Enjoy this apple rice pudding as a cozy, comforting and deliciously fruity family dessert today! It's so easy to make with fresh fruit and pantry staples on the stovetop as a no-bake dessert in about 30 minutes.
Sweet, comforting and cozy, what's not to love about a rice pudding! Much like my oat milk rice pudding and blueberry rice pudding, this creamy pudding recipe is so easy to make on the stovetop with shopping list staples.
It's deliciously sweet from grated apple, has a hint of spice and all that gooey goodness of creamy rice. So let me show you how to make a rice pudding with apple for all the family - it's so easy to do!
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⭐ Why this recipe is so good
All the comfort food vibes. Warming, hearty and deliciously sweet, this recipe is perfect as a family dessert.
Vegan, gluten free and low histamine recipe. We use plant milk for this recipe, and maple syrup rather than honey so it's a vegan pudding. Just make sure your milk is gluten free, if required.
Stovetop recipe. No need to turn the oven on! Just grab a pot and your ingredients.
🍎 Ingredients
All the ingredients and their quantities are set out in the recipe card below.
Some notes on a few of them:
- Pudding rice - there are a few different types of short grain rice that can be used for rice pudding including arborio rice, but I tend to use pudding rice.
- Apple - I suggest to use a red apple such as a Royal Gala, Braeburn or Honey crisp apple for their sweetness. Green apples are more tart in flavor.
- Plant milk - use the type that suits you best. If you're gluten free, check it is suitable.
- Spice - you can use cardamom or cinnamon, but low histamine readers please note that cinnamon is very debated in terms of histamine.
🔪 Step by step instructions
Making this apple rice pudding on the stovetop is so simple to do with just a handful of affordable ingredients and all easy recipe steps.
All the instructions are set out in the recipe card below, but these step by step photos will help guide you.
Step 1: Combine ingredients
Pour the plant milk and water into your pot, along with the pudding rice, cardamom and brown sugar (image 1).
Step 2: Make the apple rice pudding
Bring the rice pudding to a boil, then reduce the heat to a very light simmer. Cook for about 25 minutes, stirring often, until creamy in consistency. Pour in more milk or water to adjust the texture to preference. Add the grated apple, and stir well, then cook for a few more minutes (image 2).
Step 3: Cook the apple slices
While the rice pudding is cooking, add melted coconut oil to a skillet and heat. Add slices of apple and sprinkle with a little cardamom. Cook, turning occasionally, for 4-5 minutes until softened.
Step 4: Assemble your rice pudding
Spoon the rice pudding into your serving bowls and top with the cooked apple slices (image 4). Drizzle over maple syrup to taste preference and enjoy!
💭 Recipe tips and notes
- Make sure to use a suitable rice. For a rice pudding you can choose from pudding rice or arborio rice.
- Use a box grater. It's easiest to use a box grater to shred the apple I find.
- Adjust the consistency to preference. Add more milk or water for a thinner more liquid consistency if you like!
- Stir often! Make sure to stir frequently to prevent the rice from sticking to the pot.
- Don't make ahead. Rice pudding will thicken a fair amount as it cools, so it's best to make it just before you wish to enjoy it.
📋 Frequently asked questions
It's down to preference whether to peel the apple or not. Personally I don't, but you can if you wish. Make sure to remove the core though!
You can easily add some cream towards the end of the cook time to give it an even more creamy consistency. Just note that it will not be vegan if you do so.
🍪 More desserts
Choose from so many fun desserts including my blueberry rhubarb crisp and spiced poached pears, as well as these recent recipes:
I'm always in the kitchen, so come join me on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest to be the first to hear of new recipes! And I love to hear from you - so please do leave a star rating ⭐⭐⭐ and comment if you've tried the recipe!
📖 Recipe
Apple Rice Pudding
Equipment
- Large pot
- Skillet
Ingredients
- ½ cup pudding rice or arborio rice
- 1.5 cups plant milk of choice
- ½ cup water
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon cardamom or cinnamon*
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil melted
- 1 red apple half sliced, half grated
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
Instructions
- Add the pudding rice, plant milk, water and cardamom to a large pot. Bring to a boil, stirring continuously, then reduce the heat to a very light simmer. Cook for about 25 minutes, stirring often, until the rice has softened. Add more milk or water to adjust the consistency to preference.
- About 5 minutes before the rice pudding is ready, add half a grated apple to the pot.
- Heat coconut oil in a small skillet and use tongs to place the apple slices. Sprinkle with a little cardamom. Heat through until softened, about 4-5 minutes.
- Spoon the rice pudding into your bowls and top with the cooked sliced apples. Drizzle with maple syrup and enjoy!
Notes
- Make sure to use pudding rice, arborio rice or a short grain rice suitable to make a rice pudding.
- Stir often to prevent the rice from sticking and to get a creamy texture.
- Adjust the amount of milk and water to preference, adding more if you like a looser texture.
- Nutritional information is auto-generated and should be understood to be an estimate.
- plant milk has variable scores.
- cardamom scores 0, with a note that some varieties may not be tolerated.
Cindy Simmons says
Good afternoon. This recipe sound wonderful. This may be a silly question but I am new to a low histamine diet and was wondering how to store this after it's made. I know leftovers are not allowed so do you freeze this in portion sizes or is this ok in the fridge? Thank you
Claire says
Hi Cindy! Not a silly question all. It's usually advised to cook and eat fresh, so the best thing would be to adjust the serving size and cook the amount you wish to serve. I haven't tried freezing it myself, but a quick search suggests that it it can be done (just don't freeze for too long). Hope that helps!
Jill Chaplin says
Great tasting, what I had as a breakfast.
I don’t think the 11g of pudding rice is correct to the amount of fluid?
Did you accidentally miss an extra number 1 off and it should be 111g?
Claire says
So glad you enjoyed the rice pudding Jill, and thanks for catching this. All amended now.
WhatWouldLeiaDo says
Yummy recipe! Thank you for taking the time to test things and create low histamine things that are actually delicious and makes me excited to cook/bake and eat again. It's so difficult navigating MCAS so thank you for all your recipes and notes along with them.
Claire says
Hi Leia! So glad you enjoyed the apple rice pudding and so lovely to hear that you are excited about being in the kitchen again! Hope you come up with lots of tasty things to enjoy.