerve brown sugar substitute. Delicious!! This is 0 Personal Points for me😁. Delicious!!
Nancylynn says
This is amazing and I will definitely try it this way, too!
Amanda says
Yummy! I had Jasmine rice so I used that. I also had combo coconut/almond milk so I used that. And I used the whole can of coconut cream because I didn’t want to waste it. Added nutmeg and allspice. It’s good!
Nancylynn says
These are such helpful tips for other readers, thank you!!
Trish says
Would this work with minute brown rice?
Nancylynn says
You will have better results with brown rice that is not “quick cooking”
Wendi says
Step 2 “Once it’s save to unlock your IP”…
For the Instant Pot does this mean quick release or natural release?
Can’t wait to make!
Nancylynn says
For this recipe its a natural release 🙂 Hope you love it!!
Brianna says
I actually want coconut flavored rice pudding, so I’m going to try replacing the almond milk with coconut milk. We’ll see how it goes!
Nancylynn says
Awesome- let us know how it goes!
Elena says
How would you make it with already cooked brown rice? I just used plain water to cook the rice . This sounds delicious and I would love to make it. Thank You
Nancylynn says
I haven’t tested it, but here’s what I would do: Use a saucepan on the stove top, or just IP on saute. 1. Set pot to saute and stir in canned coconut milk, sweetener, butter, and cinnamon. Once it’s hot, add the already cooked rice.
2. Slowly whisk in the beaten egg, stirring continuously until all of the egg is added and pudding further thickens. 3. Remove inner pot or saucepan from heat and allow pudding to cool a bit before serving.
Let us know if you try it!
Kim says
This was a hit with the whole family! We served with a quick blueberry sauce we made in the microwave with fresh blueberries, a little lemon juice, a little water, and a little sugar.
Nancylynn says
Ooooh! What a great addition- thanks for sharing!
Geri says
Absolutely delicious. I used 2% milk, but also used the coconut milk and it was DELICIOUS!! I may try it with the cream later. The only thing that made it a bit challenging is that the ingredients as written in the recipe are not in order! I ended up cooking the rice (Step 1) with the cinnamon – it all worked out great!!
Nancylynn says
Oooh – thank you for that feedback! I will revise to make it easier ❤️
Amy says
If I only had regular unsweetened almond milk how would you go about using that? Extra vanilla extract?
Nancylynn says
Yes!
Heather says
This was delicious! Thank you! I like more cinnamon, so added a lot more cinnamon!!
Nancylynn says
That works!!
Nancylynn says
This is great feedback, thank you! Coconut milk also freezes amazingly!
Kristy V says
Thank you for this recipe! I used a little brown sugar Truvia to sweeten it, and left out the coconut milk to make it more Weight Watchers-friendly. It was absolutely amazing!
Potion One says
Thank you for that post! This is great even without the coconut milk, and I would not have even tried it if you hadn’t posted that comment.
Nancylynn says
So awesome!
Bridgette says
Just made this recipe as is and it is delicious! My daughter has an immune illness and we’re trying to find some healthier options that she’ll love. This fits the bill perfectly! Thank you!!
Sara P says
This was so, so delicious! The only change I made was whole milk in place of almond milk and dairy cream in place of coconut milk. It was sooo delicious and comforting with cinnamon, blueberries and slivered almonds! Thanks for sharing this recipe!