Arroz Con Leche Recipe

This creamy Arroz con leche recipe cooked in sweetened milk and cinnamon makes for a delicious dessert or daytime treat. You will love how tasty this Arroz con leche is and how simple it is to prepare.

In our house, dessert after a meal is a must. If you are in a similar situation, try my Tarte Tatin or Ricotta Cheesecake.

Arroz con Leche

Arroz con leche is a Spanish specialty consisting of rice cooked in different kinds of milk and cinnamon and finished with vanilla for the ultimate pudding. It can be served warm or chilled and is commonly garnished with cinnamon and raisins.

This delicious dessert can have slight variations, like using lemon or orange when cooking the rice, and will depend on in which Latin country you are being served. This is not an overly sweet dessert with a beautiful flavor balance. Feel free to add sugar or honey to the mixture if you like things more on the sweet side.  

Ingredients and Substitutions

• Milk – I cook the rice initially in whole milk. You can use 1%, 2%, or skim milk for this procedure. You can also use water.
• Rice – Any long-grain or short-grain rice will work.
• Orange – I use the outside peel of the orange to cook the rice.
• Cinnamon – You will need 1 cinnamon stock.
• Vanilla – Use any good vanilla extract.

How to Make Arroz con Leche

1. Add the rice. Whole milk, cinnamon stick, and orange peel to a large pot and boil over high heat while stirring occasionally.
2. Stir the mixture, add a lid, and cook over low heat for 15 minutes.
3. Next, pour in the evaporated milk and sweetened condensed milk.
4. Cook the mixture over low heat while frequently stirring until it becomes thick.
5. Finish by stirring in vanilla extract.
6. Serve the arroz con leche warm or chilled and garnish with ground cinnamon.

Make-Ahead and Storage

Make-Ahead: You can make this recipe up to 3 days ahead. Keep it in the refrigerator before serving.

How to Store: Keep the arroz con leche in the refrigerator for five days.  This does not freeze well.

Chef Notes + Tips

• You can substitute the vanilla extract for 1 vanilla bean sliced in half long ways. Add it to the rice while it is cooking with the whole milk. Before serving it, scrape the inside of each split vanilla bean pod to remove the vanilla beans and mix the small beans back into the arroz con leche. Discard the pods.
• Feel free to serve this with raisins, currants, or nuts.
• To cool the arroz con leche faster, spread it on a sheet tray or in a casserole dish before placing it in the refrigerator.

More Dessert Recipes

• Zeppoles
• Coconut Cake
• Fudgy Brownies
• Chocolate Cheesecake
• Apple Crisp

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Arroz con Leche Recipe

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5 from 6 votes

This creamy Arroz con leche recipe cooked in sweetened milk and cinnamon makes for a delicious dessert or daytime treat.

Servings: 6

Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes minutes

Ingredients 

US CustomaryMetric

• 1 ¼ cups long grain rice
• 3 cups whole milk
• 1 cinnamon stick
• peel of 1 orange
• 1 can evaporated milk, 12 ounces
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk, 14 ounces
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• ground cinnamon for garnish

Instructions

• Add the rice. Whole milk, cinnamon stick, and orange peel to a large pot and boil over high heat while stirring occasionally.
• Stir the mixture, add on a lid, and cook over low heat for 15 minutes.
• Next, pour in the evaporated milk and sweetened condensed milk.
• Cook the mixture over low heat while frequently stirring until it becomes thick.
• Finish by stirring in vanilla extract.
• Serve the arroz con leche warm or chilled and garnish with ground cinnamon.

Notes

Make-Ahead: You can make this recipe up to 3 days ahead. Keep it in the refrigerator before serving.

How to Store: Keep the arroz con leche in the refrigerator for five days.  This does not freeze well.

You can substitute the vanilla extract for 1 vanilla bean sliced in half long ways. Add it to the rice while it is cooking with the whole milk. Before serving it, scrape the inside of each split vanilla bean pod to remove the vanilla beans and mix the small beans back into the arroz con leche. Discard the pods.

Feel free to serve this with raisins, currants, or nuts.

To cool the arroz con leche faster, spread it on a sheet tray or in a casserole dish before placing it in the refrigerator.

Nutrition

Calories: 220kcalCarbohydrates: 37gProtein: 7gFat: 4gSaturated Fat: 2gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.2gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 15mgSodium: 49mgPotassium: 233mgFiber: 1gSugar: 6gVitamin A: 200IUVitamin C: 0.03mgCalcium: 168mgIron: 0.4mg

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Mexican

Author: Chef Billy Parisi