Mark Bittman's Rice Pudding in the Oven Recipe

Updated August 30, 2018

They don't call Mark Bittman, author of How to Cook Everything The Basics, The Minimalist for nothing. His recipes are simple, straightforward, and often pared down to their bare essential ingredients. Plus, he's not one to add in labor intensive steps. Take this Rice Pudding in the Oven—it's a solid dessert that requires nothing more than tossing rice, milk, and sugar into a gratin dish, and baking for roughly two hours. Sure, you have to stir the pot every now and again, but really, it's nearly effortless. And the pudding? Well, it's a beautiful batch of rice pudding: mild, milky, and entirely comforting.

What Worked: Effortless? Well, basically, yes. But it's a method that produces a creamy, sweet, and soothing batch of classic rice pudding.

What Didn't: No complaints here.

Suggested Tweaks: You can spice it up by adding a cinnamon stick or piece of nutmeg at the get go. Or swap out the milk for any other milk you'd like: soy, rice, coconut or any nut milk would all do nicely.

Recipe Details

Mark Bittman's Rice Pudding in the Oven Recipe

Active 15 mins

Total 2 hrs

Serves 4 servings

Ingredients

1/3 cup any white rice
1/2 cup sugar
Pinch salt
4 cups milk

Directions

Heat the oven to 300°F. Combine the rice, sugar, salt, and milk in a large gratin dish that holds at least 6 cups. Stir a couple of times and put it in the oven, uncovered. Bake for 30 minutes, then stir. Bake for 30 minutes longer, then stir again; at this point the rice might be swelling up and the milk should begin to develop a bubbly skin (if so, stir it back into the mixture).
Cook until the rice plumps and starts to become a more noticeable part of the mixture and the skin becomes more visible and darker, about 30 minutes more.
Now the pudding is getting close to done, so check on it every 10 minutes, stirring each time (it should reach the right texture in 10 to 30 minutes, depending on the kind of rice you used).
The pudding will be done before you think it’s done. The rice should be really swollen and the milk thickened considerably but still pretty fluid (it will thicken more as it cools). Serve warm, at room temperature, or cold.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
278	Calories
5g	Fat
50g	Carbs
9g	Protein

Nutrition Facts
Servings: 4
Amount per serving
Calories	278
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 5g	6%
Saturated Fat 3g	15%
Cholesterol 20mg	7%
Sodium 148mg	6%
Total Carbohydrate 50g	18%
Dietary Fiber 0g	0%
Total Sugars 37g
Protein 9g
Vitamin C 0mg	2%
Calcium 294mg	23%
Iron 0mg	1%
Potassium 355mg	8%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.